Newbie Question

[PRC]

I'm new to reef tanks and I'm still in the research phase of planning my aquarium. I've been lurking, reading the forums for as much info as I can find, looking at compatibility charts, and picking out live rock, basically jotting everything down into a notebook at this point.

I just ran across a post that I hadn't taken into consideration. If I am planning on a 125 to 150 g tank, with 1 1/2 lb of live rock per gallon, shallow sand bottom, how many fish can this environment handle? I know it's a difficult question to answer, I'm considering younger fish for the cost factor and to be able to grow them with my set up.

I've actually got a ton of questions. I won't post them all because we may knock down the server, but if you could answer a few I would really appreciate it.

1. Any experience with the Aqua C Remora Pro. They're rated at 40-120g. Is there a better unit for my setup?
2. Is it better to get live rock "mail order" or from a local shop? How can you be sure to eliminate the potential of getting hitchhikers in your rock? Is there something to specifically look for?

I've been socking away money for this for a loooong time, I want to get this right the first time. So if any of you folks have suggestions as to what the best pieces of equipment to purchase for my set up I would appreciate it. I talk to local shop owners but it seems like they all have slightly different opinions, and those opinions are based on what they sell...

Thanks again. I look forward to adding to the forum.

 

[SeaBee]

Are you doing a sump right from the start? This Remora C, is it a hang on the back style? I have a Remora C, its the hang on the back type, and I added a sump after a while and I just hung it on the sump as well. I cant answer the fish question, I think its about 1" of fish length for every 10 gallons, so if you have 125 divide by 10, you get 12.5 inches of total fish length. I'm sure there are a lot of opinions, but thats a rule of thumb I heard. YOu can get some real nice fish in there, Tangs and stuff. Start small and slow and don't be afraid to ask questions....and welcome to the Reef.

 

[wontonflip]

I think it's hard not to get hitchhikers on your rock. I'm not sure what it will do to the essential bacteria if you flush out the critters w/ freshwater. I'm sure someone here can guide you. You can maybe put them in a bucket of your saltwater for one night and see if any creepy crawlies come out :D

Are you planning on going reef or just fowlr? I was told by my lfs that with my 125g, I should get a skimmer rated for I think 200-250g or something. I am looking at an Octopus, which many here have and love. Some are looking at the new cone skimmers...a bit pricier. I think if you can afford to go with a higher rated skimmer, the better off you'll be.

I suggest you go ahead and put all your questions here. Lots of newbies will tell you that they'll get tons of answers here. Everyone's got input :)

 

[SeaBee]

Yea, this site saved me hundreds of dollars on how to and what to stuff. It's all like free too! Shop your stuff too, you can save a lot of money on the internet. Lights especially. I think you will do ok with the live rock online, just see if it is worth it with the shipping. I know there's a good one that ships out of Florida, but wait and see what people say here. Oh, and FOWLR means Fish Only With Live Rock, most people start that way and quickly change over to a reef tank. I like keeping corals ,more than fish!!! The fish are actually a nice addition to my coral tank!!!

 

[dcantucson]

I think you could have 2-3 tangs and 5-6 other smaller fish. I would recommend adding all the Tangs at once and also get them relatively close to the same size.

I would suggest looking on craig's list or the like for live rock. You could save yourself a lot of money getting it locally. Ordering on-line is good and you can search for deals, but shipping will be very costly with that much rock.

 

[PRC]

Are you planning on going reef or just fowlr? I was told by my lfs that with my 125g, I should get a skimmer rated for I think 200-250g or something.
:)

I am going with a reef tank. I haven't decided on the livestock yet, although I do have a couple of lists made. Problem is, I'll go on youtube or a forum like this and see somebody elses set up and say "Oh I've gotta have that":D

I'm definitely going with a sump system, and I've been looking at the DIY systems they seem pretty easy to make, and it makes sense that it would make the tank easier to take care of.

I have an office in the basement of my house, I'm going to cut out the wall and flush mount the tank in the wall. On the other side of the wall, is an unfinished (furnace room) that I've already built a shelf to hold the weight of the tank. The furnace room has a lock on it so I can keep my kids out of it, and so nobody unplugs anything.

I'm also considering painting the back of the tank blue to give the effect of depth, any suggestions as to what type of paint?

 

[ltljokersbetterhalf]

most tank owners usually just use spray paint it works and is cheap

 

[PRC]

I think you could have 2-3 tangs and 5-6 other smaller fish. I would recommend adding all the Tangs at once and also get them relatively close to the same size.

I would suggest looking on craig's list or the like for live rock. You could save yourself a lot of money getting it locally. Ordering on-line is good and you can search for deals, but shipping will be very costly with that much rock.

The craigslist thing kinda' freaks me out...I've bought alot of stuff from Craigslist (nothing living) in the past. Because you don't know if this person took good care of his tank, I could end up introducing something into my tank that could kill everything, and by the time I realized it as a novice everything would be dead.

 

[Bifferwine]

Hi and welcome!

Figure on 1 fish for every 10 gallons. Of course, this will vary if you pick huge fish or tiny fish, but that's a good "rule of thumb" to follow.

