New 46 gallon bow front

melmel

Reefing newb
Hello everyone!
I did it! I finally decided to get a saltwater aquarium and do the research. I have always wanted one but never had the money to start one up, but now I have one :mrgreen:. I am completely new to this hobby and I am thirsting for information. I have bought the aquarium, the salt mixture, a powerhead, a canister filter, 40 pounds of live sand, 90 pounds of live rock, a heater, a 10000k daylight and I think it is 460nm lunar lighting system, and calcium supplement. I think that is everything but I may be forgetting something. If there is something else I need then please let me know. If you need additional details about any of the things above I can definitely provide them. I am wanting to eventually have a reef aquarium and after doing my research I figured I would just do clown fish for now. I really wanted to do clown fish and yellow tang but I found out the minimum tank size for a yellow tang is 55 gallons. If you think a yellow tang will be okay in 46 gallons then please let me know because I really would love to have one. Please let me know if I have everything I need to start my aquarium. I know once I get my live rock I will have to cure them. I am still a little lost on some aspects of the curing process as well so if you could help with that I would be forever grateful. Thanks for reading! :sfish:
 
I'm only two months in so I know a ill but not as much as the rest. Sounds like your off to a good start, but I'm not the one to ask. This hobby is constant research and learning. Welcome to the fold and a new lifelong obsession. Lol
 
Thanks so much :D. i am loving it so far but my fiance' is getting impatient when I told him it might be awhile before I have any fish in it. He jokes about it now though and says that we may have something pretty to look at by next year lol.
 
i think a yellow tang needs 90 gallons and up if im not mistaken, in a 46 gallon he'll be to stressed out not to mention he'll be agressive.
 
Hi! Welcome aboard!
Actually, the minimum tank size for any tang is more like 75 gallons. I wish I could have one too :(
You will probably need more than one powerhead. A protein skimmer is optional. You want to watch out for the canister filter. Any kind of sponges can build up nitrates if they aren't cleaned every3-4 days. Some people opt to fill their canister with live rock rubble instead.
Doing fish only for now?
 
Sounds exciting congrats!! I'm in the same club new to the hobby and I'm So excited to start up my SW tank.
 
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Hi MelMel, welcome to the site! It looks like you are off to a good start. A few you should know: canister filters don't translate well to the Saltwater hobby. If you can, you should return it and look into a protein skimmer. As for getting live rock, one thing you should consider is getting one small piece of live rock and then a bunch of dead rock. This will significantly reduce the cost for you and dead rock will become live rock in a couple months. Your rock is the basis of your biological filtration. You should read up on the nitrogen cycle. Basically, fish poop and non-eaten food will turn into ammonia (toxic) which gets broken down into nitrite (also toxic) which gets broken down into nitrate (not toxic in low levels). This is the first test kit you will need. This test kit is an absolute must! A quick question, is your tank set up for a sump? Last, your tank will be too small for tangs :-/. Tangs need a lot of room to swim around; most need at least a 90 gal tank. Clownfish are great though! Just stay away from the anemone for at least a year. Nems are REALLY hard to keep and need PERFECT water or they will die, releasing their toxins into the water and killing everything in the tank. You will need a clean up crew (usually called a CUC here on this site). This is snails, crabs and other things that will clean up your tank for you. Also, clowns are somewhat aggressive and will limit you to fish that are also somewhat aggressive. Not a bad thing, just something to consider. There are good articles on this site on the right hand side of the home page. READ THEM! They will help you stay away from the big no-nos in the saltwater world. Lastly, wait to does calcium. Your salt should have plenty of calcium in it for right now. You won't need to dose calcium until you have a heavy load of corals. Don't does anything unless you are already testing for it! That's my 2 cents. The rest of the guys and girls on here will fill ya in some more!
 
Thanks about the tang :D. I guess I am just doing clownfish for now. So with the canister would it be better to put the rock rubble in there? Also would it be best to get distilled water from Wal-Mart instead of using tap water and do I need to rinse off the live rock before I put it in there. I will definitely get another powerhead, thanks so much for that advice and I was planning on getting a protein skimmer on payday this thursday :twocents:. Does anyone have any recommendations for a good cost effective one? I have had alot of luck on e-bay getting most of my stuff. If there is anything else you think I may need to know then please let me know because I really want this to be a success. When do I need to start putting light to the live rock during curing? Oh and I was hoping to start of with the live rock and fish and then once I am confident that they will survive then I was planning to add coral and Inverts so am I missing something to be able to have those?
Thanks you all so much, I owe you guys big time :bowdown:
 
You will have to do what is called a cycle. This is to get your tank ready for fish. Since you have a new tank. I believe if you do the curing in your tank, that should do the cycle as well. Correct me if I'm wrong, site!
 
Okay so let me see if I am understanding this, I don't need the filter if I get the protein skimmer? Also I got some test strips too, that's one of the things I forgot about. I am almost positive they test for nitrate as well as some other things. Thanks so much for telling me about the calcium. I already bought all live rock on ebay and I think it was non refundable so is it okay to have all live rock? Thanks so much for everything!
 
The one thing I CAN talk about is tap water!!! Stay away!!! I have a NASTY diatom bloom due to tap water. I ordered a RODI (reverse osmosis deionizing) filter for water. I got mine for 120. Many people recommended this one to me off of this forum. Of course you can always just buy it as well. I just find it cheaper to buy the RODI in the long run. It removes all the impurities from your tap water. I also plan on using it for my drinking water as i buy bottled water. Hahahaha

75 GPD RO/DI 4 Stage Economy System - English
 
It would but I actually read reviews on several portables online. I didn't read anything I liked about the ones on eBay. eBay and Craig's list have been my haunting grounds the last week for an RODI I didn't trust the portables because thy were sketchy, not much info, and the reviews I read I didn't like. The one in my link gets rave reviews and was recommended by many members hete
 
Okay so what type of test kit would you all recommend? Also I know this is a dumb question but what is a sump? I have read stuff saying if you have one but nothing telling me what it is.:dunno:
 
Okay, so is there a good, cost effective protein skimmer that you all could recommend? Sorry to ask so much of you but my research tells me what I need but not really what specific kind or brand that is better than another. You all have been soo much help.
 
Hahaha. Don't apologize. This is a VERY friendly, helpful group of people. Trust me, I know!!!!! I have asked tons of questions, and still do. A liquid test kit is much better than test strips. I had a guy from a LFS tell me powder test kit even better than liquid cuz the liquid can go bad but that one I don't know. Maybe those here can chime in on this one. See, I'm still asking questions. Hahaha
 
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