Newbie Tank Ready to Begin

[junior]

order live rock online, it will cycle your tank for you and you will get much better quality and for a better price.

Skimmers just take time to adjust but good luck. You will have to adjust it about once a week so stay up on that.

Good Luck
JR

[Deepseafisher]

Okay, cool. I'll do my LR online. Have you got any suggestions as to a site from which to order it?

[junior]

[url]http://www.liverock.com[/url] (that is the best site) their figi rock is amazing.
[url]http://www.tambabaysaltwater.com[/url] (more expensive, but has the best rock around)
[url]http://www.liveaquaria.com[/url] decent rock at a decent price.

Go with figi if you don't order from tbsw. Its really light so you get more bang for your buck. Tonga is very dense but has a very interesting look.

[Deepseafisher]

Okay, deal. My tank has already cycled, with the addition of Live Sand. I had a fairly small ammonia spike (4ppm), and now I'm all nitrite and nitrate. This will help the tank cycle faster in the future, when I add the Live Rock, right?

edit-
The first link doesn't go to the site I suspect you think it does.

Try it out.

Also, do you mean tampabaysalwater.com? Tambabay didn't work.

[jaypython]

HI.....adding large amounts of live rock from the offset can throw your parameters out.

Be carefull to wait for your parameters to settle before adding live stock/fish etc etc..
Remember with live rock that some of the living organisms can die off when adding to your fresh tank,they will re-guvinate but it takes time.

As junior said,your skimmer will take time to collect mulm/waste..

I will be interested in your comparisons between saltwater maintanence and freshwater maintanence...its good to get different peoples experiences on here.
good luck and keep us posted

jay:cool:

[junior]

Well I have both, so here is my take on the difference in maintence.

My 180 takes nothing I change the water every 2 weeks and feed.

My 28 bow takes work about twice a week, for topping off purposes and just checking on all the inhabitants. I don't do water changes since I can keep quality high with my DIY fuge.

I think spend maybe 4 hours a month on my fish tanks. So if done right it really doesn't take any work, but if you cut corners thats when you have to spend a lot of time doing water changes and cleaning the tank.

thanks
JR

[Deepseafisher]

Looking at the Live Rock online, I hate to pay that much for shipping when I'm only realistically getting 30 lbs or so of rock. It would be cheaper, and the LFS man said a few weeks ago that any rock I add to my tank from his stock would cause a cycle-I assume this means that he doesn't cure his at all. Will LFS rock work, or will buying online still be a much better option. What is the advantage to buying online, other than convenience?

With the LFS I'm looking at 8 bucks a pound, as opposed to 4 or 5 bucks a pound plus 50 or 80 dollars shipping.

[junior]

how much per pound is the LFS's rock? I will find a price for you. If the rock at the LFS is very good looking I say go for it, the big thing is getting rock that has "character". It will make you much happier in the long run. When I get a chance I will show you the difference with my tank. I will take a new pic.


thanks
JR

[Deepseafisher]

Character? Not sure I follow, but I'm sure the pictures will explain your meaning.

It runs $7.99/pound as I recall. I'll call and ask in the near future.

Found one amazing deal on-line, while looking for the DND (our LFS) website. They have stuff ranging from $3-$4 a pound at [url]http://www.exoticfish.com[/url]

Have you got any experience with them? Does it sound like something I might trust?

I don't know. Thanks for all the advice.

[junior]

Never gone through them, you really want to stick with the good companies that are well known, because "live" rock can variy greatly. Some companies idea of live is bacteria on it, while other will be covered with sponges and corals(tampa bay saltwater comes to mind).

try these guys, I have heard good things about them and should be about $4 a pound after shipping
[url]http://www.livestockusa.org/index.html[/url]


at the end of the day its up to you. I looked at [url]http://www.liverocks.com[/url] and it looks like their prices have gone up A LOT. used to be able to get rock from them for $4/lbs to your door but guess the hype has caught upto them.

[Deepseafisher]

Well, went throught the LFS, and it looks like it'll be okay. Got some really nice looking rock at 6 bucks a pound. I asked him if they were cured, and he said yes, but later admitted to the ammonia in the tank they were in as being 1.5 ppm . It would have been too easy for me to tell him I wanted uncured anyway. Oh well. The rock really looks great, and I've got some old base rock in the tank that I'm hoping to seed with the new live rock. Well, here goes nothing. I'll post a pic when the tank gets cleaned out a bit. I've got a whisper 20-40 gallon filter in the tank to help clear the water. When the water clears, I'll remove the filter cartridge and use it as a power head :rockin:. Savin' a little money that way, at least.

Well, just postin to keep you informed, I guess. I'll post a picture when I can.

[jaypython]

cant wait for the pics....

jay

[Deepseafisher]

Soon, Jay, soon. I just have to pester my mom to bring the camera home. Soon as I can do that, I'll take some pics and post them.

I bought some Biozyme for saltwater, and the tank is now cycled. Ammo and nitrite are next to zero, and nitrate is up (I assume, I haven't measured it yet...). I bought three Blue Clawed Hermit Crabs today and put them in the tank. They seem to be doing well.

How many crabs do I want on my "cleanup crew"? What else do I want in there as a part of the "cleanup crew"? As a reminder, the tank is a 20 gallon tall with 30 pounds of live rock, 10 or 15 pounds of base rock (that had absolutely no life on it...I had been using it to buffer some freshwater...), N.O. lighting (15 watts of it), and my prism skimmer. I plan to eventually have a pair of Saddleback Clowns (A. Sebae).

I read on the tampabaysaltwater site that I need a brittle star, 2 tiger tail cucumbers, a pepermint shrimp, a turbo snail per 2 gallons, and a hermit crab per gallon. Is there much truth to this? How much of that is just Tampa Bay Salt looking for a sale?

Thanks for the help.

[Diane]

I am thinking seriously about changing my 75 gallon to a saltwater tank, I bought the book "Saltwater Aquariums for Dummies" and just started it.

I am hoping that what I have will be a start, so I thought I would ask you guys. I have an Emperior 280 and an Emperior 400 for it, will that work for the filtration?

I would be happy to just have the fake coral ornaments and rock etc. for now and live plants and some saltwater fish, is that do-able?

What kind of powerhead do I need and can someone recommend a reasonably priced skimmer for a 75?

I will try to read this book as soon as possible and don't plan to start it until I get this info in my head, but I am impatient for answers to my questions LOL.

[Deepseafisher]

Welcome to Saltwater Diane.

Hijacking both of my, threads, huh? Tsk, tsk...lol. I'll do what I can to answer both of your questions here.

A great source of information is a thread that is, unfortunately, on another forum. Here's a link. [url=http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=239848]WaterKeeper's thread for those new to the Hobby[/url] There's a lot of great information there, but take everything he says with a grain of salt. Much of it is opinion, and nothing more.

To quote Junior from earlier in the skimmer thread,

[quote]The seaclone does nothing, you would be better off spending that money on live rock, it will do a lot better than a sea clone. [/quote]

Hope that helps. I've got a Prism Pro Deluxe skimmer. Its rated for a 100 gallon tank (not sure if it will actually meet that recomendation, but thats at least what it said on the box). Its working really well in the 20 I'm in the process of setting up. I'm not sure, though what would be a good skimmer for you, though. I don't really know what would be needed in a 75.

Good luck with your tank, and post some pics when you get a chance.