I need advice

[kilroy217]

Hi all,

I am new to saltwater, so I could use a little advice. I was originally thinking about doing a FOWLR tank, but after looking at the pictures from this site and from the actual TBS site, I am more and more considering a "mostly fish" tank, and hope to get a few hitchhikers with my order.

I've read in books and on the internet that live rock should be 1-2 lbs per gallon for reef tanks. Seeing as how I am more interested in the fish I will soon be keeping, I was thinking it might be beneficial to go with a package slightly smaller than one normally would. For example, I have a 55 gal tank, and was thinking maybe I should get a 40 gal "package" instead of the 55 gal "package". With the 40 package, I will have 80 lbs rock, which is still within the range of acceptability of 1-2 lbs/gal.

So, my question is this: am I setting myself up for disaster by getting a smaller package than my tank would normally dictate? Keep in mind, I am not trying to get a full reef tank going.

Thanks in advance for the advice.

 

[noahm]

Personally, I think you are going to be fine doing that. I would, however, order the extra sand needed for the size of your tank, so it is an appropriate depth.

I will warn you though, in the long run you will find more enjoyment from all the cool 'other stuff' than from the fish. It is just part of the reef addiction process.

 

[kilroy217]

Thanks for your advice, noahm.

I wasn't going to go with a deep sand bed, anyway... just maybe 1" of sand across the bottom. Is that going to be a problem? Can I add bagged, non-live sand into the mix to get the volume of sand I need?

Thanks again!

 

[Wolverine1]

hey kilroy, WELCOME!

As a newbe myself I would talk to richard for sure (owner and head bottlewasher of TBS) and see what he recommends. I personally went with a package only slightly smaller than my tank, i.e. I got the 20 gal package for my 24 gal tank and do not regret it. but Richard is the man, he'll know for sure.

As for the sand, I wanted a deep sand bed and used the sand from TBS to seed the extra sand I got so I personally do not see a problem with augmenting your sand.

Best bet, if you can be patient, is let Richard guide you. He out to promote a super experience in a great hobby, not oversell you anything you do not want. The extras are relly cool though

 

[kilroy217]

Hello again! I spoke with Richard, and he was super helpful. After contemplating it a little bit, and through the advice of many on and off this message board, I decided to go with the 40gal package. Boy was I surprised when I got an email from Richard saying, "you want to get it today?". Well, to make a long story short, at 8pm last night, I was at the airport loading my first part of the package into my car. The rocks are great - he even kept the individual rock sizes reasonably smaller at my request. I found quite a few hitchhikers - including at least 6 snails, a tiny little hermit crab, a gorilla crab that I was fortunate enough to find in the bag before he got into the tank, several feather dusters, and this morning, I found an anemone that definitely wasn't there last night. It must have felt safer to come out after the lights were off.

The boxes were pretty wet when I got them, but nothing smelled foul when I loaded the rocks into my tank, so I think it wasn't too big of an issue. Shipped on Southwest, and they must have beat up the boxes pretty good, because the styrofoam inside was even damaged - obviously none of this was Richard's fault, however to anybody contemplating this product, make sure you bring a tarp for your trunk, just in case! I didn't and definitely had a wet trunk carpet.

In any case, thank you Richard. So far, I am very satisfied, and can't wait for the tank to cycle, so I can get part two of my shipment!

 

[Wolverine1]

Congrats Kilroy!

So far I've found al of the above plus more--everyday is an experience and a discovery with TBS rock

 

[NeonFish]

If you have protein skimmer in the sump, turn if off during the water changes. Mine overflowed throwing all the skimmed stuff back into the tank.

The boxes were damaged in my shipment last Friday, but I used a truck and they just loaded the whole pallet on it. (330 lbs)

 

[kilroy217]

I have a hang-on skimmer, not in a sump, but I will definitely heed the warning, and turn it off for water changes. Thanks for the advice!

How fast did your respective tanks take to cycle after the first shipment? I'm very anxious to see that ammonia spike and go away.

 

[NeonFish]

Until I see 0 mg/l, it is still cycling. I picked up the rocks last Friday(in the 95g)

 

[Wolverine1]

My tank took about 2 weeks--but smaller tanks are a PAIN to balance

 

[clevelandtampa]

Depending on what kind of fish you want to keep, should be a determing factor on the size of the tank to start with.