Stocking options for my first saltwater tank

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Thanks all. I was looking at thier dry rock last night, and it seems to be my best bet. Glad to hear the good reviews. :)
I found a coworker of mine who said he is breaking down his tank soon, and will sell me some live rock for $2.00 a lb. I think I might take him up on it..........but if I go that route, should I just go with all live rock, or still get base rock first? Makes me nervous getting live rock like that, I have never even seen his tank, but I know that is a great price for live rock.......

Also, kind of a dumb question, but do I need to add anything to RO water? I have only used it in my planted tank, but I mix it with tap, so ihave never had to add anything to it. How does this work for saltwater?
 
Good news! I found my 25 gallon tank in the basement, totally forgot I had it down there. I used it very briefly for a planted tank before I upgraded, so it is in pretty much perfect condition. Same footprint as a 20g, but taller. Hey, 5 extra gallons is 5 extra gallons, right? Lol

Going to order the saltwater master test kit tomorrow, and I already have a phosphate kit. Any other tests I need to get? Also, do I need to buy and water buffers? I will be using premixed water from my lfs, and also thier ro/di for top offs.
Would like to get my sand ordered too. Think I am leanining towards this one Amazon.com: CaribSea Arag-Alive 20-Pound Special Grade Reef Sand, Fiji Pink: Pet Supplies
Will 2 bags be good (40 lbs)?

Decided to wait on the base rock until I talk to my coworker this week. If I can get cured live rock for a decent price from him, I might just go with all live rock.
 
Good news! I found my 25 gallon tank in the basement, totally forgot I had it down there. I used it very briefly for a planted tank before I upgraded, so it is in pretty much perfect condition. Same footprint as a 20g, but taller. Hey, 5 extra gallons is 5 extra gallons, right? Lol

Going to order the saltwater master test kit tomorrow, and I already have a phosphate kit. Any other tests I need to get? Also, do I need to buy and water buffers? I will be using premixed water from my lfs, and also thier ro/di for top offs.
Would like to get my sand ordered too. Think I am leanining towards this one Amazon.com: CaribSea Arag-Alive 20-Pound Special Grade Reef Sand, Fiji Pink: Pet Supplies
Will 2 bags be good (40 lbs)?

Decided to wait on the base rock until I talk to my coworker this week. If I can get cured live rock for a decent price from him, I might just go with all live rock.

that 5g will definitely add to the water column, and 40lbs of sand will give you a nice 1.5"-2" sand bed which is perfect for gobys and snails, and IMO looks really good, if your going to build a tall rock scape yes do base rock then "designer rock" if not go all nice rocks, like pukani "porous" rock
 
Ok. I ordered my base rock today. My coworker only has rock with coral growing on it, and he wants a fortune for it, so I decided to go with my original plan of base rock seeded with live rock. Ordered 25 pounds of dry live rock.

Question about stocking. Went to my lfs today, and they had the most gorgeous fish I have ever seen! It is called a McKosker's Flasher Wrasse. They told me it would be fine in my 25 gallon tank, but I looked it up on liveaquaria, and they say it needs a 55. What are everyone's thoughts here? I would really really like to get one of these guys if it will work in my tank. Obviously, I will not be getting some of the other fish I had originally thought, but that is ok. I am totally in love with this fish, and would love to put on e in my tank if it is doable. Thought???
 
Ok. I ordered my base rock today. My coworker only has rock with coral growing on it, and he wants a fortune for it, so I decided to go with my original plan of base rock seeded with live rock. Ordered 25 pounds of dry live rock.

Question about stocking. Went to my lfs today, and they had the most gorgeous fish I have ever seen! It is called a McKosker's Flasher Wrasse. They told me it would be fine in my 25 gallon tank, but I looked it up on liveaquaria, and they say it needs a 55. What are everyone's thoughts here? I would really really like to get one of these guys if it will work in my tank. Obviously, I will not be getting some of the other fish I had originally thought, but that is ok. I am totally in love with this fish, and would love to put on e in my tank if it is doable. Thought???

What's the max size on the fish..? And if its around 5" he will be ok for a while with light feeding to manage growth better, but he may need to be moved to a larger tank later on maybe in 6 months to a year, if you plan to upgrade to a 55 or larger in that time frame you totally have my green light :D
 
Personally if you are really wanting one google minimum tank size for the flasher wrasse and see what a few websites/ forums have said. Liveaquaria is sometime a bit ott but about right most the time. It may be an aggression issue by putting it in a smaller tank or may just be a very active fish but look into it more before you buy IMO
 
Update 10/10/13

Ok all. I got my live sand and base rock in, and the tank is going up this weekend! ***squeee***

I found a local guy with some nice cured live rock, he is going to sell me to seed my base rock. He is letting me have it for $2.00 a lb, so I plan to get about 10 lbs to go with my 25 lbs of base rock. I have seen the tank we are taking it from, and it looks to be in excellent condition, so hopefully no super bad pests will come with it.

Couple of questions though. The dry rock came yesterday, and is pretty dusty. Can/Should I rinse the rock before I set it up in the tank? If yes, can I use regular water, as it is dead rock anyway, or should I use saltwater? It doesnt look to need any cleaning, it is very clean already, just dusty.

should I get something to put in the bottom of the tank to set the rock on, like some egg crate? It is just a standard glass tank on a stand, but I will probably have over 30lbs of rock in it (at least). I would hate for it to break under pressure. Can I buy that egg crate stuff at Home Depot?
 
