Salty Noobs 37g Bow Front Build..!

[Big Tex]

Haha I know exactly how you feel. I'm in the process of upgrading my 20g to a 40b. After that when I finish school it is going to get upgraded to a 150. After that in upgrading to at least a 300

Woo those are big plans! I don't want to go too crazy yet because I live in an apartment or else I'd have an in-wall tank already lol so I think this 37g tank and the 75g tank are gonna keep me content for a while.

 

[Mebbid]

Go big or go home

 

[Big Tex]

Go big or go home

lol its more like go big or get a home of my own.. hmm decisions decisions..

 

[Tkey3425]

lol its more like go big or get a home of my own.. hmm decisions decisions..

Having a big tank is no doubt the most awesome thing, just like having a kid, but much like a kid the bigger they get the more expensive and the more trouble they get into. Big tanks are really forgiving and take a while to go south but once they get there it takes a long long time to bring them back. It took us about a month of working with the tank everyday to bring a 55 on the verge of crashing back to a healthy tank so I can only imagine what it would be like on my 210

 

[Big Tex]

Having a big tank is no doubt the most awesome thing, just like having a kid, but much like a kid the bigger they get the more expensive and the more trouble they get into. Big tanks are really forgiving and take a while to go south but once they get there it takes a long long time to bring them back. It took us about a month of working with the tank everyday to bring a 55 on the verge of crashing back to a healthy tank so I can only imagine what it would be like on my 210

dang i cant imagine one of my tanks nuking i would be so depressed like i failed as a parent. i hope this tank stays stable and happy, and i really hope my 75g build goes good once i start it as well.

oh and one more question, do you guys think my tank needs more rock work? i think its pretty even, i just want other opinions on it since this thread is on the subject of tanks.. lol thanks guys!

 

[Tkey3425]

I say yes to more rock. I have at least 300 lbs of rock in my tank. Added it from the beginning and it was all dry rock to begin with. I only used 30lbs of live rock in this tank to seed all 300lbs. The more you can let you fish hide when scared or unhappy will ultimately reduce stress and also reduce aggression between tank mates. I'd say your tank needs at least 2-3x the rock. If you want to have a reef tank you'll need the structure to go from the bottom to pretty high in the tank for sps or high light corals ( 6-8 inches from the top is where mine is at) my acropora grows fast up top and plus my anemone stays on the top of my rockwork and I have 450 watts of halides and 400 watts of power compacts on 8 hours a day. You need caves and cliffs and tunnels for your fish especially if you get an angel. Or anything nocturnal they will need to hide. Also many fish graze on algae off the rocks like the lawnmower blenny, angels, BF, tangs etc. basically more rocks are good

 

[Big Tex]

I say yes to more rock. I have at least 300 lbs of rock in my tank. Added it from the beginning and it was all dry rock to begin with. I only used 30lbs of live rock in this tank to seed all 300lbs. The more you can let you fish hide when scared or unhappy will ultimately reduce stress and also reduce aggression between tank mates. I'd say your tank needs at least 2-3x the rock. If you want to have a reef tank you'll need the structure to go from the bottom to pretty high in the tank for sps or high light corals ( 6-8 inches from the top is where mine is at) my acropora grows fast up top and plus my anemone stays on the top of my rockwork and I have 450 watts of halides and 400 watts of power compacts on 8 hours a day. You need caves and cliffs and tunnels for your fish especially if you get an angel. Or anything nocturnal they will need to hide. Also many fish graze on algae off the rocks like the lawnmower blenny, angels, BF, tangs etc. basically more rocks are good

hmm, never thought of it that way, i think ill be ordering some dry rock for sure, its cheaper than $6 a lb locally

 

[Tkey3425]

Petsolutions.com has 50# for $70 I used 100lbs of that for the base and then some more "designer" rock for the rest I would add 50 and aqua scape it with your rock you have now

 

[Big Tex]

Petsolutions.com has 50# for $70 I used 100lbs of that for the base and then some more "designer" rock for the rest I would add 50 and aqua scape it with your rock you have now

wow thats a steal @ $1.40/lb and i think i have about 35lbs in there now so i think im gonna add about another 25lbs maybe, but im going to look for someone locally to group with because i really dont need that much rock, maybe i can use it for my 75g build later? and was that rock live or dry?

