Looking for good 38 gallon set up

[seegert]

I have a 38 gallon SW tank that has been set up for almost 2 years. We didn't add fish till about a year ago. There was not much luck after fish were added. I know I need to test my tank and make sure it is stable and if it ia not then I need to stablize it. But I am pretty sure the pet shop gave me bad advice on the set up, so I am wondering what exactly I should have in it and how many of what kinds of fish to put in it when the tank checks out to specifications? Currently I have a Cleaner Shrimp, 6 Crabs, Around 8-10 lbs. of live rock, rock from the lake, 2 fake plants, a Coral Sun light, a Powerhead 212, a thermometer/ salt level indicator, a Penguin biowheel (360?), and crushed coral for the floor of the tank. Is this ok, or should I have gone with something else? If something else, what and how much of it? I could really use some good advice.

:happyfish

 

[120reefer]

to be honest, your set up doesnt really seem that bad to start housing some types of fish. IMO, i would have went with live sand instead of CC, fake plants are a little tacky for SW, and i would personally lose the rock from the lake, and substitute it for a little bit more live rock.... but thats just my opinion

But ill ask a better question, what exactly do you want to get out of your tank??? Are you looking to build a reef, fish only....? what kind of fish do you want? you could honestly get away with what you have... there were just a few things that i would have done a little differently, but thats JMO.

 

[seegert]

Originally Posted by 120reefer
to be honest, your set up doesnt really seem that bad to start housing some types of fish. IMO, i would have went with live sand instead of CC, fake plants are a little tacky for SW, and i would personally lose the rock from the lake, and substitute it for a little bit more live rock.... but thats just my opinion

But ill ask a better question, what exactly do you want to get out of your tank??? Are you looking to build a reef, fish only....? what kind of fish do you want? you could honestly get away with what you have... there were just a few things that i would have done a little differently, but thats JMO.
We were told that we basically couldn't put anything decorative but those in the tank because it could kill the fish because of something in all the decorative stuff. Personally I would love to decorate it and make it look cool. I am definitly open for suggestions. I also would like to know which fish and how many are best for my tank. As well as plants, polyps, anemone, proper amount of live rock, etc.etc. Should i add live sand or not? Would I have to remove the CC? Not sure what the difference in reef tank or not reef tank is? I would love to put fish in though. I don't want it to be plain without liverock, anemone, polyps, mushrooms,so on, whatever I can have in there is what I want. I want it to be successful. All peaceful fish though.

 

[120reefer]

well if by "decorative" you mean corals/polyps/shrooms, with the lighting you have now your just not goin to be able to keep them alive and thriving. By changing your lights you can open up all sorts of ideas. Theres nothing in the decor that could kill your fish except for an anemone, or if they die and you dont keep up with water changes and your trates or something go up. Which fish is up to you.. with a 38 gal, you could put in some types of chromis, clowns, wrasses, and even certain dwarfs.... just for a few of the more "peaceful" fish out there, but i would limit to just a few, especially if your going with a dwarf angel. As far as proper amount of LR, usually 1lb per gallon of water does the trick, but it all up to what you like... HOWEVER, if your planning on a dwarf, i would recommend more rock, as they love to graze. I would recommend live sand for a reef, and yes you do have to get out all that CC IMO. Difference: Reef tanks house corals, clams, polyps, zoos, shrooms ect. non-reefs do not. To be quite honest.. i believe you can have everything you want decor wise.. if you switch out your lighting

hope this helps a little

 

[seegert]

What lighting do you suggest? I really do want to go reef! I am researching fish right now, so far we have come up with a percula clown, a blue reef chromis, and a green chromis. How many do you suggest? We just ordered a marine test kit. We will be switching to live sand and more live rock, removing the lake rocks as well. All of this will be done over a period of time for best survival results of what we have and want. I need to switch the lighting though so any suggestions on lighting for the results we want? When we go to change the CC to live sand, should we move the shrimp and crabs to our 10 gallon while we do the switch?

 

[120reefer]

first off, i just want to say you are DEFINATELY in the right track to set up a reef

YES, when you go to change out the CC for LS, take out any livestock in the tank and put in your 10 gal... although the transfer will cause a little stress, it will be less stressful than the change to LS. Since you set up this tank almost 2 yrs ago, there are all kinds of nitrates and other harmful elements hiding in the CC, which is another reason why i prefer LS over CC :thinking: this will cause a nitrate spike most likely and could possibly wipeout your livestock, especially inverts! As for your fish choices.... there perfect

those fish really are a good choice for your tank.. besides looking good, they all get along for the most part! As for quantity.. i would stick with one of each for a month or two, if your parameters look good, add another SMALL fish like a chromis or something. As for lighting.. i would look into metal halide for what you want (polyps, zoos, shrooms, ect.) a small 150 watt halide should do just the trick.. puting you at moderate lighting (about 4watts/gallon) that should give you enough light for a BT anemone for your perc

Just what ever you do... remember to TEST your water in the 38 gallon BEFORE returning your shrimp and crabs... wanna make sure all parameters are back to "normal" before returning them. again, hope this helps :joy:

 

[seegert]

I guess we would like to go for either the blue reef chromis or the green chromis and 2 percula clowns and 2 firefish goby= 5 small fish total unless we should get less or if we can get all 6. What do you suggest? We are going to wait till we change everything in our tank and know it is stable too. These should be the last questions I have. Thanks for your help! Just need someone experienced to tell me if these fish will work out good and how many would be the limit for a 38 gallon tank.

