new 75 gal tank

[almarktool]

Hi,
I am new to saltwater and have been reading a few books and talking to a few different shops here is my question i read in the books that using live reef rock is very good and then on the other hand when i talk to one salesman in a store he tells me that live rock is trouble and to use dead coral , and if i use live rock i will only be able to put in a few different fish since alot of them can't live with the live rock? who is right the books the stores? help I am just starting out and want to build a 75 gallon tank but i don't want to be limited on what fish i can put in
Thanks for any help you can offer,
Mark

 

[fshhub]

2 major points,
1)there are only a few things which you really can't put in with lr, lr is good for filtration reasons
2)lfs's(local fish stores) are not the best source of info available, i admit theere are some which may be good, but most have NO idea what they are telling you except "my product ......... "= sales
you did good by coming here, all of us have good and bad experience we would love to share, if for no other reason than to help others avoid the same problems
no matter what you do, there will be limitations on which fish you may use
lr or no lr, reef,fishonly w/dsb,even your species of fish will limit what may follw, but lr does not reduce thsi as greatly as other factors
[ December 17, 2001: Message edited by: fshhub ]

 

[thor]

my salesman said the exact same thing i came here and they corrected me this has been a great source of info since its based on experience. now anything that my LFS's say that sounds even slightly fishy(LOL) makes me check it out here
about your question
YES! you do want LR do not beleive anyone who says you dont! only certain fish cannot live with LR and none of them are fish can live in captivity. LR is very good for your tanks healthiness and give you a better chance of keeping fish alive longer. you will definitely want at least a skimmer but some people have kept LR without it.
welcome to the board!
this BB has given me triple the amount of info reading has given me.
two rules: no links to competitors sites and no question is a stupid question
good luck!

 

[fishfood]

I would go with the lr also. What will limit you is whether you want coral and inverts to go in the tank(reef tank) or if you want it fish only. It seems that some people have the misconception that lr always contains coral and that many fish will eat the coral. Many fish do eat the coral but most lr that you would buy at the store doesn't have coral on it. We typically buy it for the biological filtration it will provide. Make sure that if you get it though you read up on cycling the tank!
IMO a skimmer is not need with lr. You should look into getting one if you are going to set up a reef tank but don't need one for a fish only tank even if it has lr.

 

[almarktool]

thanks everyone i really appreciate your help, I have a few more questions i need help with since i am doing a 75 gal tank with aprox 12 fish and lr in it , they store is recommended a trickle style filter with the round blue balls in it, as well as a CC base with approx 20lbs of LS mixed in , does this sound good to you all?? also last question is i read in some books about a quarentine tank that should be used to keep any new fish in for 3-4 weeks before adding them to my main tank is this really neccesary?
Thanks again for all your help
Mark

 

[fshhub]

the misconception of lr not being compatible, is mor that certain fish will eat your life on the rock(corals and or anemones and sponges), if you just use lr, as metnioned, any fish you can buy should not be a problem surviving with lr, it is more the other way around