Starting a reef tank.

gypsana

gypsana

Active Member
I am in the process of creating a reef tank. I inherited a 20 gal tank and it had a yellow tang (unfortunately for the poor guy) and a clown. I am glad I got it because the previuos owner is a lazy SOB and was not taking care of it. The tang is all messed up but he is doing okay so far.
Anyhow, I had bought a 45 gal tall and turned the 20 gal into a refugium. In my main tank I have the clown, yellow tang, long tenticle anenome, boxing crab, 4 snails and the feather starfish (I had a LFS bad info on that purchase and I posted the info in another thread. see below) and I also have an emerald crab in the refugium.
https://www.saltwaterfish.com/vb/show...hreadid=250032
So here are some pictures of my set up so far. If anyone has any suggestions or if you see that I am missing something please let me know. I have had this up and running for about 3 weeks. I am new to this hobby and I do alot of research.This board has been extremely helpful! So far so good.


 
gypsana

gypsana

Active Member
Yes I do. I inherited him with a twenty gallon as I stated above. He is not in the best of health. He has lost most of his color and all of his fins were destroyed by fin rot. (This is what I was told.) He is a good eater and does seem happy with the 45 gal. I do not plan on getting anymore tangs at all after he passes on.
 
gypsana

gypsana

Active Member
I only have a 17 watt on the DT and 15 watt on the refugium, plus lunar lights. I do plan on getting better lighting before I purchase any coral. I am currently reading a book on corals so I know what I want and what they need. And I am going to get a Green Mandarin Goby as soon as I have enough copepods for him. Besides a few more cleaners I do not want anymore fish at this time. When the tang does pass I will maybe get something suited to my setup.
 
triga22

triga22

Active Member
Ok. You do know that the anenome needs very strong light. It looks like you have a good plan. And dont be impatient with that mandrin they need a well established tank as well as alot of copeods. Anyways good job and cannot wait to the the tank finished. Im starting a 29 myself.
 
gypsana

gypsana

Active Member
I do know about the light for the anenome. Needless to say it is very happy at this point and time and is quite the eater. It has grown some since I picked it up about 2 months ago. My clown loves it as well. I plan on getting better lighting as soon as my tax return arrives.
And I do not plan on getting the goby for at least 6 months to a year.
 
beth

beth

Administrator
Staff member
Offer that yellow tank some algae sheets every day. Also, add a black background to your display.
Also, it looks like you need to add some powerheads. What are you using for water movement within the display?
What is your lighting?
 
gypsana

gypsana

Active Member
I mentioned my lighting above and plan up grades real soon. Why a black background?
I will start to give him more algae sheets. :happyfish I was only doing that occasionally. I do have a powerhead as well look in the picture it is the center. And it is quite strong enough I think for my tank size.
 
30-xtra high

30-xtra high

Active Member
don't say " when the tang passes on". you should put it in a qt, treat it for fin rot, and yes, feed it algae sheets. and when its all better give it to a fish store for a credit. why wait for a fish that is sick to get better if its gunna be stressed anyways in your tank and die?, please take my advise. if it gets stressed its more prone to ich, leading to an outbreak.
 
gypsana

gypsana

Active Member
It doesn't have fin rot anymore and he is healthy. I just mean when his time comes. You really like to jump the gun. I appreciate the help but please do not assume such matters.
 
rappa

rappa

Member
A black background is good because...
1 - It looks pretty cool
2 - It hides all the hideous wires, filters, ect... that are behind the tank.
 
maelv

maelv

Active Member
Originally Posted by Rappa
A black background is good because...
1 - It looks pretty cool
2 - It hides all the hideous wires, filters, ect... that are behind the tank.
Also camoflauges the powerheads an cables that you place in the tank as well....personal preference however...I painted mine a neptune blue color.....
Just another option instead of putting those laminated backgrounds on your tank...
 
05xrunner

05xrunner

Active Member
x2 on the black background.
here is my tank when it started no background

here it is now with black background
 
gypsana

gypsana

Active Member
Thanks for your help. I am going the lami route do to the tank is to hard to paint know. You think I would have thought of this working at a paint store. :hilarious Nice rock placement by the way. It is a cool change from the ordinary.
 
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