A new "Old Tank"

R

rollopac187

Reefing newb
Hey Folks, I've been reading a lot of good stuff from you all here. I have a few questions for you. I've had freshwater tanks for years but could never afford to voyage off into saltwater.
The Scenario: I'm being given a 70 or 75 gallon tank setup because a friend can't take it with him in a move. Th has been up and running for the better part of twelve years. Lot's of live rock in it, and a crushed coral floor. He hasn't spent much time on it in a little while, but it has been up and running. Not a ton of color in the rocks but I can fix that.
What I want to do first is change the CC to a sand bed. Any advice on this? Am I better off sticking with what's been in there this long?
I really want to put together a nice coral display, and if possible throw some anemonies into the scene. I really like zoanthids in particular. I know there a few different kinds of coral "families"-Hard corals, soft corals, sps, non-photosynthetic, etc. What do you reccommend with these? What can and can't go together?
I would like to keep a few fish in it as well. Would these critters live harmoniously together:? pair of clowns, 2 mandarin gobies/dragonettes(I've heard them called a few different names) maybe a dwarf angel a little later, don't really know about anything else yet(maybe seahorses down the road when I'm well seasoned. Are these fish compatible in a tank this size?
Lastly, I know I've read on-line to keep driftwood out of saltwater tanks, but if it makes any difference my driftwood has been in a freshwater tank for several years now. Probably doesn't matter though right?
Any advice is greatly appreciated. I am a patient person and am willing to take my time to do things correctly. Nevermind the fact that I don't have money to waste on doing things wronglyhttps://www.livingreefs.com/forums/images/smilies/skull.gif[/url]
:death:. thanks again
 
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Hi and welcome! First off, are there any animals in the tank right now, or is it empty?

To replace the crushed coral (which is a good move, in my opinion), I would do it a little at a time. It's going to be messy and it'll really cloud your water up! If you already have fish, don't worry, it won't hurt them, you just won't be able to see them for a few days.

I'd switch from CC to sand in a portion of the tank right before a water change once a week. That way you won't stir up TOO much gunk, but it'll take a little while to get the whole job done. I don't know what you might use -- a heavy duty strainer to scoop up the CC? Maybe someone else will weigh in here, I've never done it before.

I know I've seen people recommend just putting sand on top of the CC, that may be a better way to go, again it's worth seeing what others have to add.

With a 75 gallon you will have a lot of options as far as stocking with animals goes. That's a good size tank to start off with. To begin with, you might want to start with LPS and soft corals, they are easier to keep than SPS and anemones. But before you add corals, I'd suggest trying your hand at fish and other inverts such as starfish, shrimp, and crabs and if you can keep those alive, try some easy corals. Remember, corals and anemones have very specific lighting requirements, so you may need to buy new lights when you start adding those.

Mandarins can be very difficult to keep in a new tank. They are picky eaters and will usually only eat live food (amphipods and copepods). You can buy ones that have been "trained" to eat frozen food like mysis and brine. You should get one of those if you can, since mandarins commonly starve to death in tanks that are not established enough to provide them with an ample food supply.

A pair of clowns and a dwarf angel would be perfect, I think. Sea horses can be trickier and usually cannot be kept in tanks with other fish, since they will not be able to get to the food and they have different flow requirements... Usually they are kept in special sea horse only tanks, but I have seen them kept in reef tanks with other fish species, so it can be done, but I think you have to know what you're doing to keep them alive in a community tank.

As for the driftwood, I wouldn't put anything that you're unsure of into the tank. Freshwater tanks have different bacterial communities than saltwater tanks. It might be difficult to clean the driftwood too, since it is composed of an absorbent material. I'd be afraid that anything you use to clean it would soak in and later seep out into your tank... I just wouldn't do it.

Hope I can help a bit. Others will give their opinions too, I'm sure.
 
Hey, good to meet you.
This is just from personal expierence only you can do this or not, the only way your going to find out how to do it is expierement.

1) Yes, great idea on the transistion from CC to a Sb basic rule of thumb two lbs per gallon.

2) Softies 3-5 wpg stonies 5-8 wpg Anemones get a pre filter sponge for any intake valve you may have in your tank especially powerheads.

3) Powerheads the more the better the more current you have in your tank the more your corals and fish will love you it makes it harder for food and waste to get between the rocks and on the SB therefore saving your water Quality.

4) As Biff stated are There any Fish in there now??

