Want some opinions please (besides my husbands!)

[rackyrane]

:help: Hi everyone!
A bit of background here--sorry about the long post.
My husband has years of saltwater experience and I have just kind of watched his tank and convinced him to buy stuff at times. His tank always looks great and he has great success with his fish and corals.
I have resisted for a long time, but recently a sweet deal fell into my lap and now I am hooked. I have always had freshwater tanks, but when one of my coworkers told me about an 110 gal tank with stand, canopy, fluorescent light strip, sump, heater with fish for $500, I could not resist. There were the following fish included in the deal:
1 - purple tang
1- brown tang (I think)
1 damsel
1 bicolor blenny
1 pajama cardinal
a mated pair of clown fish.
2 hermit crabs
I know, I know, you shouldn't keep more than one tang in a tank, but I bought the set up with the fish already living in it. They seem to get along well and don't bother any of the other fish. The damsel is pretty cool too and doesn't bother anyone else. I recently added a bta for the clowns but they don't pay it any attention.
Just added 35 pounds of LR with plans to added at least 60 more. There was approximately 50# of LS included with the tank.
I think I have enough fish, but would like to add some others if feasible. Any thoughts on this and what should I add?
I think I need more cleaners, what do you think?
Also, I want to add some zoos, maybe some xenias or other easy corals. Any ideas about good ones to add?
Should I get VHO lights or MH? I may be able to get some good VHO's for $300--is that too much?
Thanks all!

 

[grubsnaek]

as for the live rock 1-2 pounds is recommended.
as for the fish there are options.
as for the cleaners some snails and more hermits will do well with the live rock.
as for the corals depends on if you want to SPS or LPS or softies. really depends on the level of care u intend to input.
as for the light also depends on what corals you want. if what u stated is what you will max out on then yes VHO lighting will be fine. just make sure you have enough wattage. and i strongly recommend reflectors for them. you price is alittle high, you can get everything you need from the ballast to the actual bulbs on the bay for around 235.00-265.00.
i hope i helped in anyway.

 

[rackyrane]

Wow! thanks for the quick reply.
I thought $300 might be a bit much.
I am not sure if I want to keep sps--I may in the future but I want to get a lot more experience under my belt before trying those guys.
I was afraid to get any snails because I don't have much algae and I don't want them to starve to death.
I plan on going very slow. I have read alot of books and numerous posts here, so I know slow is best.

 

[tnn1567]

I don't see why not. I tend to add a lot. I recently added four baby palani tang, 1 purple tang, 1 atlantic blue tang, 1 lawnmower, 3 black and white percular, and 3 x-large dussumieri tang. My total come out to be 23 tangs and 18 other various fish.
You should go with MH, good for both lps and sps. Try getting the 14k which has a nice color. By the way, I invested all my money in the equipment first before I started to add a lot of fish.
I would go with the ozonizer which converts the ammonia to nitrite then nitrate. Then I would purchase an aquipure denitrator which remove the nitrate. The denitrator is one of the best investment I ever made.

 

[grubsnaek]

wow hes def a hard core hobbyist. please dont think you have to go out a buy them. they were very good equipment things that were stated tho.

 

[mbx5]

For lights I would look into T5. MH is great but in the long run I think T5's are the way to go. Seems like more and more people are running them with good results even on full SPS tanks. Do you have a skimmer on the tank? What kind? With good skimming I would say a few more fish would be ok.

 

[teresaq]

Hi and Welcome. Congrats on your tank. A couple of firefish, or a nice fariey wrasse would look nice in your tank. add a little red.
Good Luck
Teresa

 

[craig7220]

I agree that $300 for the VHO bulbs and ballast is alittle high... But if they are incased in a custom Oak Hood, they it might be a bit low....

 

[who dey]

Originally Posted by craig7220
I agree that $300 for the VHO bulbs and ballast is alittle high... But if they are incased in a custom Oak Hood, they it might be a bit low....
may not be high depending on which ballast brand it comes with. My icecaps set up was $$$$$$$$$$$

 

[craig7220]

Yep, I paid a small fortune for my icecaps....

 

[who dey]

Originally Posted by craig7220
Yep, I paid a small fortune for my icecaps....
u get what u pay for though!!!! I beginning to believe they're bulletproof!!!

 

[craig7220]

I guess a good question would be what is included in the $300 for the VHO lights? What type of ballasts, how many bulbs are running and is it just a cheapo type of enclosure or something else. Are there any exhaust fans included?

 

[fender]

Still have the BTA? Planning on another anemone? Get better lighting soon. I am partial to metal halides myself.

 

[rackyrane]

Thanks everyone!
Wow, great looking tank tnn1567!
Right now I have my husbands old skilter running but I am looking to get a good skimmer ASAP. Have been lurking here reading skimmer posts and can't decide what's the best one to get.
Thanks Teresa. Fairy wrasse are really neat looking. I will do some research on them and firefish---I looked at pictures of both and both would be great with my other fish.
As for the lights, I will have to check and see if the ballast is included. I know that the lights are not in a nice canopy--they were retrofitted by my coworkers husband. Will get the rest of the details, but it sounds like I better grab some T5's or MH's for what I want to do long term.
I just got the BTA from a friend here. She can't seem to stop them from splitting. She started off with 1 and now has about 9 of them crawling all over her tank.
No more anemones any time soon. I was going to wait on the bta but my friend wanted to give me a gift so Blimpy has a new home!
Thanks for all the replies. You guys are awesome. :joy:

 

[craig7220]

I think I know the lights you are talking about, Icecap ballasts, 4 VHO bulbs, large exhaust fan all mounted in finished oak hood. I probably could even give you the measurements.... Is your co-worker's initials LE?
I think a combination of MH and VHO lights are the way to go. I know I want to have some stony corals and they just don't fair well under VHO's, at least that has been my experience.
Good luck with your tank.... this hobby sure is expensive but also very rewarding... after a hard day at work, I just veg out in front of my tank. works wonders on the frayed nerves.

 

[rackyrane]

Craig,
Are you psychic or what!??? How did you know the initials were LE? Have you seen the fixture in question?
I hope to get my tank up to the state where I can veg in front of it. For now, it's pretty bare.

 

[craig7220]

Not so much psychic but I do know LE very well....LOL I know the guy that built that hood, its made out of OAK with a dark oak finish, four 48inch VHO bulbs, URI VHO ballasts made by Icecap, 4 inch exhaust fan from Radio Shack. The hood has fancy trim all the way around and the top is hinged allowing it to be flipped up for access to the tank. When you get time, just ask LE who I am.... She knows me very will also, sometimes I think better than I do....