first saltwater tank

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it cycled alot faster than i thought it would but the live rock was semi cured and i got some of the live sand from the lfs as well so i guess that helped it. yes clown fish are alot more colourful than i expected lol ill never go back to freshwater. im unsure whether i want the lionfish and clowns or the clowns with a few other small colourful fish :/
 
Hi Ethana, I'm also from Australia and going to buy my first lot of cured live rock for my new 200l saltwater tank on the weekend so that I can get the cycling underway. Where did you get yours from and how much was it per kilo?
 
hey mate i live in gladstone central queensland so i bought it from port city pet world it was 12 bucks a kilo but id say since you live in sydney you have more choices ... theres only 1 shop that ive found that sells live rock here so i couldnt really get it cheaper loli spent about 270 on it
 
Hey there, yes living in a big city like Sydney has its advantages with variety as I have about 5 different aquarium shops to choose from within a 20km radius, but sometimes it makes choosing even harder depending on price, advice, quality and availability. The shop I'm planning on buying my live rock from tomorrow sells it at $17 a kilo or $15 a kilo when you buy 4 or more kilos. How much live rock do you have in yours? Must have quite a fair amount for $270 worth! How did your cycling go and do you have any livestock in your tank yet? Would love to see any pics you have of your tank :)
 
I want to have about 25 - 30 kilos so I have 1 - 1 1/4 pound perallon of my tank ... For my cycling I put the rock in with the sand let it sit for a week than ought more rock but that was only because I didn't have enough money lol ... Yes I have a bonded pair of ocellaris 4 hermit crabs a sinularia and a conch that I got yesterday which is awesome as hell. I will upload some photos shortly
 
You could also look online just type buy live rock online Australia and see what you find I think I remember seeing 20 kilos for 200 dollars
 
heres some close ups ... the last one is of a sea star hitch hiker ive found and i also noticed a worm looking thing swimming around really quickly at nigh i couldnt get a picture it was too quick does anyone have an idea what it might be ?
 

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I was planning on starting off with a few small live rock pieces today followed by some more next week a so on as, like you, I don't want to spend over a couple of hundred dollars all in one hit. Unfortunately my plans of getting some today fell through, so will have to wait another week now. I prefer to buy it from an LFS where I can pick and choose what I'm getting rather than not knowing what I'm getting, even if it will cost a little more. Do you know if its better to get premium live rock or just the standard cured rock? Great close up pictures of yours too btw.
 
well my protein skimmer got here today and my 2700 litres per hour canister filter got here yesterday. but i cant start the protein skimmer up until tomorrow because it has an american plug and ill have to get an adaptor so i will have photos up on saturday to show progress
 
i bought a pair of coral banded shrimp a bennetts puffer a sun coral and two other things the lfs told me are easy to keep i forgot what theyre called but ive got it written down somewhere lol
 

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welcome to AA

Just remember your tank is still young so go slow with your livestock
I know its tempting but better safe than sorry

just a fyi
the puffer isn't reef safe with corals and inverts
 
54seaweed said:
welcome to AA

Just remember your tank is still young so go slow with your livestock
I know its tempting but better safe than sorry

just a fyi
the puffer isn't reef safe with corals and inverts

The puffer should be fine with corals, why do you think otherwise?
 
The puffer will eat inverts and every once in a while if not fed enough he'll munch on some soft coral.

Also, the suncoral needs each of his heads spot fed. They don't use photosynthesis.
 
from what ive read the puffer should be okay but if i notice him picking at them i will take him back to the shop ... ive been feeding the sun at the same time each day since i bought him doing the 2 litre bottle trick but its only been two days. is where i placed it okay ? everything i have read says different places lol and yes i know the tank is still new thats why im not buying another fish for probably a month
 
and i thought maybe if since he is so small and the shrimps are bigger he wont get a chance to harass them till he is bigger but i will most likely have a six foot tank by than
 
I know for a fact the puffer will eat inverts and idk much about suncoral except that each head must be spot fed.
 
Each puffet is different. I know for a fact that puffers can eat any corals (i only follow puffer threads). They are just less likely to eat soft corals. I know some toby puffer eating all LPS and others who dont touch them. Please reframe from keeping your puffer "well fed" in attempt to decrease the chances of nibbling corals and other livestock. You end up overfeeding your puffer which lead to premature death. Feed once daily until tummy is slightly rounded. Its very difficult to starve a puffer.

A puffer may challange an invert with much greater size.
 
I ended up buying my live rock from a LFS over the weekend an got a mix of uncured and cured rock 20 kilos for $200. Bargain! There is a lot of life and stuff on them and a few pieces have these green bubbles which I think is a form of algae? Should I try and remove them or can I leave them? I've scaped them as best as I could for what I had, but think I may need another 10 or 20kgs to make it look complete and better. What do you think from these pics? I also will wait a couple if days before I test my ammonia. I added 20ml if bio culture today and will repeat dose every week.
 

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