New girl needs help!

havenoidea

havenoidea

New Member
:help: Ok, I've been reading through all these message boards and the first thing I have learned is that I have no clue what I am getting myself in to lol. I am purchasing a 60 gal octagon tank and stand tomorrow from my aunt. When hers was set up it was beautiful but she hasn't had it set up in years and has forgot about how to do most of the things. I hate looking in to books for advise, i'd rather have first hand information from people on here. likes and dislikes. so here go my questions...
1. with a 60 ga tank how much live rock and live sand do i need?
2. should i use a certain type of live rock with certain fish or does it not matter?
3. do i have to buy coral from the beginning or can i add it later?
4. i was thinking about buying the live rock and the live sand first and giving myself time to get the tank in shape before adding any fish. is their a certain amount of time that i have to add the fish for the amonia?
5. i know there are different levels i'm going to have to check and certain chemicals i might have to add to the tank to get all the levels where they need to be...(i'm still reading up on everything) but what i want to know is with a beginner tank what are some products that you would suggest and what do they do...i.e why do i need them.
6. what is itch that fish get?
7. my aunt had a really pretty light on her tank that kind of had a blue glow to it...anyone know what this might be? and is it good for only certain types of fish and coral?
8. does anyone know of a good combination to start off with for fish, coral, rock, ect...
9. i have heard a lot of people suggest a sump. what the heck is it? i know its a pump but how do i know if my tank is set up for it and do i just buy one from the lfs? if my tank is not set up for a sump are there people that can set it up for me or tell me how to do it?
10. what are the use of inverts?
11. what fish are good to get if you plan on getting quite a bit of coral?
12. i love the lion fish but are they a pain to try to take care of?
13. i don't know if i want a fish that might eat another expensive fish.....are there certain fish i should stay away from?
any other useful info would greatly be appreciated!
feel free to enclose a pic of yourself and/or your tank so i can get to know you guys! :happyfish
 
hot883

hot883

Active Member
First off, nice pic. HEHE!
Stick with #4 and cycle the tank. DO NOT ADD corals for atleast 6-9 months. Let the tank get established. You are robbing your self with the fish available with a tall tank. Fish NEED length to swim not tallness.
With that tank you will be stuck with small fish like clowns (2 at the most), a dwarf angel and maybe a gobie or two.
Welcome to the boards, I'm Barry
 
rs1831

rs1831

Active Member
Welcome to the boards. The first thing that I would do is purchase Conscientious Marine Aquarist. Its a very helpful book that you can always turn to ever when you've been in the hobby for awhile. That really helped me out when I started. You can find this book in the dry goods section of this website.
Good luck
 
havenoidea

havenoidea

New Member
thanks barry
i would love to have a longer tank of a larger size but right now the only room i have until our house is sold and the new one built next year is enough room for a tall tank in the corner of my living room. on question number 4....how long should i let it cycle for before i add fish?
 
gatorwpb

gatorwpb

Active Member
Hey and welcome.

Youre doing the right thing by being on the boards and reading reading reading!
If you use the search function, and enter in a couple key words from each of your questions, youll be able to find the answers.
As to the cycling, it generally can take from 3-6 weeks to be complete. Complete means that your ammonia and nitrites are 0 and nitrates less than 30ppm. Having precured LR (no shipping overnight) means a shorter cycle, partially cured or uncured will take longer.
Mines only a 3 foot wide tank and there is still a HUGE variety of fish i can put in it.
Good luck
 
hot883

hot883

Active Member
Originally Posted by havenoidea
thanks barry
i would love to have a longer tank of a larger size but right now the only room i have until our house is sold and the new one built next year is enough room for a tall tank in the corner of my living room. on question number 4....how long should i let it cycle for before i add fish?
A cycle takes anywhere between 4-6 weeks. Go to the top of these threads to the "search" and type in cycle,or cycling etc. and see what everyone does. Basically you want the ammonia to spike and then nitrates and nitrites to raise and then all 3 are at zero, add 1 fish, wait 2 weeks add 1 fish etc. Exception to this rule with your size of tank is a pair of clowns or atleast 2 from the same tank at the LFS (local fish store) Read on here and learn, ask questions etc. You will quickly see who knows what the deal is and who does not even have a tank up.
Click on the persons screen name and check their threads and see their tanks. Good luck to ya. Barry
 
havenoidea

havenoidea

New Member
thanks gator,
i didn't understand part of what you said...sorry. very new to this..

"Having precured LR (no shipping overnight) means a shorter cycle, partially cured or uncured will take longer"
what is lr? and why can't you ship over night? which is better..partially cured or uncured?
 
