Aquacultured MultiRock? from SWF

[cabin7882]

What do you guys think of this? It looks like a great place to start out a reef tank. I am looking into going from a fish only with a few snails and hermits to a reef tank. What would I need to do this? lighting, filtration, gallons etc? Right now I have a 46 gal tank with no LR but I do have Live sand I also have 3 green chromis, a ocerlious clown "sorry spelling not so good" and a yellow tang. Thanks for the input :notsure:

 

[sinner's girl]

Your yellow tang needs a bigger tank, I hope you plan on upgrading.
Since you have ls, you buy base rock (non live and cheaper) and over time the ls will seed teh base rock. You can also get some lr and some base rock.
Where are you seeing the aquacultured multirock at? it's not under live rock...

 

[angrycrab]

https://www.saltwaterfish.com/ :cheer:

 

[cabin7882]

Thanks! so base rock is what? I think I have some in my tank it was a creamy color and holey I have a big chunk of it. Is that what you are refering too? What kind of fish should I get? If you say the tang is to big for tank? fish the size of a damsil or something?

 

[cabin7882]

Oh what about lighting I couldn't even tell u what I have now my boyfriend took care of that I'll have to check. But what do I need to start a coral tank? and I have one powerhead pointed towards the top of the water and a bak pak 2 skimmer/filter. What else do I need?

 

[nm reef]

Originally Posted by cabin7882
What do you guys think of this? It looks like a great place to start out a reef tank. I am looking into going from a fish only with a few snails and hermits to a reef tank. What would I need to do this? lighting, filtration, gallons etc? Right now I have a 46 gal tank with no LR but I do have Live sand I also have 3 green chromis, a ocerlious clown "sorry spelling not so good" and a yellow tang. Thanks for the input :notsure:
Hmmmm....there are several points to address:
"Right now I have a 46 gal tank with no LR but I do have Live sand I also have 3 green chromis, a ocerlious clown "sorry spelling not so good" and a yellow tang."
How long has your tank been set-up...how did you cycle it...how long have those fish been in there...why no LR...what additional filtration do you use...
The reason I ask is most marine systems depend on significent amounts of biological filtration and in most cases the foundation of that is LR....before you continue to develop your system I'd urge you to consider some serious research on this topic.
"I am looking into going from a fish only with a few snails and hermits to a reef tank. What would I need to do this? lighting, filtration, gallons etc?"
Any marine system will require a stable and well established biological filtration system...that is a starting point. For a reef system you'll need to consider the lighting requirements of the individual species you wish to keep...and there will be circulation concerns depending on the species you want. I'd urge you to consider taking the time to locate and thumb thru a book titled "The Conscientious Marine Aquarist"...a great resource for developing and maintaining marine systems.
In regard to the topic of the thread...."What do you guys think of this? It looks like a great place to start out a reef tank."
Below is a photo of one of the aquacultured rocks purchased from this site...I agree it could be a very nice addition to any reef....and I'd also agree it can be a great way to start a reef....but before you consider adding one I'd again urge you to research the basics of establishing a marine system and slow down.....knowledge...experience...and patience are all vital in this hobby and I'd hate to see you plunge in too deeply too soon.

 

[oceanbreez]

Originally Posted by cabin7882
Oh what about lighting I couldn't even tell u what I have now my boyfriend took care of that I'll have to check. But what do I need to start a coral tank? and I have one powerhead pointed towards the top of the water and a bak pak 2 skimmer/filter. What else do I need?
You are lucky I need a boyfriend to take care of my tanks lol
Just kidding

 

[cabin7882]

Hey thank you so much My tank has been set up since X-mas so not to long. I cycled with 3 blue damsils which I eventually took back because of their aggressiveness towards the other fish. the clown has been in there for 3 months the chromis have been in there 2 months and the tang around a month... just estimates I have it written down at home though. Your picture is beautiful! Is that yours? I will take my time with this cause I would hate for anything to die because my lack of knowledge thanks for all the info. Oh but what about lighting? And I will be getting some cured LR to add to my tank soon and if it is cured I can just rinse and put in tank?

