Total Newb

[Hobbit]

Ok, i've hadfreshwater, and i kind of want to convert over to the darkside. I've only been studying sw for like 3 days, and no need to worry, I wonteven THINK about getting a sw tank for at least another month of studying. From what i've read, this is what i like. please read my list, and add in any objections, tips, critisizm, or anything else.
My list.

75 gallon tank (showtank, or bowfront)
a GOOD light (any suggestions?)
about 100 lbs of live rock (more, less?)
Live sand (how much? And any dead sand? what is it and do i need?)
protein skimmer & sump (do i need both, and what does a skimmer do?)



C U C
very likely to change

15 blue hermits
10 scarlet hermits
6 snails of some kind (suggestions?)
3 turbo snails
1 or 2 cleaner shrimp
1 or 2 urchins (good?)
a crab. open to suggestions


no idea about fish





ups and downs i know of. please feel free to add in.


hermits
good-looks cool, eats scraps, kills fireworms
bad- kills upturned snails, needs shells

snails
good-cleans algea, uneaten food
bad- liable to be killed=waste of money

cleaner shrimp
good-cool, cleans fish, algea, uneaten food
bad- limits choice of fish

urchins
good- cleans, unlikely to be killed
bad- ???

crab
good-uneaten scraps
bad- territory, kills fish?

 

[AliRichardson]

Hi there

The only thing I can think of is that it isnt necessary to add live sand if you are going to use Live rock straight away. If you need to cut costs then maybe have a look at the other post thats just popped up in this forum about substrates.

Also you will need to get the water cycling for about 3 weeks so that the denitrifying bacteria can grow in numbers, start colonising your sand from the live rock and bring your water parameters into an area that is safe for your CuC.

Marine test kits will be vital so that you know when the ammonia and nitrite are ~0ppm nitrates ideally need to be close to 0 also but I cant remember how achieveable this is is the early stages of tank cycling. pH testing is also needed of course.

A note on the test kits, you're coming from a freshwater background and you need to remember that your freshwater test kits may not necessarily be compatible with sea water! I'd invest in some that are specifically for marine tank testing.


I used to use only fluorescent tubes lighting over my tank. It was good enough for the tank to stay healthy however if you really want to see the great colour that your tank can show I would recommend blue fluorescent tubes combined with metal halide pendants. The heat from the MH lamps will mean you wont need tank heaters, in fact if you do get them, be careful cos they can burn!

The exact light I use is from a company called aquamedic and the product is called aquasunlight. Its a good brand and almost my whole setup is aquamedic.

as for whether you choose bowfront or flat its really up to you. I have found that with a bowfront its easier to build your reef. However I saw a flat tank on the weekend that I fell in love with, I guess you always want what you haven't got!

I will leave CuC tips to the others as I dont feel I have enough experience to comment.

 

[Hobbit]

tahnks for the reply, i do have a test kit with some of the needed working as fresh and salt, but i think ill need to buy a smaller marine kit to cover a few other things. im looking at a used 80 gallon, with everything including sand and rocks, im assuming its already cylcled. we'll see. im still open to help with fish and CuC.

 

[SkiFletch]

to the darkside hobbit, hope you enjoy your stay . Check your wallet and spare organs at the door, grab on to your dream and hold on tight

I have to agree with pretty much everything Ali said. Live sand is a gimmick. There's no way anything is left alive in that oxygen deprived bag thats been sitting on a warehouse shelf for who knows how many months before it sat on the shelves of your LFS. If you do want to "seed" your sand bed, its not a bad idea to get a handful/cup/whatever from a local reefer or an LFS you REALLY trust. But tbh, Live Rock seeds sand beds within a month so its not necessary. If you do decide to go with sand, you must use an aragonite (fancy word for calcium carbonate) based sand. MOST playsands are silica and wont help buffer your tank at all.

