First Saltwater Tank

[ZenGuitarGuy]

Hello all. I'm not new to the board, as I've been lurking for a while, but I am new to the hobby. I am in process of planning and purchasing what I need for my first set-up, which will be a FOWLR, 65 gallon, no sump. Nothing is set up yet Here is the run-down on things:

Equipment so far:
Reef Octopus 100 HOB.
2 x Eheim 150 watt heaters
2 x Hydor Koralia 850s
TLF Phosban Reactor (the 150) w/ Maxijet 400
Marineland LED (bought used, not sure which one it is, 40 rows of 3 lights, has a night light setting as well--I suspect it is meant for fresh water, but should be ok for FOWLR?)

Testing: Salifert (Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate), Milwaukee PH meter, refractometer, 2 x Marineland probe thermometers. Am I missing anything?

Livestock I'm thinking about--not necessarily all of these, this is just the list of what I'm interested in.

Snowflake eel (I have a glass lid)
Valentini Puffer
Coral Beauty or other dwarf angel
Flame Hawkfish
Flasher Wrasse or other wrasse
Tomini Tang or other bristletooth

Rock: I'm thinking about a mix of Marco rock (from reefsupplies.ca) and other man-made rock from ecoliverock.org. These are both Canadian sources of aquacultured rock. How much total rock will I need?

Sandbed: shallow, I'm thinking 1-2". Carib Sea aragonite. Any other suggestions here?

Please give me your feedback on any of the above. I have read through the stickies as well. Thanks in advance! Martin.

 

[scooter31707]

I do not recommend the Tang, and other than that it looks ok.

 

[ZenGuitarGuy]

Thanks for the reply. I was iffy on the tang.

 

[rocsec1]

Don't forget to research the order of introduction of the fish, most aggressive last.

 

[Tanthaitrung]

Are you planning for a quarantine tank?

 

[lifeoffaith]

The only thoughts I would have are that you may run into problems with the snowflake and the smaller fish. If introduced together and the snowflake is too small to eat them when they are introduced and is kept well fed, you might be ok, but just something to keep in mind. Eels are known to eat fish and snowflakes are no exception. I've never kept one, but have read up on them a bit. Maybe someone who has kept snowflakes can tell you more specificially. I'd be most concerned about the hawk and the wrasse.

 

[ZenGuitarGuy]

Are you planning for a quarantine tank?

Yes, I meant to say...10 gallon with a Penguin Bio-Wheel mini, Eheim 50 watt heater, Maxijet 400 for flow. I also picked up a couple white PVC elbows for hiding places. I'll use water from my display, and make sure the temp. matches. Anything else?

 

[ZenGuitarGuy]

The only thoughts I would have are that you may run into problems with the snowflake and the smaller fish. If introduced together and the snowflake is too small to eat them when they are introduced and is kept well fed, you might be ok, but just something to keep in mind. Eels are known to eat fish and snowflakes are no exception. I've never kept one, but have read up on them a bit. Maybe someone who has kept snowflakes can tell you more specificially. I'd be most concerned about the hawk and the wrasse.

Yeah, I have given this some thought as well. I am going to get the smallest eel I can find. I know a local LFS sells them quite young, like 12" long. I have read a lot of feedback about keeping them well fed also.

 

[ZenGuitarGuy]

A couple more questions please...probably not the last though :/

Quarantine: Do I set it up on a need-to basis (with display water), or do I keep it running always?

Heaters: I have 2 x 150 watt Eheim heaters. Will I need to use both? I will have a glass lid on my tank, and it's in a room that is nicely climate controlled even in winter. My lighting probably won't be a factor (Marineland LED low wattage).

Thanks all. Love this board.

 

[MuShu]

Quarantine is as-needed. Some people even use a couple of 5 gallon buckets for smaller fish quarantine. I have a small 5.5 gallon tank with a filter that I use as a hospital tank (I don't run the filter with the carbon pad). Keep Prime on hand for ammonia.