What will I need

[katchy]

Hello, I am very new here, I have been lurking in the background though, reading and absorbing info. :notsure:
I have a 55 gal tank cycling with 20 lbs of live Caribbean Rock on an 1.5 inch depth of oolite sugar fine sand.
We plan on going with fish and a few invertebrates - no coral
I have tap water and I use Tetra Aqua Safe
(No big LFS close I live near the Outer Banks you would think there would be tons of them)
I use Instant Ocean Salt Mix
I use ph8.2
Millennium 3000 Power Filter
Penguin 170 Bio Wheel
Aqua Tech Power Head ( 170 gph)
I plan on going to Wal Mart on Tuesday and get another one
I ordered a Sea Clone 100 Protein Skimmer - it will be here Wed
I use the Saltwater Master Liquid Test Kit from API
I ordered a Calcium and Iodine Test Kit and a Phosphate Kit
I am unsure of the brand of heater - 300w
I am using the regular 18 inch 15w All Aquarium Florescent Lights (2) that came with the aquarium.
I ordered the 18 inch 15w Full Spectrum Aqua Ray bulbs
Umm not sure what else you need to know on the mechanicals
Ok now that I have told ya'll what I have, I have a few questions:
:help:
What will I need for a clean up crew?
The packages I see online have prob more critters than I need
Would a Sally Lightfoot Crab be compatiable with a Chocolate Chip Starfish?
Which is the best a Cleaner Shrimp or a Peppermint Shrimp - how many would I need?
Which snails and hermits are the best?
What are some good "beginner" fish? I have read enough to know that Damsels are greedy lil fishes - they want the whole tank !!! I would like to get a Goldenhead Sleeper Goby, any ideas?
Geesh so many questions and I still have maybe 3 more weeks of cycling to go, but I am trying to figure out what I need and do research on critters -such as their habits - diets- etc...The same way with fish, I believe I can only add 1 or 2 fish at a time to not overload my system.
This means several trips to Virginia yahoooo!!!!!
Ok enough of my rattling - if someone could please steer a newbie in the right direction I would appreciate it.
Thank You In Advance

 

[ray28576]

Originally Posted by katchy
Hello, I am very new here, I have been lurking in the background though, reading and absorbing info. :notsure:
I have a 55 gal tank cycling with 20 lbs of live Caribbean Rock on an 1.5 inch depth of oolite sugar fine sand.
We plan on going with fish and a few invertebrates - no coral
I have tap water and I use Tetra Aqua Safe
(No big LFS close I live near the Outer Banks you would think there would be tons of them)
I use Instant Ocean Salt Mix
I use ph8.2
Millennium 3000 Power Filter
Penguin 170 Bio Wheel
Aqua Tech Power Head ( 170 gph)
I plan on going to Wal Mart on Tuesday and get another one
I ordered a Sea Clone 100 Protein Skimmer - it will be here Wed
I use the Saltwater Master Liquid Test Kit from API
I ordered a Calcium and Iodine Test Kit and a Phosphate Kit
I am unsure of the brand of heater - 300w
I am using the regular 18 inch 15w All Aquarium Florescent Lights (2) that came with the aquarium.
I ordered the 18 inch 15w Full Spectrum Aqua Ray bulbs
Umm not sure what else you need to know on the mechanicals
Ok now that I have told ya'll what I have, I have a few questions:
:help:
What will I need for a clean up crew?
The packages I see online have prob more critters than I need
Would a Sally Lightfoot Crab be compatiable with a Chocolate Chip Starfish?
Which is the best a Cleaner Shrimp or a Peppermint Shrimp - how many would I need?
Which snails and hermits are the best?
What are some good "beginner" fish? I have read enough to know that Damsels are greedy lil fishes - they want the whole tank !!! I would like to get a Goldenhead Sleeper Goby, any ideas?
Geesh so many questions and I still have maybe 3 more weeks of cycling to go, but I am trying to figure out what I need and do research on critters -such as their habits - diets- etc...The same way with fish, I believe I can only add 1 or 2 fish at a time to not overload my system.
This means several trips to Virginia yahoooo!!!!!
Ok enough of my rattling - if someone could please steer a newbie in the right direction I would appreciate it.
Thank You In Advance
1. Welcome to the message boards.

2. You will need around 10-20 hermits, I prefer bluelegs. Maybe 2-3 turbo snails. 2-3 emerald crabs. That should be fine to start out with.
3. A SLF crab should be fine with a CC star, but I would wait to add a star, they need established tanks. About six months is what I suggest.

