Newbie to Saltwater...please help!!

[jeff903]

Hi everyone,
I have had my tank running for about a week. I just bought 2 damsels last night to cycle my tank. I had added about 10 lbs of live rock a few days ago and I was wondering what type of base rock to use, where to find it, and what does it look like? On this website (which I go to about once or twice a day) it says to put the live rock, because of it's expense and beauty, on the outside or top or whatever and build it up with base rock...Tufa Rock??? I have mostly small pieces and they are just scattered on the bottom. I am going to keep this a fish only tank, but I was looking at some pictures online and in pet stores and there is so much stuff in the tank, like piled as high or almost as high as the top of it. I am wondering if I have this setup right. Am I mimicking the right conditions? I want it to look cool but it is mostly open and just a lot of swimming room. If anyone has any pictures or links that would be great of tanks all setup and running. Also, my live rock is starting to look real dry and brittle (that's the best way I can describe it)....does that mean that it is dying from the cycling process or am I doing something wrong? Will all that money go to waste or will it once again turn into live rock after a while. One last question, on some of the saltwater fish I have been looking at, it says that they can eat flakes and "greens". I have been dealing with freshwater fish for a while and just mostly gave them the tetra flakes and stuff that you would buy in pet stores. I bought some marine flakes in the store which I am assuming are the "flakes" but what are the greens? Is that something I can buy or does that mean algae and stuff? Thanks for anyone helping a beginner...Thank You Thank You Thank You!! Jeff
[ August 11, 2001: Message edited by: Jeff903 ]

 

[salisbury a d]

Welcome.
Slow down! Rule #1. It sounds what you need is a few good books. Go to a book store, library and even the pet store and pick up some books. The slower you go and the more you know the better off your little reef will be.
You say you have live rock (lr) and it is going to be fish only with no corals, this is what we call a fowlr. Or fish only with live rock.
As for the aquascaping of your tank it is totally up to you it does not have to look real or like anyone else's it is all to your liking. Base rock can be purchased at your lfs or local fish store. I did not buy the special kind that has been in a tank for a few days and you pay an outrageous price.
In the dry goods section you can find bleached chuncks of coral this works great for base rock.
When feeding fish it is best to have a varied diet. So you can buy food for your fish in the frozen food section of your lfs and get flakes.
** When buying flake food look at the ingredients. The first ingredient should be a type of algae like spirulina. Do not buy fish food where the main ingredient is fish meal, it is not as good.
Your fish right now are damsels and are good for cycling a tank but when a cycle is over I suggest taking them back to the store and buying something more colorful, damsel tend to get more aggressive as they settle.
When stoking your tank do research and make sure the the fish you want are hardy and non aggressive unless you want an aggressive set up.
Have fun!
Adam

 

[salisbury a d]

Forgot to ask.
What size is your tank???
Adam

 

[jeff903]

Hey, Thanks for the info. And I have a 46 gallon bowed tank. And also I do have a really good book that I am also constantly referring to.

 

[salisbury a d]

I have the same tank. What lighting do you have. Some people at stores have told me that the bow distorts the image to much But I do not mind. What I hate most is it is so hard to get a good lighting system to fit on it.
Adam

 

[jeff903]

Ummmm, I have the stip light that fits accross it perfectly from All-Glass Aquarium. Let me check, well I don't know too much about it because the guy at the pet store ripped it off one that was out of the box so I just took that one. It looks good though, not a lot of distortion or anything. Would you happen to know whats gonna happen with my lr situation? Thanks

 

[flydan]

Hey,
For base rock, either tufa or lace rock are the best because they are porous and don't displace as much water. Leave room around the rocks and the back of the glass for water circulation. Other than that, it's up to you. One note of caution: remove the damsels BEFORE you put in all that rock or you will be hobbiest #14,732 that starts screaming for help on how to remove damsels from a tank. Seriously!
Go slow and do the research. You wont be sorry. It will take several weeks for your initial lr to "cure" and your tank will cycle during this phase. If you add more lr later, it will cycle again. ect ect ect
Welcome to the hobby and to the board!
Take care,
Dan'l

 

[flatfish]

Hi Jeff! Welcome to the hobby. I concur with Salisbury.
I’m am a novice at it, having started about a year ago. What a year it’s been. First let me offer some advice about the board. If you’re asking general questions about how to proceed with your current setup or most anything at all about the current happenings in your marine system, it’s best to start with at general description of your tank, equipment and inhabitants. People generally want to know the size of the tank, type of filtration, lighting, and water quality parameters. This will save you from being asked.
Now here’s what I’ve learned in the past year. I have found many others that have shared a similar experience. IMHO:
- Salt water systems are very similar to fresh water except that salt water systems demand more of everything you have to offer it just to get it up and going. More time, more thought, much more money.
- This hobby demands patience and persistence. The biggest mistakes I made over the past year were because I wanted to do too much too fast. You’ll read this over and over again. Then you’ll experience why. Then you’ll know. I’ve met several potential hobbyists that did not make it though this learning phase.
- Read, read more, read it again. Ask questions. Get as many opinions as possible. The come to your own conclusions. Be reasonable about what you know you can and can’t do.
- Be prepared to dole out more money than you are prepared for. Even simple fish only systems take quite an investment over time. If you done have a couple of thousand laying around (or are extremely handy and resourceful), then a reef system (with all that cools stuff) is out of the question.
- Be conservative in your approach. That fish in the store that you know will look too cool in the tank will likely die unless you know more about him than he knows about you. If the reference says “expert care recommend” then you’re wasting your time & money.
- The rewards of having an established, stable system of any type are addictive.
Now, about your LR. You said you added 10lbs. What’s the filtration? Was the LR pre-cured? You will experience some decay of the organisms on the LR (cured or not). This will assist in cycling the tank. Give the tank a good 6 weeks (or more) to cycle, testing the water often. Base rock? Tufa is good. You should find it at your LFS. A substrate of LS or aragonite is good (there’s $$$ involved here). Much of this depends on the organisms that you will be stocking your tanks with…
- Oh, I forgot to mention planning ahead. These guys that setup reef tanks as often as they change the oil in their car can do this because they know exactly what they want in the end (pretty much). And know how to get there. You should determine what you want as an end product. This will require some study. Don’t do the tank design with out knowing the requirements of its final inhabitants. In other words you should already know at this point the type of fish are going you be swimming in your FO tank.
Anyway, sorry for going overboard with is message. I was just looking at my tank a second ago and your message brought to mind all the work it took in getting it to something I can be proud of. It’s not one of those super colorful coral stuffed units (I only wish), but its got fish, inverts, and a few corals that will grow under my system’s limitations. Everyone in there is happy to see me when I walk up to feed them. And I love it.
Good luck!