New Tank w/ lr. Hows my initial setup look?

[Guest]

Hey GUYs. Being out of the hobby for a few years I am now back with a vengeance. I don't know why I quit I had so much knowledge that has faded away. At least it comes back with ease. Anyway heres my intitial setup.

1 45 gallon high tank 36'' wide 12'' deep and 24" high.
1 eheim professional II 2026.
1 rs prizm hang on protein skimmer (70$ one)
1 Select Fiji Premium Rock - 22 lb. Box
1 powerhead details soon
20 lbs Arogonite with 10# hawaii coral on top
3 compact flourescents. ill add details soon

Ok. how does this look? I Plan on having maybe some kind of dwarf angel as a show piece. Maybe bicolor or even possibly something more exotic. I am not sure if a couple yellow stripe maroons would be ok with them, but I know some clowns need an anemone to be happy. And not that condy... the expensive bubble tips. Can my setup handle what i'm looking for. i'm not looking to setup corals or inverts, just an angel and some (yellow stripe maroon) clowns. Possibly even an anemone for them if they need it. ok Guys let it roll and thanks in advance


Dela

 

[Electrobes]

Hey Dela! Welcome to Aquarium Advice, first off I love to see another with the same tank I have, its a bit rare to find anyone with the same tank.. let alone the same set up. What you are going for is whats called FOWLR tank. So far your set up looks great. The only thing I see you may need more of is substrate.. being it crushed coral or arogonite. I just have sand in mine. I may mix in some crushed coral, but we'll see when I actually choose what will be going into my tank (a battle between an eel or a puffer).

I am also doing the same.. my tank is currently cycling now. I have 50 pounds of regular aquarium sand, two PC lights (2 65 watt at 6500k, giving my about 2.8 watts/gal <-- this only matters if you are trying to grow anything requiring light.. as for me I want to grow macroalgae and marine plants.), some LR with more base rock, a Filstar XP3 (a bit overkill but nice if I geta bigger tank ), no powerheads as the current coming from the filter is hella strong, and am thinking about making a DIY protein skimmer once I get the light fixtures set in the hood.

I am not too knowledgable about fish but RodneyCK gave me a site...
www.liveaquaria.com
It has pretty accurate info from what I gather with fish specs and needs.

As for growing anything in your tank.. you mentioned 3 PC lights.. what wattage are they each? Basically take the total wattage they produce and divide by 45 (total tank's capacity) and that will give your watt/gal... from there the others who are more reef oriented can tell you if you can put anything in there (for the possible anemone you are interested in). Good luck and the others will answer you pretty fast

 

[tkos]

First I want to say that you do not need an anemone for clown fish. They are all pretty much captive raised or breed and have never seen an anemone in their life. They will pick something in the tank to make their home, a piece of coral, a cave in the rock or even a powerhead. You shouldn't get an anemone anyway as they are the most difficult things to raise and need really high light and pampering not to mention probably a bigger tank.

You will want more LR. at least 1 lb per gallon. Since you will have 22 lbs already you could just buy some base rock and use the LR to seed it. That will be cheaper.

As for a filter I would run that without any media. Media tends to raise the nitrates in a tank which can be bad for any little critters like hermit crabs or snails etc... The LR will filter your tank and the powerheads will create a current. You might even want another powerhead. Use the filter you have for addition current and as a place to put activated carbon if you ever need to run it.

Are you fishless cycling the tank? And is the LR you bought cured or uncured?

 

[An t-iasg]

Hi...here are my thoughts. I'm just starting to research SW myself!

20 pounds of LR may be a little low. Usually for adequate filtration, you need 1 - 1.5 lbs of LR. I think most people on here rely more on LR than a canister for filtration. However, since you're not setting up corals, and your bio-load is not too great, maybe you can get away with a lesser amount of LR.

Tank raised clownfish do not need an anemone. I don't really know about yellow stripe maroon clowns, though. I'm researching ocellaris clowns. Also, your tank should be mature (running for about a year) before you add an anemone.

I hope this helps a little!

Edit: 1 - 1.5 lbs. of LR per gallon of water! Just saying you need 1-1.5 lbs of LR doesn't help much! Sorry!

 

[Guest]

The only thing I see you may need more of is substrate..

You sure? I think I got at least an inch in there if not slightly more.

First I want to say that you do not need an anemone for clown fish

GOOD

As for a filter I would run that without any media.

Are you sure ... not even like nitra-zorb or something? i know LR will do the bio for me but you mean the coarse blue pad and fine white pads are enough? or not even those?.

Are you fishless cycling the tank? And is the LR you bought cured or uncured?

Yes a fishless cycle. I plan on waiting min 3 weeks Before Fish. THe LR is CURED but I plan on scrubing it with a new toilet brush in high salinity before i put it in.


GLad I dont need an anemone. those are a pain in the butt. As for my PC lights. i have a mixture of some bright and some actinic bulbs. Im not sure but i think I have 3 75 or 65 watters. without CORALs /POLYPS i'm sure thats enough for some nice LR Color growth.

Cycle the tank with lights off? Can I ever turn em on just to look see if I got any hitchikers with my rocks?

dela

 

[Electrobes]

if you've got LR in there its best to leave the lights on for a few hours a day