90 Gallon Reef Tank

K

kimon201

New member
Hey guys, I am a new member to RC, however I have been reading posts on here for a few months now. I currently have a 90 gallon reef tank setup that has been running for a few weeks shy of a year now. I haven't seen my tank since June 15, because I have been out of state, but I have left the tank in good hands with a professional guy that takes care of the tank. He sends me updates every few days and my Uncle is in the house sending me pictures and the tank looks like it is doing well. Anyway, I wanted to introduce myself here, because in the next little bit (And by that I mean hours :D) I will be asking many questions and I figured I should keep it all condensed to one topic. Here is a link to my original thread on another forum with all the help I had up until that point, http://www.reef-geeks.com/forums/newbie-geeks/5931-my-first-saltwater-tank.html keep in mind it is somewhat out of date compared to what is happening now. Thanks guys, looking forward to getting to know you all!
 
Alright so to kick things off :D


Let me see if I can compleltly remember my stocking list:
3 Royal Grammas
2 Ocellaris Clowns
1 Blue Tang
1 Yellow Watchman Goby
2 Blue Damsels
2 Black Damsels (They have a white dot on their back, forgot their name)

I am fairly certain that is all I have fish wise, but I wouldn't be surprised if I come back in five minutes feeling stupid listing another one...

Coral wise I am really bad with the names so there is no way that right now I can list all of them. I don't have any SPS, I know I have:
Zoas
Frogspawn
Green Hammer
Green Mushrooms
Star Polyps
And I believe I have two other corals. I get back to my tank on the 17, so I can update that then.
 
Thanks for the welcome guys.

Alright, so when I get back I plan on getting a flame angel for my tank and I believe that will be the last fish that we get. We moved houses right before summer started, so I don't have a QT tank up and running, but I will buy a sponge filter to seed in my DT and have the QT up and running a few days before I buy the angel.
The QT is going to be running inside my dad's office, and I am sure he will be pretty ****ed with having to have such a bare tank in there for a few weeks, but he will just have to deal with it haha. Once he is done, I am going to have a 30 Gal tank that serves no purpose, so I have a question. Do I need to keep the tank running so I can use it in the event that a fish gets sick? I won't be adding any more of them, so I am not sure if that could even happen if there is no diseases that are currently active in the tank. I will probaly add a couple more corals, and a refresher on my CUC when I get back. So just to repeat it, do I need to keep my empty QT tank running full time after I have stopped adding fish and keep it as a hospital tank? Keep in mind I DO have another empty 20 Gal. in my garage I can make a temp hospital tank if nesecary. Thanks for the help!
 
kimon201 said:
Thanks for the welcome guys.

Alright, so when I get back I plan on getting a flame angel for my tank and I believe that will be the last fish that we get. We moved houses right before summer started, so I don't have a QT tank up and running, but I will buy a sponge filter to seed in my DT and have the QT up and running a few days before I buy the angel.
The QT is going to be running inside my dad's office, and I am sure he will be pretty ****ed with having to have such a bare tank in there for a few weeks, but he will just have to deal with it haha. Once he is done, I am going to have a 30 Gal tank that serves no purpose, so I have a question. Do I need to keep the tank running so I can use it in the event that a fish gets sick? I won't be adding any more of them, so I am not sure if that could even happen if there is no diseases that are currently active in the tank. I will probaly add a couple more corals, and a refresher on my CUC when I get back. So just to repeat it, do I need to keep my empty QT tank running full time after I have stopped adding fish and keep it as a hospital tank? Keep in mind I DO have another empty 20 Gal. in my garage I can make a temp hospital tank if nesecary. Thanks for the help!
Click to expand...

You do not need to keep the QT running. Just keep a small sponge in your DT as you stated above and add to the QT / HT whenever you need to set it back up for an "insta cycle." I always keep a small sponge in my 90 gallon for this very reason.

You probably already know this about the flame, but they will sometimes nip at your corals (probably a 50/50 chance or so). Just make sure you keep a close eye on him whenever you add him.
 
dunc101 said:
You do not need to keep the QT running. Just keep a small sponge in your DT as you stated above and add to the QT / HT whenever you need to set it back up for an "insta cycle." I always keep a small sponge in my 90 gallon for this very reason.

You probably already know this about the flame, but they will sometimes nip at your corals (probably a 50/50 chance or so). Just make sure you keep a close eye on him whenever you add him.
Click to expand...

Thank you for the quick response. Sounds good to me, means I can start exploring other options with that tank. I do know that about the flame angel, I feed twice a day, once flake/pellet and then frozen so I am hoping I can keep him happy by being well fed.
 
Would it be a worthwhile endevour to try and breed Clowns in the tank? If I did do this, could I take care of EVERY aspect of the breeding in the tank and not have to have a third tank setup to complete the process? Thanks!
 
Breeding clowns requires a small tank to raise the fry. A 5.5 or 10 gallon would work. I have a 90 as well.

[welcome]
 
Alright sounds good. I will definitely be looking into that. If I did breed them, would I be setting up a full on 30 gal tank with LR, LS, and going through the whole process again on a smaller scale?

Seems like the 90 gal is popular haha. I definitely find it a great tank, however, I now have that bug that makes me want to go bigger, that is only in my dreams though :p
 
Also, on another note from my question above, I have my standard API Master SW test kit, and also Reef test kit, that takes the shape of the drop the chemicals in the test tube and it turns a different color. I realize that these are extremely innacurate. I already ordered a refractometer that should get there soon so I can be more accurate in that regard, but I am wondering, is there another kind of test that people would recommned that is better than the crazy scientist tests for ammonia and the like, and then also Dkh and Calcium, Magnesium? If there is some kind of electric version, would it be overkill on such a simple system?
Thanks guys!
 
For ammonia and nitrite, API works fine. For nitrate, KH, Magnesium, CA, I prefer salifert, but others such as red sea seem to work well. I hate the Hannah meter for CA, fwiw and still use my salifert test kit for it.
For phosphate, Hannah meter hands down.
 
dunc101 said:
For ammonia and nitrite, API works fine. For nitrate, KH, Magnesium, CA, I prefer salifert, but others such as red sea seem to work well. I hate the Hannah meter for CA, fwiw and still use my salifert test kit for it.
For phosphate, Hannah meter hands down.
Click to expand...

Alright, I will definitlely check those out, thank you. If anyone else has any suggestions let me know :)
 
kimon201 said:
Alright sounds good. I will definitely be looking into that. If I did breed them, would I be setting up a full on 30 gal tank with LR, LS, and going through the whole process again on a smaller scale?

Seems like the 90 gal is popular haha. I definitely find it a great tank, however, I now have that bug that makes me want to go bigger, that is only in my dreams though :p
Click to expand...

Also, just wanted to bump this question reffering to breeding clowns.
 
I'd post your breeding questions in the breeding forum, you'll get much better results I think.
Also, I think your tank needs to be prepared to breed.. otherwise they all become food
 
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