New to aquatic pets....

[cpfeifer]

Greetings. I am about to acquire a 128 gallon well established complete reef aquarium. It already has all the equipment, mature live rock, lots of coral etc. I know NOTHING about aquariums, let alone saltwater aquariums. It comes also with one burgundy clown fish, an eel and a sea urchin.

I wish to add the following after it has settled in at my home. (The trip to my house will be 2 1/2 hours, tips on the move would help as well). If any of these are not compatible, do let me know.

1 more clown fish
3 green fairy wrasse
1 lemon peel dwarf angel
1 mandarin goby
1 royal gamma
1 antennata lion fish
1 serpent sea star
a few cerith snails and nassarius snails
a few firecracker shrimp

Anything I should take away or add? I have been researching online for the last three days, but still so much to learn.

 

[FortyFour]

Congrats!!!

My advice is to take it slow before adding more fish. Patience will be a virtue and it could end up saving you thousands of dollars and a lot of heartache. Invest in reliable test kits and a refractometer. Get used to testing and learning the basics about water chemistry. Learn from other people's mistakes, which are mostly well documented on these forums. If a thread is marked as a sticky thread, it's probably worth reading.

You'll receive so much advice, and much of it will be conflicting. Don't let it discourage you because there are many different approaches in this hobby. It can be a confusing but it will be well worth the time you invest in researching and learning the basics.

Eventually, you will have a better idea of what types of coral you can reasonably sustain in your system, and what fish will be compatible.

 

[cpfeifer]

Tank set up...super excited!

Tank set up...super excited!

Thanks!! I am super excited. Comes with a test kit but I will look at new ones if I need. I will wait and get the chemistry down first. The fish look to expensive to lose...LOL!

Here are items it comes with, if you see anything that needs changing do let me know. I am reading all the sticky notes now...I may be up late.

125 gallon saltwater tank set up and more. NICE stone stand with removal ends and 10gallon tank in the center. Center tank could be removed and made into a nice self too.

Comes with the following:
6' 12 bulb T5 lighting some extra bulbs
Aqua Remora C large Protein skimmer and pump
CPR style HoB refugeum built by inland aquatics and pump
2 hydor wave makers
heaters
2 ehiem canister filters
1 fluval 405 canister filter
about 150-200lbs kenya tree, green mushrooms,waving hand covered live rocks
Large leathers mushroom
1 maroon clown fish
Sea urchin
15" snowflake eel
Comes with test kit etc.

I will add a photo when I figure out how....

 

[homer1475]

Your probably going to want to rehome that maroon clown. They get large and very aggressive. Eels are also semi-aggressive and will eat any CUC as well as any fish that they can catch and get in their mouths.

 

[heathlindner25]

3 canister filters would kill me on maintenance.

 

[cpfeifer]

Away with the eel aNd clown.

Away with the eel aNd clown.

Thanks for the info, I will re home them. I can get by with less canisters? I need to study up more. Back to my studies

 

[Frostyfishman]

If you can ditch the canisters and go with a sump I would do that. Rehome the eel and clown. Your local fish store will take them. Study the set up sticky thread so you can know how to take care of your new reef. :wavehand:

 

[dweber618]

Also - read up on a quarantine procedure for all new purchases! There are many different approaches - but not quarantining can potentially lead to a lot of fish losses. I think the general consensus on these forums is that having a good quarantine procedure in this hobby is a must have. There are several different approaches, so read up and decide what you feel most comfortable with.

And take it slow - patience is key.

 

[jrr98002]

Just a couple things. I agree with above that the maroon clown and definitely the eel should be rehomed. As stated, the eel will eat what it can get ahold of and maroon clowns do get aggressive.

As far as your intended fish purchases, just realize lionfish are usually fish-nippers, especially ones smaller than them. Also, if you're going to keep a dragonet (mandarin goby) you're going to absolutely have to find a steady supply of copepods for it to eat or it will starve. Some people will swear that they can survive on frozen food alone, but I've found over the years they won't do very well without at least a supplement of copepods, if you can get lucky enough to get one that eats frozen. You might see if you can get that center compartment into a refugium. I don't know if it's connected to your system or not, I don't have a clear visualization of your setup in my head.

Edit: Also, your wrasses will compete for copepods with the dragonet, and the dragonet will lose.

 

[Coelli]

Also, if you're going to keep a dragonet (mandarin goby) you're going to absolutely have to find a steady supply of copepods for it to eat or it will starve.

OP will have a 125g tank with 150-200lbs of live rock that should have a huge pod population that will bounce back quickly after the move. I agree that a wrasse might not be a good idea because of the competition, but that tank should be able to support a mandy.

 

[dragonsong]

Also - read up on a quarantine procedure for all new purchases! There are many different approaches - but not quarantining can potentially lead to a lot of fish losses. I think the general consensus on these forums is that having a good quarantine procedure in this hobby is a must have. There are several different approaches, so read up and decide what you feel most comfortable with.

And take it slow - patience is key.

PLEASE QT, I made the mistake of skipping one fish because it was from my most favorite, reputable lfs and it brought in velvet to the tank and killed everything else before dying after a couple days. Now everything gets a month at least, no matter what.

 

[chimmike]

1 more clown fish fine
3 green fairy wrasse should be fine
1 lemon peel dwarf angel watch, may not be reef-friendly
1 mandarin goby as mentioned, need copepods. wait a while.
1 royal gamma fine
1 antennata lion fish I wouldn't.
1 serpent sea star
a few cerith snails and nassarius snails
a few firecracker shrimp Lion would eat these guys.
.

 

[e048]

Sounds like eel food for me and once that lion goes in lion food