72 g new set up questions

[waterboy_007]

Hi everyone. My friend and I are thinking of setting up a 72 g bow front tank. So far, it will just be fish only. We want to set it up with live rock, live sand and a protein skimmer. I was thinking about 80 - 100 lbs live sand, but i wasnt sure how much live rock to start with, any suggestions? Also, from what ive heard, you usually have a small spike of ammonia and nitrite with live sand and live rock. Do you think by adding bio spira, that problem could be eliminated?
For a 72 g, would the larger of the 2 BAC PAC skimmers be able to handle the tank fine?
As for stocking, he reallly wants damsels. Im worried these would be too agressive to other fish. As for what we'd like to stock, our list:
Some damsels (recomended number?)
Percula Clowns
Firefish
Flame angel or Coral Beauty
Cleaner Shrimp
Red and Blue leg hermits
Red Bali star
sand sifting star
could we put any kind of tang in a 72, and not worry about him outgrowing it?
these are all just ideas, we dont have a final list yet. im thinking everything would be ok, as long as the damsels were green chromis. im sure im missing some information, so please tell me anything that would help you guys help me. thanks

 

[jumpfrog]

I set up a 72 bf for my first sw tank. I wish I knew then what I know now. If you haven't bought it yet, please consider getting a drilled tank so you can have a sump. The 72 gives you a feeling you have a big tank and you can really make it look nice. But, maintaining the thing without a sump does have it's drawbacks.
As for you stocking plan, looks ok. I keep a yellow tang in mine and he does just fine.
Good Luck and let us know how it turns out.

 

[unleashed]

if your wanting damsels 6 or more of one species is the safe way to so it les than six they tend to be more agressive with there own kind .depending os the species you pick some are more agresive than others some do better alone others do better ina group.

 

[harlequinnut]

I would advise against any damsels except the chromis which you've already said, keeping no less than 3. Your fish list seem fine just make sure if you plan on keeping more than 1 clown that you add them together. You can keep either a yellow tang or kole tang with the kole being less aggressive. The rule on amount of LR is 1.5 lb of LR per gallon of water. You will experience a spike in ammonia, actually you want a spike in ammonia that's how you cycle your tank before adding any livestock. Just ask if you need more info on cycling your tank.

 

[waterboy_007]

well, we did go with the drilled tank, and were using a euroreef skimmer. when we pick it up, were getting 80 lbs of live sand and i think around 80 lbs live rock. ooo..he got the 48 inch lunar aqualight hood. thats gonna be sweeeet. about cycling, will the ammonia go up and down all without fish, just with live rock? and is adding biospira recomended. we should get it 2m!!!! yay i cant wait!

 

[superman59]

yes the tank will cycle with just live rock if you want to speed things up alittle you can add fish food as if you were feed fish some people also use fresh raw shrimp. Do not add the diospira

 

[jumpfrog]

Sounds like a great set-up and you're waaaay smarter than I was when I started. Anything that dies or rots in your tank will create ammonia. If your live rock is fully cured (smell it! if it's fresh as the ocean it's probably fine) then you'll need to provide food to continue the cycle. No need to buy expensive stuff to 'cure' anything dead will work. Just check your ammonia and nitrite levels and if they're all zero, you're good to go.
Good Luck!

 

[waterboy_007]

why shouldnt we add the biospira? is it just pointless because were using live rock live sand? or will it do something bad to the tank? well, we havent added it yet, but im leaving right now to get the live rock. one critique on the 72 bow. the overflow is rather obtrusive, since it is offcenter, rather than in the corner, IMO. Hopefully the rock will be able to stack nicely in the tank.

 

[jumpfrog]

Additives like biospora inject active bacteria in your system to jumpstart the cycle. The 1st part of the cycle. The first part of the cycle will create a population of bacteria to convert ammonia into nitrites. They will occur naturally but jumpstarting helps to 'quicken' the cycle. Once ammonia is converted to nitrites 'new' bacteria will convert it into nitrates...end of the cycle. Your additive will not help with the nitrite conversion, probably. Cured live rock and live sand already have 'both' bacterias present, but at a low level. As new ammonia and nitrites form, the population grows to the amount of 'food' available. If you've got cured live rock and good live sand, you've already jumpstarted your cycle. You can start adding a bio load immediately. Just keep the load in the range the bacteria can handle initially. As your load grows, so will your population.
Good Luck!

 

[waterboy_007]

ok, so were still letting the sand settle. another question. we put a fluval 304 on it. 2 of the containers have biorings in them and the third has charcol in it. i believe thats ok for right now. the question is when we start putting corals in the tank, and adding calcium strontium iodine. do we remove the charcol? ive heard mixed ideas on this over time, and i was wondering what you guys think about this. thanks.