4. I prefer cleaner shrimp. 3 would be good in a 55. They like to live in groups.
5. I think the best starter fish, (besides damsels) are clowns. 2 Percs would look great in a 55 IMO. Clown gobies are really neat, but are really small. When you get ready for a good show fish, I would suggest a flame angel. :happyfish
6. Anymore questions, ask as soon as you have them, it is never to early to do research.

We at the message boards are glad to answer any question you have. Have fun and good luck. :joy:

 

[ray28576]

Oh yeah. I don't know if you know this yet or not, but don't add to much live stock at one time. It can cause a bio overload.

 

[saltn00b]

i would say probably 10-20 atlantic turbos, maybe 2 mexican turbos, and maybe 2 emerald crabs.
arrow head crabs are a really cool addition to FOWLR tanks and do a great job cleaning up.
i would also suggest you getting rid of the bio wheel, and investing in either a wet / dry, or a sump or sump/refugium set up for a huge variety of reasons. Ray gave good advice.
remember - take it slow, learn with your mind so you dont pay with your wallet.
dont jump ahead of yourself and start throwing in tangs and overstocking.
i dont have much experience with those water additives but i heard they arent great, you really want to find a big hardware or grocery store that sells Ro or RO/DI water. its your best bet.
good luck, ask questions, read up.

 

[saltn00b]

also set up at least a 10 gallon qt tank so you can safely add new fish. follow all the rules and dont cut the qt periods short, i have learned the hardway about that twice.

 

[katchy]

Thank You for the information and the warm welcome
Me thinks I need to get a dictionary, I have found that Saltwater Hobbyists have a different language

I do have a 10 gal tank that my turtle outgrew - I got her a 20 gal so the 10 gal is in the attic, can I just put a lil substrate in the bottom along with a Whisper filter and heater? Along with the saltwater of course. Does it have to cycle as well? Sorry if these questions are dumb, but it seems like to me it would have to cycle, but would prob take less time? I could set it up now with a piece of rock from my 55 gal - I have a small piece, to cycle the 10 gal?
I read about the drip acclimation period for new inhabitants, but I get confused because they say to add invertebrates a few at a time but if a person bought a "Package Deal" online, and did not have a quarratine tank, then it would throw a person's system out of balance adding all those critters?
Same way with buying fish online, if you have to pay shipping you would want to get more than 1 or 2 fish .... geesh, I getting headache thinking about all this.
Sorry for rambling and Thank You
Thank You Ms ( Mr) Salt for the help. I appreciate it very much
I did not know about adding more rock causing a "bio - load" but after seeing how much room 20lbs of rock is taking, I am not sure I want to put anymore in. It looks like the fishes will not have any room to swim. lol lol lol
I keep looking at my rock and telling people what pretty rock I have in my tank and they look at me like I lost my marbles

It is hard for some people to understand

I am waiting patiently(ok - impatiently) to see if any "critters" come crawling out from behind the rock, and I heard that Bristle Worms are bad as well as that Mysis Shrimp, so hopefully I will not see them
Thank You again for your info Mr Ray

 

[ray28576]

Originally Posted by katchy
Thank You for the information and the warm welcome
Me thinks I need to get a dictionary, I have found that Saltwater Hobbyists have a different language

I did not know about adding more rock causing a "bio - load" but after seeing how much room 20lbs of rock is taking, I am not sure I want to put anymore in. It looks like the fishes will not have any room to swim. lol lol lol
I keep looking at my rock and telling people what pretty rock I have in my tank and they look at me like I lost my marbles

It is hard for some people to understand

I am waiting patiently(ok - impatiently) to see if any "critters" come crawling out from behind the rock, and I heard that Bristle Worms are bad as well as that Mysis Shrimp, so hopefully I will not see them
Thank You again for your info Mr Ray
20lbs isn't a whole lot for a 55gl. I have 60-70lbs of LR in my 30gl.

You may want to get some more, it is a great filtration system. Bristle worms aren't bad IMO, some people may say they are though. If you take Salts advice and get an arrow crab, then you willl want bristle worms because they love to eat them.

Can you take pics of your tank and post them. I would like to see it. :joy:

 

[saltn00b]

lol Mr salt - no need to be so formal here
yea just set up the 10g now and it will cycle. you can start with 5g of your display tanks water next time you were going to do a water change. then 5g fresh saltwater. put a very thin layer of sand, just enough to cover the bottom, and the LR you put in it you coould borrow from your tank as well, and then put it back. there shouldnt be any LR in a qt. put in PVC pipes for places to hide, you can find plenty on this stuff in the archive section.
i have never had a problem introducing vast amounts of inverts to a tank, they dont affect bio load.