What to do with my tank now?

[texanangel]

Hello to everyone, I'm new here and thought I'd give the forums a try. I have had freshwater tanks my whole life, and now have my first saltwater tank. It has been running (after cycling, I don't count that part) since March 1st, the day all levels were perfect.
My tank:
56 gallons (I know, small, but all I could do)
Marineland Penguin 400 (I think it's that one, the one for 100gal)
Protein Skimmer (can't recall the name, it works well)
Heater
Coralife 50/50 light, also have a "Sunglo" light, using the 50/50 right now
Tetra Whisper Air Pump, with two outlets
Argonite sand (the live stuff, don't know how many lbs, but enough)
60 lbs live rock (figi), and thre separate barnacle clusters
10 blue-legged hermitcrabs
1 Serpent star (friend had to get rid of it, she moved)
1 Royal Gramma, named Rocco, love how much he stays out
1 Lawnmower Blenny, named Clipper, makes me laugh
Oh, and I do have a 30gal quarantine tank ready as well, both my fish spent a month in it. I have way too many tanks in my home...
So, I am looking for more fish. I will be adding a firefish, and perhaps a clown goby. I was wondering if I should look towards making this a reef tank, or just sticking with fish. Also, what inverts should I add? I know I need some more hermits and snails, but what about other crabs and shrimp?
Any advice would be helpful, and soon (when I find my blasted camera) I'll try to post some pics. Thanks!
Oh, and the live rock is sprouting feather dusters, is that normal? I had a friend id them, and they are feather dusters, not bristle worms. I was scared.

 

[floatingfish]

the feather duster are pretty normal. i had them sprout up as well. that sepent star could get around 14" and eat your fish if not fed, just keep it fed and you should be ok. i am not possitive but i dont think you should have an air pump in your tank. the "marine penquin" is that you powerhead or filter. just asking becuase that brand makes both. which ever it is you probably need the other. if you want the reef tank i would say start slow with the beginner corals and see how it goes. final question, how many watts are you running on the tank?

 

[tutak]

I'm in the same boat that you are. I used to have a 55 gallon saltwater tank. Now I have a 125 gallon salt tank. I want to do corals but it seems like a vast amount of knowledge that i don't know about. I really like inverdebretes. I have a sand star, brittle star, and a cucumber. They are really fun to watch. Right now i'm slowly making my way into the corals. Maybe you should start out with getting some cool invertebretes and see where it goes from there. Fish only is fun for a while but it gets boring. I like the real challenge of keeping the weird and cool stuff.

 

[floatingfish]

Texanangel, if your interested in either there are lots of suggestions that can be made. tutak, how do you like the upgraded size of you 125.

 

[ncoastconstceo]

Before you start making your way into reef tanks, you fisrt need to get a few bases covered. First is your lighting... You need 5+ watts of light per gallon of water. They make some nice retrofit lights with PC and MH in one unit. Second I would consider moving up to a wet/dry type of filter system. You can easily make one out of a 10+ gallon aquarium and some imagination. HOB filters will work to an extent but you'll end up with a build up of nitrates. Fish are much more tolerant of nitrates than corals are. Third I'd invest in a good quality protien skimmer, you can't go to big here.... I recommen stepping up th the next size larger than what is required for your tank. Coralife make a decent skimmer for around the 150.00 range. Reef tanks sound like a lot of trouble, but they are not bad once you learn what it takes. There are a lot of good threads here about them.. Read up and good luck!

 

[floatingfish]

I don’t think all of what you said is necessary. Filter with LR would be fine. Not every tank needs a big filter system. 5 watts per gallon is a pretty fair estimate to be able to keep most everything, some say that is on the low side but it depends on what you want to keep. You have a skimmer and that should be fine. Some people don’t even use them and have great success.

 

[texanangel]

Yeah, I was starting to get worried about the serpent star, but it will have a new home soon.
The Marineland is my filter, it's a bio-wheel. I have two power heads, but haven't used them yet, do I need to? Or is that only with corals? My tank has quite a water column and current, given the diminsions, (it's not a standard size).
And for lighting, I can have whatever I want, really. I have many light strips, each holds a different number, and I have enough bulbs to fill them all. I could have four light in one strip, the one more in a thin strip, for a total of 5 tubes. Like I said, I've got a lot of lights. They all seem to be 20watt, oh, except the Eclipse Natural Daylight one is 18 watt.
Questions:
1. With that added, what more do I need to do to make it ready to be a reef tank?
2. I want more inverts, are there any that are needed, or any that are just too cool to miss?
Thanks!

 

[floatingfish]

use your power head to eliminate dead spots in you tank. that will help prevent algea blooms. to get ready for a reef get all the necessary testing equitment. make sure you have sufficent light, flow, and filtering.

 

[texanangel]

Hmm...I haven't noticed any dead spots, but I'll look again. I got quite good at setting up freshwater tanks for people, and normally I don't need the power heads. Yet, I don't want to lose my saltwater tank for anything, so thank you for the information.
Anyone have any inverts info?

