Hey everyone,
So as the title gives away, I am completely new to the saltwater scene, though I am experienced with freshwater. I've completely cleaned out my old 35g and it's just sitting in my basement, so I've decided to try my skill at saltwater.
I do apologize but for any who are willing to help, you'll have to take baby steps with me only because I don't want to make any (big) mistakes..
I'm 100% open to all the advice that can be given!
I made a list of fish that I prefer to have in the tank and would like to see which would work best and if I'm able to keep all of the ones I want or have to cut out a few..
The rest of the list is pretty much asking for explanation because I don't know much about saltwater-specific equipment..
STOCK
Fish:
Ocellaris Clownfish
Yellowtail Damsel
Royal Gramma Basselet
Firefish
Bicolor Dottyback
Blue & Pink Sea Star
Longnose Hawkfish
Coral/Anemones:
??
I have no clue, really.. I want anemones that will be able to house my clowns.
Cleanup Crew:
Misc Shrimps, Hermit Crabs, and Snails
Live Rock:
- Recommended Type (cured, base, ~ Fiji LR, etc..)
- How much in Lbs?
Live Sand (Or regular sand... what's the difference?):
- How much in Lbs
- A good setup in terms of how thick the layer of sand should be at the bottom of the tank. I read that people usually go for about 3"?
TANK + EQUIPMENT:
I already have a glass 35g tank that I used to use for freshwater... and that's literallly all I have now.
Can you guys lead me in the right direction in terms of:
- specific lighting (preferably based on the recommendations of corals)
- Maybe a specific hood/canopy that would work best with the specific lights
- LED's at night?
- Power heads
- Heaters
- Testing equipment for pH, salinity, gravity, nitrates, all that good stuff!
- anything else that I missed.. (refractometer and all that stuff just to be sure)
Maybe naming specific brand names would be very, very helpful as well!
Not sure what else I have to look for..
Again, I really don't know much (or anything) about starting up or maintaining a reef but I really enjoy learning and do have the patience to commit to this, so all the help I can get would be much appreciated, thanks!
* on a side note, I read somewhere that it might be easier to start off with a FOWLR tank to avoid extra water maintenance and then add coral later once everything has cycled and stabilized, etc.. any thoughts on that?
So as the title gives away, I am completely new to the saltwater scene, though I am experienced with freshwater. I've completely cleaned out my old 35g and it's just sitting in my basement, so I've decided to try my skill at saltwater.
I do apologize but for any who are willing to help, you'll have to take baby steps with me only because I don't want to make any (big) mistakes..
I'm 100% open to all the advice that can be given!
I made a list of fish that I prefer to have in the tank and would like to see which would work best and if I'm able to keep all of the ones I want or have to cut out a few..
The rest of the list is pretty much asking for explanation because I don't know much about saltwater-specific equipment..
STOCK
Fish:
Ocellaris Clownfish
Yellowtail Damsel
Royal Gramma Basselet
Firefish
Bicolor Dottyback
Blue & Pink Sea Star
Longnose Hawkfish
Coral/Anemones:
??
I have no clue, really.. I want anemones that will be able to house my clowns.
Cleanup Crew:
Misc Shrimps, Hermit Crabs, and Snails
Live Rock:
- Recommended Type (cured, base, ~ Fiji LR, etc..)
- How much in Lbs?
Live Sand (Or regular sand... what's the difference?):
- How much in Lbs
- A good setup in terms of how thick the layer of sand should be at the bottom of the tank. I read that people usually go for about 3"?
TANK + EQUIPMENT:
I already have a glass 35g tank that I used to use for freshwater... and that's literallly all I have now.
Can you guys lead me in the right direction in terms of:
- specific lighting (preferably based on the recommendations of corals)
- Maybe a specific hood/canopy that would work best with the specific lights
- LED's at night?
- Power heads
- Heaters
- Testing equipment for pH, salinity, gravity, nitrates, all that good stuff!
- anything else that I missed.. (refractometer and all that stuff just to be sure)
Maybe naming specific brand names would be very, very helpful as well!
Not sure what else I have to look for..
Again, I really don't know much (or anything) about starting up or maintaining a reef but I really enjoy learning and do have the patience to commit to this, so all the help I can get would be much appreciated, thanks!
* on a side note, I read somewhere that it might be easier to start off with a FOWLR tank to avoid extra water maintenance and then add coral later once everything has cycled and stabilized, etc.. any thoughts on that?