Newbie to SW. Here's my plan... is it right or wrong?

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J

jjarbo1

Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Joined
Mar 11, 2008
Messages
11
Hey guys... thanks for all the good information on the forum. Based on this I have this in mind.

My goal is to do a fish-only tank with a porcupine puffer OR a lion fish. I would LOVE to do both but have read mixed reviews about the two together. I sure as **** don't want a tank with a puffer and a nipped up lionfish. Anywhoo...

I already have a 56 gallon tank running with a Marineland Biowheel Power Filter Emperor 400, along with the advised amounts of API Stress Zyme and Stress Coat. There is 30 lbs of crushed coral (geo-marine aragonite formula) and the salt is from Instant Ocean.

Here is my "checkout cart" from Drs. Foster and Smith. I'd like to wait on this order to be sure its good:

Super Skimmer Needle Wheel Protein Skimmer 65 gallon; Any comments on this one? Overall the reviews were ok but a few bad ones here and there. This one is more in my budget.

Flora-Glo 24" 20 watt bulb

Visi-Therm Deluxe Heater 300 Watt


And here come the questions...

First off... my water is a bit cloudy and I'm assuming the reason is because I did not completely rinse off the crushed coral before adding it. Will this go away when I add the protein skimmer and with water changes?

What are some recommended test kits for testing water? I could not find any good reviews. What do you think of API master liquid test kit or Tetra Deluxe Laborett? What do you use to test your water?

Should I drop a raw shrimp in there to get this going?

For a fish-only tank, do I need live rock?

For lights my LFS suggested Flora-glo lamps for a fish-only tank, is this good enough?

Thanks for all your help!
 
Don't know anything about that skimmer. The substrate might give you problems. Crushed coral is notoriously hard to clean and can harbor nitrate buildups over time. Especially with those messy eaters you're buying. Gonna be hard to keep any cleanup crew (crabs, snails) to help with that.

Also, not a fan of those additives you put in there. Why did you? And if it was the lfs that told you that, be wary of them in the future.

You will need rock to help with the biological filtration. Those organisms created during a tank "cycle" will live on those rocks. An abundance of them (more surface area) is only better for you. If it were me, I'd do anywhere from 30-60 lbs of rock.

Yes, the shrimp is a very good way to cycle. Or.... if you do uncured rock, you can likely cycle that way, depending on how much die-off is on the rock.

Still, I'd work those things out before you begin the cycle - whether to replace the crushed coral with sand, and the rock issue. Also, whether the sand needs rinsing again. Put a powerhead in there and see what happens in a day. Hopefully it'll settle down if its not too bad. I still prefer sand though.

I like the API liquid test kits.
 
Welcome to the site!
That puffer needs at least a 90G tank. Check out the saddle puffers.
Live rock is an important part of our tanks. For a puffer, it gives them something to chew on to help trim their ever growing teeth. It also hosts the beneficial bacteria that converts ammonia to nitrAtes and also provide hiding spots for our critters.
I had a mixture of CC and sand. It only took about 3 months to realize I really didn't like the CC. It will trap waste and limit your clean up crew.
I'm going to move this to the SW Getting Started section.
 
Thanks!

Great advice! I wish I would have come here before I filled the tank up.

As far as those additives... the Stress Coat is a dechlorinator and the Stress Zyme contains bacteria to "speed up" the development of a biological filter. I just added them at the direction of the LFS because I didn't know any better. I'll get my advice from here from now on.

So are those additives really bad? Should I change the water?
 
There is no need to dump the water, BUT you are using tap water for the tank. If you can afford it you really should be using RODI (reverse osmosis/de-ionized) water for tank. I use the Typhoon III from AirWaterIce.com, but you can find a decent unit on eBay for about $100.00
 
The additives aren't bad. If you're using tap water then you need a dechlorinator of some sort. But the "bacteria in a bottle", in my opinion, is just money down the drain. If you cycle the tank using the fishless cycle found in the articles section, you just need a raw shrimp and about 4-6 weeks, and you'll have a tank ready for a fish.

Live rock as mentioned by others will really help with your biological filtration. The biowheel will probably work fine by itself, but it's not really the easiest way to do your filtration in saltwater.

