my first Big Adventure

[untraceable726]

well i just wanted to start a thread about my first big adventure with my 37 gallon saltwater tank. i started it about 10 days ago, added the live sand, the water and put together my pump system. i am actually not going to use a sump system as one of my friends uses a Rena FilStar Canister filter and so have i. i also have two Seio 620 powerheads going in there for circulation. i purchased about 20 pounds of base rock right now and i'm in the process of cleaning and curing it once its nice and set i will add it to the tank and hopefully by then start the cycle process if it hasn't started already.

now this is my first big tank with saltwater, i am a master with fresh water and about 9 months ago i turned my 12 gallon eclipse tank into a saltwater to learn the tricks of the trade. currently i have two clownfish and a royal dottyback in there and will move them over to the bigger tank once that's all ready to go. so i have some knowledge about Saltwater but not quite a master yet.

the smaller tank i plan to clean up real nice and turn into a dwarf seahorse/manderian tank eventually..but right now my focus is on my larger tank. thats where i stand right now.

my plan is to get all the rock, sand, powerheads, cycle and all that going and ready to go before i even add the first fish. i plan to have about 6 to 9 fish in there no more than that. i'm pretty much going to keep it a FOWLR tank with maybe some smaller coral or something to that effect WAY later down the line. i will post pictures for those who wish to follow my progress.

i am open to comments and suggestions from anyone

 

[untraceable726]

here are a few pictures thus far of my two tanks, i will post a pic of my base rock later once its done curing and all that.

12 gallon Fowlr tank (two clowns and a dottyback...it was late they were sleeping)


37 gallon as of right now (front view)



37 gallon (side view)

 

[melosu58]

My only concern is that the mandarin and the seahorses are pod eaters. The mandarin will out compete the seahorses for the pods. How will you keep pods in the tank?

 

[untraceable726]

well im planing to have a hatchery system where its constantly feeding the tank so there will be plenty to go around. i was told seahorses need a good tank mate and manderians are actually highly recommanded because of the similar food source so it was an idea, i might not but we will decide when we get to that point in the game right now i am still fiddling with the 37 gallon and want to clean up the 12 to make sure its good to go before i start the sea horses.

 

[melosu58]

i was told seahorses need a good tank mate and manderians are actually highly recommanded because of the similar food source so it was an idea,

IMO not really true. Seahorses are such slow swimmers that they can not keep up or compete with a mandarin. They will not get much of the pods and will likely starve. I do have a little experience with seahorses and that`s my experience with them.

 

[untraceable726]

ah ok well thank you i will make sure to do plenty of research beforehand.

 

[mr_X]

also the temperature is supposed to be lower for seahorses than mandarins. below 74 i've read.