Another noob with a few questions.....

[livebait58]

Hello everyone, my name is Jackson and I'm currently in the research phase of this exciting and expensive hobby. I have read a few books to get an idea of the basics and I'm finding that the forums hold more information and answers than any other source. Unfortunately just as I began my research I was laid off from work so my purchasing has been put on hold, but this also means that by the time I'm able to start buying equipment I'll be more informed than ever. So anyway, here are a few of my first questions...
I always hear about FO tanks, FOWLR tanks, and Reef tanks.......... but is it possible to have a FOWLR tank with just a few wavy coral to give the tank some movement and life other than fish? That's certainly what I'm hoping to achieve, but I understand if my fish make this impossible.
I plan to start a 125 gallon tank with hopefully about 150lbs of live rock. Since most everything revolves around the fish one wishes to keep.....here is the list of fish that I hope to purchase over time.
1 Pair of Clowns
1 Yellow Tang
1 Blue Hippo Tang
1 Royal Gramma
1 Flame Angel
1 Yellow Watchman Goby
1 Coral Banded Shrimp
1 Fire Shrimp
I also absolutely LOVE the Coral Beauty but from my research so far I doubt I'll be able to keep one. So anyway, obviously this is not the order that I will be adding these fish and I will start with a good CUC..........but over the next few years these are the fish that I hope to acquire. Please let me know your concerns about compatibility.
I have read most of the New Hobbyist Sticky threads and have learned a lot, but there was one subject that I wanted to learn more about and couldn't find much info on so could someone please point me in the right direction to read up on the drip method of acclimation? Thank you!
I look forward to getting to know most of you and learning more about this exciting hobby. From what I've seen so far, one of the best things about this hobby is how the veteran aquarists are so helpful to the new guys like myself. It's nice to know that there's PLENTY of help for any problems that one might run into.

 

[slice]

Welcome to the Site!
Sorry to hear about the layoff, a lot of that going around.
Doing your research up front will pay huge dividends later on. Glad to hear you are doing things in the correct order.
Others will comment on your stocking list, until then, Welcome!

 

[monsinour]

Drip acclimation - https://forums.saltwaterfish.com/forum/thread/380378/125g-completely-cycled/20#post_3310579 I have been told that is as simple as it gets to explain.
I started my tank back in september and I havent gotten a regular paycheck since February last year. Its not impossible to get into this when your broke and cant find a job. It does make it rather hard. Fortunatly for me, my wife is a bargin hunter extrodinare. We havent paid full retail for anything yet and I dont think we will.
I started with narrowing down my list of inhabitants before I even thought about what equipment to get. Once that is done, the equipment will follow. I do not forse a problem with a torch or hammer or xenia with what fish you want to keep. Butterflies tend to pick at corals. But as soon as you add a piece of coral, the care for the tank changes. If you want to get your feet wet with corals and dont want to worry about them, Zoanthids and Xenia and Ricordea are easy to care for, low requirement corals. The Xenia is rumored to actually help the newer tank with nitrate problems. I got some a few months ago. It started as a 2 headed frag starting to split. It is now in 3 seperate pieces with about 6 heads. It does grow fast.

 

[slice]

I missed the acclimation question, but what Monsi said in his linked post is spot on, you can see a slide show of it over on the store side of this site here:
https://www.saltwaterfish.com/Acclimation_ep_48-1.html

 

[livebait58]

Thanks for the quick response! I have read the link and watched the video and indeed, it is as simple as it gets. Thanks for the help.
As far as starting a tank while unemployed, well I think it's awesome that you were able to do so, but right now I've gotta concentrate on making sure the bills get paid. My 125g tank isn't going to be cheap even with the best bargains. It's certainly frustrating though.... just the other day I found someone on CL selling 200lbs of live rock for $4 per pound and at this point I can't buy the first rock because I have no place to put it.
I hope to hear more on my fish wishlist and I have made note of the coral you suggested. Thank you.

 

[monsinour]

The list of Bob is a good place to look for deals. Usually around me the live rock sells for $2- $3 a pound and its usually old stuff, like Tonga rock. As of late, its seems that Fiji stuff is getting rare and more and more LFS's are carring FLA rock.
My bills get paid, eventually. I have to admit that the $8,000 tax refund we got made the tank and all its stuff actually happen. Well it happened after we got a new fridge and stove and paid lots and lots o bills. Since its tax time again, and I didnt make any $ this year, the refund should be smaller, but just enough to do the Chi tank and LEDs.

 

[mproctor4]

Welcome to the hobby! Keep you eyes open for good deals on CL and local reef clubs. There are many DYI projects that will save you alot of money. I made my own filter for a fraction of the price and I have been very happy with it. I'm not sure exactly what to call it because it is a combination of a wet/dry/sump. I had cheap lights to start with and they worked just fine for a FOWLR. I had a few low light corals that did very well. I must admit, I really like my T5s but you certainly don't need them. You can save alot of money buying bulk rock and a few pieces of live rock. Eventually the live rock with seed the base rock and whatever substrate you decide to use, if any. Sounds like you have nothing but time, so let it work for you. Your stock list looks fine. Eventually the blue hippo will outgrow your tank but if you buy it small you should be okay for several years. Not sure why you can't get a coral beauty. They aren't any more difficult to keep than any other dwarf angel. Best piece of advice I can give you is to start with a QT tank right away!! I did not set mine up right away and in the long run it cost me ALOT more money, time, and heartache.

 

[livebait58]

Thanks for the words of wisdom! It seems as though I read somewhere that the Coral Beauty is likely to pick on some other fish.....maybe the flame angel. I don't remember exactly where I read that. Oh well....anyway I think I'm going to start looking into building a sump/refugium.

 

[mproctor4]

If you have more than one dwarf angel it is best to add them at the same time or rearrange your aquascaping when you add the second angel. I have a 120g and had a coral beauty for about 6 months before adding a flame angel and they didn't even acknowledge each other. My husband temporarily put his ornery cherub angel in my tank and the coral beauty got really upset about that for about an hour, after that they ignored each other. The CB didn't touch him, his colors changed dramatically and he chased the cherub for a bit, by the next day it was over. We currently have a flame and a lemonpeel in QT together and haven't had any problems at all, they actually seem to like each other. I know this isn't recommended but it is possible. Out of all thedwarf angels I've had, the smallest one (the cherub) was the most aggressive.
Good luck on the refugium!

 

[livebait58]

Good to hear! My next question is, i would like to have a pair of clowns, but is it possible to keep a black/white with an orange/white ocellaris?

 

[mproctor4]

They would be fine together. Same thing, make sure to add them at the same time or when adding the second clown it needs to be significantly smaller than the first.