Regarding budgets and skimmers... I can' understand trying to do this within a budget, but in the long run, the additional money spent on a higher quality skimmer normally pays off with better water parameters and less stress on yourself as you struggle to maintain water quality. Not stuff you can really put a price on, but I've never heard anyone say "Gee... I wish I'd bought a smaller/cheaper skimmer." It's always the other way around.
 
Also IMO, 20w of lighting will light your tank, but I don't think you'll get to see real colors of the fish. In other words, I'm not sure the colors of fish may not be that vivid. Also, purple encrusting coraline that covers rocks as tanks mature may not grow or be seen.

Think of FO and FOWLR as the same, because we're telling you that rock is gonna be a part of your system for sure.

Gonna keep the crushed coral?
 
Thanks again. I'm definitely going to go with LR, but I'm going to just start with mostly dry rock and a few pieces of live rock (and a little bit of patience) as has been suggested on the forum to save some cash. I'll definitely get some better lights to get more out of it. Any suggestions?

The crushed coral is already gone, and I ordered 30lbs of Argamax sand today. I'd hate for that to cause problems down the line.

I'll definitely consider upgrading the skimmer as well. Do I need to have the skimmer running for the cycling? If not, I could put that purchase off a bit and save up for it.
 
It would not hurt to run it during the cycle because there is going to be a break in period for the skimmer anyway. Hopefully by the time your cycle is over the skimmer will be broke in.
 
Dry rock mixed with a little LR is an awesome way to save money. I did that myself. I bought my dry (base) rock from marcorocks.com and was very pleased. I think his prices have gone up since I first ordered from him, but feel free to search around and let us know what you find.
 
Although it doesn't hurt to run the skimmer duiring the cycle, there's no reason not to wait till you can aford a better one and add it later. You may want to look at this reef rock (base rock) that's about a $1.00 per pound right now (with shipping). I used a box of it in my tank.
 
If setting up an aggressive FOWLR is great. Forget the crushed coral though. Lion fish and puffers big appetites = big poops! CC will merely trap this. Sand bed and live rock will help break down load. Skimmer is a must. I love my corallife super skimmer. The two larger sizes (125 / 220) are great. There isn't as much adjustment on the 65 and the collection cup is too small. Bite the bullet and go with the 125.
 
Cycling results/Aloha Aquariums Live Rock

So I ditched the crappy crushed coral and replaced it with an equal amount of sand. My AquaC Remora protein skimmer with Maxijet just came in yesterday.

So I decided to do a fishless cycle and dropped in a couple of shrimp on Saturday. My LFS wouldn't give me any gravel from an established tank and wanted me to buy live rock from them, but I'm buying it online soon so I didn't want to waste any money. I had already bought some API Stress Zyme from Petsmart (because I was told I needed it), so I decided to use that and added that on Saturday. Its basically a bottle of bacteria that is supposed to start the cycle.

Here's my test results:

3/15 (Shrimp Added) Ammonia 0ppm, Nitrite 0.5ppm, and Nitrate 0ppm

3/17 Ammonia at 0.5ppm, Nitrites at 0.5ppm, and Nitrate at 5ppm

3/21 Ammonia at 2.0ppm, Nitrites at 5.0ppm, and Nitrate at 20ppm

I thought it was weird there were any Nitrites when I started. Could my water have high Nitrites? Or maybe I just read the color wrong. I also thought it was weird that Nitrates went up before Nitrates.

Does this look normal? When should I remove the Shrimps?

Also, I'm planning on buying about 30lbs of Live Rock from Aloha Aquariums. Its only $1.99 a lb for Fiji. Has anyone heard about these guys? That's pretty cheap for what I've seen so I'm somewhat skeptical about quality.

I also bought about 20lbs of australian sphaghetti rock from marcorocks for some variety. Thanks again for the help. I'll be sure to post some pics once I get the live rock in.
 
mandown123 said:
Are skimmers loud? Am going to add one when the tank gets rolling but am scared because my tank is near my bed
Click to expand...

My tank is near my bed too. I just hooked up my AquaC Remora. Its about as loud as I expected. Loud enough that I'll have trouble sleeping for a week or two, but I'll get used to it. I've heard that they get quieter after the "break in". I hope so.
 
Holy Crap!

Man... I just folded up a paper towel and folded it over the injector. Now the skimmer is no louder than my Emperor 400 Filter! I'll sleep much better now.
 
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