Interactive Tank Building

awligon

awligon

New Member
Tell me what to do!!!!!!!
I'm learning how to maintain the tank. It's been running two months and I haven't done much. 55 Gallons.
All that's in there now is about 60lbs of various stages of live rock, an anemone, a torch coral, five hermit crabs, five snails, and some funky worms that crawl around in the sand and rocks. Centipedes???
So....
I was thinking of getting a couple of the aquacultured multi-rocks from swf.com. Let me know what's a must have. I want it to look good.
I also want to add fish once the skimmer gets working on the nitrate levels.
Thanks for the feedback!
 
pacopetty

pacopetty

Member
Okay, more live rock and get rid of those plastic plants. Also, anemones are for experienced reef keepers only! Take it back to the store and get some live rock in exchange. The torch is probably going to do badly also, I'd think about taking it back for an exchange also.
What kind of lighting do you have?
Welcome to the boards! You have come to the right place. The saltwater addicts on here are the best. You can ask them anything and they'll help you.
Good luck
 
awligon

awligon

New Member
light hood's got 96W daylight and 96W blue
400 Penguin Filter
1xx something Penguin Filter
Excalibur skimmer
The anemone's chillin. He's good....
 
druluv

druluv

Member

light hood's got 96W daylight and 96W blue
400 Penguin Filter
1xx something Penguin Filter
Excalibur skimmer
Good Luck awligon -
Looks like you got the lfs special
 
awligon

awligon

New Member
Thanks for the helpful advice. I'll keep that in mind. Maybe I should have bought it from NASA?
 
moraym

moraym

Active Member
Don't worry about it, and don't listen to some people on here who want to laugh, we've all been there before. We've all been beginners. Hell, I ran a successful 40g tank for almost three years before I found this site, and all of my fish did fine, and that was only with two Millenium 3000 hang-ons, no powerheads, no skimmer. So don't feel bad about going to the LFS, everyone's done that before.
That being said, the coral may have trouble with the lower levels of light and also because corals need very pristine water conditions. Have you checked your tank's pH, ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate levels? If not, purchase test kits for those parameters, and make sure they are okay.
Also, what kind of anemone did you get. Some anemones will do okay with low lights, many will not. Also, what are you feeding the anemone? If properly fed, anemones can handle lower light situations a little better, they just wont look as healthy (light brown in color is healthy). You also need to check water parameters for the anemone's sake.
When you add LR, be sure to cure it in another container, otherewise your tanks levels will spike and this will stress out the anemone/coral, if you still have them in the tank. I would advise at this point to at least return the coral, build up a good LR base, and let it cycle for a few weeks. Then test water parameters and make sure everything in okay before continuing.
This forum is a great place and full of helpful people, just keep at it and good luck.
 
awligon

awligon

New Member
Is that relatively low light? I'm feeding the coral and anemone cyclopeeze (sp?) right now. Not too much though b/c it seems to just float around if I do more than a 1/4 tblspoon in the turkey baster.
Also, give the setup, what are some acceptable combos of coral/inverts/fish? How many cleanup critters should I get? The tank has been set up and has cycled b/c the nitrates went up then leveled back to a reasonable level. I think that's right, plus it's been about 8 weeks. I asked the LFS but I guess they're automatically wrong? Thanks for the help guys... I'm just trying to learn this stuff. There's so much garbage on the web.
One last thing... What's this?
 
viper_930

viper_930

Active Member
The last one is a bristle worm. Of about 10000 species, about 12 are not reefsafe. Not sure what species yours is.
 
jlem

jlem

Active Member
The tank looks good. I do agree that the plants look awkword but this is just because the majority of tanks on this board don't have them. You have plenty of rock for biological filtration so any more would be purely for looks. I would take off the HOB filters. They are nice for running Carbon once in a while but really don't do a whole lot in a properly stocked and maintained tank. Hopefully you plan on taking it really slow and if you do then your tank will mature at a pace that will make the filters not really needed. I would definately keep the skimmer and run it 24/7. Frequent small water changes 5-10 gallons every two weeks will take care of your elements and you won't have to dose anything but Calcium and Buffer. I use the seachem marine buffer and reef complete. Is your tank a 3ft tank. If it is then you could keep quite abit of corals with those lights. Mushrooms, leathers, bubbles and lot of polyps should do just fine.
Please avoid getting even a small Tang of any kind no matter how many people have done it with so called great success and good luck with your tank. :D
Where are you Located? Lots of people could help you with stuff if they new where you lived.
 
awligon

awligon

New Member
South Charlotte, NC, US.
Thanks for the advice. The tank's 3ft long and 2ft high. What kind of corals can I keep with the lighting? it's two 96W bulbs, one day, one blue for 55 gallons. That's like 3.5 w/g right? I just need some direction on what to get and how to get started. It's been a couple months and everything seems to be going pretty well as far as the levels. I'll take the plants out. There's just not much in there now and it looks kinda bare without them. Should I get one of the multi-rocks from swf.com? or two of them? They look great on the site and many people seem to have good luck with them. I want the polyps to spread all over. I'd also like to have a wide variety of smaller fish rather than a couple big ones. I'll avoid the tangs. The percs are kinda cool but I'd like to either get a huge torch for them or a carpet anemone but they're both hard to keep.
Is my light adequate for keeping the coral? What types? Help!
 
spoon

spoon

Member
The picture circled in blue, it's some sort of Sponge. It looks like crap, but I have heard that if you dose your tank with the likes of DT's phytoplankton or Reef DNA you should get some neat colors out of those sponges. They are ok by the way...
Justin

Edit:
Try not to order rock from online. If you search for a quality supplier in your area, you will find that it is quite an experience to be able to hand pick your own live rock. (ie. hand chosen shapes and colors)
 
awligon

awligon

New Member
Good lookin' out. I got a pump for water movement today at.... the LFS!!! Look out now. It's a maxi-jet 1200. The guy there seems pretty nice and there's pumps for movement in most tanks I see, so I got it. I almost got this huge bubble tip anemone and tomato clown that was snuggled up in it for like 61 total. Is that a good deal? 40 for the anemone which was probably 6 inches tall and 6 inches spread, and 21 for the clown. I think the pump's a little progression.
 
phreakemup

phreakemup

Member

Originally posted by druluv
Good Luck awligon -
Looks like you got the lfs special


Love the constructive criticism, mr. no skimmer...
Phreak
 
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