StartingInUtah
Aquarium Advice Apprentice
I have been getting a lot of conflicting advice about my aquarium from different people on multiple threads and from several local fish stores and I am hoping someone here might be able to help me clear things up.
I have a 75 gallon tall aquarium that I cycled but then some crazy circumstances made it so that I had to move before I put anything living in it. I was only planning on being where I am for a couple weeks so I stored my aquarium at a friend's house but I only filled it up just over halfway and put the heater down in the water to make sure it stayed the proper temperature. I did not set up the filter or anything and now it has been about a month. Also, the situation has changed and I think I will now be where I am for possibly up to a year or more. I do not want to leave my new aquarium there and I want to get it all set up here and start to be able to get going on it again. Here is my question. I started with my tank having about 80 pounds of dry rock and I added another 15 pounds of live rock. I also added about 3 inches of live black sand that I was given from a friend that has been in the hobby for years but decided to get out of it so he sold all his fish and rock and gave me the sand and a peanut worm that was in the sand.
My concern at this point is if by not adding the filter and everything else if I have killed the rock and sand and also if I need to cycle the tank again when I get it back to where I am living or if I can start to add livestock. Obviously I will check the parameters before I do.
My next question is about snails and crabs. I have read so many things about them. I have read anything from needing to add a snail and a crab per gallon that I have but varying by the sizes of them to not adding any because they will just kill each other off to just adding a couple Emerald Crabs and a couple snails but not to get hermit crabs with snails because they will kill them.
Lastly, can anyone tell me approximately what my capacity is going to be for my tank? Also, I am being told a couple varying things about a couple fish that I would really like but I am not sure I can have. I would really like to put a couple different types of dwarf angels in my aquarium and I have been told that if I do it that I have to add them at the same time as each other when they are small and have also been told that I cannot have two dwarf angels in this aquarium because they will fight too much. I am also getting conflicting advice on chromis and on damselfish. I don't know what to do with my aquarium now and could really use some advice. Let me provide you with a list of fish that I am very interested in and then get some advice on what to get. Also if you want to give me advice on other fish I could add that would be great.
I would love a coral beauty and flame angelfish both (that is why I asked the above question). I really wanted a butterflyfish but was told they are too hard to take care of. I want a Bengai Cardinalfish and am told to maybe think about schooling them instead of the blue/green chromis that I was going to use to start the tank. I only wanted one clownfish but am told that they do better in pairs but I do want a clownfish for sure. I really wanted a four stripe damselfish but am told that they are evil fish and not to get them. I want a one-spot foxface because they stay a little bit smaller than other foxfaces. I really wanted a desjardini sailfin tang but it sounds like that is something that will have to come when I get a larger tank in several years so I have looked at other tangs but I have yet to find a tang that I like that would really work in my tank. I would love a green mandarin and a six-line wrasse but the green mandarin takes a long time before I can introduce it and I am told that I can't have both. I also want a couple starfish but am told that the ones I like will not live long and are hard to take care of. So here is what I have for sure so far. I will have either a coral beauty or flame angelfish (unless I can do both), a one spot foxface, at least one Bengai Cardinalfish, at least one clownfish and a six-line wrasse or green mandarin along with possibly a couple snails and an emerald crab or two. This seems pretty sparse for a 75 gallon aquarium. Any ideas on any of this or what I could add? I want to decide on it all now so that I can add them in the order they need to be added.
Thank you for all of your help on this long post in advance.
I have a 75 gallon tall aquarium that I cycled but then some crazy circumstances made it so that I had to move before I put anything living in it. I was only planning on being where I am for a couple weeks so I stored my aquarium at a friend's house but I only filled it up just over halfway and put the heater down in the water to make sure it stayed the proper temperature. I did not set up the filter or anything and now it has been about a month. Also, the situation has changed and I think I will now be where I am for possibly up to a year or more. I do not want to leave my new aquarium there and I want to get it all set up here and start to be able to get going on it again. Here is my question. I started with my tank having about 80 pounds of dry rock and I added another 15 pounds of live rock. I also added about 3 inches of live black sand that I was given from a friend that has been in the hobby for years but decided to get out of it so he sold all his fish and rock and gave me the sand and a peanut worm that was in the sand.
My concern at this point is if by not adding the filter and everything else if I have killed the rock and sand and also if I need to cycle the tank again when I get it back to where I am living or if I can start to add livestock. Obviously I will check the parameters before I do.
My next question is about snails and crabs. I have read so many things about them. I have read anything from needing to add a snail and a crab per gallon that I have but varying by the sizes of them to not adding any because they will just kill each other off to just adding a couple Emerald Crabs and a couple snails but not to get hermit crabs with snails because they will kill them.
Lastly, can anyone tell me approximately what my capacity is going to be for my tank? Also, I am being told a couple varying things about a couple fish that I would really like but I am not sure I can have. I would really like to put a couple different types of dwarf angels in my aquarium and I have been told that if I do it that I have to add them at the same time as each other when they are small and have also been told that I cannot have two dwarf angels in this aquarium because they will fight too much. I am also getting conflicting advice on chromis and on damselfish. I don't know what to do with my aquarium now and could really use some advice. Let me provide you with a list of fish that I am very interested in and then get some advice on what to get. Also if you want to give me advice on other fish I could add that would be great.
I would love a coral beauty and flame angelfish both (that is why I asked the above question). I really wanted a butterflyfish but was told they are too hard to take care of. I want a Bengai Cardinalfish and am told to maybe think about schooling them instead of the blue/green chromis that I was going to use to start the tank. I only wanted one clownfish but am told that they do better in pairs but I do want a clownfish for sure. I really wanted a four stripe damselfish but am told that they are evil fish and not to get them. I want a one-spot foxface because they stay a little bit smaller than other foxfaces. I really wanted a desjardini sailfin tang but it sounds like that is something that will have to come when I get a larger tank in several years so I have looked at other tangs but I have yet to find a tang that I like that would really work in my tank. I would love a green mandarin and a six-line wrasse but the green mandarin takes a long time before I can introduce it and I am told that I can't have both. I also want a couple starfish but am told that the ones I like will not live long and are hard to take care of. So here is what I have for sure so far. I will have either a coral beauty or flame angelfish (unless I can do both), a one spot foxface, at least one Bengai Cardinalfish, at least one clownfish and a six-line wrasse or green mandarin along with possibly a couple snails and an emerald crab or two. This seems pretty sparse for a 75 gallon aquarium. Any ideas on any of this or what I could add? I want to decide on it all now so that I can add them in the order they need to be added.
Thank you for all of your help on this long post in advance.