First Saltwater Aquarium

[agould53]

My three children (10, 7, and 7) wanted to put their savings together and purchase an aquarium. We recently moved to a beach house on Oahu's North Shore, and started our aquarium about a month ago. We've spent a lot of good family time collecting, researching, and maintaining...great time so far.

Everything we've added comes from the same reef near our house (it's all legal).

Here's what we've done so far. Any big mistakes? Advice?

55gal, basic "all in one" kit from Wal Mart.
Live sand from the ocean (about 2 inches deep in aquarium).
~20lb of live rock from the beach (loose rock that rolls around 2-3 feet near the shore).
Ocean water (~10% change weekly).

1 Banded Moray Eel (~18in)
1 Reef Trigger (~5in)
1 Raccoon Butterfly (~3in)
1 Whitespotted Toby (~2in)
3 Brittle Stars (2 very large, 1 small)
1 Banded Sea Urchin (venimous)
6 Hermit Crabs (some w/red legs and some w/blue legs)
3-4 other crabs...not sure what they are but they bury themselves w/just their eyes showing

Everything's eating and getting along so far, although the Trigger ("Duke") is pretty pushy.

I think one of the brittle stars has been eaten, not sure though.

Based on the water test kit, the water seems to be good (execpt maybe a little warm during the day, ~80).

Are the artificial decorations from pet stores safe? (tree stumps, etc.?)

We plan on adding 2-3 more small fish, and a few more crabs, snails, etc.

We look forward to learning and sharing our experiences!

 

[AmberSunrise]

Welcome to the forums sounds like you have a very nice and natural set up! I personally would stick with the live rock rather than artificial stuff from the store.

I would love to see some pictures!

 

[OhNoNemo]

Hi,and welcome to the site...i would Love to be able to do what your doing...
Only issue i see is a 55 is not large enough for the trigger...i would love to see a picture of your trigger too....
Also,i agree with using LR

 

[little_fish]

Part of the reason your trigger is so pushy is that sized tank is really too small for him. They are a very aggressive fish to start with and making them live in an itty bitty space makes it worse.

Also, i would not add any more fish. You have some very large fish in there and i would bet that they are producing around the maximum your tank can handle. Plus its very likely that the eel will eat them.

I would also add more rock, but do be careful about what you collect - the beaches can be surprisingly dirty, you dont want some nasty chemical in your tank.

Sounds like you have a great little set up going! I cant wait to see pics!

 

[Smitty]

Hello and welcome to the site...glad to have you. Sounds like everyone already have you covered with their advice.

 

[Bifferwine]

Hello and welcome!

 

[dcantucson]

Hello and Welcome to the forum.

 

[Aquatic]

Welcome to the site! I used to live out there on Oahu for a few years. I love all the pineapple fields on the way to North Shore.