Advantages to lv and coral

[WIZE GUY]

i have a couple of tanks and i dont have any lr or coral should i have some im sure my fish would like it but they seem happy w out it? can i still add it is it high maintnance...any help appreciated

 

[thincat]

What kind of tank do you have now? Size, when set up, what's stocked in there now. any sand, what type of filter?

 

[melosu58]

You should definitely should get some LR for the biological filtration part and your fish would have some places to call home.

 

[WIZE GUY]

i have places for my fish to hide and they all seem hapy and well is it high maintnance???... i have a 55 gallon with a orange clown. blue hippo tang. majestic angelfish, royal gramma, coral beauty, and a porcupine puffer... than i have a 35gal w a tomato clown and a lion fish... they all seem happy id like to just know what im gettin into pleease and thanks

 

[WIZE GUY]

i dont have sand and i just have a 55 gallon filter and i have a prizm skimmer as well thanks again

 

[JaredC555]

live rock help is low maintenance. once a regular rock has been "cured" it is live and will just thrive in a saltwater tank. you don't need to feed it or anything. just normal water maintenance like you should be doing anyway.

it will help build the proper bacteria to help maintain water levels.

your fish won't really mind the rocks either way. it's only coral that you should be worried about. some fish are not coral friendly.
if you just plan on flipping regular rocks or decorations for live rock, go ahead!

my suggestion would be to find some fiji rocks from Petco to build your base with... they tend to be a little cheaper and not so colorful, but you don't need anything crazy for a base... then find a specialty fish store that stocks live rock.
it's slightly more expensive (usually around $8.99 per pound, compared to $7.99 or $6.99 at Petco) but are much better.
employees there are trained much better than Petco on what to use and can help you pick out the proper rocks.

 

[JaredC555]

if you're looking into that, should also looking at adding some substrate or live argonite reef sand... what do you have on the floor of your tank if you don't have sand?

you should post some pics of your 55 gallon tank up
(or both if you want)

 

[austinsdad]

I'm willing to bet your 55g is high in nitrates. That's a lot of larger fish in there, and without the rock for added biological filtration, things WILL go south at some point. How are your water readings now? And OK, just fine isn't a good answer.

I'd recommend 50 to 80 pounds of rock be added. And remember, it's not the weight of the rocks that's important, it's the surface area where the "biology" lives.

 

[WIZE GUY]

i have crushed corral on the bottom of both my tanks i have dead corral in the 35 gallon tank i tested my water and they looked goo but i brought some water to my fish store and they said it was good as well she said id have to get new lights???

 

[austinsdad]

See there. You did it.

The water "is good". You and the lfs took readings and said the same thing.

What is "good"? Tell us the nitrate reading.

My contention is that you have a lot of fish in a 35g tank, with no rock providing enhanced biological filtration. I think you're headed for trouble.

 

[WIZE GUY]

sorry my ph is high range is 7.8 or 8.0 in between, nitrite is 0 ppm, ammonia 0ppm almost barely inbetween 0.25 , and my nitrate is between 5.0 and 10 not bad i check it least once a day and its been good so far

 

[WIZE GUY]

and by the way this is all in my 55 gallon not my 35. my 35 has a tomato clown and a african lion and thats it. thanks

 

[austinsdad]

Ph is low I believe, and you've got ammonia. Ammonia at this stage isn't "good".

How did you cycle this tank?

 

[WIZE GUY]

about 2 years theyve been running just fine i had to restart the 3gal all over again but this one only needed water

 

[WIZE GUY]

but what about corral?

 

[thincat]

Okay, that's another animal all together. What type and how many watts of light do you have?

 

[WIZE GUY]

i just have the regular 24 in flourescent lights just ones a black light i know i need new ones but like what and is that all i need is lighting do i need to add chemicals etc?

 

[thincat]

Is this on your 55 gal? I would need the measurements of your tank.Hight, wigth and depth. Corals normally need lots of light. On a 55 you would need at least 350-500 watts of either T-5 or Metal Halides. Your could go with less but you would need to place them closer to the top.
Read some of the sticky's on this site for more information.

 

[mr86mister]

Make sure to look at the sticky's like thincat said, these will help you out a bunch.

The lighting you will need for corals will be a bit pricey but worth it. If you have the money and really want to get into corals I would suggest Metal Halides so you can have almost any coral you want.

 

[WIZE GUY]

im getting a 125 gallon just decided on it im in the air on 2 different tanks but im gonna spend the money for good lights in the bigger tanks so you would suggest halide thanks