First saltwater tank...FOWLR gone wrong

[Stusstag]

Need help with coral ID and placement recommendations. Also any budget lights that will keep the corals alive or will my lights work?

I have been a strictly FW guy until I came across a screaming deal on an established tank I couldn't pass up. 75g tank, stand, rock, and sand for $200! The guy needed to move the livestock first so I waited until he had a buyer. When the time finally came to get the tank I drove to his house and to my horror the other guy backed out on buying the livestock. Not wanting to leave without the tank and the assurance that these were beginner friendly corals an extra $100 and the tank was mine!

What it looked like when I got there:

Getting it setup at my house:

Done for the night:

So I planned on getting a FOWLR for my first venture into SW but ended up with a reef tank. I have some cheap lights on it for now from one of my FW tanks until I can figure out what lights to get.

 

[ssky]

If you are on a budget, then 90 dollar marsaqua (Chinese black boxes) will serve you well. You will need two of those.

 

[Dmorty217]

There are countless black box design leds that can be purchased from 90-150 that will all work for what you want

 

[ryeguyy84]

looks like you got some LPS. I'm not an expert like some others here but I see some mushrooms, leathers and it looks like the clam didn't make it.

as for lights, you could go cheap black box LED's. it really depends on your budget.

you might want to look into adding a sump, it's already filled so you probably don't want to drill it but you could add a HOB overflow to get some of that equipment off the back.

 

[Stusstag]

Thanks for the info and the replies. the clam did make it I just don't remember where I put him at the moment LOL. I will check out the black box that you mention and yes long term I would like to build a sump from an extra aquarium I have lying around.

I started doing some research and it looks like I have some kind of a plate coral and Doughnut which I've heard the plate can be difficult to take care of. I also think I have an orange riccordia.

One thing I am slightly worried about is that the previous owners filters and skimmer were not part of the purchase so I had 2 extra HOB filters laying around that I slapped on there but they aren't cycled and I don't currently have a skimmer.

Will the existing bacteria from the established sand, rock, and water be enough to seed the new filters without the tank doing a mini cycle?


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[Stusstag]

Wait, the clam is right there in the front left of the last pic. Or did you mean it looked like the clam is dead? Hopefully he's just being camera shy.

 

[eastlake]

The new filters should seed quickly since, with all those buckets I'm assuming, that you transferred as much existing water as possible. I know you said you're looking for a budget light so does that mean the seller kept the maxspect unit that was on it in the first picture? Regardless, I'll also suggest the mars aqua lights, I run them and am very happy with the results they have given me. But like dmorty said, there are lots of other similar fixtures out there that'll do the job just fine.

 

[Stusstag]

Yes, we were able to fit about 50 gallons of water into all the various buckets/coolers that I had with me.

The maxspect was not part of the deal. I'll check those lights you mentioned.

I rearranged the corals and the water has cleared up a lot.

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[Stusstag]

So I'm not sure what's going on but I am getting a ton of algae growth

Also, I haven't seen my cleaner shrimp or heard my pistol shrimp popping in a few days. Corals and fish seem to be doing great.

Any ideas?


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[ReeferNoob4ever]

Yes, be patient. That was traumatizing for many of the inhabitants they will likely stay in hiding for a while. Also don't be surprised if you do end up with a couple casualties. IME clams are open when they die. Nice acquisition!

 

[Stusstag]

Thx, just figured it's been a month and everything should have settled in by now so I thought it was strange for them to go missing. This guy seems to be happy though

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[Stusstag]

And this guy

But you can see the long green algae growing on the rocks behind it


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