Lizzy's Life Aquatic

liz krome

liz krome

New Member
Hello! And yes I am brand new to the SW style but I've had FW aquariums for quite some time. I'm finally looking for a nice challenge... and something to show for all of my hard work.

27 gal marine cube

HOT filter to start which Is changing to a canister filter this weekend...3media

Just added salt water last weekend and live sand... so I have some weeks aheadd of me.... what a ride It will be

Gettingg a protein skimmer next weekend too. Wanting to start slow and do this right

Ive been doing a lot of research as to live rock vs dry rock and I finally decided to go the dry rock route..
I think I'm a little too nervous for my first time to end up a nightmare with little travelers screwing with all my hard work.

I do think live rock is beautiful to ad feel rather jealous of the hobbyist working with it.

I plan to have a reef tank once I'm established, so I am making reef decisions early to help with the process. Calciumm enriched salt..etc...

Would like to start with some clown fish but I know a good cleanner crew is needed first off.
I'm a little nervous with snails tho...and how quickly they populate. I'm guessing in the SW world they are good?

More research needed but I love thesee Feeds. so many people with new ideas and experience. thanks everyone for all of the helpful information. I am more and more excited eachh time I read something new..

I'm a little nervous about fragging in the future.. but Im looking forward to being crafty lol
 
yellowtang1324

yellowtang1324

Member
Yes, I would probably start with a tiny pair of clowns. Have a good amount of hiding spots. Snails are awesome in SW, so are hermit crabs. Some hermit crabs with be a problem but most aren't. Don't worry about fragging. I've been in the hobby for 5 years and I've never fragged. Sometimes my coral grow so big that they kind of just break off themselves :p. Yeah, you won't have to worry about fragging till late in the hobby because fragging is something you do when your tank is fully established with an abundance of coral (that will take a while). ALWAYS start with coral FRAGS, if they die, they aren't too expensive. If they are growing, THEN you are doing something right haha. Try to start with mushroom, kenya, or leather. They are the easiest to take care of and aren't too expensive, they don't need specific lighting or calcium levels and bla bla bla. One piece of advice, don't get too crazy with coral and fish. Start simple.
 
flower

flower

Well-Known Member
liz krome said:
Hello! And yes I am brand new to the SW style but I've had FW aquariums for quite some time. I'm finally looking for a nice challenge... and something to show for all of my hard work.

27 gal marine cube

HOT filter to start which Is changing to a canister filter this weekend...3media

Just added salt water last weekend and live sand... so I have some weeks aheadd of me.... what a ride It will be

Gettingg a protein skimmer next weekend too. Wanting to start slow and do this right

Ive been doing a lot of research as to live rock vs dry rock and I finally decided to go the dry rock route..
I think I'm a little too nervous for my first time to end up a nightmare with little travelers screwing with all my hard work.

I do think live rock is beautiful to ad feel rather jealous of the hobbyist working with it.

I plan to have a reef tank once I'm established, so I am making reef decisions early to help with the process. Calciumm enriched salt..etc...

Would like to start with some clown fish but I know a good cleanner crew is needed first off.
I'm a little nervous with snails tho...and how quickly they populate. I'm guessing in the SW world they are good?

More research needed but I love thesee Feeds. so many people with new ideas and experience. thanks everyone for all of the helpful information. I am more and more excited eachh time I read something new..

I'm a little nervous about fragging in the future.. but Im looking forward to being crafty lol
Click to expand...

Hi,

Live rock is more than "beautiful"... those little critters are essential to the life and health of your tank. if you use 100% dry rock, you will have to seed the tank with the critters you need. One site I found actually sells tiny micro stars for $25.00 for just 3 of them. I have used dry rock a few times, and had to seed the tank with the right critters, I keep seahorses and I didn't want to chance a bad hitchhiker either... it actually costs more IMO, to start with all dry rock.

It would be cheaper to use a mixture of dry and live rock. You can put the rock in a tub with super salty water... The critters (hitchhikers and all) will come right out of the rock, and you have a few moments to see what's in the rock, after a few moments they go back in...but it does give you enough time to get out anything unwanted.
 
geridoc

geridoc

Well-Known Member
It sounds like you are planning a reef system. It so, do your research on lighting first so that you don't wind up buying several sets of lights as your tank's needs change. You will be better off investing in lighting initially than going through progressively more expensive lights later. Also, you are focusing on your CUC, which is a good idea, but don't start too large with these animals. All are scavengers, and some are herbivores, dependent on algae for survival. You won't have adequate algae for some time, so go easy on the herbies until there is food for them.
 
beaslbob

beaslbob

Well-Known Member
I recommend you add and look into macro algaes especally in a refugium.

