New to saltwater

[jdcbohmart]

A couple months ago, we purchased a 125 gallon saltwater setup from someone on craigslist. They had it setup for over 4 years. We got the tank with everything including an 18 inch snowflake eel, a grouper, a picasso trigger, an undulated trigger, a niger trigger, a dogfaced puffer, a clown fish, and a yellow tang. We successfully moved the entire tank, every bit of the water and all of the animals about an hour away with no difficulty. The only thing they didn't have on it was a protein skimmer, which we added. The problem, of course, is that we needed to let the tank cycle after the move because the rock and sand was moved. :sfish:

We set up a second tank, 55 gallons, and let it cycle and we temporarily moved all of the animals into it so that the larger tank can cycle with nothing but the live rock and sand in it. We are learning, but have found that we are inundated with lots of well meaning, but contradictory advice by many so called 'experts'. To get everything in balance we have been advised to purchase lots of products only to find that the tank does what it wants in it's own time. :grumble:

Our plan is to eventually have the larger tank with corals and a few friendly fish and use the smaller tank for the more aggressive fish. We have joined this forum to see what has been working for others. Our biggest challenge right now is that we can't seem to get the Ph to stay up. We add Ph to them both and they show 8.0 to 8.2 and then the next day they both show 7.8 .

We look forward to any helpful advice anyone may have! :D

J and D

 

[marcah]

howdy and welcome to the site..:D
first off you will find once you get comfortable with the tank it will become easier..
i think the tank will be to small for the grouper they become quite large..
what are the rest of your levels in particular alkalinity, but would like to see the rest..
ph and alkalinity work alot together so it may be low.. You will find alot of advice you get from LFS is used mainly to sell products not necessary for your tank, remember they survive by you buying stuff.. rule of thumb if you dont test for it dont dose for it..
good luck with the tank and it does get easier..
Oh and what protein skimmer did you get yourself, and are you running a sump?
reefs need lighting and water movement,, what lighting do you have on the tank
quick rule of thumb for corals..
softies turn the tank over around 20 times per hour
LPS corals up to 40
SPS 40 or better

 

[marcah]

sorry a couple of the fish arent going to be reef safe and will be to large for your 55 you might want to look into getting homes for them..
grouper, puffer, undulate trigger, picasso trigger( may get away with the picasso and puffer in a 55 )...and make sure there isnt a hard glass canopy on the top.. if you need to make a mesh top for it.. especially since the eel is a jumper..

 

[Smitty]

Welcome to the site, glad to have you aboard.

 

[little_fish]

Hello and Welcome!

Actually the only fish that could live in the 55 is the eel, the rest need to be in a 125 or larger.

Also, when are you measuring your pH. It will be higher after the lights have been on for a few hours, also a pH of 7.8 isnt bad if that is your low point.

I would highly suggest reading this: https://www.livingreefs.com/water-chemistry-t31270.html

It will bring you up to speed on water chemistry, which IMO is one of the most important things to understand in this hobby.

 

[marcah]

sorry didnt see it was a dogface when skimming through.. the 55 would be to small a tank for it..

 

[jdcbohmart]

Thanks for the warm welcome and replies! We have sumps on both - I'm not sure on the details (my husband knows the pump details). Both tanks have Sea Clone protein skimmers appropriate for the water amount, and both have adequate lighting (again, my husband bought that, so I don't remember the details). We may have to use the smaller one for the reef and use the larger one for the animals. We have just been temporarily housing them in the 55 so that the 125 can cycle properly.

D

 

[little_fish]

They should be fine in the 55 temporarily. Also those red sea clone skimmers are some of the worst out there, plus you want to buy one that is rated for twice the tank volume you have. A much better brand are the Reef octopus and hydro skimmers. Skimmer are "you get what you pay for" commodity, be wary of cheap skimmers.

Also what kind of lighting do you have? Can you take a picture so we can make sure it will actually be reef capable? Im kinda wary of what your lfs sold you, i personally have never seen a lfs or a person get adequate lighting from/at a lfs. (sorry for the confusing statement)