Trying to Plan For a HEALTHY Tank

[dad&son]

We have a 55 G tank with 40 live sand and 45 lbs live rock cycling for about 5 days now.all waters paramaters are increasing as expected from what I have read on here,with the exception of salinity and specific gravity which seems to have remained constant. I plan on adding 10 to 15 lbs more well cured live rock tommorow to the tank to finish off the reef( for now). I have also added approx 6 oz of liquid bacteria the LFS owner gave me when I got the rock. I am assuming it will be a good 4-6 weeks before I can add anything else to the tank and I will only add when everything is at its proper level (pH,NH3/NH4,NO2and NO3) The tank also has a skimmer hang on filter and 3 250 gph power heads and one 180 rotating power head. a 10k light and another reg fish tank hood bulb. These are my questions
1. What can I safley add first to my tank , coral anenomies,mushrooms, a cleaner crew and is there and order they should be added.
2. I am assuming I will want to add my fish after all of my corral and other living things are added.
3. If and when I do add anenomies which are safe for a tank my size and relativley easy care and low aggresiveness.
4. what corals would be compatible with my set up
5. On the live rock presently in the tank some are partially covered by a mustard colored hard scale light substance and some are also covered by a very pastel green colored scale is this good. on other parts of the rock are small tiny "broclli" shaped red sprigsabout a 1/16 to an1/8 of an inch in height are
these all normal and or safe.
I appreciate all of your feedback on this aswell as any other suggestions you might have as how to make this a healthy tank. I just want to make sure I do things in the right order to avoid killing something out of stupity.

 

[swnewb]

1. Cleaning crew first, fish second, corals a way distant third. You need a well established tank before adding corals.
2. No, add them second.
3. Don't know.
4. Again, I don't know.
5. Yes it is good. This is what you are shooting for.
Another idea, if you have not gotten your cured LR yet, I would hold off until your tank is cycled. Reason being, if you add it during the cycle, you may likely kill any goodies that may be in the rock. Waiting until the tank is cycled and those critters will survive and be great additions to your tank. Just my opinion.

 

[dad&son]

even with the present rock only being in there for 5 days ,I can disrupt the cycle that much ,it also is comming from the same LFS as the previous LR did just waited to get a better idea of what size and shape pieces I would need. ANd thanks again for your input

 

[dad&son]

After thinking about your poist concerning adding the rock and killing any "hitch hikers I relized you were saying the rock and growth wont get hurt but anybody going along for the ride will be killed by the elevated ammonia and nitrite levels,
Right?

 

[swnewb]

Originally posted by dad&son
After thinking about your poist concerning adding the rock and killing any "hitch hikers I relized you were saying the rock and growth wont get hurt but anybody going along for the ride will be killed by the elevated ammonia and nitrite levels,
Right?
Correct. The rock, algae and bacteria won't be affected, but things such as corals, polyps, crabs, worms, ect. may be harmed if added during the cycle. If you are not concerned about those things, then go ahead and add, it won't hurt the rock itself.

 

[lion_crazz]

Originally posted by dad&son
1. What can I safley add first to my tank , coral anenomies,mushrooms, a cleaner crew and is there and order they should be added.
2. I am assuming I will want to add my fish after all of my corral and other living things are added.
3. If and when I do add anenomies which are safe for a tank my size and relativley easy care and low aggresiveness.
4. what corals would be compatible with my set up
5. On the live rock presently in the tank some are partially covered by a mustard colored hard scale light substance and some are also covered by a very pastel green colored scale is this good. on other parts of the rock are small tiny "broclli" shaped red sprigsabout a 1/16 to an1/8 of an inch in height are
these all normal and or safe.
Sounds like you have a nice set-up going. Here are my answers to your questions.
1. Like stated, the clean-up crew goes in as soon as the tank is cycled. It will take about 4 to 6 weeks. After that, you may start adding very hardy fish to the tank. Only put corals in there about 1 month or two after the tank has cycled. Also, anemones should not be added to the tank until 6 months after it has established. This is always a good idea too if you plan to get a clownfish with him, because clownfish can be quite territorial and this will give you a chance to get fish that are pretty peaceful first.
2. No, fish will be added first, then your corals. Make sure that if you are definitely going to do corals, you do not add any triggers, groupers, puffers, or wrasses (unless it is a fairy wrasse). Also, be cautious with angels and butterflies.
3. Good anemones are bubble tip anemones and sebae anemones. Carpets tend to be pretty aggressive, long tentacles are not lived in by many clowns, and rose bubble tips tend to move a lot, in my experience. Like I said, you want to add an anemone 6 months after your tank has been established.
4. I do not know what kind of lights you have, and how many watts they are? Are they power compact? VHO? And how many watts are the lights total?
5. Everything on your rock sounds normal. Just let it take its normal route and cycle your tank out. When adding the new cued 15 lbs., do not worry about your current rock. I got all my rock in my tank very ugly and brown but now it is beautiful shades of purple and green. It will grow with what you add to the tank and your water conditions.

