danedodger
Member
Just chiming in in case anything got missed in previous replies :joy:
1. No, you don't NEED a sump exactly but it is one choice you could make for filtration. My advice on that is look into ALL kinds of filtration before you decide because this is a MAJOR piece to your success in the hobby.
2. I agree wholeheartedly with Bonebreak. That is NOT a good price for that setup not to mention that once you learn about the different things you can put in and on a tank you might not be happy with the stuff that's on there. You CAN cycle with a damsel but I don't recommend it. It's dangerous to the fish to cycle with it, there's the aggressiveness problem that you've already heard about with damsels, and there are much better ways to cycle the tank. The best way to cycle a tank, from my own experience, is once you get it all set up with water and such (and yes, use RO/DI water and save yourself a bigger algae hassle down the line) just plop a regular old peeled raw shrimp like you get to cook for dinner in. As it decays it will raise the ammonia levels in your tank which starts the cycle. Once your ammonia levels have reached 0, nitrites 0, and your nitrates are up do a partial water change to bring the nitrate levels back down and you'll be ready for liverock or a fish or two without any danger to anything live. And there ARE better deals on liverock out there.
3. Liverock - You can actually cycle a tank with good liverock. It will also raise the ammonia levels to start the cycle like a fish or raw shrimp will do. If you decide to cycle with liverock though you'll have to watch that your ammonia levels don't get TOO high or the ammonia just ends up killing whatever was live on the rock making it a waste of your money.
Liverock will always get something growing on it but what it is depends on the quality of rock and sheer luck. Eventually you'll at least get some good corraline algae growing from it. Sometimes you'll get what's called a "hitchiker" with your liverock. Some hitchikers are good and some are not! Aptasia is one type of hitchiker which isn't uncommon with liverock which is bad. They're little anemones that are not welcome in a tank and will quickly reproduce and take over unless you take the time to search them out before they really get out of hand and kill them off. Bristleworms are another common hitchiker. If you ask me they're creepy and ugly as anything but they're generally harmless and will come out at night to eat bits of detrious and stuff so they may actually be helpful to your tank. Copepods are another common hitchiker and these guys are really good to have! They generally come out at night and look like tiny little specks or fleas on your glass. They're a good food source for many of your tank inhabitants and an absolute must have for a few of them like the mandarinfish!
4. That stringy algae you saw might or might not be ok depending on what kind of algae it is. I wouldn't buy anything that had that on it and especially not rock with black gunk on it. A very general, crude rule of thumb I use if I don't know is if it looks plantlike then probably the worst it can do is grow all over the tank and be a pain in the keister. If it doesn't look plantlike, especially if it's slimy, "snotty" looking in any way steer clear of it!
5. I'd guess the price of those corals might be a decent deal depending on what type of corals they are. I just paid about $22 each for a piece of rock with some mushrooms and another with flower leather with a featherduster attached. You certainly can get some better deals though like trading or buying coral frags from other hobbyists. Who knows? By the time you're ready to start adding this sort of stuff my wee little shrooms and flower leather might be ready to frag and I'll send you a few to get started with
6. Nope, an anemone isn't a coral. It's a whole different critter
The invertebrate animals are usually harder to keep than the fish. First cycle the tank then depending on how big a tank you get put a few fish in and then once you're doing well taking care of all of that, your levels are good, you've got a good schedule in place for partial water changes and such, and you've conquered the almost inevitable algae outbreak (usually at least 6 months to a year or so) start looking into invert type guys.
1. No, you don't NEED a sump exactly but it is one choice you could make for filtration. My advice on that is look into ALL kinds of filtration before you decide because this is a MAJOR piece to your success in the hobby.
2. I agree wholeheartedly with Bonebreak. That is NOT a good price for that setup not to mention that once you learn about the different things you can put in and on a tank you might not be happy with the stuff that's on there. You CAN cycle with a damsel but I don't recommend it. It's dangerous to the fish to cycle with it, there's the aggressiveness problem that you've already heard about with damsels, and there are much better ways to cycle the tank. The best way to cycle a tank, from my own experience, is once you get it all set up with water and such (and yes, use RO/DI water and save yourself a bigger algae hassle down the line) just plop a regular old peeled raw shrimp like you get to cook for dinner in. As it decays it will raise the ammonia levels in your tank which starts the cycle. Once your ammonia levels have reached 0, nitrites 0, and your nitrates are up do a partial water change to bring the nitrate levels back down and you'll be ready for liverock or a fish or two without any danger to anything live. And there ARE better deals on liverock out there.
3. Liverock - You can actually cycle a tank with good liverock. It will also raise the ammonia levels to start the cycle like a fish or raw shrimp will do. If you decide to cycle with liverock though you'll have to watch that your ammonia levels don't get TOO high or the ammonia just ends up killing whatever was live on the rock making it a waste of your money.
Liverock will always get something growing on it but what it is depends on the quality of rock and sheer luck. Eventually you'll at least get some good corraline algae growing from it. Sometimes you'll get what's called a "hitchiker" with your liverock. Some hitchikers are good and some are not! Aptasia is one type of hitchiker which isn't uncommon with liverock which is bad. They're little anemones that are not welcome in a tank and will quickly reproduce and take over unless you take the time to search them out before they really get out of hand and kill them off. Bristleworms are another common hitchiker. If you ask me they're creepy and ugly as anything but they're generally harmless and will come out at night to eat bits of detrious and stuff so they may actually be helpful to your tank. Copepods are another common hitchiker and these guys are really good to have! They generally come out at night and look like tiny little specks or fleas on your glass. They're a good food source for many of your tank inhabitants and an absolute must have for a few of them like the mandarinfish!
4. That stringy algae you saw might or might not be ok depending on what kind of algae it is. I wouldn't buy anything that had that on it and especially not rock with black gunk on it. A very general, crude rule of thumb I use if I don't know is if it looks plantlike then probably the worst it can do is grow all over the tank and be a pain in the keister. If it doesn't look plantlike, especially if it's slimy, "snotty" looking in any way steer clear of it!
5. I'd guess the price of those corals might be a decent deal depending on what type of corals they are. I just paid about $22 each for a piece of rock with some mushrooms and another with flower leather with a featherduster attached. You certainly can get some better deals though like trading or buying coral frags from other hobbyists. Who knows? By the time you're ready to start adding this sort of stuff my wee little shrooms and flower leather might be ready to frag and I'll send you a few to get started with
6. Nope, an anemone isn't a coral. It's a whole different critter
