A beginner with questions (need some advice)

[marcial]

Greetings,
I am a beginner to the saltwater fish world and I need some advice from you salty dogs out there. Now be gentle with me after you hear what I have to ask. I have done some reading but made the mistake of taking the advice of my LFS (live and learn) that's why I now turn to you. First let me tell you what I have:
EQUIPMENT
37 Gal. Eclipse Tank (with hood/filter/bio-wheel)
Magnum 350 Canister filter (using carbon filtration)
Seaclone protein skimmer
Power Head
Undergravel filter (4 tubes-2 bubbles with air pumps, 1 with power head, and 1 connected to the Magnum)
Coral, some small rocks and Puku shells
FISH (here's where I screwed up)
1 Juv Emperor Angel (3-4 inch)
1 Magestic Angel (3 inch)
1 Coral Beauty (3 inch)
1 Goldrim Tang (3-4 inch)
1 Blue Regal Tang (2 inch)
1 Sailfin Tang (2 inch)
3 Percula Clowns (1 inch)
I know, WAY too many fish, now I know. All fish are healthy, eat very well, and have shown no aggression towards each other (YET).I have accumulated them in a 4 month period, they have all lived together for about 3 weeks now. Water levels are great (ammonia, nitrite, nitrate. ph) I haven't had a problem yet, I have been very lucky so far. My questions are:
1. I would like to get a cleanup crew, any recommendations about the packages this site sells?
2. If I have this cleanup crew, do I need to change to reef crystals instead of Instant Ocean?
3. What is the purpose of the water polisher filter on the Magnum canister filter?
4. If I wanted to convert into a reef tank, what would you recommend?
I know that some of these questions might sound silly, but I'm not getting any help over here in Hawaii. That's why I have turned to you, so that you can educated me. Think of me as your protege
I really would appreciate any and all comments, trust me I'm thick skinned and don't get my feelings hurt too easily. O.K. Let er rip........
[ May 15, 2001: Message edited by: Marcial ]
[ May 15, 2001: Message edited by: Marcial ]

 

[dseiler]

First of all you came to the right place and welcome to the board.
OK here we go. If you can return some of the fish to your LFS, or get a bigger tank and split them. You are fine now, but some of those fish get big and you age woing to have problems. It is not an if, but a when.
You say your water levels are great, what does that mean? What are the readings? You do not say if you have any live rock, just some small rocks. If you do a search you will see a lot about deep sand beds (DSB) and Live Rock (LR). You pretty much need the LR and it is recomended to have the DSB to keep nitrates under controll. And if you can, after you have either LR or the sand for a DSB get rid of the Undergravel filter (UGF), but before you put the rock and sand in.
Your Questions.
1) The clean up crews on this site rule!!! I ordered one for my 55gal reef and am totally pleased. Go by their recomendations on tank size and you will do well.
2)You will not need to change the kind of salt that you use.
3) I don't have a magnum so I don't know (Sorry)
4)If you are going to a reef (you will, everyone does. It is called getting the reef bug), you will need to upgrade your lights, unless you already have and it is not noted here. You will need to get rid of almost all of the fish, the clowns are the only thing that I would keep at first glance anyway. You NEED 1.5 to 2.0lbs of live rock per gal of water. And you need to take out the UF.
I am sure others will have things to say, and that I left something out,but that will give you a start!!

 

[marcial]

Dseiler
Thanks for the reply, as far as my readings go:
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: about 40 ppm
PH: 8.0
Salt level: 1.023
I do not have any live rock, if I put a live rock in it do I need to pull my fish out and/or use a DSB? And if so why do I remove the UGF? I thought it was a good thing to use them. Thanks for the assist.....
[ May 15, 2001: Message edited by: Marcial ]

 

[fau8]

Also if you are going to a reef set up you have to deep six the under gravel filter, and a switch to sand is recommended.
I recommend using live sand since its already clean and won't milk up you water.
As for the water polisher with the magnum, its great for removing small particles, but when I used it in a fish only set up I had to clean it every two days as it would restrict water flow as it gets cloggged. When this happens magnums are notoriuos for heating up the tank water.
Lastly, 40ppm is okay in a FO tank, you will have to keep nitrates at 5ppm to have any long term sucsess at a reef setup.
[ May 16, 2001: Message edited by: fau8 ]

 

[jimi]

I will try to be gentle as you requested. First take back atleast half of your fish or you WILL have major problems. Find a good lfs. Your tank is way too new to say its ok. 40ppm of nitrate fish can tollerate but it is by no means great,ok, or healthy it is still pollution. If you want to go reef you will need live rock and need to lose all of your fish except maybe one or two. As mentioned a reef will not tollerate nitrate levels that high. Finally read as much as possible in books and whatever route you choose you will need to get rid of some fish or face losing them all.