Planning Out my New Tank

[SithAquarist]

Well I finally found a nice corner pent tank on craigslist after a bit of searching and disappointment upon going to purchase, but i was victorious.

I have been doing sw for awhile so I am asking more on what would you do with a new tank, time and a little coin.

Went from a 55g down to a 20g [moved...sigh] and now i am back to a 44g as previously mentioned. Current residents are just my two ocellaris clowns, which i think are just absolutely gorgeous. They will make the adventure into the tank once the tank is cycled and stable but alas i feel they shall be lonely.

What would your recommendations be as far as some new neighbors?? I am already considering a peppermint shrimp or two for some color when the tank is in night mode. and i am interested in adding a black ocellaris but i fear the long time pair might not appreciate that. Would adding the black in a pair aid in that?? as far as decor/rock the tank is pretty much set in that avenue.

buuut i am open to any suggestions.

 

[Henry405]

A few people have added more than 2 ocellaris clowns to their tank and pistolpete introduced them 2 weeks apart. I think the main concern is that since the other two are already a pair, if the tank doesn't have enough room, they would be aggressive to him/her/it.

 

[SithAquarist]

Yeah that is my fear these two have been paired and the last thing i want is for them to reject a black clown and make the tank a territory battle. I figured another clown would be hard to manage. Just like how they roll in currents haha

 

[Henry405]

is your tank a 44g corner pentagon from marineland?

 

[SithAquarist]

yep prefer it over bowfront i like straight lines of view less distortion

 

[Henry405]

ah, was just curious because my uncle just bought one last night and I'm starting to buy stuff to set up a SW for him. keep me updated since we have the same tank

 

[SithAquarist]

def will i will try to keep this updated on my tanks progress. what do those tanks run new i picked mine up used and it needed tlc lol.

 

[Henry405]

I got it at petsmart for him. $150 for the stand and $170 for tank, but I had a $30 discount so tank was $140.

Have you started working on the tank at all?

 

[SithAquarist]

re sealed the seams and gave it a good washing, i think there was a turtle in it before...but looks good as new. i like a deep sand bottom so i am doing a 70-80 pound sand bed there is about 40 pounds of sand and 2 inches of water in the tank because i was afraid it would get knocked over the weekend. but it survived...lol

im gonna utilized the ability for dual light fixtures and do a day and moon light just waiting for all those components to show up. doing alot of waiting...

 

[Henry405]

sounds like a good start! I need to start ordering stuff to add to the tank. It currently only has light haha

 

[SithAquarist]

i went with a live Caribbean white sand and it looks like its gonna be worse then any black sand ive ever used im gonna prob run a hot magnum just to polish my water with the Micron cartridge before i even think of starting a cycle...this one might take me a good time into summer

 

[Henry405]

I'm pretty sure thats the same sand I used. If it is, theres a lot of crap in it like small pieces of wood, shells and chunks of rocks also. It took my tank about two weeks to polish the sand, 2 HOB filters rated at 200gph each running non stop.

Im planning on using black sand for the pent, any suggestions on brand?

 

[SithAquarist]

My cousin was stationed in hawaii so I had him ship me lfs sand that they got from the ocean but I did a build with an all natural black made by caribsea tahitian moon was the color 20 pounds 20.79 I know cuz it was the dustiest 21 dollars I ever spent...

 

[SithAquarist]

http://www.caribsea.com/pages/products/super_nat.html

Sorry for double can't edit on my droid all to well. This stuff is great it tends to be a bit magnetic so watch how close powerhead are to the bottom

It was dusty but if you use micron filters it blasts through it. Putting it in 5gal buckets and letting it overflow for a good 10 mins would be better then the quick rinse I did

 

[Henry405]

Thanks a lot, that is exactly the right kind of sand my uncle wants, just straight black haha. Do you have any pictures of your tank with black sand?

 

[SithAquarist]

No problem finding good black sand can kinda be a pain but that stuff is black. Catches light good to. Ill have to see of I have any old pics on my laptop of my 55 or my first 20. I got out of black after I moved got into the lighter colors so ill check

 

[dastowers]

Remember if the sand is magnetic it will get in your magna-float and scratch your glass. Trust me, I found out the hard way.

 

[SithAquarist]

loved the look on the UPS drivers face when i went to the door for my base rock and casually thanked him for bringing me a box of rocks

 

[Henry405]

haha, how much did you order?

 

[SithAquarist]

i got 3** 50 pound boxes from reefcleaners because im about to rebuild a neighbors and my mothers tanks so i didn't want to have to wait for rock twice lol. idk what was the cause of the look on his face either how easily i popped the boxes onto my shoulders or when i told him they were just rocks lol