They are basically the "plants" of the marine world and perform the same functions as plants in FW tanks.

my .02
 
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jay0705

jay0705

Well-Known Member
beaslbob said:
I recomment you add and look into macro algaes espically in a refugium.

They are basically the "plants" of the marine world and perform the same functions as plants in FW tanks.

my .02
Click to expand...
Your the king of macros ive noticed lol what kind to u reccomend?​
 
liz krome

liz krome

New Member
This is awesome information...I love reading up on all of the pros
flower said:
Hi,

Live rock is more than "beautiful"... those little critters are essential to the life and health of your tank. if you use 100% dry rock, you will have to seed the tank with the critters you need. One site I found actually sells tiny micro stars for $25.00 for just 3 of them. I have used dry rock a few times, and had to seed the tank with the right critters, I keep seahorses and I didn't want to chance a bad hitchhiker either... it actually costs more IMO, to start with all dry rock.

It would be cheaper to use a mixture of dry and live rock. You can put the rock in a tub with super salty water... The critters (hitchhikers and all) will come right out of the rock, and you have a few moments to see what's in the rock, after a few moments they go back in...but it does give you enough time to get out anything unwanted.
Click to expand...

Thank you for the info! I did consider adding pieces of live rock that were small jus to get me started. You helped me seal the deal on that one! I like the salty tub idea. Great suggestion. I will do that! oooo and I love seahorses. I dream of seahorses and starfish and clowns in my tank... if that's all I ever get I'll be happy.... or I can just be one of those rebels who just keeps a sting ray and calls it a day... KIDDING!! Thank you!
 
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flower

flower

Well-Known Member
liz krome said:
This is awesome information...I love reading up on all of the pros



Thank you for the info! I did consider adding pieces of live rock that were small jus to get me started. You helped me seal the deal on that one! I like the salty tub idea. Great suggestion. I will do that! oooo and I love seahorses. I dream of seahorses and starfish and clowns in my tank... if that's all I ever get I'll be happy.... or I can just be one of those rebels who just keeps a sting ray and calls it a day... KIDDING!! Thank you!
Click to expand...
If you like seahorses...you should get them. I always thought they were herd to keep... but captive bred horses are as easy to care for as any other SW fish. I have potbelly seahorses and bat starfish in a 90g and a Kuda who for the moment is in a 30g while I contemplate resetting the 56g. I lost 3 kuda to bristle worms, and had to take drastic measures of completely breaking down the tank and killing the rock. If you go with seahorses, use 100% dry rock and sand.
 
liz krome

liz krome

New Member
flower said:
If you like seahorses...you should get them. I always thought they were herd to keep... but captive bred horses are as easy to care for as any other SW fish. I have potbelly seahorses and bat starfish in a 90g and a Kuda who for the moment is in a 30g while I contemplate resetting the 56g. I lost 3 kuda to bristle worms, and had to take drastic measures of completely breaking down the tank and killing the rock. If you go with seahorses, use 100% dry rock and sand.
Click to expand...
sounds like I am going in the right direction with the bio spira?... would you recommend anything other than that to start up? I did use live sand.... I heard through the grapevine that a pretty thick bed can help in the nitrate process so this is what I started with. I plan on aquascaping a more central rock formation... since my tank is cubed, I thought this would be the best way to achieve more definition with light and corals?
maybe I'm a newbie taking out my tail too?
 
jorge garrido

jorge garrido

Member
aquascaping your rocks to the center would be nice that's how I have in my 185 gal tank.. what type of corals are you thinking about sps , lps , or soft corals? Im not really positive if you can keep a clown with seahorses the clowns are very active and once grown can be aggressive. In my tank I don't have any sand only live rock but it is a bigger tank so I don't know how it works .. smaller tanks have more fluctuations. once you start that's it you wont be going back and you'll just want to upgrade to a bigger tank LOL I started with a 55 gal fresh water then salt water and now 185 gal reef tank


 
liz krome

liz krome

New Member
jorge garrido said:
aquascaping your rocks to the center would be nice that's how I have in my 185 gal tank.. what type of corals are you thinking about sps , lps , or soft corals? Im not really positive if you can keep a clown with seahorses the clowns are very active and once grown can be aggressive. In my tank I don't have any sand only live rock but it is a bigger tank so I don't know how it works .. smaller tanks have more fluctuations. once you start that's it you wont be going back and you'll just want to upgrade to a bigger tank LOL I started with a 55 gal fresh water then salt water and now 185 gal reef tank


Click to expand...
WOw....is all I can say.... really like your corals. I'm thinking soft to get me started...
 
liz krome

liz krome

New Member
Fiance just bought me an rodi unit.... got a large plastic tub to keep a lid on and a new power head to start mixing.... basement is turning into my ''reef space''...... awee....he loves me!
 
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