Setting up my first reef tank.

[lamontcarter]

Hello,
I am currently in the process of setting up my first reef tank. It is a 55 gallon glass tank (48"x12"x20"...not too sure about the height). I have one bag of regular white sand, and another bag of live sand mixed together inside. I'm only planning on fillling it up around halfway, maybe 25-35 gallons of water. I'll be using primarily biological filtration. There's a lfs that's selling live rock for 7.99lb bare, and 10.99lb with coralline algae, corals, zoas etc. attached. How much live rock do I need?
I'm interested in keeping nano fish, and maybe a few dwarf seahorses. I've been doing some reading on liveaquaria.com, about the dwarf seahorses, and it says they recommend species only tanks for them, but that small fish like gobies, and dragnets can be housed with them. I'd also like to keep a small crab or two, one or two shrimp, and maybe some snails. Does this seem like the tank would be overstocked?
I was also thinking about adding seagrass toward the background for the seahorses to cling to. Does this seem like a good idea?
Any info before I undergo this endeavor would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

 

[Sugar Magnolia]

Yes, seahorses should be kept in a species only tank. Typically, the flow that a reef tank requires if much to high for the horses. We have a forum dedicated to seahorses...http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=35

That price sounds about right for live rock. General rule of thumb is about 1-1 1/2 pounds of rock per gallon for good biological filtration.

 

[rpjaws74]

sounds like a nice set up cant wait to see pics.

 

[lamontcarter]

I'm on my way (sort of)! I just got the part i needed to begin filling my tank with R/O water. Hopefully I should have the tank filled, and the salt and heater added this week. Also, does anybody know where I can find shoal grass?

 

[kingevil]

not to be a 'debbie downer' but i would NOT suggest you start with horses. they are incredibly finicky and difficult to keep. they require low temps and feedings 3x a day. if you are hell-bent on horses, you should only get them from a local breeder.

i would get all youR rock from marco rocks as the cost is drastically lower than your lfs. you can buy a coulpe chunks of purple rock to get the marco going.

not sure that i would recommend only filling halfway.

 

[lamontcarter]

The main reason I'm filling halfway, is because I'm living with my roommate, and my room is on the second floor. I haven't done any type of research into the types of load that my roommate's floor can hold. I just don't want this tank to be a problem in a house that doesn't belong to me.

 

[wolfador]

tank is too large for dwarf horses, you can go with another type of horses if you wanted.

Dwarf horses have no stomachs and need to feed all the type. In a tank that large you would run in a bunch of algae issues trying to keep them fed.

 

[Humuhumunuku]

not to be a 'debbie downer' but i would not suggest you start with horses. They are incredibly finicky and difficult to keep. They require low temps and feedings 3x a day. If you are hell-bent on horses, you should only get them from a local breeder.

I would get all your rock from marco rocks as the cost is drastically lower than your lfs. You can buy a coulpe chunks of purple rock to get the marco going.

Not sure that i would recommend only filling halfway.

+1

 

[lamontcarter]

I think I'm going to go ahead and take your advice on the seahorses. They weren't really necessary, I just thought It would be a nice addition. I'm looking at having probably around 20-25 gallons of water in the tank, when it's finished. The only things that I really 'need' to have, are a little shoal grass, some scattered rock with coralline algae, and some colorful inverts. I'm not really decided on fish, yet. What do you guys suggest for fish? I like gobies. I want something colorful, small, very peaceful toward inverts, and easy to keep (not like seahorses lol). Some very small schooling fish would be nice, as well. I wouldn't mind doing an entirely invert tank, though.
The last time I set up a tank, it was a 55 gallon freshwater tank. For what seemed like a year and a half, my roommate and I went through countless numbers of fish, inverts, tank setups, etc. My other friend would tell us to leave it alone, and stop sticking our hands in it every couple of seconds. We never really found a tank setup that we were happy with. We just kept changing it, over and over. There were water quality issues, the whole shebang. I knew I was done when we started buying lemon tetras as feeders for our Oscar, just to watch them for a few days. I'm finally beyond that, now, and I want a simple peaceful tank, that I can be happy with for a very long time, without wasting tons of money, or changing it every 20 seconds.

