Newbie wanting to start Aggressive Fish Only Tank (Need Help)

daniel1982

daniel1982

New Member
I have been wanting to get into this hobby for a long time. Now that I have the time need some advice from you guys and gals. First let me say I am a big reptile person. I have always had some kind of snake for a pet. Have a blood python and a green tree python at the moment, that I have had for 4+ years. Plus plenty of other snakes over the years. So I'm not a newbie that will get out of something in a month lol
Now I am wanting to start a saltwater tank with an eel only. Looking at getting a Tesselata Eel ( Would love to get a Hawaiian Dragon Eel, but a little to much for the first one, sense I am new to this. Maybe in time with more experience I will setup another tank and get one)
Setup Wise:
I have a 90 gallon tank. Will this be enuff room for a Tesselata Eel?
Live Rock and Live Sand Question:
How much live rock would you suggest for a 90 gallon tank? Wanting to do a good bit of rock and make tunnels and caves for the eel to go into. Sense eels love to hide in them.
How much live sand would you recommend? Read a few places that 3inches deep is good. If so how many pounds of sand would it take?
Pumps: Need help with this one, don't know what to get. Hoping someone with a similar setup can help me decide on this one.
Powerheads: Reading 007 sticky help threads and said Maxi-Jet are good ones to get. If so how many would you need for a 90 gallon tank and what position would you put them in the tank?
Heater: Think I can handle this one. In 007 thread he or she says Ebo-Jager and Won Brothers make good ones.
Protein Skimmer: Need help deciding whats best. Have no clue what to get.
Sump or Refugium: Have no clue whats best, need advise on whats better.
Lights: Been reading that stock lights will be fine.
If anything I missed please tell me. I got alot more reading to do before I begin the saltwater tank, but wanted to get help from people with experience on the subject :)
PS
This will be an eel only tank, will not be adding any fish into the tank.
 
S

surfinusa

Guest
Sorry but tessys need thousands of gallons to live comfortable.
 
S

surfinusa

Guest
Forgot to add a snowflake or zebra eel would be a lot better.
 
daniel1982

daniel1982

New Member
Well if that is the case, might have to go with a different eel. I could afford a thousand gallon setup, but want to start smaller til I get more experience. Thank you for telling me that.
 
autofreak44

autofreak44

Active Member
Originally Posted by daniel1982
I have been wanting to get into this hobby for a long time. Now that I have the time need some advice from you guys and gals. First let me say I am a big reptile person. I have always had some kind of snake for a pet. Have a blood python and a green tree python at the moment, that I have had for 4+ years. Plus plenty of other snakes over the years. So I'm not a newbie that will get out of something in a month lol
Now I am wanting to start a saltwater tank with an eel only. Looking at getting a Tesselata Eel ( Would love to get a Hawaiian Dragon Eel, but a little to much for the first one, sense I am new to this. Maybe in time with more experience I will setup another tank and get one)
Setup Wise:
I have a 90 gallon tank. Will this be enuff room for a Tesselata Eel? well i dont know ANYTHING about eels so i will help you with the rest assuming a 90 is ok
Live Rock and Live Sand Question:
How much live rock would you suggest for a 90 gallon tank? Wanting to do a good bit of rock and make tunnels and caves for the eel to go into. Sense eels love to hide in them.
How much live sand would you recommend? Read a few places that 3inches deep is good. If so how many pounds of sand would it take?for live rock with only 1 eel i would say 60-90 lbs should be fine, make shure you get some different shapes so you can build caves for the eel. as for sand, i would go for a 4" sandbed. i would guestimate 150 lbs of sand would be good. you would probably only need 1 or 2 bags of live sand and the rest dead sand. also you can run some pvc pipe under the sand as a cave for the eel to hide
Pumps: Need help with this one, don't know what to get. Hoping someone with a similar setup can help me decide on this one.pumps for what?
Powerheads: Reading 007 sticky help threads and said Maxi-Jet are good ones to get. If so how many would you need for a 90 gallon tank and what position would you put them in the tank?maxi jets are good, for a 90 i would say get 4 or 5 maxijet 1200s
Heater: Think I can handle this one. In 007 thread he or she says Ebo-Jager and Won Brothers make good ones. any heater you get is going to give out some time or another, but you do get what you pay for. for that tank, i think a 300W heater is good (i dont know if thats right, have someone confirm that)
Protein Skimmer: Need help deciding whats best. Have no clue what to get.
some good ones are coralife and aquaC
Sump or Refugium: Have no clue whats best, need advise on whats better.you can do a sump/refuge combo so you can put all your equipment under the tank, and have the benefit of the fuge
Lights: Been reading that stock lights will be fine.correct
If anything I missed please tell me. I got alot more reading to do before I begin the saltwater tank, but wanted to get help from people with experience on the subject :)i think you are on the right track, just keep asking questions and getting answers. thats the best way

PS
This will be an eel only tank, will not be adding any fish into the tank.
im no expert but im shure there are some fish that could go in with the eel if you choose in the future, i would ask but i think some lionfish or triggers could go in
 
daniel1982

daniel1982

New Member
Thanks autofreak44 for your advise, and don't know why I put the pump thing there lol Brain fart i guess :)
 
daniel1982

daniel1982

New Member
Originally Posted by autofreak44
thats alright, what eel do you think you will go with?
Well I was looking at a Tesselata Eel, but sense surfinusa said they would need a thousand or more to live in, I will have to change that for now. Have to do somemore research and see which eel is best for me. Would love a Hawaiian Dragon Eel, but to much money for one to start out with lol
 
daniel1982

daniel1982

New Member
Originally Posted by autofreak44
that eel costs more than i spend in a YEAR on my tank
lol I hear you, but I love the ways it looks. Maybe in a year or two when I get more experience with saltwater, I will buy one.
 
S

surfinusa

Guest
Originally Posted by daniel1982
lol I hear you, but I love the ways it looks. Maybe in a year or two when I get more experience with saltwater, I will buy one.
they have other variations of dragon morays and a whole lot cheaper at that.
 
daniel1982

daniel1982

New Member
Originally Posted by surfinusa
they have other variations of dragon morays and a whole lot cheaper at that.
Yeah well it will be awhile before i decide on one of those.
 
snaredrum

snaredrum

Member
Originally Posted by daniel1982
lol I hear you, but I love the ways it looks. Maybe in a year or two when I get more experience with saltwater, I will buy one.
This is a everyday thing. There is so much cool stuff out there, but we must use common sense on a lot of it. I would like a Hammerhead myself, but I know it won't happen.
 
daniel1982

daniel1982

New Member
Originally Posted by Snaredrum
This is a everyday thing. There is so much cool stuff out there, but we must use common sense on a lot of it. I would like a Hammerhead myself, but I know it won't happen.

lol I could have sent you one a few days ago. Caught a 2 foot hammerhead while saltwater fishing, but if they would have caught me with that fish. Probablly would have cost me a 20,000.00 fine lol So had to put him back in.
 
daniel1982

daniel1982

New Member
Originally Posted by rara12
Try a brizilian dragon eel, very good looking and not to expensive.
Thanks for advise, will look into one :)
 
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