 

[120reefer]

no problem, this site is dedicated to answering questions so... the questions are a good thing

The blue reefs have a lot more vibrant color than the greens, despite their pics. All the greens ive ever seen in person look just a little dull. If your going for 2 percs, i would recommend just going with them and one chromis for now, then like i said, after a month or so, try adding another small fish only if your parameters are easily met. As for the "2" firefish.... unfortunately i don't think it will work. Although they are a more docile species, there not really that "nice" to their own species in a confined area. Theres just not enough floorspace in your tank to let the both of them go their separate ways, IMO. 1 firefish should get along fine wit the percs and a chromis... after you check and make sure your able to do it after a month or so

 

[seegert]

What depth would you suggest for the live sand?

 

[120reefer]

i would say a good 2-3 inches is adaquate. Feel free to go more tho, some people like high "rolling" sandbeds. I prefer clearing the sand away from the edges so its easier to clean without stirring up the sand

what dimensions are your tank (LxW) and what sand depth do you want and ill tell you how much you need

 

[seegert]

36 inch length, 12 inch wide, 17 inch deep

 

[120reefer]

according to this site... you'll need 35lbs. for 2" if sand, and about 50 for 3". if you need any other desired depths, just scroll over on this site to "Live Sand", and type in your length and width with your desired depth and it tells you how much you need, with pretty good accuracy. I recently ordered 100lbs off of this site for my 120gal. (60x18) and got about 2-2.5" all the way around...

:joy:

looks awsome too, all kinds of worms, real nice color, and all different small size shells mixed with "sugar" sized sand. looks awsome.

Any other questions Seegert, before i swim off to bed?

sorry, kinda corny. if you have questions feel free to ask tho

 

[seegert]

no more questions right now. thanks for all your help, you're awesome!

 

[120reefer]

Not a problem, lol.. i highly doubt im awsome, but i hope i gave a little insight, and inspiration. Although setting up a reef is expensive, much more so than your old setup... it will be well worth the money and time spent, trust me

.... nothing beats the shimmering lights over your corals, and watching your perc nest in a BTA

Well im off to bed then, if you have any more questions, please post ill check in a few hours when i wake up....

 

[tt]

Hi our 1st fish are on the way

! Yeh! It looks like we have the same taste in fish. We have a 29 gal marineland set up with a visi-jet-Proteine skimmer good for up to 70 gal, this system comes with the bio wheel (good for a sw or not?) (2) 24in 18 watt day time marine flourecsent lights and and A 2 watt blue led pro magg. moon light. 25 lbs of premium fiji live rock 20 lbs of moon sand ( I know "What no not live sand" but we love the black color) We have had it set up like this with nothing els for 1 1/2 months. It is cured the parameters are as fallows today after a 25% RO DI H20 change two days ago.
Salinity 1.022
Ammonia 0
Nitrite<0.3
PH 8.0
Temp 76-78
So today I ordered our 1st critters from this site had to order more than I had planned

all at once due to the min order policy but this is what we have coming
2 percula clownfish aquacultured
3 blue reef chromis fish
1 cleaner shrimp
The tank does have many hidding spots caves and overhangs for them each to hide in. I will do my acclimating as instucted on this web site! And I will do another water change in a week or so after acclimating my rather lg new bioload (pets) Please wish me luck and give me any suggestions you have out there to help ensure the survival of my new pets! I do not plan to add another thing anytime soon but in another month or so I may get some snails or crabs peacefull ones I hope. One more question could someone please tell me if in in a few more months all is well with my tank could we add a finnal fish a sixline wrasse? I love those liite fish! My 1st post here too. So hello everyone! Happy reefing! Peace & Harmony.

 

[seegert]

Originally Posted by tt
Hi our 1st fish are on the way

! Yeh! It looks like we have the same taste in fish. We have a 29 gal marineland set up with a visi-jet-Proteine skimmer good for up to 70 gal, this system comes with the bio wheel (good for a sw or not?) (2) 24in 18 watt day time marine flourecsent lights and and A 2 watt blue led pro magg. moon light. 25 lbs of premium fiji live rock 20 lbs of moon sand ( I know "What no not live sand" but we love the black color) We have had it set up like this with nothing els for 1 1/2 months. It is cured the parameters are as fallows today after a 25% RO DI H20 change two days ago.
Salinity 1.022
Ammonia 0
Nitrite<0.3
PH 8.0
Temp 76-78
So today I ordered our 1st critters from this site had to order more than I had planned

all at once due to the min order policy but this is what we have coming
2 percula clownfish aquacultured
3 blue reef chromis fish
1 cleaner shrimp
The tank does have many hidding spots caves and overhangs for them each to hide in. I will do my acclimating as instucted on this web site! And I will do another water change in a week or so after acclimating my rather lg new bioload (pets) Please wish me luck and give me any suggestions you have out there to help ensure the survival of my new pets! I do not plan to add another thing anytime soon but in another month or so I may get some snails or crabs peacefull ones I hope. One more question could someone please tell me if in in a few more months all is well with my tank could we add a finnal fish a sixline wrasse? I love those liite fish! My 1st post here too. So hello everyone! Happy reefing! Peace & Harmony.
I don't know much yet, all I know is the advice 120reefer gave me. I think the crabs and snails are fine, but I don't think I would add any wrasses. I don't think your tank is big enough for more fish. The Percs, Blue Chromis and cleaner shrimp should get along. I just don't know how many fish you can put in a 29 gal. You may want to ask someone more qualified. Or if you are able to read everything 120 reefer wrote to me in this thread, that would help. Good Luck!