56 Gallon Tall - Beginner Status

R

Ramen Rubber

Reefing newb
Hey gang.
I have been absent for a long time. Back when I joined I had a 40ga Tall that I wanted to do seahorses with but I'm new to salt and I didn't want it to be too overwhelming. I also didn't want t set it up when I knew I had to move in like 7 months. I just got into my next place and I got a new tank and I got everything setup. Its pretty simple, and I am trying to go slow, and be patient, but its hard. Tank is a 56ga tall, nice stand. Found it at a TrueValue store, only 280. I really only wanted the stand, but he wanted 220 just for the stand. Then my buddy hooked me up with a Fluval 207 canister filter, and HOB protien skimmer, crushed coral base, and some old rock and dried coral pieces. I then hit up the LFS and got a powerhead, rated for like 125ga tank, 20lbs of live sand, 30lbs of over decade old established live rock, a fluid type water test kit, and fluval salinity tester. Rocks had a hermit crab and some star fish on it. At this point I am waiting for the water stats to come out right to add in some fun stuff.










 
I would change out the crushed coral now before you have a bunch of other stuff in there. The sand is going to fall to the bottom and the crushed coral will end up on top turning into a gigantic crap trap, causing endless water quality issues.

Also the canister filters dont work well in saltwater tanks, you are far better served to just do regular water changes with the aid of protein skimmer.

Finally, the hydrometers are notorious inaccurate, and I highly recommend investing in a refractometer.

The live rock looks beautiful though, very nice coraline growth.
 
Thanks for the input Fish. I am not sure what you mean about ditching the filter. as in, go no filter period? I will consider the sand thing. The buddy that gave me the coral sand and filter had a good looking take for about 1 year before it just crashed.

And mario, if you are talking free, I'll take the trip and pick it up.
 
Yep, just taking room. The filter is bad idea for saltwater. They make nitrates horribly, probably why your testing so high. Personally ive never seen all stats off the charts. The sump will be great for you instead of that canister
 
I would suspect that the filter and crushed coral were contributors to your friends tank crashing, I would not repeat that mistake.
 
So I have observed some odd stuff going on in the tank. Water stats have moved as expected. Everything is coming down, however my live rock is getting very white. I have seen some of the redish/brown (diatoms?) that is apparently normal when you start a tank with tap water. I have also seen a pretty good growth in green algae. Only thing I have in the tank is a little hermit crab that came on the rock. He cleans the rocks like 20 hours a day, poor little guy. I need to know what my next move should be? I know some people have said that when you get the diatoms or redish/brown stuff to just leave the water as is and it will clear more quickly. Any guesses as to what is sapping the color from my rock? I also have a few small growths that started recently. They are small round, white balls, and are segmented like a raspberry. My friend with a little more experience thought they might be frogspawn growths. Check the pics below and let my know what everyone thinks.






 
The white growths are harmless sponges.

The areas of your rock that are turning white, did they used to be purple (coraline)? It can lose it's color if it's exposed to air. It'll come back, though.
 
Just so you know, they are horribly aggressive lol. Pretty much anything that comes in next, there is a chance he might harass it. They get fairly large too. Nice pick up either way, just make sure you don't get any sensitive fish that don't handle bullying too well with him in there haha :p
 
Well, tangs for certain! But that's only cause the length of your tank :p.
Realistically, just make sure you do research on any fish before you get them. Also, ask on here for peoples opinions and advice too. But, just make sure that they aren't sensitive to bullying, causing Ich or Fungal infections or anything like that.

Clownfish, and other Damsels are good additions. They can hold their own pretty well. Wrasses, like the sixline, would be good additions. Lots of stuff you can still add :)
 
Well things may have gotten out of hand...











OK so here is the story. BASICLY...my wife picked all the fish and I was given an eel. I went to get a couple crabs came home twice with fish gallore.
Tank inhabitants now include:
1 hermit crab
1 cleaner shrimp
1 porcelin crab
1 anenome crab
2 emerald crabs
1 lg Black Domino Damsel
1 Sm/Md Sailfin Tang (not my pick)
1 Spotted puffer (not my pick)
1 Scooter blenny
ANND 1 One Foot long Snow Flake eel.

I picked a few things but my wife picked most of it. She got really excited at the LFS and kept telling the person to bag stuff up. I know the tang is a somewhat agressive fish. They had a few tense moments but now everyone gets along fine. They actually all swim together nicely most of the day. The eel was a return, it out grew a tank or something and so my buddy at the LFS said if i wanted it, it was free. I felt bad for the fish as he had been there a while and he was pretty cool, so I took him. One of the big rocks I have is actually hollow through the center and my friend that gave it to me had an eel that lived in it. The snowflake search for about 6 hours, digging holes and finding new spots until he located a way into the big rock and made that his home. I could use some advice on food for this hodgepodge of animals? I haven't really seen the eel eat. what is he eating?
 
Please slow down. It's a bad idea to add that many fish to your tank at once. The puffer should be fine in your tank, but I'm concerned about the others. That tang needs a much bigger tank, the scooter (which is actually akin to a mandarin, not a blenny) needs an established pod population to survive, and the eel will munch your inverts and possibly small fish that you add after him.

Spouses/significant others/kids getting excited about our hobby is a good thing, but everyone needs to understand the limitations of the tank.
 
+1 to erin the scooter may eat some frozen brine or mysis shrimp but no guarantee the are a slow eater that likes to spend its day hunting for pods and remember take it slow you will have better luck with your tank and you can buy pods as well to put in your tank to make sure the scooter has food and imho you should do if you want to keep it. and the tang needs 180 gal tank as it can grow over a foot long
 
The tang won't get that big any time soon though right? I do plan to eventually go big with another tank. How long can I keep these guys in here? I could setup another tank, that wouldnt be a huge deal. I would just as soon not move two tanks next year though. If I can keep everyone together untill I buy a house, i would. I will get some pods for the scoots, he eats a lot of the stuff the others leave behind and I am already feeding frozen cubes as well as some pellets. everyone seems to be eating well except the eel. The Domino was mean to him when i put them together but the eel just ignored him until he found his holes.
And maybe I'm alone on this, but I dont really care if the eel eats the inverts. Its the way of the world in my mind, not trying to be cruel to the fish or anything. I wasn't really concerned about it. Are you saying I should be?
 
I would be. Those inverts are what clean your tank. When you stuff a tank full of fish, they get stressed. With stess comes ich, and dead fish. If you get lucky, that eel will die first and your inverts will be able to clean it up. What happens if something dies when you go to work? Now you have no chance of getting it cleaned up and your stats will be out the window with those big fish in there. You are pushing your absolute limits with that tank and are going to be very unhappy with the results. There is a learning curve in this hobby and your gonna find out finacially. I offered you a free complete sump for your tank and a rodi. I spent 400 bucks on it allowing you to enjoy the hobby, sounds more like man slaughter to me. Good luck with your tank. :-)
 

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