The Aqua C Remora Pro is a good hang-on-back skimmer, but I don't think it's strong enough for that big of a tank (I used to use one on a 55 gallon tank). Since you are going with a sump, look instead at the Octopus brand of in-sump skimmers. They are similarly priced to the Remora, but are very good quality and excellent for larger tanks.

You can get your live rock online. Some good vendors are:
Salty Critter - Your Saltwater Specialists - Saltwater and Reef Aquariums Supplies and Equipment
Aquarium Fish: Tropical Freshwater Fish and Saltwater Fish for Home Aquariums
Live Rock - Tampa Bay Saltwater Aquacultured Live Rock

An alternative that would save you money is to buy a portion of the rock live, and a portion dead/dry. When added to the tank, the dry rock will be seeded by the live rock and become live. Marco Rocks The finest aquarium rock available, base rock, live rock, reef rock, marco rock, reef tank saltwater fish, live corals, Marco rocks, Fiji live rock, Tonga Live rock has good dry rock.

 

[Rcpilot]

If you are concerned with nasty hitchhikers there is only one way to be sure you don't end up with something undesirable in your tank. Buy dry base rock and let it grow. It's all going to be live rock in 2 or 3 months anyway. As somebody else suggested, buy a few pieces of known GOOD live rock from a trusted store or a local reefer. Then the other 95% of it should be dry base rock.

99% of the time, the "live rock" you purchase from the LFS is not fully cured anyway. It's not really fully cured and it will still have rotting dead stuff on it that perished in shipping. Another thing to consider is your LFS doesn't quarantine live rock. It's just rocks to them. It comes in on a shipment and they plunk it in a rock tank. They don't inspect it or brush the dead stuff off. So buying partially cured "live rock" from the LFS is taking on a HUGE risk IMO. Thats fresh outta the ocean and you could end up with just about ANYTHING in your tank.

The safest way to purchase live rock is from a local reefer. Check craigslist for people getting out of the hobby or breaking down a tank. If their tank is still up and running, you can go inspect the rock before you buy it. Ask them how long they have had it. Any aiptasia? Any mantis shrimps? Most people are going to be honest with you. If they've had live rock for 2yrs and never had any aiptasia, it's a pretty good bet that's what I'd call "clean" live rock. No bad critters present.

If I was you, I'd run about 55g sump on that. I know that sounds like a lot but I just learned a hard lesson when building my first sump.......... They aren't NEAR as big as you think once you put the baffles in and divide into 2 or 3 compartments. I built a 20g sump for a 30g frag farm. It turned out to be way too small and I had to add a 20g refugium to the side of it. If I had to do it again, I'd never go smaller than 1/2 size on the sump for larger tanks. If the tank is 50g, use a minimum 25g sump. If the tank is 100g, I'd use nothing smaller than 50g for the sump. For smaller tanks - I think I'd go 1:1 ratio. 30g tank = 30g sump. 20g tank = 20g tank.

For the overflow, just make sure it's rated for the max your pump can do without any head pressure. For example:
I'm using a Mag 7 return pump on my 30g frag tank. That Mag 7 is rated at 700gph with no head pressure. So I used a 1.5" bulkhead in my tank and a 700gph acrylic overflow. Now I know all my piping and the 4 feet of head pressure has slowed my pump down to about 350gph +/-. I know my overflow and drain line will handle twice that, so I'm safe. The pump can't pump fast enough to overflow the tank. Not with 4 feet of head pressure on it.

Everybody else has you covered on the fish. I would just suggest this......... pick your fish based not only on how they look - but also on what job or service can they contribute to the tank? You have 3 areas of a tank. Bottom, open water and rock wall. So buy your fish based on what area of the tank they will occupy.

A tang will eat any hair algae you might have. It's an open water fish so it won't compete with a goby for space. A goby would be a good addition because a lot of them will sift the sandy bottom for food. This helps keep your tank clean. The goby will typically hang out under a cave or on the bottom of the tank and only come out to sift sand or around feeding time. Another fish to consider would be something that likes to hang out in the rocks. The 6-line wrasse is a hunter and will spend the entire day swimming in and out of your rock work. They are beautiful fish and stay relatively small. Again, it's not going to compete for the same space as the tang (open water cruiser) or the goby ( bottom dwelling sand sifter). Or maybe a hog fish that will just perch on the rocks?

You get the idea. Don't get 3 or 4 fish that cruise open water. They'll all compete for the same space. Don't get an eel and a small goby. The goby will end up dinner. The eel and the goby will compete for the same caves and overhangs in the rock. The goby will lose. Don't get a school of chromis and several tangs - again all open water swimmers that will clash when competing for the same tank space.

Good luck! :Cheers:

 

[PRC]

Thanks RC and everybody for all of the information. And Happy Thanksgiving to everyone as well. So, going to RC's post...and doing some simulated calculations (I haven't diagrammed any of the plumbing yet, and going by 10x the size of the tank gph what pump would you recommend? Should I start eyeballing a Mag 12? Or should I be looking at something even larger so that I'm not working the pump to it's full load?

Thanks again. Geez, I'm getting excited about this. I'm glad I found this forum.