A little Rusty...

[h8z2luze]

Ok I used to have a 50G reef thats in my avatar and gallery. Then i moved out and left it with my ex sooooo i want to get another tank going. i have my eye on a 45 gallon acrylic tank someone is selling it and the NICE stand for 100 bucks including some base rock, heater, filter with extra bio bag, temp guage, net, and test kit for $100 i cant pass it up the tank has no scratches or anything she said. SOOOO I want to do a agressive or fish only saltwater tank What all do I need? i am only slightly farmilliar with reef but no agressive. Thanks in advance.

 

[melosu58]

Well it looks like you have a good start there with that tank. If you are going to have an aggressive tank you`ll really need some good filtration as they are really messy eaters. It looks like you are missing some PH`s. You`ll need a few.

 

[Innovator]

When you say aggressive, what exactly are you planning to keep?

 

[h8z2luze]

Im not sure yet exactly. I really want a striped dogface puffer or a eel not sure yet what one.

 

[Ziggy953]

Hmm...I'm thinking that a 45 is going to be too small for those choices. Most eels will get to over 2 feet in length and will really need more room. As Mike said the Agressive fish tend to make a mess of a tank so skimmer is going to be a must have!

 

[h8z2luze]

Ok so what would be a good idea for a 45G?? I just dont want to get into a LOT of money and i dont want to have 2 small fish swimming around 4 rocks.... lol. Also im going to have to freshin up my memory on care and cycling and allllllll the fun stuff.

 

[roka64]

I'm thinking of a mated pair of Gold Striped Maroons and possibly a dwarf type lionfish, would be good. Make sure the clownfish are much bigger than the lionfish. Most other aggressive fish will need a larger tank.

 

[h8z2luze]

Now im thinking it wouldnt be to much of a fortune and well worth making a reef with this tank. I am going to pick it up tomorrow or saturday. Here is a pic of it what do you guys think?

 

[cmor1701d]

That's a great deal for the money. Snap that up and let us know what you decide

 

[h8z2luze]

im thinkin reef

 

[fijiwigi]

You left your tank with your ex.? That had to hurt sorry to hear that. The amount of time and money spent in this hobby is like building a hot rod in a way and then to have your ex drive it away that sucks. Well now you get to have the fun all over again. Sometimes I debate getting a second job or even donating Plasma to help fund my addiction.

 

[usmcmarc]

Hmmmmmm...donating plasma? That sounds like a good idea. Maybe sell an extra kidney or something... LOL

 

[h8z2luze]

Lmao Well I picked up the tank last night and I am very pleased I was afraid of scratches or something since its an acrylic tank but its clear as glass and the stand is awesome. Set up for a sump if I go that route. I like it a lot. So she gave me id say about 20 pounds of rock that does have minimal life on it. She said she cleaned the sand out looks like there is about 40 pounds in there and she said her fish didnt die from any disease her cat got them... and she lost intrest so im thinking it would be ok to go ahead and maybe get about 20 more pounds of sand and mix in. Use the rock she gave me and get some new live rock and mix it in. What do you guys think? Also i dont know whats changed since i got out of it. What salt is the best to use for a reef? I used Oceanic and or Instant Ocean last time around. Thanks for the help guys.

 

[fijiwigi]

Getting into the salt discussion could take a while There are so many different opinions on whos salt is better. I don't think there is really that much of a drastic difference between salts but hey that is just another of a million opinions. I think if you order your live rock online you will have much better coraline algae coverage than the lfs at least that is how it is in my area. I orderd from DR fosters and smith some fiji I was extremely pleased. It didn't look like much at first but the coraline algae is covering most of the rocks I got online and my lfs rocks have nothing at all on them.

 

[h8z2luze]

Ya I learned that last time and its also usually cheaper online and that is a great website. I think I am going to go with Oceanic salt. It worked well last time