Newby's Just Getting Started...Help!

[mrothermel]

Hey...we are brand new at this...will get our first shipment of the package next week when Richard gets back. A few questions to you experienced salt water reef jockies! We have a 48 gal tank, purchased all the cool stuff from Champion (Aquafuge PS refugium; the night/day lights; etc.). After we get the two shipments of the package installed in the tank...we need to add the fish, coral etc.

Our questions are several and would appreciate your experienced replies..
1. Reputabale internet fish suppliers (heard that Liveaquaria and Marine Depot are good)
2. How do we decide what coral or annemmones to buy? We will have the normal array of fish found in a "nemo" type aquarium probably.
3. Can you advise a place to get educated on all the kinds of coral, annemmones, mushrooms...etc. We don't want to get in trouble buying too much or the wrong kinds. The lighting package we bought is for a reef aquarium.
4. Then...our question is exactly what type food do we get? I know we need a variety...since we live in Bend Oregon...and supplies here are somewhat limited...we have to buy on-line most of the time.

Thanks...we are truly beginners...reading everything we can get but still would love your advice! Thanks!

 

[Drewcipher]

1) Those are both good places. I buy my fish locally though.

2) In that size tank clowns will be fine, but don't get a Moorish Idol or a tang. They grow to large for this size tank. Some people will disagree with me on this, but not most. Also, the tank should be running for a year or so before you buy an anemone. Patience is king in this hobby. Also, anemones will depend on the specific lighting you have...see point 3.

3)RC is great, but get some books as well. Eric Borneman has a great book on corals. What kind of lights you bought will help determine what you can keep. There are different types that people use on reefs. Metal Halide, T5, VHO, PC. They are vastly different and yet all can be used successfully in an appropriate reef.

4)Just get a variety of foods. I feed a mix of formula one, formula two, brine shrimp, and primereef. These are flake foods. I also give some frozen mysis shrimp sometimes.

 

[HowardW]

1) Liveaquaria is good, but I wouldn't add anything to the tank until it's been running with the TBS rock for at least 2-3 months minimum and all the water parameters are stable and the tank matures a bit, and then only one fish or coral at a time. One of the biggest mistakes people make is adding too much too quickly while the tank is still too new.

2&3) Buying good books and browsing the various reef forums to see what others have done with success. Most smaller reef type fish will work fine. Most soft corals and LPS corals will also work fine however many anemones require intense lighting.

4) Much of the life on TBS rock are filter feeders and will require feeding such as DT's Phytoplankton or other food like LiquidLife, Reef Chile, etc. Feeding must be done with care however because many live foods like DT's contain phosphates which will fuel algae and cyano outbreaks if overused.

What lights did you get?

 

[Sk8r]

The first purchase should be sand [don't get crushed coral] and about a hundred pounds of live rock. Live Aquaria and Reefer Madness [sponsors list: this forum} are good.

You will assemble your tank, add sand, mix your salt water {did you buy a ro/di filter and a refractometer?: you should, before you make your tank water]. Mix water to 1.025 salinity, warm it with your heater, add water, and put your rock in as soon as it arrives. NOTE: Your water will continually evaporate: do not add more salt water---water evaps, salt doesn't. Add fresh ro/di water. You will want to fill to a line you now mark on your sump as THE point when your water [with all rock in] is a perfect 1.025 salinity. Whenever the level falls under this line, add more fresh water. If it goes a little over, just let it evaporate. To dip any out would remove salt. YOU CAN AUTOMATE THE 'TOPOFF' WITH AN AUTOTOPOFF UNIT. NOT ALL ARE EXPENSIVE.
START TESTING YOUR TEMPERATURE [NEVER TRUST A HEATER THERMOSTAT!!!!! THEY ALL LIE.] YOUR NITRATES, AMMONIA, NITRITE, AND LOGGING THE RESULT.

There will be no lids on the sump or the aquarium.

Feed one imaginary fish for several weeks while your bacteriological filtration grows into the sand and begins to disperse the cloudiness from the water. [you won't be able to see the rock at first]. When the bacterial film starts growing the sand will settle.

Your tank will go through a stage of algae growth and water will get polluted with nitrate and ammonia. When your bacteria have grown enough to dispose of that and return test levels to 0 nitrate and 0 ammonia, you will be ready to add snails and hermits.

The chemistry will spike again. It will settle. By now you can start talking about fish.

In a 48, I recommend only nano fish, no tangs. They grow a foot long. Go to Live Aquaria and look at their Marine Fish, and look at Nano Fish for good recommendations.

Do not get an anemone anywhere in the first 6 months of tank keeping---they're too dangerous, and too sensitive.

1. Reputabale internet fish suppliers (heard that Liveaquaria and Marine Depot are good) REEFER MADNESS HAS A GOOD REP, too.
2. How do we decide what coral or annemmones to buy? We will have the normal array of fish found in a "nemo" type aquarium probably. RECOMMEND AGAINST THAT: clowns are ok, but not the others: the tank size shown in the movie was not realistic. A tang would stress and die in something that small. Always look at the "Adult" size of the fish when planning. These fish live [and grow] for decades.

3. Can you advise a place to get educated on all the kinds of coral, annemmones, mushrooms...etc. We don't want to get in trouble buying too much or the wrong kinds. START TESTING THE MOMENT YOU THINK 'CORAL.' TEST ALKALINITY, CALCIUM, AND MAGNESIUM. IF THESE 3 ARE IN BALANCE AND IN RIGHT RANGE, YOU'RE GOOD FOR CORALS.

