cincinnati newbie

[tuefel]

just started my tank in the begging of march. its a 26g bowfront that used to freshwater. me and my wife bought a house so i figured i could finally do a marine tank. of course didnt do any research till i started but ive always learned the hard way. so far have just live rock in my tank and a emperor 400 biowheel filter but will be getting a skimmer shortly and a submersible heater.

hoping to one day have a clown or 2 and a mandarin and possibly a tiger goby but im not sure if my tank is big enough for the tiger. this is going to be fish and live rock tank.

any suggestions on equipment or fish would be greatly appreciated.
also if anyone has any idea what this is in the 2nd picture please let me know.
my wife thinks its cute but i got a feeling its not anything good for the tank.

tuefel

 

[dustin_P74]

welcome to the site, id ditch the biowheel, and i dont think a mandarin would do to good in a 26 gallon tank because it would probably eat all the pods in the tank before they can reproduce

 

[lightcs4]

Welcome to Living Reefs. Is the mandrin eating frozen foods? If not, he will likely starve to death as Dustin mentioned. It will probably be OK if it's eating frozen.

 

[tuefel]

no fish in it yet only live rock. but ill probably pass on the madarin.

 

[Bifferwine]

Hi and welcome! You are on the right track. Once you get the skimmer, you can get rid of the biowheel. Add the heater and a powerhead or two, and you will be ready for fish. Clowns would be great starter fish.

 

[Smitty]

Hello and welcome to the site.

 

[yote]

Welcome to the site.
You've got a great start there.Its hard to tell for sure,but the second pic looks like its probably a feather duster which is harmless and cool hitch hiker.

 

[jhnrb]

Welcome to the site

 

[mennazeher04]

Hey and welcome to the site.

 

[ltljoker]

hello and welcome to the site

 

[tuefel]

me and my wife found 2 new hitch hikers over the weekend. i believe they are urchins. one looks like a rock dweller urchin (i think thats what its called) and the other is an urchin as well but it has longer spines and is a purplish color. any ideas on the second one i cant seem to find a picture of one that looks like it.

 

[yote]

Can you get us a pic?

 

[freshreef]

hi and welcome! the first pic is a feather duster i have quite a few in my tank as for the other thinks its super hard to guss with out a pic.

 

[tuefel]

here are some really bad shots but its all i can manage at this point. the first 2 pictures are of the long spine one cant really tell the coloring in the picture but it looks purple in the tank. the third picture is of the cave dweller urchin i think. and the final 2 pics is of the reef octopus bh 100 that arrived in the mail today at 630pm :) though the only instructions that came with it is pictured as well. seems to be a lot of help dont ya think. if any one has any info on this skimmer please let me know as im kinda dumbfounded on how to actually set it up or to make sure its working properly.

i think i might get a cuc on wedsday and does anyone have any suggestions on what and how many.

thanks
tuefel