5) what is the current lighting in there now?

6) Protien skimmer?

7) Sump/rerfugium cant stress this enough you dont need it but it will do wonders on your tank not to mention it hides everything else such as skimmers, filters etc. It not hard to create one, just get a smaller tank to go under you 75 and place live sand/rock/ and Saltwater plants run a line from one tank to the other.

8) I wouldnt go with the driftwood could very well be a bad move, I wouldnt do it. hope this helps if you have any other questions or concerns dont hesitate to ask.

Chris
 
Sorry forgot one thing dont go with dragonettes just yet check your available food source unless your fish store carries live pods if they do in that case by all means do so otherwise let your pod count build first I had a beautiful manderin and it died from lack of food source due to there choice of foods.
 
Thanks for the advice Bifferwine and JellyMan. Right now the tank has nothing living in it. Wouldn't the sand just go to the bottom if I placed it on top of the coral? It's a much finer grain. I really don't mind taking the time to remove the CC for sand from the get-go if it works. Yes, I understand the diet of mandarins. I planned on stocking well with amphipods and copepods before any fish. But you all definately reccomend fish before corals? I won't bother with the driftwood. The lighting I'm not exactly sure of, but I know he's kept corals in it before. I'll double check what I have when the time comes. I am in no hurry with the Seahorses. Maybe I'll never be ready for them. Just a thought. Also, from what I understand there is plenty of flow from the powerheads in the tank. I have a 10 gallon tank to use as a refugium, but to be honest I don't really understand what it is or what it does. Any further comments are welcome and greatly appreciated.
 
yes you can put the sand on top of the CC but I wouldnt reccomend it the CC holds nutrients detrimental to algae alot better than sand. As for fish before coral thats all on the eye of the beholder if you get a hardy enough coral and you understand how to raise them by all means go for it. Make sure you research your husbandry options and how to raise them and you should be fine as long as you have a large enough ammount of bacteria colonies and good water quality, and the right lighting you should do ok what are you wanting to keep??
 
JellyMan said:
As for fish before coral thats all on the eye of the beholder if you get a hardy enough coral and you understand how to raise them by all means go for it. Make sure you research your husbandry options and how to raise them and you should be fine as long as you have a large enough ammount of bacteria colonies and good water quality, and the right lighting you should do ok what are you wanting to keep??
Click to expand...
I don't really know what kinds I want to keep yet. LPS and soft corals are what Bifferwine recommends. I guess I will try them first. Any advice from you as to what are good starters? I like bright colored ones(guess that doesn't really narrow it down too much). I am brand new to saltwater so I will try do whatever people recommend.
 
well I have to say softies are my forte due to the waving and moving there is just something I like about it. My advice is to get a coral book that has husbandry and care lvls and go from there I can name of corals but if you dont know anything about them it wont do you any good :) hope this helps you in your quest.
 
ok what exactly are you wanting in your tank corals that wave, corals that dont move, corals with tentacles give me a slight description of what your wanting.
 
I really have a preference for corals that look "alive." But I also want to mix it up a little. I'm looking for stuff with an "awe factor." Does that make any sense?
 
I suggested keeping fish before adding corals because fish are a lot easier to keep than corals, so if you are successful with them, you can be more confident that you are able to progress to more "challenging" animals. Fish don't have as strict water quality or lighting requirements, so with my tank I had fish, snails, crabs, shrimp and starfish only for about 6 months and when I was sure I had no problem keeping those alive, I moved up to corals. Corals can be expensive, it may take a little while before you get the hang of your tank's needs in order to keep conditions right for them.
 
If you want corals that look "alive" then i would got with LPS corals. They tend to have long tenticles that will collect the food out of the water column like peices of shrimp and the like. they will also change sizes based on the time of day and lighting. I have a pinkish purple bubble coral that will range in size from a galf ball at night to the size of a soft ball at around 130 in the after noon. Also with LPS, compact flourecents are adequet no need for halides.

Brian
 
One of the easiest corals to keep is Xenia sp. It's a soft coral and is very pink and has long arms with little "fingers" on the end that appear to grab at the water. They grow fast and can reproduce nicely. Best of all, at my LFS they run $5 a branch -- very cheap. I'd recommend you get one of these to start with. Xenia sp. is very hardy and does not have as strict light or water requirements as other corals. Cool looking too. They will grow big if you take care of them.
 

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