Starting 38 gallon FOWLR by transplanting rock, water, and 2 clowns.

[CudIHavBn]

Hello all!

My first tank... My first post.
Starting first saltwater tank. 38 gallon. 36x12x20. Planning FOWLR.
Purchased Fluval 206 Canister. Coralife 65g super skimmer. Aqueon 500gph circulation pump.

Goal: 2 Clowns
1 Dwarf Angel
1 Mandarin
1 Convict Blenny
1 Fire Shrimp
1 Coral Banded Shrimp
Various snails and hermit crabs.
Lots of live rock

So my friend lives about 4 hours away from me. He has a 30 gallon tank with about 50lbs of live rock and 2 "super" clowns as he calls them because they will live through anything. He is willing to let me have his rock, his water and his clowns.

I'm hoping starting with his rock and water will help shorten my cycle. Maybe even prevent my cycle. At 50lbs of rock that would be 1.31 pounds per gallon. On the low end I know. But good enough to start?

He has some algae and from a maintenance stand point, he's just been replacing water.

So any recommendations or would anyone be willing to suggest a plan?

I'm sure the rock is worth it. Is the water worth it too?

Tank setup plan:
circulation pump on right side.
External hanging super skimmer on left back side
Canister input(not sure where)
Canister output(not sure where)

Thanks soo much in advance. I'm very eager to get started but I know haste means death

Michael

 

[CudIHavBn]

Should I use friend's water to start tank?

I'm thinking I should pre-make additional water with correct salt levels, declorinated etc. Add my friend's live rock to the tank. Add sand to the tank. Then add friend's water. Then add my water to top off. Then start circulation pump, skimmer and canister. Then acclimate the two clowns?

Does that sound ok? Should I still expect an ammonia spike?

Any suggestions would be great!

Thanks all,

Michael

 

[spoonman]

There really isnt alot in the water that will benefit you. It wouldnt be worth the trouble transporting it. I would mix up as much as you need ahead of time and just use his live rock and your fresh saltwater.

 

[spoonman]

If you are taking the clowns at the same time, be sure to acclimate them well and keep a close eye on the levels...ie..ammonia, nitrIte and nitrAte.

 

[carey]

I agree, I would leave his water behind, all it really contains are nitrates which you dont want anyways. lol

The rock sounds like a great deal, if you are going to add fish right away you will need to keep the rock submerged in water as much as possible to avoid any die off on it. That die off can cause an ammonia spike which might harm the fish, hardy or not.

Just monitor the tank after moving everything in and see where youre at. The filter input and output dont matter too much, try to get as much flow in the tank out of them as possible. I had my output of my canister on the far right and the input on the far left. I had my hang on skimmer over to the right side, next to the output. As far as powerheads I go with one on each side of the tank, pointing upwards and frontwards towards the glass to get a nice chaotic flow.

Hope that helps!

Good luck!

 

[CudIHavBn]

Ok, so the water isn't worth it. I have a brand new empty tank. So I can just mix my water, salt, declorinator, straight in the tank?

Thanks,

Michael

 

[carey]

If you can, I would start the tank with ro.di water that you can buy from your LFS most likely. And yes, for the start of the tank, only this once, you can mix it all in the tank. After you have it set up though you will have to mix the saltwater separately. :_)

 

[spoonman]

If you use rodi water, you dont need dechlorinator.