newb's stocking questions

[beelzebob]

so...

i have just set up a 18 gallon tall. currently it houses;

20lbs black sand

20lbs live rock

old antique (id say relic of the early 90's) HOB skimmer rated for 40gal (got it used for 25 bucks!)

magnum HOB cannister (mainly for flow, no media, although i am running a micron filter on and off)

96w 10.000k & 50/50 coralife compact

2 scarlet hermits

4 turbo snails.



i set the tank up for a small mantis shrimp. i also would like to add some inverts like mushrooms, star polyps and zoa's.

there inlies my question. being that my lighting is only 96w and 10,000k i know my selection will be limited.

i wanted to know if after a couple more months if i could add something like a tulip or small carpet anenomie.

also as far as zoos and mushrooms go, whats good (and cool) for a newb?

 

[sir_dudeguy]

your lighting will be plenty in an 18 gallon for any softies (gsp, xenia, shrooms, polyps/zoas...etc) and for many of the lps corals too, tho i'd say you dont really wanna try the anemone...i think carpets are one of the much more light needy anemones out there too, so that probably wont help....that and your tank is an 18 tall...how tall is it? I wouldnt try an anemone w/pc's unless the tank is only like 12 inches...but 18 talls are probably closer to like 20 right? idk...imo, just stick w/softies and maybe some lps corals up closer to the light. And is your light one of those quad bulbs? 18 talls arent long enough to hold a regular 34 inch 96w bulb...unless its a quad one.

As for zoas and shrooms....just get whatever looks good basically lol. They'll all be fine for the most part. Red mushrooms and watermelon mushrooms are my personal favorite shrooms, and for zoas....i've got a few of them, but there's so many different color morphs and everyone makes their own retarded names for them, so i dont even know where to begin as far as which ones look cooler lol. Just find nice colors i guess

 

[wea747]

You want to add inverts, or corals? Is it true that black sand releases phosphates?

 

[sir_dudeguy]

I see no reason that the black sand would release phosphates. I mean its just sand isnt it? Sand thats black? Unless it has something mixed in with it, i dont see why it would be any different than other sands.

 

[wea747]

Just heard it all does, and it causes problems, least thats what I was told when I wanted to buy some. Thats why I was asking to see if there was any truth to such tales

 

[sir_dudeguy]

was this at the lfs that the guy told you this? If so, idk...i tend to not pay much attention to some of them that work there. Many aer good...but many arent lol. They just have to sell and could care less half the time. But, by any chance....was the black sand cheaper than another one? lol might sound stupid, but i've had lfs's make up crap just to sell me something else that is more expensive.

 

[Amoore311]

That's a load of B.S

I've been running Tahitian Moon Sand in my tank for a very long time and have never had phosphate problems at all.

 

[celron]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8745172#post8745172 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by sir_dudeguy
your lighting will be plenty

Ha! Isn't that a rare comment. Someone new who actually has some decent lighting. 90% of critisism is due to inadequete lighting so well done beelzebob

 

[beelzebob]

yea!

i love it when people who know what they are doing are like
"looks like you know what you are doing"
lil early morning confedience boost.


that sand nonsense freaks me out though.....

all my levels are good, so im gonna put in a couple emerald crabs and maybe like a 2" rock with polyps or shrooms, and a damsel tomorrow. (crabs and the fish are there as a first meal for mr. mantis)

then i think ill get my mantis and some more shrooms next weekend, maybe a frag....


question: some dude on the local club page has frogspawn frags and hammer frags, and i found a great deal on some bad *** brain coral, how long should i wait before adding those to my lil' system?

 

[LionfishFinatic]

how long has the tank been set up? don't put anything in there until it is fully cycled.

 

[beelzebob]

today is day 27

pH 8.2
Amo. 0
N03 0
N02 10

figured id increase the bioload a lil before i put any real investments in it....