Needing help with SW tank

[turks72305]

Hello, I am kind of new to saltwater tanks and I need a little help with getting my bigger tank up and running. Here are the questions I have:

• How much live sand/crushed coral do I need for a 75 gallon tank?
• Can I mix the live sand and the crushed coral together?
• How much live rock do I need?
• I have 2 clown fish right now, an orange and white one and a black and white one----Can I add a few more fish of different species? If so I can I add a maroon clown fish?
• Can I add a chocolate chip starfish to this mix?
• Any other suggestions and ideas would be greatly appreciated!!!!

THANKS

 

[neilanh]

First, I'm going to move this thread to the SW Getting Started forum, you'll get more help in there.

1) I don't recommend using crushed coral (cc). Stick with dry aragonite sand, you'll be much happier in the long run. How much you need depends on how deep you want it to be to get the look you're after.

2) See #1

3) Generally 1-1.5 pounds per gallon is pretty good to go off of, but it depends how you want your tank to look when it's all setup.

4) Once you get the new tank established you'll be able to add additional fish

5) Never kept one, so not sure.

 

[melosu58]

I agree with Neilan. Dont use CC and use good old dry aragonite sand. Rinse very well and add to the tank. Good biological filtration can be had by doing 1 to 2 lbs per gallon as Neilan said. Have you cycled the tank yet? We have a good article on it in our articles section.

 

[SAAVE853]

As far as the chocolate chip starfish they are very hardy, but if you plan to keep any type of coral do not get one because they eat coral :/

 

[turks72305]

Ok thanks for the help and advice. Now I have a few more questions where is the best place to purchase the aragonite sand? and is it different from the caribean sand that the pet stores buy in the 40 pound bags? I have not cycled the tank yet, I have a 10 gallon tank right now set-up but within 2 weeks or so I will have the 75 gallon up and running hopefully.

 

[abdhalim2]

Hye....Welcome to AA~~
anyway, where did u put all the clown..?? in your 10gal .??
all u need is to cycle your tank....read the article...
to add fish, pls see the compatible chart also from the article sections...

 

[mr_X]

turks....google is your friend.
aragonite sand - Google Search
buy dry sand instead of "live sand" in bags. rinse it thoroughly before adding to the tank.

 

[turks72305]

Well I already purchased 80 pounds of "live sand" in the bags? And the went to return it and the pet store will not accept returns on it so now what should I do? Go ahead and use it? Also I have 2 clown fish right now and thats it. I have the orange and white one and the black and white one, I am wanting to add a maroon one---- Will this be ok?

 

[mr_X]

well, go a head and use it, but don't buy anything from that store again. it's ok to use the live sand, but dry is a lot cheaper. you can't have fish in the tank during the cycle. it will most likely kill them. you will need to put them somewhere until you've added the sand and rock and been through a complete cycle. also, you can't put a maroon clown with your clown fish. they will not get along and someone will be killed.

 

[turks72305]

Doug- where can I find dry sand or what should I like for when buying the dry sand? We have very few limited pet stores near us, I paid $80 for 80 pounds of sand. Any help/suggestions I will accept. What else can I put into the tank with the 2 clowns I have now?

 

[abdhalim2]

add LR will be good...i dont know about maroon and common clown cant get along...i have them in my tank....1 maroon clown and 1 white/orange clown...no one get kill til now...the maroon clown will chase the small orange/white clown when the orange/white clown get near to its territory....

 

[mr_X]

you can put other fish in the tank, but you are going to torture those clowns, possibly to death leaving them in there through the cycle. please take those guys out and ask the lfs to hold them for you until you cycle the tank.

well, i am fortunate enough to be close to many lfs's which carry the sand.
here are a few folks online that carry it. maybe some of them have free shipping-
Carib Sea Super Reef Aragonite Sand - 40lbs

 

[turks72305]

I have the clowns in a small established tank right now. I am not adding them to the 75 gallon tank until its ready for them and I have the levels right. I am just trying to make sure I have everything I need to get the big tank up and running smoothly and what kind of other fish I can add in the bigger tank.