Tanks are FINISHED!

[ditchdoctor81]

My fiance called me tonight (I'm at work) and said the NH3 & NO2 are both at 0 on the qt & main. The NO3 was 40 on the qt & 60 on the 100g. They started dropping pretty good a week & a half ago, we have been checking it every 3 or 4 days since.

We won't be able to go shopping until Saturday. She mixed some water tonight. So it should be ready to do a change in both on saturday morning & go shopping saturday afternoon. Looking at getting 2 o. clowns for the qt. What type of snails & hermits (& about how many) should i get. I know that I don't need to get the full amount since it's a new tank & won't have enough food for a lot of each. So would 10 or 20 of each be ok for now & add more as I need?

When we get the snails & hermits in the main what do I need to feed them while I have the o. clowns in qt?

Just wanted to say thanks to everyone for all the help everyone has given.

And if anyone has any other tips for me please let me know!

 

[Ziggy953]

Congrats!!!!

I think when I finished my cycle I got 10 snails and 5 hermits to start with...but my tank is smaller then yours (72g). I didn't feed them anything they went to work on the rocks.

 

[roka64]

I agree, you have a great idea, of starting with a small amount. You can always get more, as your tank matures. Personally, I like nassarius and cerith snails. How about a fire shrimp or a cleaner shrimp? I would start off with 10-20 of two maybe three species of snails and some maybe 5 or a few more hermits. I have 4 hermits in my 55G.
Make sure you frip acclimate your inverts for at least 2 hours.
Congrats, BTW!!! When can we expect pics?!?!?

 

[melosu58]

I sure Scott meant drip acclimate. I would maybe get the narsiruss snails (10) and a few hermit crabs (10). That would be a good start.

 

[roka64]

LOL! You haven't heard of frip acclimation....it's brand new, but I'm still working on it...
Yes, I did mean drip, thanks for the clarification!

 

[ditchdoctor81]

We are going Sat. to pick up 2 O. clowns. I'll post up some pics as soon as I get some time. I just got off of a 48 hour shift this morning & had a class all day today . I work again tomorrow, so I'll see if my fiance can get some pics.

I'm looking at skimmers now & I know I've asked the ? before, but I have no experience with any of the name brands. I could order one now, but I would rather know it's worth buying before I get it & it breaks! Because right now it would be like me closing my eyes & pointing at the screen & buying one...lol

I'm looking on drsfostersmith now at different ones & I'm not really which to buy. W want one that I can use as a hang on now & then in sump later. I know that you can pay anywhere from not much to quite a bit for them. I'm ok with spending in the $200 to $350 range (I've been working a few overtime days the last couple weeks for MH lighting!). So I can spend some of that on a skimmer also! So if anyone can suggest a skimmer that would be great.

Sorry for the long post. You all have been great help.

Jonathon

 

[roka64]

A lot of folks like the Aqua C (I don't believe they sell them on the dr's website), check the general hardware and equipment section, there are a few recent threads on skimmers. That is one piece of equipment that folks say not to go the cheap route.

 

[Ziggy953]

Ebay is, IMO, the best place to check first for your equipment! when I started out I wish I had done that I could have saved a lot of $$$$$$

 

[2frosty4u]

Hi Everyone,
I'm new to this site and this is my first post, But I felt compelled to reply to this thread. IMO the protein skimmer is The Most Important part of our systems. The MH's are great but not the first thing I would be worried about. Buy the biggest, and best skimmer you can afford. Skimmer ratings for the better part are all over rated so normally it's recommended to get one rated for twice the size of your tank. Depending on what type of corals you're going to stock in your tank MH's may not be needed right away. VHO's are more than enough for most corals other than SPS. When I started my tank I started with a combination of 110W VHO's, 2-10,000K daylight and 2-actinic bulbs on a 660 Icecap Ballast with the option of adding 2 more bulbs, a whole lot cheaper than MH's. With time I have upgraded to 2-250W MH's and kept the 2 actinics to supplement them for the addition of SPS. I use a Euroreef Skimmer rated for 250G on my 120G tank. This was pounded into my head by many fellow reefer friends when I started, and I'm glad they did. Good luck with your new tank.