 

[dad&son]

:happyfish Thanks for your very informative reply. As far as the lights go they are florecent 48 inches in length and one came with the light the other tube I purchased seperatley it is a 10 k ?. Also if you dont mind me askng the lfs where I purchased everything advised me to keep the lights on continuosley until I start to add fish when the tank has cycled. what is the reason for this?

 

[lion_crazz]

No, you want to keep the lights OFF until you get anything in the tank. You are just promoting unwanted alage growth with the lights being out. Also, make sure you have a timer for your lights when you do eventually start to get fish. It is always best to have your fish on a consistent day/night cycle. Messing up their biological clock can stress them out, just like it would stress out a human.
Did you pay anything extra for the lights that you got for the tank or are they standard flourescent bulbs? Also, what is the wattage of each bulb? The 10k just tells me what color light they shine.

 

[dad&son]

the additional bulb I paid i think 20-25 dollars for it is marked f-36 t8 bp and its made by coral life andis stamped super daylight the other bulb is an natural daylight f 40 t 10 by eclipse.

 

[lion_crazz]

Well, I am sorry to inform you but in order to keep corals and anemones, you may have to pay up to about $200 to upgrade your lighting for that tank...
You will want to upgrade to a light fixture that can provide you with at least 4 watts per gallon of Power Compact, but if you really want to go all out, get a VHO (very high output) fixture that can give you 4-6 watts per gallon.

 

[snipe]

a T-8 is a normal ouput flourescent bulb. It wont be good for mutch only polyps, shrooms and some zoos.

 

[dad&son]

thanks for taking the time to answer my questions and point me in the right direction looks like I will be falling short 160 watts or so thanks again

 

[edwar050]

I have the same lighting you have and not using them, the t 8's at max are 80 watts and I wouldnt reccommend getting any corals escept possilby mushrooms. You probably would be best off with power compacts, 4 bulbs - 65 watts each, its what i have on my 55. You need to be thinking about each individual fish you put in your 55. You can only really put a max of 5 - 7 small fish in there without a sump/skimmer or other advanced filtration techniques. I would reccomend a couple of chromis, an angel like a flame or coral beauty. when your tank is cycled a month or so, I would add a really good cleanup crew with nassarius snails, turbo snails, a serpent star, 10 scarlet hermits, and two three peppermint shrimp and possibly a cleaner shrimp. Then I would wait another week or so and add three green chromis or blue reef chromis. From that I would wait another two weeks and then add a juvinile angelfish like stated above. From there I would wait at least a month or until I found a really nice pair of ocellaris clowns, one big clown and one small clown, indicating male/female. All these fish are easy to keep and have great personalities. Your coraline might do well on your rocks for a while without having to upgrade to power compact lighting 200$. If you go in this order you will set up the stage for having a really complete aquarium if you thus decide to upgrade to a possibly sump, and advanced lighting for the keeping of corals and anenomies. You can change the ammount of times in between adding fish if you feel like you want to be more carful- take more time, but please don't overstock or add to many fish to fast, or you will most likely have wicked algae. It sounds like your doing the right thing, be sure not to buy fish on impulse. Some things to stay away from in REEF TANKS for you for now would be lionfish, cleaner wrasse, mandarin dragonette, moray eels, puffer fish except possibly hawaian or valentini, basselets, butterflies, groupers, tangs and triggers. You can add various fish within these species but they will most likely take up alot of space, or pose a threat to a peaceful coexisting reef.

 

[snipe]

mandarin dragonette, basselets, butterflies, tangs and triggers. I would have to disagree with these fish they would be good reef fish you would just have to make sure there good for your size tank and if they are reef safe.
cleaner wrasse as for this one Im not for sure.

 

[edwar050]

snipe, i know some of these fish are good, im just trying to give him an idea for a general outline, he appears to be new to saltwater fish. You can mix aggressives and reefs and semi aggressives. Its alot easier to go with the safe bet though. Look at this site, many butter flies are not reef safe, although some are like the copperband. A mandarin dragonet for someone who is new in a 55 is a death trap if you dont have pods, you will starve it to death most likely, bassalets tend to be semi agressive and would go well with many types of damsels and possibly clowns, and most tangs get to be to large for a noobie like the naso and blue hippos, and tangs need plenty of swimming room. Yeah you could put two tangs in a 55, although why not add 5-7 chromis, and if you really want tangs get a 75 or 90 gallon. Saltwater fish also states that most triggers are not reefsafe. Granted snipe, every individual fish has its own personality but why take the risk? Another fact, you can't fit to many large fish in a 55 gallon tank for long extened periods of time unless you have wicked filtration or dont care about algae and the health of your fish.
Cleaner wrasse are one of the most difficult species to keep in captivity, lost mine in a month-
I was just trying to stear him away from making a overstocking mistake that many new people make, what do you have in your 55 snipe?

 

[snipe]

I dont think you could keep 2 tangs in a 55 you cant keep any tangs if a 55.

 

[dad&son]

Thanks for the feedback guys