 

[Tkey3425]

wow thats a steal @ $1.40/lb and i think i have about 35lbs in there now so i think im gonna add about another 25lbs maybe, but im going to look for someone locally to group with because i really dont need that much rock, maybe i can use it for my 75g build later? and was that rock live or dry?

Dry it's free shipping. You can easily get 50 lbs in that tank and it will look awesome once it purples

 

[Big Tex]

Dry it's free shipping. You can easily get 50 lbs in that tank and it will look awesome once it purples

dang i dont want purple rock, can i get rock thats not purple..? im really avoiding that route..

 

[Tkey3425]

dang i dont want purple rock, can i get rock thats not purple..? im really avoiding that route..

Purple is coraline algae and there's really no way to stop it in marine aquariums that I know of. It's a good thing. Why don't you want it? No rock that I've ever seen is made to not grow coraline. Maybe someone else knows how to stop it.

 

[Big Tex]

Purple is coraline algae and there's really no way to stop it in marine aquariums that I know of. It's a good thing. Why don't you want it? No rock that I've ever seen is made to not grow coraline. Maybe someone else knows how to stop it.

no no i mean if theres no way to stop it then fine, but i just dont like the purple rock look at all, idk its just me being picky lol

 

[Tkey3425]

no no i mean if theres no way to stop it then fine, but i just dont like the purple rock look at all, idk its just me being picky lol

I think some urchins will demolish any and all coraline in a tank. They are usually pretty cheap because they are undesirable by most. I like the purple coraline. It grows using the nutrients in the water that make nuisance algae grow and therefore it reduces the nasty looking algae. When my coraline finally took off and started growing my tank looks much cleaner because less algae grows.

 

[Mebbid]

The coralline algae that comes on a rock doesn't usually survive the transition to a new tank. It commonly bleaches white and dies but seeds your tank with a good amount of it to start growing.

 

[Big Tex]

I think some urchins will demolish any and all coraline in a tank. They are usually pretty cheap because they are undesirable by most. I like the purple coraline. It grows using the nutrients in the water that make nuisance algae grow and therefore it reduces the nasty looking algae. When my coraline finally took off and started growing my tank looks much cleaner because less algae grows.

hmmm you know me too well timmy lol i love me clean tank.. i think ill try it out, i just love the beige white coloring on my rocks, so my fish and coral will pop off nice lol.

The coralline algae that comes on a rock doesn't usually survive the transition to a new tank. It commonly bleaches white and dies but seeds your tank with a good amount of it to start growing.

i noticed some of it bleached, but the new piece i just added kept the coraline and some green colors, i like it.. to an extent but im down for whatever makes my tank and stock happy

 

[Tkey3425]

Water conditions that are required for a reef are perfect for coraline and it will be hard to keep it from growing everywhere. You would need many many urchins to keep it away. It grows faster than they can eat it. I have 4 tuxedos, 2 long spines and a pencil in my tank and I still have a ton if coraline but I like it.

 

[Big Tex]

Water conditions that are required for a reef are perfect for coraline and it will be hard to keep it from growing everywhere. You would need many many urchins to keep it away. It grows faster than they can eat it. I have 4 tuxedos, 2 long spines and a pencil in my tank and I still have a ton if coraline but I like it.

well, if you cant beat it, join it lol ill embrace the coraline if i cant stop the growth, but like i said it was just an idea i had, i didnt know it was going to grow whether i wanted it to or not

 

[Tkey3425]

Ive never seen a healthy reef without it lol

 

[Big Tex]

Ive never seen a healthy reef without it lol

im catching your drift, so anyways nack to the topic of my tank, lol its going really well and is still very stable and healthy, ill be doing my first water change this coming weekend, and im also looking into a nano skimmer but im still hungup on which one to get