HII new here and to salty fish

[bobby]

Dont use crushed coral it traps detrius and other garbage, go with arginite sand. I wouldnt use a canister they can cause a nitrate problem if not cleaned often, I would go with a hang on back with out bio wheels. Live rock is good the more the better, its a natural filter and food source for some fish. I would use only rock instead of ornaments but I dont think ornamates will hurt, unless they have metal on them. The clowns are good to put in after the tanks cycled, however, anemones shouldnt be put in a tank untill its 8 to 12 months old and your water is good and stable. You also need very high lighting for them. The blue body fish with a yellow tail is a damsel most are mean but you can get a nice one if your lucky, there cheap and can go with clowns. The dori fish is called a blue hippo tang, they can get up to 12. The inches long and need ALOT of room to swim prefferably atleast a 100 gal tank, if they dont get that room they will be very stressed and could get ich and most likely die, so that is a definet nono for your tank. The shrimp are good most anyway depending on what all you wan to keep, but you will need to dose iodine so they can molt (shed there exoskeleton). Before you buy anything if you havnt already done the research on the spesific fish post here what you want and we will do our best to help. Remember you have to add slow what for your cycle to end then add 1 to 2 fish every 3 to 4 weeks till your get your stock were you want it. Well good luck and post anymore questions you have.

[Massey]

The canister I am planning on using is basicly a sump system in a can. This one is not the circular filter like in a shop vacuum. I just came on the market a few days maybe a week or so ago and the Marineland website does not even have it listed yet.

Thank you for the advise on the Tangs and the anenome, my lfs has already told me about waiting for the tank to cycle and getting the nitrides and stuff all at low levels before getting the anenome but I didnt know about the lighting. I will post any questions I have as they come up. Oh and I have agrinite sand not the crushed coral I remember now the guy at the fs told me that it works better.

Massey

[JellyMan]

Yes you can do a 30 gal reef I am currently in the process of one all I have is 2 powerheads a hob filter (emperor 400) a hob skimmer, and your powerheads need to be rated 1200-1300 youll be fine Lights you can use a 30" pc lighting.
Sand as well as CC has there advantages and disadvantages, make sure you have enough live rock and look at what type of salt you are wanting to use there again they have there advantages and disadvantages. Your going to want to keep your tank at a stable temp between 78 and 82 Hope this helps.

[Massey]

OK here is what is going on now. I put about 20 lbs or so of Aragonite and a little colored sand for variety in the tank then I started adding water from a Deionizer/filter. The water has a white cloudyness to it now and I cant tell if it is air or what. I added seasalt. Water is circulated with a power head and the Marineland Multistage canister filter C-220. This is not the Magnum series nor does it even resemble them, it resembles a sump filter more than anything else. So will the cloudyness go away and what is it? and how soon could I start adding live rock and other life into the tank?

Massey

[Massey]

OK NVM about the cloudy water it went away this morning I went last night from not enough salt by alot to too much by alot. I have to take some out and add more fresh Oh well at least I am having a good time working with this new tank. I will keep ya all posted on my progress.

Massey

[Adrastos]

Hi Massey and welcome

As for filtration.. you can use your current setup if you have enough live rock (expensive). The live rock will act as the main filter for the tank. You might just need to add a powerhead or two for better current.

As far as lighting goes, for fish only you will only need an extra flourescent strip. For my Fish Only tank I had two strips.. one 14k one blue. These were the regular bulbs that you will find at a local petstore. Obviously these won't be good if you want to get anything other than fish.. but I ran my fish only tank for 4 years with it.

Best advice at the moment is to go to your local bookstore or library and look for a few good books. They will give you great information on requirements for upkeep, total size, what will go good with them...

[Adrastos]

I use a crushed coral substrate with no problems. My nitrate and nitrite levels have always been optimal... its more of an visual difference than anything. Those of us with CC substrates love them.. It's a nice look!

[Bifferwine]

Massey, you can add live rock anytime. If you add enough live rock now, it will start your cycle. Then you will have to wait for your cycle to complete before you can add a fish.

[Massey]

This may be a stupid question but, is is normal to have a little salt that kinda sits in the sand? I notice when I stir up my sand a little that some salt is kicked up and clouds the water again. I know that I put way too much in last night I drained about 5 gallons and replaced that with more fresh and the tank is almost clear again with the salt levels good on my hydrometer (1.022). I want to get some base rock and some live rock tomorrow if everything stays and looks good in the morning.

Massey

[Bifferwine]

It may take a little while for the salt to completely dissolve and that's nothing to worry about. You might want to get it up to 1.023 to 1.025 though, that's optimal. Live rock will be fine right now.