Hello..eh!!!

D

drummerboy

Reefing newb
Hey everyone,
My name is Kennan, and I'm an alcoho...*ahem*..just kidding :) I'm just starting a 77ga saltwater tank. I just filled her up, put some salt in and letting it circulate and do it's thing for a bit. I'll slowly add some live rock and everything else I need. I've been wanting to make this tank a 'salty' for a long time but for some reason figured I needed everything NOW, and I needed it all at once. Of course not being able to afford everything up front, I hadn't started it. Talking to a friend at the LFS, I was convinced I can do this somewhat 'over-time' which is what I'm doing. This is my first foray into saltater tanks but have some freshwater experience. I've been an aquarist for about eight years-or-so. I have two large Iridescent Sharks that I've had for at least five or six years. So..I'm hoping to have some luck with a saltwater tank. I have to admit though I get lazy sometimes with water changes and stuff so..I have to be on my toes here otherwise, I'll lose fish. This 77ga tank is planned to be a fish-only tank. I want a puffer(probably a dog-face) and maybe a lionfish. Other than that..I want something nice that looks nice and is compatible. I have a 35 ga sitting empty right now that I think I want to turn into a reef tank. There's some really nice 'timid' fish that I would like to keep so...after I get the 77 up-and-running, I'll work on my reef tank.
That's about it for me, for now anyway. I just want to say, that I discover this site about a week ago and have been dropping in and reading stuff. It looks like a good board with lots of knowledge and no real sassy-ness or name calling, so it looks like it'll be fun here.
Thanks to anyone and everyone who reads and replies, I look forward to posting and getting to know you guys(and gals). Take care all!!
Kennan
p.s. Does anyone have much experience with a Red-finned Batfish? I saw one years ago and it was huge, beautiful, and really caught my eye. I know it's for experinced aquarists so I'm not even considering it..for now. Just thought I'd ask if anyone is very familiar with them. Thanks again!!
 
Welcome canuck! haha just kidding. Sounds like youre getting the hang of the patients thing Good deal. Check out the articles section to bone up your reading.

PS Dont even think about a batfish, they get way way to tall for all but the hugest tanks. Most home aquarist will not have nearly the height in a tank to even contemplate them they get 2-3ft tall and their fins will get ripped on our live rock. That is one fish that truly belongs in the ocean.
 
Welcome! You are right, this is the best site IMHO. There are a few canadian sites, one you might be interested in is www.canreef.com. It is all westerners. You can find great deals in their classifieds. However, for info and questions, this is by far the friendliest, without anyone looking down at you if you can't afford the most expensive equipment money can buy. If it were me, I'd turn the 35 into a predator, and make the 75 a reef, but thats just me!

BTW, my uncle and his family lived in Brooks for a long time, then Patrica? they just returned to Ontario this past year.
 
Hi and welcome!

Sounds like you are on the right track. Plenty of people build their tanks slowly. Hell, RyanG that posted a couple up has 3,214 posts here and he just put water in his tank for the first time!

Going slowly will definitely help you save money, since you can take time to research what you want to buy and search for deals.

Going with a fish only tank at first is also a good idea. It will get you familiar with saltwater before jumping in to corals and inverts, which are more challenging than fish.

Feel free to ask any questions you may have!
 
Hey everyone,
Thanks for the welcome. I figure if I go slowly, I'm likely to have any big problems. I was initially thinking of making my big tank the reef tank and the smaller one the fish only but thought maybe with a few of the fish getting to a decent size, maybe the 35ga would be a bit small.
Melonbob: it's cool your uncle used to live here, then Patricia. What did he do here, anyway?
Another question for you guys..I've read how it's usually best to start with Damselfish to cycle your tank. I'm curious..if I'm cycling it with live rock, does that count? Should my first fish still be damsels? Or once my water quality is ready could
I jump in to say a puffer, or lionfish, or Moorish Idol? Ok..I'm just kidding about the Idol. I know they aren't recommended, and I wouldn't try anyway. Anyway, what are your suggestions to start out with once I'm ready?
Again..thanks for the welcome and the replies. I look forward to chatting with you guys more!! Take care, all!!!!
Kennan
 
Welcome to the site. Sounds like you have a solid plan. Patience is, in my opinion, one of the most important pieces of this hobby.

