i'm a 20 year old who wants to do it right..... this time;)

M

mendel

New member
bs"d

hey what up!!
im not relay new to the forum but....

i'v been in the hobby officialy since i was 13 - 7 years ago but i was very naive and bought cheap stuff..... and then i went off to boarding school letting my folks "care" for the tank, and ya know how that goes, spent hundreds on equipment and much more then that on live stock that always died.

so now im 20, make (some) money of my own and want to do it right!

i have a 55 gl tank

so i bought a reefoctopus classic 90 skimmer (as of now i dont have a sump) i still have my ebay (sunsun) canister filter (rated for 150 gl), i bought the ebay dimmable lights (though i cant figure out how to dim them), as of now i have about 70 lb of live rock that i bought from a lfs about 5 years ago and i just took out 40 lb crushed coral that i think was just adding the the problem!

WHAT I WANT TO DO!....
is to make it a fully captive bred tank, with captive bred clown fish (maybe a few types), cardnals, and what ever else i can find captive bred, and by the time i'm redy i hope that captive bred tangs will be available! even though this might be the expensive route, i think it will pay off in the long run - and i feel better about leaving our ocians alone, that doesn't mean im closed to other routes, this is just what i'v been thinking!


so i want to hear your opinions - what do i need? what should i change? should put in a sand bed or leave it bare?

my rock is very dense, im thinking of just keeping the big pieces (for the base of the aquascape and to keep the bacteria in the tank) and to get the rest brs saver rock.

what do you think??

please post as i have limited time to get this system running before i start school!
 
I think a 55 Gal is a bit to large for you especially if your in school, trust me. I tried it. I would try maybe a 29 to 30 Gal. Once you get the hang of that and know the husbandry, move to a larger tank. I wouldn't rush it either take your time and do your research and ask questions here.
 
I personally would go bigger. More water equals less fluctuation in parameters. I have a 125 and a 75 and a 6.5 gallon and I'm constantly adding water to the 6.5 to top off once in the morning once at night. My 125 has an ato which is wonderful.

I would only get a single pair of clowns more than that will cause issues. I tried it in my 125 and I had to take a pair out. There simply isn't enough room in a 55.
Dense rock isn't very good for a tank you want lotus rock for bio filtration and things to hide in such as pods and other small creatures. I would also do sand about 2-3 inches. Hope this helps


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ZOAREEFTANK said:
I personally would go bigger. More water equals less fluctuation in parameters. I have a 125 and a 75 and a 6.5 gallon and I'm constantly adding water to the 6.5 to top off once in the morning once at night. My 125 has an ato which is wonderful.

I would only get a single pair of clowns more than that will cause issues. I tried it in my 125 and I had to take a pair out. There simply isn't enough room in a 55.
Dense rock isn't very good for a tank you want lotus rock for bio filtration and things to hide in such as pods and other small creatures. I would also do sand about 2-3 inches. Hope this helps


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Click to expand...
Not to say anyone is wrong, but I've seen 30 gallon reef tanks with at least 3 pair of clown fish, living together peacefully. I was told that the key was putting all of them in at the same time.
I truly admire your devotion to the having an "all captive bred" stock. I do look for captive bred fish, and especially coral in my lfs.

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dsb

dsb

bs"d

does everyone agree about the beep sand bed? if i'm not gonna have too much time to maintain the tank - i dont want the hassle of having to vacuum the floor and if i can get away with either bare bottom or a shalow sand bed that would be taken care of by the cuc wouldn't that be better?
 
I say stay with a smaller tank. If you already think you won't have time for the tank you might want to reconsider. This hobby takes time and patience. It's not cheap either so you always want to research everything you buy and place in your tank. Things can go from great to bad quick. Start with something small and if you think you can maintain it upgrade in the future. It will save you money and heart ache on loosing your livestock.
 
\Clownfish/ said:
I say stay with a smaller tank. If you already think you won't have time for the tank you might want to reconsider. This hobby takes time and patience. It's not cheap either so you always want to research everything you buy and place in your tank. Things can go from great to bad quick. Start with something small and if you think you can maintain it upgrade in the future. It will save you money and heart ache on loosing your livestock.
Click to expand...
Yea but small tanks are harder to maintain I am getting a 185 gallon I am still at school but my Mam works at home so he can take care of it (she is learning from her friend) but my tank is fish only so

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Larger tanks are much more stable so the 55 would be a good plan IMO, the flip side of course is that equipment and running costs are higher but sounds like you have some of the equipment sorted already. Good on you for taking the captive bred route, I have done the same and have a banggai cardinal, pair of clowns, green mandarin, flame angel and coral beauty. I wouldn't recommend a tang for a 55 even if cb do become more readily available but there are plenty of other captive bred options nowadays.

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\Clownfish/ said:
I say stay with a smaller tank. If you already think you won't have time for the tank you might want to reconsider. This hobby takes time and patience. It's not cheap either so you always want to research everything you buy and place in your tank. Things can go from great to bad quick. Start with something small and if you think you can maintain it upgrade in the future. It will save you money and heart ache on loosing your livestock.
Click to expand...



I spend a total of prolly 1 hour a week maintaining to larger tanks. 125 and 75. Very easy to maintain. My 125 is prolly the most stable one I have.
2b9bbef317e7c9a2afacda8cf8b00d95.jpg
c80436de2296607c2595c6f01936ad50.jpg
this is my 75 with a Cortez ray and a pair of snowflake Clowns

When I first started I had a 20 long with a 10 gallon sump no I crashed it twice. I had one fish survive which I still have now which is a yellow clown goby. I was constantly working on that stupid tank


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If you are going to use the canister filter, set set up each chamber with the seachem porous stones instead of the recommended setup. It will give you more surface area for good bacteria and be less likely to become the nitrate factory that canisters are known for. Really though, you can get away without the canister and either do a HOB filter or no filter and just good rocks and flow and your skimmer.
 
I would keep the canister filter for now and clean it every week, that is what I did on my 55 for about 6 months. If you wanted to go a sump route assuming your tank is not already drilled you would need an HOB overflow since 55 gallons should not be drilled, also what I did. You could go bare bottom but I find sand beds much more appealing and offer more media for bacteria to live in. Also since you have 70lbs of live rock you could go just a little bigger like 75 gallons. I can barely fit 60 lbs in my 55 gallon since it is so narrow.
 
I would say he should get a 40B with a small sump and he would have a decent tank size and still have a more easy to take care of small reef tank.
 
fwoler

fwoler

bs"d

for now im just doing fowlr till im gonna have time to take care of it my self, maybe a few softys

already have the 55 and built a canopy for it, also i thimk if my mom does do something stupid (which is likely) it will have less of an effect on the 55 then say a 30 (which btw i had for a while till i read that a bigger tank is more stable
 
Lots of great advice already.
More water volume equals more stability. If u put 2clowns in a 30 or 180 your water change regiment will be cheaper on 180 and top off will be more.
Electrical cost is always the issue and water movement.
If u can get a sump it will save u money time and headache in the long run.
Also where are u located. There are a lot of local clubs that sale and trade goods and fish. Look into that.
And good luck



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