 

[wolfador]

What do you guys suggest for fish? I like gobies. I want something colorful, small, very peaceful toward inverts, and easy to keep (not like seahorses lol). I wouldn't mind doing an entirely invert tank, though.

Clown pair?

 

[lamontcarter]

Clown pair sounds cool. I thought of that before, however... We had two Black Convict Cichlids in our old freshwater tank. They bred repeatedly, over and over, until their offspring took over the tank. We couldn't even get rid of them fast enough. Will this happen with clowns? I'm more interested in having a tank that's completely biologically filtered, so I won't be able to have that large of a biomass.

 

[Reeferz412]

Just get a smaller tank then... filling it halfway will be odd looking.. to say the least. If you want less bio load, dont get so many fish and have a sump/fuge. It will reduce the water changing efforts than without one. Although I am not too sure how you would accomplish that with a half full tank... hence why you should downgrade if you worry about the weight of the tank. Especially when you add rock to the mix.

 

[dfleming32]

If you don't my asking, where in DE did you find the coraline live rock? I'm looking for a few nice pieces to seed a tank. Thanks!

 

[lamontcarter]

I see what you mean. The odd looking thing, however, is relative. I was going to drop some mangroves in there, to help with the filtration, too. I think it would look kind've cool, half full, with some shoal grass, couple of rocks etc. But... I guess we'll find out soon. lolz. If the half full thing doesn't work for me, then I'll have to get another tank. I'll probably just get a long shallow one. I want to use this one now, because I got a really good deal on it.

 

[lamontcarter]

Oh yeah, and the place in Delaware that sells the live rock, fish, inverts, corals etc. is in Bear. It's called Pet Kare. There's two locations. The one in Bear has some cool things. Eels, corals, zoas, alligator snapping turtles! lolz. All types of cool stuff. The other location had a dwarf octo the last time I called. http://www.mypetkare.com/

 

[MaxxedMan]

None of the fish you breed in Saltwater will survive unless you go through a lot of trouble to help them. So they won't take over or spread.

 

[MaxxedMan]

I see what you mean. The odd looking thing, however, is relative. I was going to drop some mangroves in there, to help with the filtration, too. I think it would look kind've cool, half full, with some shoal grass, couple of rocks etc. But... I guess we'll find out soon. lolz. If the half full thing doesn't work for me, then I'll have to get another tank. I'll probably just get a long shallow one. I want to use this one now, because I got a really good deal on it.

You'll eventually want an overflow to a sump or a hang on skimmer. and it's going to be very difficult to get any of that with a half full tank. If you want a nice peaceful tank that won't cause you issues, especially as a new comer, you probably want to go as traditional as possible to get the most help as possible. If the experienced people are saying, "Hmm, never done that before, let me know how it works out" you are probably going to be in trouble.

 

[lamontcarter]

I understand what you're saying. I'm more interested in keeping the tank strictly biologically filtered only. I'm more than willing to sacrifice all the other things for that one aspect. I'd even be willing to keep just one animal, with a lot of live rock, and plants. What would be the best approach, if I were looking only for a strictly biologically filtered tank?

 

[husslr187]

The main reason I'm filling halfway, is because I'm living with my roommate, and my room is on the second floor. I haven't done any type of research into the types of load that my roommate's floor can hold. I just don't want this tank to be a problem in a house that doesn't belong to me.

where is the tank located in the room? the last few times i moved i just made sure my 210 was along an outside wall or a known load bearing wall. if you can tell which way the floorjoists are running try to run your tank across them to spread the load as evenly as possible. with that said im not there to make the call on if it would hold or not, but in my OPINION i think you'll be fine.

 

[lamontcarter]

My room spans the entire width of the house. The tank is up against the wall that connects this house to our neighbors house. I have no idea which way the floor joists are running. How do I find out?