As far as the batfish, a guy in my local reefing club has one with in a 500 gallon tank. The only other things in the tank are some live rock in the middle, a star, and a shark. He uses a huge skimmer with it. Amazing fish but absolutely huge.

Oh, and I wouldn't put a damsel in the tank. Once they are there, they are tough to catch. And as Dustin said, you don't need anything but live rock to cycle your tank.
 
Thanks everyone,
I guess the main reason I'm patient is cause I coan't afford not to be..money-wise. But besides that..I don't want to jump in and by an amazingly beautiful fish for say a hundred dollars and have it die on me. Don't get me wrong, I don't want any fish to die on me but it's one thing to spend ten or fifteen bucks on a freshwater puffer and have him die, then spend eighty bucks on a dogface puffer and have him die. So..I'll go slowly.
One of the tips I got at my LFS was in my Fluval 404 instead of using biomax..he said to use live rock. I thought that was slightly odd but, I guess it could make sense.
Anyway, I've got my tank circulating with salt in it, I'll pick up a little live rock in the next couple days to start 'er off. So far so good. Thanks again to everyone replying. I look forward to chatting more, and posting some pics!! Take care everyone!!
Kennan
 
drummerboy said:
Thanks everyone,
I guess the main reason I'm patient is cause I can't afford not to be..money-wise.
Click to expand...

Believe me, your not the only one in that boat. Seems the kids always need something (#3 is getting orthodontics done beginning this fall). Biffer is working on her PHD, most of us have kids, etc and so on. It's just the reality of life for most of us. It is a good thing when it comes to this hobby. Otherwise most of us would probably dive in too quickl.
 
Just be aware that even the nicest LFS are trying to make a sale and will often push a product that they either have the most pressure to sell or they make the most profit on. Before you start buying stuff check reviews of the product online (which can also be deceptive because sites often only post positive reviews to sell stuff) or ask us if we have had an experience with it.
 
Using a live fish to cycle a tank is really out of date information, and isn't necessary. Most people either use live rock, or add a bit of fish food to the tank to kick off a cycle. The die-off from the live rock, or the fish food rotting accomplishes the same thing that the fish pooping does, and without putting a fish's life at risk. Plus, if you do start with a damsel you'll hate it as soon as you try to add anything else. They are highly aggressive and will try to kill fish that you add afterwards. Or corals. I have a blue damsel that used to attack and kill any coral that I put in its territory, and will still try to kill any fish that is smaller than it.
 
Cool, thanks for the advice guys..live rock it is!! Yeah, when I first started looking into starting a saltwater tank it was common to get some Damsels to acclimate the tank, that's why I asked. Come to think of it..I haven't heard that being said in quite a while..goes to show how out-dated I am. Anyway..I'll slowly get all the live rock I need. Is there any kind of minimum or maximum limits I should have, as far as live rock goes?
Thanks agin for your input!! Take care, all!!
Kennan
 
1-2lbs of live rock per gallon of water is usually the minimum, and if you cycle your tank with only a little bit of live rock and then acquire more after your tank is cycled then you have to either get fully cured LR or you need to cure it in its own container with fresh salt water and a heater
 
Dustin,
So you're saying roughly about 77lbs of live rock then..correct? Unless I only use a bit of live rock now and add some later. Ok, so now my questions are..what is 'cured' live rock? And why does it matter, as oppossed to just adding live rock later without 'curing' it? Thanks for answering!! :)
Kennan
 
uncured rock will have lots of things dying on it which if added to your tank will cause a hugh ammonia spike cured rock has been sitting in a tank for a long time and has no die off on the rock and almost always not cause a spike in ammonia.
 

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