Help, i have no idea what im doing

[Kingy2]

hi every1!

 

i know absalutly nothing so were do i start???, i know that i want to have a set up that has fish and corals, not a fish only set up, and i have looked at some fish and corals that i liked the looks of, but i still know nothing about compatability, feeding, water changes, so realy the basics, so i need to buy some live rock right?, then some coral that will attach itself to the rock? so how do i go about setting up? i have so manyu questions i think im gonna explode!!!X)

[Goofnut]

http://fins.actwin.com/mirror/sbegin.html

http://www.netpets.com/fish/reference/thie...k/thieltoc.html

 

These are good places to start, but don't let them be your ONLY source of information. READ READ READ! Then, after you've done ALL the reading you think you can possibly take, ASK ASK ASK! Post on message boards like this one and get several viewpoints before you make up your mind on a particular subject. Be sure to visit several different sites, including this one and make sure you get a good idea of what you want to accomplish before you buy anything. We'll be happy to help answer questions... that's why we all participate on these boards!

[BustytheSnowMaam]

Also click on the "information" link in the menu above for some good articles on how to get started, what animals, etc.

 

I would post more but need to get to bed. Read thru these articles and then if you have some ?s there are many of us here to answer them. I can give you an idea of how to start from scratch if you need me to.

 

Good luck,

Tasha

[Kingy2]

Tash thanx i think thats what i need, but let me see if ive got this

 

1) Put in filter heater, powerhead + hydrometer.

2) Buy aquarium salt, mix, add to tank, repeat until full.

3) Turn on filters and add substrate and leave for about a month.

4) Add live rock.

5) Add some fish and a clean up crew (crabs snails etc)

6) Leave to cycle before adding more fish along with corals.

 

Am i way off? i hope not cuz im anctious to start but i wanna get it right first.

 

what kind of fish are hardy enough for cycling? I REALY REALY want at least one yellow tang and a trigger clown, the tank is probably gonna be a three foot but i might get another 4foot, is it possible?

[NanoReefer53]

read, read, read, and read !

 

welcome to the hobby. get ready to empty your wallet and go sleepless in bed thinkin bout wutchu gonna do. i call it, new reefer anxiety ! lol, im jp

[gobies]

You're a ways off yet.

Remember: with reef tanks, ONLY BAD THINGS HAPPEN FAST.

 

There are at least three or four posts with the step-by-step list in correct order....keep reading....

Do a forum search on "paletta" or "books", too.

(I'd post more details, but I'm tired.)

[Goofnut]

Yep.. the wallet is definately lighter, but that makes it so much easier to jump out of bed in the morning and RUN to the tank to see what happened while you were sleeping!!

 

You have a few decisions to make before you even add the substrate.. First, what type of filter are you planning on running? Powerfilter, UGF? Secondly, are you considering a plenum, DSB, SSB, crushed coral or no substrate at all?

 

The choice of fish is ALSO very closely tied to what you want to do here... Certain fish are no-nos with corals and you should read up before buying. Damsels are hardy, inexpensive starter fish, but you might want to consider curing the LR before you add them (or perhaps cycle the tank with them in it and buy a rubbermaid tub to cure the LR in at the same time). At most fish stores, you can take the damsels or other fish back after you cycle the tank and get what you want. It's like trading in a car, you lose a bit of value on them, but at $5 a pop Domino Damsels aren't a huge investment initially.

 

When you say you're looking at a 3ft or 4ft tank, what capacity are you referring to? A 3ft tank could be anywhere from 30g to 55g and a 4ft could be anywhere from 60g to 75g. The tank range you mention could probably handle these fish, but with most fish bigger is better.

 

Keep in mind that tanks of this size behave differently than nano tanks (water chemistry, lighting, etc.) so a lot of the information you find on this site may not directly apply to what you're trying to do. http://www.wetwebmedia.com is a good site and there are many others out there which can be of benefit.

