athomson101
Aquarium Advice Apprentice
WARNING ! ALERT.
Right,
This is my first saltwater set-up but am looking for something for my new house. I used to keep tropical freshwater for years when living in America but gave up when my mother came back to Ireland.
Finally set up my old 90 gallon tank at home about two weeks ago to find that
1) it was heavy;
2) it was old; and
3) the glass actually broke due to the water pressure. Two of the sides split and it came apart. I actually attribute this to the move from the US to Ireland many years ago.
Fortunately, I did this test outside in the garden so the water going everywhere wasn't a huge problem (ok, the dog got a bit wet as she was approaching the tank when it went!).
Anyway, I've going back to the old drawing board and the local stores to see about prices, etc for what I can afford. I've also been doing a lot more planning on what I want in the tank in the longer term. To start with, I won't be going for corals for a while but hopefully I will get there so everything is being planned in that direction.
I'm looking for some opinions on my proposed set-up
THE TANK
· Juwel 300 litre tank (79 US gallons) that comes with heater, lights and filter. I'll just be using the standard set-up to start
· Red Sea Prizm protein skimmer
· Fluval 305 External Canister Filter (do I need this if the tank comes with a filter?)
· 30kg (66 lb to all the colonials out there ... yes, I'm one as well, I've got Irish, Scottish, English and American roots ... talk about a messed up family and childhood AND I watched "The Great Escape on DVD last night) of live rock
Now on to the more interesting things:
THE INVERTS
· 2 x longspine black Urchins
· 1 x Red starfish
· assorted numbers of Electric Blue Hermit Crabs, dwarf blue leg hermit crabs
· assorted numbers of Blood red Fire shrimp, banded coral shrimp and peppermint shrimp.
· (I've read everywhere that I need about 20 - 30 of the crabs and shrimp but it seems a lot)
The Fish
· 2 x false clownfish (black and white)
· 1 x coral beauty angelfish
· 1 x lawnmower blenny (for algae control)
· 1 x yellowtail damsel
· 1 x Royal Gamma
· 1 x yellow tang
I've read that all these fish should get on together quite well. I'd also love to have 2 x false clownfish with normal colouring but am worried about mixing that many in the same tank. I'm also worried about overstocking the tank even with what I've got above. I've read that the tang is a great fish to introduce first but can get quite territorial? What order would you all suggest I add them? Will the lawnmower blenny survive with all the inverts cleaning up the algae or should I drop him?
Other fish that interest me are Foxface Rabbit fish, and some of the reef safe wrasses.
This is intended to be a long term project with everything kicking off over the next month or so. I would hope to be adding fish around about November/December and then adding fish over the next year.
Anyway, any comments or ideas would be welcome. Everything is still in the overall planning stage so there is nothing that isn't open to discussions.
Andy.
Right,
This is my first saltwater set-up but am looking for something for my new house. I used to keep tropical freshwater for years when living in America but gave up when my mother came back to Ireland.
Finally set up my old 90 gallon tank at home about two weeks ago to find that
1) it was heavy;
2) it was old; and
3) the glass actually broke due to the water pressure. Two of the sides split and it came apart. I actually attribute this to the move from the US to Ireland many years ago.
Fortunately, I did this test outside in the garden so the water going everywhere wasn't a huge problem (ok, the dog got a bit wet as she was approaching the tank when it went!).
Anyway, I've going back to the old drawing board and the local stores to see about prices, etc for what I can afford. I've also been doing a lot more planning on what I want in the tank in the longer term. To start with, I won't be going for corals for a while but hopefully I will get there so everything is being planned in that direction.
I'm looking for some opinions on my proposed set-up
THE TANK
· Juwel 300 litre tank (79 US gallons) that comes with heater, lights and filter. I'll just be using the standard set-up to start
· Red Sea Prizm protein skimmer
· Fluval 305 External Canister Filter (do I need this if the tank comes with a filter?)
· 30kg (66 lb to all the colonials out there ... yes, I'm one as well, I've got Irish, Scottish, English and American roots ... talk about a messed up family and childhood AND I watched "The Great Escape on DVD last night) of live rock
Now on to the more interesting things:
THE INVERTS
· 2 x longspine black Urchins
· 1 x Red starfish
· assorted numbers of Electric Blue Hermit Crabs, dwarf blue leg hermit crabs
· assorted numbers of Blood red Fire shrimp, banded coral shrimp and peppermint shrimp.
· (I've read everywhere that I need about 20 - 30 of the crabs and shrimp but it seems a lot)
The Fish
· 2 x false clownfish (black and white)
· 1 x coral beauty angelfish
· 1 x lawnmower blenny (for algae control)
· 1 x yellowtail damsel
· 1 x Royal Gamma
· 1 x yellow tang
I've read that all these fish should get on together quite well. I'd also love to have 2 x false clownfish with normal colouring but am worried about mixing that many in the same tank. I'm also worried about overstocking the tank even with what I've got above. I've read that the tang is a great fish to introduce first but can get quite territorial? What order would you all suggest I add them? Will the lawnmower blenny survive with all the inverts cleaning up the algae or should I drop him?
Other fish that interest me are Foxface Rabbit fish, and some of the reef safe wrasses.
This is intended to be a long term project with everything kicking off over the next month or so. I would hope to be adding fish around about November/December and then adding fish over the next year.
Anyway, any comments or ideas would be welcome. Everything is still in the overall planning stage so there is nothing that isn't open to discussions.
Andy.
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