 

[krazekajin]

Why do you want to rinse your cured live rock?
If you do, understand that using freshwater to rinse your rock will cause some of the life on the rock to die. I always just put my live rock straight in the tank.
I have had several pieces of live rock begin to grow corals. That is why you call it live rock.
now, there is one reason to dip your rock in freshwater and that is to try and get rid of a pest, such as a mantis shrimp or large crab. But generally, you don't need to rinse your live rock.

 

[sinner's girl]

if you go to the lfs, and keep the lr wet (wrapped wet newpaper normaly or in water if there are ceatures), then just place it in your tank.
If you rinse it and kill some of the life, you may start a mini cycle which will be harmful to your fish/inverts.
AND before you get lr with corals and such, you need proper lighting, filtration, ect and your system should be stable for awhile.
what do you have for filtration?

 

[cabin7882]

I have a bak pak 2 skimmer http://www.cpraquatic.com/products/bakpak.html here is the info on it. Will that be sufficiant? What kind of lighting do I need? I'll have to see what I have now I'm not sure. My tank has been running since dec 05 I will wait a few more months probably, cause right now I'm having some issues with alk ph ites and ates I'm not sure what the problem is. I do a 5 gal water change every week it's a 46 gal tank.

 

[sinner's girl]

cause right now I'm having some issues with alk ph ites and ates I'm not sure what the problem is.
You have nitrites?! Your nitrites should be zero if you cycled your tank. Water changes will only delay the cycle but you have fish so...

Your nitrates are high because (my best guess) of your bioload and lack of filtration (ie, lr). UP your water changes, 15%-20% weekly to lower nitrates, but you really should find the source of them. How much and how often do you feed them? Cut back if possible (this will cut down on the waste).
As far as the ph, and alk, do you add any chemical to your tank? Are you using tap or RO water? Mix a gallon of RO water with your salt and test it. (I just got a bad bag of salt, so I'm test mode) If ph and alk are good, it's not your salt, but something else. If you use tap water, test that, (and stop using tap if at all possible and use RO water). Test your ca, somehow ph, alk and ca are related, though I don't really understand how yet, there are several post on it at Archives & FAQ.
Since you're having water quality problems I would wait awhile before adding corals. Make sure you have everything under control and your tank is stable.

 

[cabin7882]

ok thanks! My tank had to of cycled it has been up for 4 months right? I never got a test to show a wicked high level of ammonia but it did go up a little and back down I thought I just missed the spike? I feed them once a day of two frozen cubes, is that too much? I do add something I forget the name of it but it is for saltwater to treat it for ites ates and other stuff for tap water. I have well water and after adding the chemical and salt the levels are perfect but for some reason my tank is not? How do u test for calcium my test strips do not have that? As for RO water I am doing a 10% water change with that tonight which I will check levels before adding but if my well water is fime can't I just use that? I don't know all of this info is so much to handle and so confusing! Thanks for your help it's great

 

[sinner's girl]

tap water has trace elements we can't test for it, it's generally considered bad to use it for saltwater fish. But it's your tank.
I don't use any chemical, esp if I can't test for it.
My tank had to of cycled it has been up for 4 months right?
not if you started doing water changes and never saw nitrites at zero. Have the lfs test your water. Strip test aren't always that correct.
How do u test for calcium my test strips do not have that?
buy a calcuim test
I have well water and after adding the chemical and salt the levels are perfect but for some reason my tank is not?
Your fish produce waste, uneatten fish food becames waste, this turns into nitrates. The water you add will be free of nitrates, your tank produces them.
2 cubes sounds like a lot to me, do the fish eat all the food?
I would have lfs test your water to see if the results you are getting are correct. Then you need to figure out the source of the nitrates. What are they anyway? You never posted your levels, just said you had problems.