 

Above all, PLEASE make sure you don't get too hasty when you do this.. Believe me, I know. If I had it all to do over, I'd have read up even more than I did. I spent several weeks going over site after site and reading FAQs. I haven't made any MAJOR mistakes, but I've heard so many horror stories about poor schmos who blew THOUSANDS of dollars on their setups and quit shortly after setup because they crashed the system or couldn't afford to maintain it. Good luck!

[Kingy2]

well in UK terms a ffoot tank is about 37.7 gals and 3footers about 20 or so gals, im not to sure about substrate, i was either gonna use crushed coral (to buffer the pH) or have no substrate at all, what do you think would be the best option? the filtration is definatly gonna be mechanical, like the fluvals (if your in the UK) that go inside the tank, i wont be using a UGF, i definatly wont to keep a reef and i will be selecting fish around this fact, so reef safe fish only, im gonna go and do some more reseach conserning corals and fish. thanx

[Kingy2]

these are the corals i was thinking of:

 

Blue Tipped Staghorn - Acropora formosa

Blue Acropora nobilis

Blue Tipped Acropora gemmifera

Pink Cat's Paw - Stylophora pistillata

Green Moonstone - Favia sp.

Yellow Tongan Leather - Sarcophyton elegans

Bubble Mushroom-Discosoma sanctithomas

Brown Button Polyps-Zooanthus sociatus

Button Polyps-Zooanthus sp

 

And some fish:

 

Powder Blue Tang - Acanthurus leucosternon

Blenny

Purple Firefish - Nemateleotris decora

Blue Tang - Paracanthurus hepatus

Yellow Tang - Zebrasoma flavescens (love this one)

Clown Trigger

 

invertebrates:

 

Scarlet Hermit Crabs

Fire Shrimps - Lysmata debelius

some sort of snail and maybe a clam

 

how does all that sound?

[cirionrc]

As some one else said read. I am 7 weeks into the hobby with my tank and it is going well. I have some fish and a somewhat stable tank. I read 3 huge books and still ask a bunch of questions on here but have learned a GREAT deal about it. Nothing is better than reading a few books by very experienced professionals in the business for half their lives. You will get many different opinions on different issues and making it confusing. Lots of questions with lots of different answers. And reading the books is fun and you will get the best answers. I read them for hours over and over. The constious marine aquarist by robert fenner is awesome. Or about.com or algone.com are good web sites. Another thing. Be ready to spend a lot of money. Made me broke for a while and a maxxed visa. Try that one. Oh yeah, another thing. Do research on the web on the products you are planning to buy at the fish store before buying them. This will prevent a lot of item returns. Don't take the fish store employees word for anything if they are experienced not. Refer to the books. Trusting store employees from a bunch of fish stores caused me A LOT of aggrivation and money. Have fun.

[Goofnut]

You've picked a broad range of corals there... SPS corals aren't all that easy for the beginner, and require extremely intense lighting. Most people advocate picking a "type" (SPS, LPS, softies) of coral to build your tank around and staying within those general guidelines. It's certainly possible to mix them, but it requires considerable thought as to the placement in the tank. Most clams require very intense lighting and VERY good water quality, so you might want to initally hold off on that choice.

 

As far as the coral interactions -well, I'll have to defer on that as I don't feel competent enough to give advice on that yet. I'm still in the research phase myself.

 

I have a 10g nano reef, and only have one fish, so I can't comment on fish that require larger tanks. The best I can do is point you towards a general compatibility chart. This is NOT the end-all-be-all of information, so continue to ask around. Hopefully someone who is more familiar with multi-fish setups will respond here

 

http://www.marinedepotlive.com/lib/marined...mpatibility.GIF

 

The Scarlet Reef hermits are an excellent choice. I prefer astrea snails myself, but you do have several options. Before you buy, make sure you consult several sources just to get different opinions. Here's a couple of general information links about them:

 

http://www.garf.org/20/matt1.html

http://saltaquarium.about.com/library/week...y/aa043099b.htm

[NanoReefer53]

do not get the clown trigger. those suckers are very aggressive and will nip at all your corals. Being a 37.7 gallon tank, having 3 different tangs in there is not such a good idea. Actually 1 tang would rather have a 55g minimum because they swim around a lot, and I mean a lot. The yellow tang would be the best choice for that size tank. The other fish are okay to keep in there, just add them in slowly.

