very first build need guidance

[greaver83]

Ok so my step dad works for duke power and went to turn off someones power the house was abandoned and there were 2 tanks on the porch one 55 bow bront and another 37 gal bow front corner tank he is keeping the 55 and giving me the 37 so i am going to do a small reef setup in the 37 its nothing but the tank no lid no stand i will be building the stand and canopy I have some question as far as filtration lighting and stocking this will be a slow build my goal is to have 2 clowns ( like nemo i know cliche) and an anemone for them to live in the rest of the stock is up for debate im more concerned about creating a healthy living environment for the fish above all i was hoping to get the forums advice on what order to do thing in and what potential stock a 37 could have being this is my first salt water build i am all ears and i want to learn as much as possible so i can do this right the first time.

 

[Kio707]

Beginner Fish: Tropical Fish for Beginners in Saltwater Aquariums

Good starting place, plus gives you tank sizes. What are your other questions exactly?

 

[greaver83]

what filter how much wpg what spectrum light how much live rock vs coral what tempature what anomeas do best in that size tank what to house with the clowns pretty much everything

 

[Rutrag]

I'm not familiar with a 37 gallon bowfront. How tall is that? Anemones need very clean water and intense light. Depending in the depth of the tank (and somewhat the width) that will give us an idea for lighting.

By the way, know that clowns don't need an anemone to be happy. The anemone is harder to take care of by far. Many on the board will say that anemones are harder than a lot of corals. I'm not trying to scare you, but I want you know what you're taking on with a nem. Clowns will often use different corals as a host in captivity.

If you are set on a nem, I'd recommend a bubbletip (regular or rose) or a long tentacle. There are a few other species available that clowns will accept for a host, but the regular bubbletip and the long tentacle tend to be the most reasonably priced.

 

[greaver83]

30" by 15" by 21" are the dimensions and im not dead set on the nem i just think they look so cool i just want a healthy tank i like really big rock piles too do you still need 2lbs of live rock to 1 gallon in a reef tank

 

[carey]

Reef tank I would go with between 1.5lbs to 2 lbs. I also like alot of rock in my tanks lol

There are corals that look like nems, I have a torch coral and everyone is always like wow nice nem until I show them its a coral. lol

 

[greaver83]

yuh i would be happy with a coral that has the look of a nem cary what filtrating setup and lighting would you reccomend for that tank i see you have your act together im always reading your threads salt water is very new to me i have had fresh water tanks my whole life but everything salt seems to be jibberish lol

 

[carey]

Hmm if it were me I'd run a hang on back filter like an aquaclear 70 ro even a 110, or make a fuge out of a 110 AC.

I would do my water changes and wait and see if I needed a skimmer. On a tank that size youre kinda in between needing one and not quite in my opinion and experience.

As far as lighting, I would look at a fishneedit.com fixture. pretty cheap and it would allow you to keep most corals. Nem is on the iffy side with that light I would think though. Lemme see if I can find a picture of my torch coral

 

[carey]

Not a great picture but it's all I had on file lol

 

[greaver83]

oh wow i didnt even know you could use an HOB in saltwater that would could costs significantly and i am more familiar with HOB style filters so thats a plus too with live do i need to buy all live or buy a few peices live and the rest dead i guess u would say and let the live ones seed the others this is going to be a very slow build it will probably cycle 6 months or so before anything living other than rock is added my wife hates my aquarium addiction lol

 

[greaver83]

we were posting at the same time lol that coral is awesome it looks like it glowing on the ends i would have never thought it was a coral

 

[greaver83]

oh wow we were posting at the same time that coral is awesome i would have never thought it wasnt a nem i just assume all coral is hard. are the ends glowing?

 

[greaver83]

can a mod delete the double post my app is is being weird

 

[carey]

They do glow a little under the right light. there are tons of options out there just have to find them all!

 

[greaver83]

yuh this is gonna be fun im going to custom build my stand around all the hardware needed for the setup it will look super sleek this setup is going to be for my bedroom