daveverdo

daveverdo

Member
Hi,
The fist thing you need to ask yourself is what kind of tanks you want. That is, Do you want to have corals (Reef Tank)? Do you just want fish (fish only, FO)? Or some fish and live rock (Fish only with live rock, FOWLR)? You most likely shouldn't add coral for quite a while, so starting with FOWLR is a good starting place. The main thing is a Reef Tank has some different requirement than fish only. So if you go FOWLR now and want to add Coral later you may have to change things. I am just starting a FOWLR tank but I made sure that most of what I bought (lights, skimmer, etc) would support a reef system down the line. The next thing I will need to do is select fish that are reef safe, that won't eat all the coral and such when I get it.
Decide what you want and read these forums. One suggestion I will make is to get a good book and follow the procedures in the book. My main suggestion is that the book will be self-consistent, that is, everything will be done in a manner that is compatable with other things in the book. This and other forums can get VERY confusing because everyone has different opinions and differnt setups and one method may not work with your tank even though it works somewhere else. The biggest problem is there are many people who ONLY do it one way. They will tell you CANNOT do it any other way. There are so many ways to accomplish the same thing. Ultimately you have to make the choices.
I will give a simple example regsarding the sand bed. There are several things you can do on the bottom of the tank, each has advantages and disadvantages.
1) Deep sand bed.
2) shallow sand bed with plenum.
3) no substrate at all, bare bottom
4) shallow sand bed with no plenum.
If you were to ask, and I did, "How deep should my sand bed be?" You will get answers from "why are you using a sand bed, I have no sand and it works great" all the way to "Your tank is too shallow for a deep sand bed, it must be at least 6-7 inches deep and your tank is only 16" high".
The advice is good, but be very specific in your questions and explain everything for example.
you have a 60gal tank. Is it tall, short, hex, glass acrylic? Give the dimensions or the first response you get will be "what shape is your tank? How deep is it?"
You are on the right track. It is a great hobby. It will take up a bit of your time and money. I had a saltwater tank for years about 35 years ago before it was popular and I am just getting back into it. Good luck. Get a good book, sit back and read. When you have questions ask here or one of the forums (www.reefcentral.com is another good one).
Whatever you do, do not take advice from you local fish store LFS, especially if it is one of the chains.
Welcome and good luck,
Dave
 
gatorwpb

gatorwpb

Active Member
Originally Posted by havenoidea
thanks gator,
i didn't understand part of what you said...sorry. very new to this..

"Having precured LR (no shipping overnight) means a shorter cycle, partially cured or uncured will take longer"
what is lr? and why can't you ship over night? which is better..partially cured or uncured?

Hehe sorry to confuse you.
Sometimes you can buy live rock (LR) online and it is called "cured" but there will be die off while it is in transit. I bought mine from a local fish store (LFS) and I quickly put it in my tank, so there was very little die off.
 
havenoidea

havenoidea

New Member
wow dave! thanks so much for the reply. very good info. i guess i am going to be starting with a FOWLR (wow i learned an acronym lol) then will be upgrading to a reef tank after i have learned how to take care of my tank and established it quite a bit but i do want to start off with a set up that will allow me to transition to a reef tank like you.
 
hatessushi

hatessushi

Active Member
IMO tall tanks are just as nice if not nicer then shorter tanks. Yes, fish like to swim and they like to swim up and down also. I can also pile my rock up higher to make bigger caves and passes for larger fish.
 
goathead76

goathead76

New Member
Daveverdo hit the nail right on the head. I just started my first tank about 7 months ago but I was reading up on it about 4 months before that. I know I have a lot more to learn but I am finally begining to feel like I know what I am doing.
I think the best thing is to start out with a FOWLR because the more you learn the more you will realize what you actually want to do. Then you can start adding what you want. It is also important to be patient because it can get expensive. I am just now realizing my tank will never be "done". There will always be something more I want to add or change but in reality that is why I love this hobby.
My advice is to get a book. When I first started the first thing I did was buy Salt Water Fish for Dummies. Granted most of what I read was outdated but it gave me a good base to start on. It helped understand the bassics and from there when I talked to people I began to understand what it was they were talking about. Talk to everyone and read as much as can. Then decide what it is you want and are able to do.
Josh
 
darbo

darbo

New Member
I am also new to the saltwater hobby. So far best advice I can give is read everything you can get. everyone has an OPINION but if 90% of the people say the same thing then I take that as good advice. An exsample most people say a protine skinner is needed so im looking for one now LOL.
Darbo
PS I'm from AL too. Good luck finding a good pet store
 
havenoidea

havenoidea

New Member
lol darbo. i know what you mean about a good pet store. thats why most of my stuff will have to be ordered over the net. we have pet smart and B & B pet store but one of the two doesn't even cary salt water fish and the one that does the people couldn't tell me anything about the tanks except to buy a book....a bunch of young punks! good luck to you also.
well guys i am off to bed i will be back on tomorrow night.
 
X

xoxox

Guest
1) Little over 60lbs (some might say more, but you do need swimming space)
2) Doesn't matter (different liverock is usually how dense it is)
3) Add coral later, most need a mature tank (6 months) zoos and shrooms earlier.
4) Good idea, you need to wait for the cycle to get done (you'll need test kits for this)
5) You won't need any chemicals, just let it cycle naturally.
6) Paracite, white spots on body of fish (bad news)
7) You need to determine the type and power of the light (read any markings on it).
There are whole discussions on types of lights so you might want to read threads about it.
8) Make sure your fish list conforms with the tank size, most fish will not do well in too small of tanks.
9) Extra volume of water added to you system to keep items such as protein skimmers and heaters and such. You will need to read for this too since it is in depth.
10) Inverts are the small crustations: snails, crabs, {shrimp} that help 'clean' the system.
11) Reef safe, ones that won't eat it. Remember the larger the reef the less volume for fish, especially in not so large tanks.
12) Lion fish are predators which means they live by eating other fish, kind of hard to keep a pretty clown if he gets eaten.
13) See 12 (unless you want an aggressive tank)
My #1 point to anyone starting is: water quality! This is the most important aspect to keeping a successful tank. RO/DI is a must.
Hahahaaa, nice picture, it helps to see the pretty face that is asking the question. Believe me, you don't want to see us ugly fat bald guys....
:hilarious
 
fishy7

fishy7

Active Member
Originally Posted by havenoidea
thanks gator,
i didn't understand part of what you said...sorry. very new to this..

"Having precured LR (no shipping overnight) means a shorter cycle, partially cured or uncured will take longer"
what is lr? and why can't you ship over night? which is better..partially cured or uncured?

Thought this might help.
https://www.saltwaterfish.com/vb/show...board+acronyms
 
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