Freshy thinking of taking the plunge...

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Madcrazyroyboy said:
Don't do reef till you are experienced with salt fish first..


I disagree with this completely. She has done freshwater for a while now I'm sure, and during the cycle shell know everything she doesn't know right now. I'm sure she knows the basics, and the more complex stuff doesn't really need to be known when your first starting. It's not like shell be adding tons of sps at first, it will probably be a few zoas, then maybe a shroom, the easier things.

It's good to do some live rock, a lot of base. It makes it less likely youll get a nasty hitchhiker, you won't deal with having to buy pure ammonia, and it will help seed your tank. It will make you tank look really white with a few dark pieces though, but that fades after 3 months. I did a 1:4 ratio.
 
needmorecowbell said:
I disagree with this completely. She has done freshwater for a while now I'm sure, and during the cycle shell know everything she doesn't know right now. I'm sure she knows the basics, and the more complex stuff doesn't really need to be known when your first starting. It's not like shell be adding tons of sps at first, it will probably be a few zoas, then maybe a shroom, the easier things.

It's good to do some live rock, a lot of base. It makes it less likely youll get a nasty hitchhiker, you won't deal with having to buy pure ammonia, and it will help seed your tank. It will make you tank look really white with a few dark pieces though, but that fades after 3 months. I did a 1:4 ratio.

This guy right here ^ nailed it right. Go right in to it you already have everything... though u van go without skimmer for a while i would recommend shortly after u have added a few fish and purchase the live rock to seed the tank.. fast and efficient. For skimmer octopus makes a great hob in the 200 range which requires no adjustments just plug and play.
 
Mature tobys may terrorize the whole tank. Dont be sad if it doesnt work out. They are your only option for puffers in your tank.
 
I'll bypass on the puffer for now until i can get a larger tank. How fast do the porcupines grow?

I do have experience with salt, just in tanks over 100,000g. I used to be a lead aquarist for the local aquarium. The home tanks are a different beast though which is where my learning curve is.
 
They don't grow that fast . My buddy was 2-3 inches last year when I got him and he is 6 inches now. he is in a 180 and I'm constantly looking for a bigger tank for him.
 
It would probably be ok to start out with some mushrooms and zoas since they are pretty easy. Maybe a toadstool leather under t5s would be nice. And your not waiting as long for them to grow. Or try a kenya. I would avoid somthing like Xenia since they can get really outta control.
 
skywhitney said:
I'll bypass on the puffer for now until i can get a larger tank. How fast do the porcupines grow?

I do have experience with salt, just in tanks over 100,000g. I used to be a lead aquarist for the local aquarium. The home tanks are a different beast though which is where my learning curve is.

Georgia aquarium is like 8 million gallons altogether. I can only imagine how much salt they use.
 
That is a great deal on sand and live rock! There are smaller puffers that you could put in a 70 gallon. http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/aquarium-fish-supplies.cfm?c=15+39

I really want a porcupine but we can't guarantee we will be able to up grade (ours is 75 gal) to a 125+ by the time he gets to big.

I personally would start with fish first before corals. You could get reef safe fish first. Then you wouldn't have to get another tank or find new homes for your fish. Good luck!
 
well the puffer idea is out. I'll just have to use it as an excuse to get yet another tank in the future (my wife will love that lol :nono: )

I have been looking around and i think that i'm going to stick with soft corals, inverts, safe fish for this kind of tank (fish will come in time), pretty nice and basic stuff. I'm just looking for a relatively "easy" and "lowish maintenance" setup (I classify anything under 10 hours/week easy and lowish maintence)
 
Idk, once you start seeing the nicer sps frags, you might change your mind. A softie tank is cool, There are some colorful leather corals and I love the look of toadstool. You can find zoas for really low prices now and almost all of them are stunning. I just got some neon green clove polyps that are nice too.. But why not try some frogspawn to get a little more movement in the tank? Also, montipora, digitata, and acropora youngei (green slimer) are all easy to keep sps that bring the look of a reef to your aquarium.
 
Idk, once you start seeing the nicer sps frags, you might change your mind. A softie tank is cool, There are some colorful leather corals and I love the look of toadstool. You can find zoas for really low prices now and almost all of them are stunning. I just got some neon green clove polyps that are nice too.. But why not try some frogspawn to get a little more movement in the tank? Also, montipora, digitata, and acropora youngei (green slimer) are all easy to keep sps that bring the look of a reef to your aquarium.

I'd be down for something like that. One of the things i really want in this tank is movement. I don't want crazy active fish but I really like the look of the subtle movement that comes with a lot of inverts and the swaying of the corals. Active and relaxing all at once IMO.

The reason i said mainly softs is that the guys I got my lights from said they do awesome with thsi fixture but in time i will upgreade to ah MH fixture. It was softs for the time being until an lighting upgrade mainly.

I really like the look of the Digitata and Acropora Yongei.
 
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Sorties are good for starters but u will want to go into lps and sps trust me. My favorite lps are frogspawn and hammers. But there's so many out there. Try some people eater zoas. They are nice an big polyps and come in almost every color. Avoid flowerpots and Xenias. But add your corals gradually. I'd buy like 1 every week or 2. I have a frag rack for my frags. You might wanna look into that. But if u want fast growth I'd go for softies.
 
I do crushed up pieces of silversides. But I've seen them eat anything. Even flakes.
 
Pretty much. I like to soak it in some tank water first to thaw out then crush it up or cut it into tiny pieces somtimes with garlic if I'm treating the fish to some then put it into a turkey Baster and direct feed corals and zoas first then rest goes to fish. The garlic repels diseases etc. But yeah that's basically it. Try to make sure all is being eaten tho. You will learn how much you need to use from trial and error. Try to feed each polyp. Zoas are neat to watch them eat.
 
I'm sure i'll get some. Gorgeous colors in them.

I went looking at powerheads and lights today.

For the powerhead I'm thinking either a Vortech MP10 or a couple of Koralia 1050s. Thoughts?

For the lights i was looking at a quad T5 with 2 MH bulbs (one on each end) and LED moon lights. I'll have to find the brand, can't remember it right now.
 
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