 

[puffer32]

You are gonna have to fill the top of your tank with more then those 20 watt bulbs you have laying around. Sounds like they are low output fixtures and you need high output lighting to keep a reef. Get your self some good T5 lighting or MH.
Inverts need salinity of around 124 or higher and require good stable water conditions. They are really fun to have and will do well, just make sure they are compatable with each other before adding. Get those powerheads turned on, SW tanks need a good flow.

 

[texanangel]

okay, I've got the powerheads working, and my Lawnmower Blenny absolutely loves riding the current. I can get higher watt lights, these are just the ones I have left over from freshwater tanks. My salinity has been a steady 1.023, so raising it won't be a problem. I think I'll start with inverts first, then expand into a reef system late in the summer. I never rush things with fish, I love them too much.
So, my question remains: What inverts should I add?
I know some fish are loaded with personality (like mine, or my freshwater/brackish amazon puffer) are there any inverts like that? Oh, and I'm pretty much against sea ccucumbers, bad childhood experience. I know that stars are really not the way to go, though I will set up a tank (210 gal) just for the blue one. So what crabs, shrimp, clams, etc. are best? Oh, and snails of course. I want to order some tonight/tomorrow, so any help would be appreciated.
Oh, and for the reef, is the actinic light good/bad for it? I found two higher watt lights when I searched the attic, and they're dual tubed, one white, one blue.
Thanks again, you guys are a gold mine of information.

 

[reefkprz]

I dont know if any one has mentioned it but eliminate the whisper air pump and stones. in marine tanks all they do is bring protiens to the surface and reduce aeration by glogging the surface of your water with the protiens increasing surface tension, using powerheads for turnover rate eliminates this.

 

[texanangel]

Ah, I didn't know that, thank you. That is easily done.
I really do appreciate (yeah, I'm using that word way too much) your help. The local stores are only good for either buying bad fish (closest one has ick on every saltwater fish!) or just want you to buy their service agreement. I'm getting into a local club, I know all about freshwater, but saltwater has been my dream, and I'm not going to blow it.

 

[kanicky]

Since it seems no one will answer your invertebrates question, I will

I absolutely love the Sexy Shrimp. We have a Coral-Banded Shrimp who is doing well and getting bigger by the week it seems, but he only really comes out when the Moonlight is on, and that makes him very boring. If you want some more social shrimp, definitely go with the Sexy or the Cleaner.
I'd suggest Emerald Crabs (we have two) although some may say that crabs are predators, but ours have been doing fine since we've had them...
As far as social fish go, I'll suggest my favorite- the Midas Blenny. Take a gander at my avatar- there's the face of one. Cute guy, isn't he?
My Midas is VERY social, not to mention beautiful. He is definitely King of the tank, always out and about. You'd fall in love on sight!
Well, there's my $.02

 

[puffer32]

My fav invert is my sexy shrimp also, not hiders like alot of inverts are. I would also suggest a shrimp/goby combo, interesting to watch them if they aren't hiders. My fav fish also is the midas blenny, and my jawfish. Both fun to watch and have personality
Acentic lighting is great, takes out alot of the yellow color that standard lighting produces, i would use them.
Acentic

 

[texanangel]

Thank you two for finally talking about inverts.
Question about the sexy shrimp (like, why name it that?) does it need an Anemone? My aquarium is fish only right now, I'm looking into making it a reef tank in the future, though it is stocked with live rock. Also, what size do they get to, how many can/should you keep, and what other shrimp could be added with one?
What about porcelin crabs? Sally Lightfoot? Boxing? Strawberry? I haven't even heard of the last two until I saw them for sale on this site.
Okay, serpent star is gone. And I have a new firefish in the QT, and Flicker's (the fish) doing great. I think I'll wait on the clown goby for my nano tank, and am now thinking of a sixline wrasse as a good showy fish. I also got 3 turbo snails and one urchin. My blenny is scared to death of the snails.
Question: with the three fish I have, what more can I add? I don't want to crowd my tank, but the sixline is showy. But then again, I will buy any goby or blenny someone suggests.

 

[puffer32]

Most crabs and shrimp do not stay out for viewing much, although my clraner shrimp thinks he is a fish, he stays out all the time, sitting on the PD or jumping over the rocks looking for fish to clean. He even molts in front of us. But alot of them hide much of the day. Sexy shrimp are called sexy cause the shake their booty at you when they are hungry, pretty comical. I have 1 in my 55 and no, they do not not need an anenome, but mine mostly hangs out with my bubble coral, but is visable all the time.
As for other fish, you don't want anything real aggressive if you are getting a FF, i would definetly make sure its the next fish you add so it can establish its territory before you put other fish in because they are pretty shy fish. I would have done the gramma last since they can be alittle aggressive, but maybe he will be ok, if not when you ad a new fish put the gramma in your QT tank, rearrange some rock work and let the FF settle in before reintroducing the gramma. Though my RG is not aggressive at all. How about a clown fish? Maybe a fairy wrasse, and of course a midas blenny. Down the road an angel might be good, again, one of the last to add.