 

SPS:

Don't attempt to try SPS until your tank is very stable which can take months. A slight flux in the water can result in the death of a whole colony within hours. Stick with the softies for now and SPS later. Read up on SPS and you'll learn how to keep them healthy too.

[printerdown01]

Well you are on the right track!! Figuring out what you want to keep is sep one in my opinion! After you figure out what you want, it is easy to plan a tank around the inhabitants! A lot of people do it a$$ backwards, and end up having to redo their tanks, or keep something they arn't happy with... I agree with all of the notes that NanoReefer53 has made 100%, and don't really have anything to add to them regarding your fish selection (nice job nanoreefer you said it better than I would have)!

 

I don't see lighting on your list (perhaps I have overlooked something, since this is a long post. Forgive me if I'm suggesting something that has already been mentiond). You are going to need serious amounts of light for this tank!! If you post the dimentions of the tank I would be more than happy to help you out (I'm an engineering minior, so please don't convert the units, I'll just end up having to convert them back into metric so I can understand them anyway LOL). Also, have you been able to find Power Compacts in the UK? If you have any questions about the differences in equipment between UK and the US talk to Sahin... He is on here ALL the time (not to mention that he REALLY knows what he is doing!), and he too lives in the UK... He will probably be your best resource for this type of information!

[Toyfreek]

No tangs in small systems!!!!!!! It's just mean.

Trigger will eat all your corals, SPS corals will need Metal halide lighting for the Acroporas.

Loose the mechanical filtration and spend the money on more rock.

Try and avoid the I want it stage, think about instead of what will be happy and healthy. I don't mean to be mean I'm just being practicle when I say your plans need alot of work, and alot more research.

HTH,

Toy

[reefskunk]

KEEP RESEARCHING! Ive had my reef with a variety of corals, and i wish i would have had somebody tell me to put my wallet in my A** and read a book first. Being 17 with a crap job, its important to know how your money wont be lost by a stupid mistake, cause im that 17 yr old!

 

stick to one tang, whichever one, but ONLY after the water is perfect. i have seen four blue tangs and a trigger fall and die in my sisters 30g long that I nicknamed, THE TOILET.

 

People might not agree with me, but... GET A GOOD SKIMMER! This is great for the beginner because it can help delay consequences of small mistakes, or things dying off in your aquarium. My opinion is run the skimmer during the cycle so it can break in while the nitrogen cycle is going.

 

Start with one type of coral (LPS SPS) or softies and stick with it. Softie can create a beatiful display and healthy environment with less money, while unhappy acropora whither away at the same lighting system.

 

DONT SKIP ON A GOOD SKIMMER!

 

-a

 

you'll thank me later

[tinyreef]

i'm with toyfreek on this one. anything short of 55g is bad for a tang imo. you've got high goals set for yourself with the livestock but like the whole thread says: read more and go slow your wallet will thank you later.

 

the most important thing in this hobby is patience. what do you expect from a hobby that has the audacity to call any snail a 'turbo'!? ??? my friends ask me about this hobby and i tell them that watching grass grow is about 50x faster. patience!

 

next in line of importance would be information, water, and lights imho. good luck!

[LEEWINK]

i think most peeps have answered for me, MOST important is to read, maybe visit a few lfs (local fish stores) and look around and talk to the 'guys' there, get good advice on what to stock and not, maybe join WWW.ULTIMATEREEF.COM too and have a look around there, maybe place a few posts there, just remember knowledge is king and thats the route to start, cheers, lee :)