Ok all. I got my live sand and base rock in, and the tank is going up this weekend! ***squeee***

I found a local guy with some nice cured live rock, he is going to sell me to seed my base rock. He is letting me have it for $2.00 a lb, so I plan to get about 10 lbs to go with my 25 lbs of base rock. I have seen the tank we are taking it from, and it looks to be in excellent condition, so hopefully no super bad pests will come with it.

Couple of questions though. The dry rock came yesterday, and is pretty dusty. Can/Should I rinse the rock before I set it up in the tank? If yes, can I use regular water, as it is dead rock anyway, or should I use saltwater? It doesnt look to need any cleaning, it is very clean already, just dusty.

should I get something to put in the bottom of the tank to set the rock on, like some egg crate? It is just a standard glass tank on a stand, but I will probably have over 30lbs of rock in it (at least). I would hate for it to break under pressure. Can I buy that egg crate stuff at Home Depot?

Yeah I would clean it off with tap water. Also, 30lbs is absolutely no weight at all for the bottom of a tank to hold. I saw a video where a guy loaded a lot of weight into a 10g tank, probably 100lbs or more and then stood on top of it. The tank didn't care.

The eggcrate can be used to make your rock scaping more stable as well as preventing things from digging out from under it. I wouldn't worry about the weight of the stones though.
 
Ok all. I got my live sand and base rock in, and the tank is going up this weekend! ***squeee***

I found a local guy with some nice cured live rock, he is going to sell me to seed my base rock. He is letting me have it for $2.00 a lb, so I plan to get about 10 lbs to go with my 25 lbs of base rock. I have seen the tank we are taking it from, and it looks to be in excellent condition, so hopefully no super bad pests will come with it.

Couple of questions though. The dry rock came yesterday, and is pretty dusty. Can/Should I rinse the rock before I set it up in the tank? If yes, can I use regular water, as it is dead rock anyway, or should I use saltwater? It doesnt look to need any cleaning, it is very clean already, just dusty.

should I get something to put in the bottom of the tank to set the rock on, like some egg crate? It is just a standard glass tank on a stand, but I will probably have over 30lbs of rock in it (at least). I would hate for it to break under pressure. Can I buy that egg crate stuff at Home Depot?

for one wash the hell out of the dry rock with the hose its dead anyway, secondly, you dont need egg crate under 75lbs IMO especially for 30lbs i have about 45lbs and im shooting for 60 and i havent a worry in the world lol.
 
Things to consider...(1) you are putting a flasher wrasse into a smaller tank than any site says is okay (usually not a wise move). (2) flasher wrasses should go in tanks with "peaceful" fish. If you planned to add clowns, you go against that idea too, and again in a smaller tank than recommended, so even more likelihood for aggression/territoriality issues. I'm not saying it can't work, but I would not bet money in Vegas on it. Seems like its gonna be a totally stressed out wrasse.

If you do choose to go this way, remember wrasses are jumpers. Give them room enough to get out and they probably will.
 
I am going to agree against the flasher Wrasse. They are beautiful fish and I bought a very small one for my 20g reef but only because my 40b will be running in a few weeks. I wouldn't put one in anything less than a 40 since they are very active fish.
 
Thank you all for the advice. I have been reading up alot on the flasher wrasse, and had already decided against getting one, but your advice is very appreciated.
It seems they do need a bigger tank than I have, and it just wouldn't be fair to the wrasse. I still think they are just gorgeous, and if I ever upgrade down the road to a larger tank (probably will happen, lol) I may consider it then. For now, I will stick to easier hardy fish approriate for my tank size.

I will hopefully get some pics up later this weekend once the tank is running :)
 
They are beautiful fish. Once I saw one it was position #1 on my stocking list for my 40
 
I am thinking I want to stick to my more original plan as far as stock goes, but, considering I have a while to cylce and decide, nothing is permanent yet :)
Thinking:
2 clowns (not sure of speciec/color yet)
1 royal gramma
1 goby/shrimp pair (not sure which goby yet, but probably a pistol shrimp)

Also, does anyone have any cheato they are willing to sell me? I have not checked my local lfs yet, they may have some, but if not, I will need to find some to get my fuge up and going.
 
I am thinking I want to stick to my more original plan as far as stock goes, but, considering I have a while to cylce and decide, nothing is permanent yet :)
Thinking:
2 clowns (not sure of speciec/color yet)
1 royal gramma
1 goby/shrimp pair (not sure which goby yet, but probably a pistol shrimp)

Also, does anyone have any cheato they are willing to sell me? I have not checked my local lfs yet, they may have some, but if not, I will need to find some to get my fuge up and going.

How much do you want?
 
Not much. I am running an AC 50 w/diy fixes as my fuge. I will check with my local lfs and see if they have anything first, and go from there. :)
 
I found that if you are going to be running phosphate removal media for sps then Chaeto is the way to go. Otherwise if you aren't going to be dropping the phosphates down to near 0 then Grape caulerpa is far superior for nutrient uptake.
 
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