I'm new but, I'm figureing it out : D

spookyspook

spookyspook

Member
Okey doke, for my graduation gift I got a fish tank(after 10 years of begging lol) and I thought long and hard about what I wanted to do with it. I finally picked saltwater, and I've had it running for 9 months now. It is a 35 gallon and I have a powerhead, a filter that does the job and, of course, a heater cuz it's cold in my room XD.
 
I have a handful of snails and hermit crabs.
 
A sandsifting star that my random friend tossed in there without telling me X (. His name is Squiggly : D and he eats out of my hand.
 
I have a peppermint shrimp named Minty, and the mighty, fireworm slaying, emerald crab Thor.
 
My brother bought me a pair of clownfish, Day(the boy) and Night(the girl), and I picked up a 6 line wrasse named Lucifer about 2 months ago.
 
 
*I will have pictures soon lol*
 
and I bought my first coral two weeks ago : D. It was a rock about the size of my fist that had some green mushrooms on it. I was like a kid in a candy shop when I started to really look at it. It amazed me that there were also a few small heads of red mushrooms, a few featherdusters and some zoanthids on it as well. (all for 20 dollars : / )
 
 
Anyways, I was wondering if there were a few tips you guys could give me or perhaps some ideas to make my tank better. I know for a fact that I don't have enough live rock but, I do have places for my fish to hide until I get some more(attempting to make man-made live rock).
 
meowzer

meowzer

Moderator
Sounds like you are doing ok.....you might want to look into a protein skimmer, and another powerhead if you are planning on doing corals
 
what type of lighting do you have,.that will help determine what corals you can keep
 
spookyspook

spookyspook

Member
I have 10,000K actanic lighting. It has one white bulb and one blue one. The biggest mushroom I have is already splitting and everythings open really big. I'll keep the skimmer in mind though. What are you ideas on the lights though?
 
meowzer

meowzer

Moderator
They sound like fluorescent....you can probably have some zoas, maybe some mushrooms.....anything that would be considered "low" lighting needs
 
btldreef

btldreef

Moderator
Welcome to the site!
 
I hope you know that man-made live rock must be cured before adding it to your tank. Do you have a way to cure it?
 
Pictures and tank parameters will help with suggestions on how to make things better.
 
From the sounds of it, you need more clean up crew (CUC) members, snails, hermits, shrimp, etc. I would get rid of the sand sifting starfish. Your tank is not big enough, not established enough to maintain its health.
 
As meowzer said, it sounds like you have flourescent lighting, either that or a single day/singe actinic T5 set up. Either way, on a 35G tank, that will hinder what types of corals you will be able to keep. If you take a picture of the bulbs, we can probably tell you which type you have.
 
What kind of filtration are you running?
 
spookyspook

spookyspook

Member
Oh yes, the rock I have made has been curing for a bit longer than 5 months. For the last two weeks it's tested at 8.2 so I figure I'd give it this friday and next and if it still tests at that range then it's ok.
 
For a filter I have a Marineland penguin. I'm not sure if I should have better but, it's rated for my tank size and it seems to do a good job. I'll try to get some pictures and as for the starfish. If I get rid of it, where would I take it or what would I do with it?
 
btldreef

btldreef

Moderator
Quote:
Originally Posted by Spookyspook http:///forum/thread/380247/i-m-new-but-i-m-figureing-it-out-d#post_3309226
Oh yes, the rock I have made has been curing for a bit longer than 5 months. For the last two weeks it's tested at 8.2 so I figure I'd give it this friday and next and if it still tests at that range then it's ok.
 
For a filter I have a Marineland penguin. I'm not sure if I should have better but, it's rated for my tank size and it seems to do a good job. I'll try to get some pictures and as for the starfish. If I get rid of it, where would I take it or what would I do with it?
Sounds like you're right on track with the rock. I'm glad you know it needs to be cured, many people do not.
 
As for the starfish, first I'd try to find a local reef club in your area and see if anyone with a 100 or more gallon tank will take it. If not, try a LFS.
 
spookyspook

spookyspook

Member
XD, construction work teaches you something I guess?
 
And, I'm not sure if there are any local clubs. I can try google, if that doesn't work then I'll try this fish store that's out of town. No way am I taking Squiggly to ***** X (.
 
 
I did some research about my lights, I think they're powered compacts or something. Marine life offers a double bulbed( 10,000K white and blue actanic) light. It's the exact same thing as mine. If I wanted to up my lighting from low(that's what I've been told I have) to moderate, what kind of lights should I look at?
 
btldreef

btldreef

Moderator
Quote:
Originally Posted by Spookyspook http:///forum/thread/380247/i-m-new-but-i-m-figureing-it-out-d#post_3309385
XD, construction work teaches you something I guess?
 
And, I'm not sure if there are any local clubs. I can try google, if that doesn't work then I'll try this fish store that's out of town. No way am I taking Squiggly to ***** X (.
 
 
I did some research about my lights, I think they're powered compacts or something. Marine life offers a double bulbed( 10,000K white and blue actanic) light. It's the exact same thing as mine. If I wanted to up my lighting from low(that's what I've been told I have) to moderate, what kind of lights should I look at?
Where are you located?
 
I would look into T5's or Metal Halides.
 
 
levinjac

levinjac

Active Member
you should find a good lfs that will take it considering your in flordia It is near the bahamas and is where alot of fish/inverts are caught so there are more liveley specimens
 
spookyspook

spookyspook

Member
Okey doke well, I finally added the live rock and I did a huge water change (90%) and I cleaned all of my equpiment and sand bed. Everything looks great and has tested great(even my parameters that were previously off are now fixed and stable). I was going to take the starfish to the fishstore BUT, a science teacher at my school had a 100 gallon tank and she wanted it. So she now has the starfish and it seems to be doing fine.
 
I'm still looking into lights, I"m not having much luck X /
 
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