The lighting package we bought is for a reef aquarium. YES, BUT---WHAT KIND OF REEF? MH FOR ACROPORAS AND SOME CLAMS, T5/VHO FOR MANY OTHER CORALS AND SOFTIES. GET YOUR LIGHTS ON A TIMER, BTW. MAKES LIFE WAY EASIER.

BOOKS ARE VERY GOOD. SO ARE MANY DEALER SITES. REMEMBER THEY WANT TO SELL YOU FISH; THEIR SIZE RECOMMENDATIONS WILL BE MINIMAL. YOU WANT YOUR FISH TO BE HAPPY; YOU SHOULD NOT SQUEEZE YOUR FISH INTO A MINIMAL ENVIRONMENT. CHECK OUT MY SIG FOR THE FISHLOAD OF A 52 GALLON CORAL REEF---I COULD ADD A COUPLE MORE SMALL ONES.

4. Then...our question is exactly what type food do we get? I know we need a variety...since we live in Bend Oregon...and supplies here are somewhat limited...we have to buy on-line most of the time.

YOU CAN PICK UP SOME CYCLOPEEZE IN A FREEZER BOX UP IN PORTLAND, EASY, AND GET IT HOME. THE BEST FOOD IS FROZEN OR LIQUID. YOU CAN ALSO MAKE SOME BY DICING STUFF YOU GET AT THE FISH MARKET, UNCOOKED.

 

[mrothermel]

Thanks...advice well taken.

 

[rededteck]

Richard is a fantastic person to deal with. His rock is awesome and he gives you more than what is in his packages. He is also one of the more ethical people to deal with out there.

Take it very slow adding things. It easy to want to add everything at one time, but a smaller aquarium will reflect changes in water much more rapidly.

Regarding adding corals, ensure you have the best lighting you can afford and supplement to keep the creatures alive.

If you need some information, this is the best place around the globe for information. If you want to read some books, Julian Sprung has some very good books out there for reefs with many excellent details.

Have fun and good luck, this is a great hobby.

 

[mrothermel]

We are obviously new at using this format for communication...am unsure of how to reply to each person...so...here are a few answers to questions. We purchased the Dual Satellite 24 hour lighting system 2x96W. It does the moonlight/day cycle when attached to timers. We purchased the Aquafuge PS with light as the refugium. The first shipment of "the package" from Richard will arrive in a week or so. We will do as we have read and let things settle with the package set-up for a month or two...or longer before we add anything else. Lots of reading and learning. It is hard to get down all the acronyms and all the names of the different coral etc. We lean on your expertise! The simpler you explain things...the better! We will get an thermometer separate from the heater. Also...is the refugium all we need as far as a filter/pump? The folks at Champion said yes...just checking. We will build a reef before adding any fish, yes? And that will take months it sounds like. That's fine...we just want to do it right! Thanks!

 

[Drewcipher]

I don't want to scare you off or anything, but you will not likely be able to keep high light demanding corals or anemones with the compact florescent lights you have. The trick in this hobby is to research your livestock first and then purchase equipement that will allow you to keep those things. But don't worry, youshould be able to make a nice reef with low light stony corals and some softies.

Also, you will need more circulation that the aquafuge provides. Be it through a closed loop system, or powerhead inside the tank. Again depending on what you decide to keep, people aim to have pumping capability of anywhere from 10x-50x turnover per hour. You have a 48 gallon tank, so 10x would obviously be 480 gallons per hour(gph).

I can't stress enough how important it is to make sure you have the right equipement for you livestock, so you have 2 choices here, go with what you have already bought and add approriate softies and maybe some low light stonies, AND add appropriate flow. These creatures can do better in low flow(10x-20x turnover) OR you can do more research on the things you want to keep and replace equipement that isn't up to par. Either way you will need loads more circulation in this tank.

Also, browsing on Reef Central is great and helpful, but if you want to look up some subjects that are specific questions, become a premium member. It will be the best $20 you ever spend. I paid when I started planning my big tank and saved a huge amount of money in the long run.

 

[HowardW]

TBS rock likes good flow so you're going to need some powerheads in there (cheapest way) For that size tank you could run a couple of Seio 620s or a few MaxiJet 1200s. You want to try and have a good random turbulent flow going.

Your lights will be just fine for the rock, critters, and any soft corals you may get. Also pick up a pair of Coralife Aquagloves for handling the rock and when putting your arms in the tank. Another good product is Seachem Stability, it will greatly assist with your cycle and should be added daily from the start IMO.

I keep my water parameters at: SG 1.026, Temp 75-76, PH 8.2, alk. 10-12, calcium 400-440, etc. with very good success. You'll need to get some basic test kits (Seachem, Salifert are good) and a refractometer and also have pre made saltwater ready in jugs for doing 10-20% water changes as the tank cycles. If you use the Stability and do the small water changes, your free ammonia may never go over .5 PPM and your tank will probably cycle in 10-21 days or so with very minimal die off and your tank will be off to a great start......just try not to start adding more stuff too soon and keep up on checking water parameters and let the tank start to mature and you'll be fine.

 

[mrothermel]

Thanks again...will be purchasing the better flow system. Richard is diving today and has not sent our package yet. We still have some time. You guys are so very helpful!

 

[mrothermel]

Hey Howard W....we did get another powerhead and we got the Fluvol 405 system also. What a difference it has already made. Now the flow is calculated at 350 for the Fluvol; 280 for one powerhead and we still have the refugium. So we are at least 10.5x now which may be enough. Anyway, even with an empty tank we can tell the difference. Thanks! We pick up the first half of "the package" today in Portland. What else do we need to consider? What food if any do we feed this new rock because it will be several months before we really add fish. The second half of the package is a few weeks out at least. Any suggestions? Mel