Lighting suggestions will really depend if you're a UK or US resident. I'm happy to see that you want a quality light, so keep that enthusiasm even when you see the price. Regardless of where you live, high-powered marine lighting is not cheap. If you want "good" lighting, you're prolly lookin at a 2x175watt metal halide setup, or perhaps a 6x54watt T5 (with individual reflectors) setup. I'll echo what Ali said in that having a PC lighting setup will keep things healthy, switching to one of the two setups I mentioned will be worlds of difference.

Your tank size (75g) is a FANTASTIC beginner saltwater setup. Had I 4 feet of length to fit the tank into, I'd buy one in a millisecond. Its front-back width is sufficient to allow you acquascaping options, and the larger water volume lets you get into the hobby with some room for error as far as chemistry is concerned. I personally would stay away from the bowfront, as the front glass can become a real PITA to keep clean in a marine setup.

You asked about skimmers and sumps too. I could launch into a giant discussion about each, but suffice it to say others have done the work for me. I must ask though, what kind of livestock are you planning on keeping? Both skimmers and sumps are fantastic peices of equipment, but they are not always necessary, depending on the choice of livestock. If you're going with a fish-only setup, you can prolly get away without them, but if you want to get ambitious and start looking at predator tanks, or keeping corals, they become a must-have. Protein skimmers remove dissolved organic waste from the water column. Basically they inject billions of tiny bubbles into a chamber. Those bubbles attract dissolved organic proteins and rise to the top of the chamber where they spill over into a collection cup (taking the proteins with them). Without a skimmer, these dissolved organics can inhibit coral growth and break down to produce harmful phosphates and nitrates (think algae blooms).

And to answer some of your basic cleanup crew questions, the bad for urchins is that they totally strip your rocks of any algae (even the pretty looking purple coraline) and they can "bulldoze" your rock setup and cause landslides in your tank. If your rockwork is really well-secured, go right ahead, but if not, it might be best to avoid urchins. Hermits (especially bluelegs) are REALLY aggressive and I wouldn't reccomend them for a cleanup crew. They'll kill snails, tryout their shells, realize they dont like them, and then return to their old one. I've seen it happen . Redlegs (scarlets) are much calmer in temperment and do not do that as often. I highly reccomend a CUC mostly made up of snails (think like 50 longterm) with a smattering of redlegs. You're going to have mortality in any CUC you choose, so be prepared for that. As for crabs, many are territorial and opportunistic. Some kill other inverts, some kill fish. Prolly the most reef-safe crab is the Emerald or Mithrax crab. They're algae eaters and scavengers. With a 75g tank you might want to also consider brittlestars as there are some really cool reef-safe ones that will do well in that size. I would stay away from sand sifting stars as they really need BIG tanks to survive longterm.

In the meantime, let me encourage you to keep reading, have a look through the stickies, and keep researching what you want to keep. Might want to check out liveaquaria.com for some good ideas on livestock.

 

[Hobbit]

yes, i have been reading, i actually probably have a disorder about preparing lol. I really hermits, because i love thier fiesty attitude. I think snails are ok too. I do defenatly want to get into reefs, so i guess i need to kill my wallet with a sump?

edit: I forgot to say i have no idea about what fish to get. i know of hardly any. I think im gonna like my clean up crew the most lol. then the reef, then the hitchhikers, unless i see my dream fish.

 

[AliRichardson]

Oh something I forgot to mention...

I have heard somewhere that a mix of scarlet and blue legged hermits can lead to west side story style warfare so it might be an idea to stick with just scarlets as Ski mentioned that blue legged ones are nasty!

That goes as a question also to Ski/Lynden/any other marine expert - can you confirm it?

 

[SkiFletch]

Oh something I forgot to mention...

I have heard somewhere that a mix of scarlet and blue legged hermits can lead to west side story style warfare so it might be an idea to stick with just scarlets as Ski mentioned that blue legged ones are nasty!

That goes as a question also to Ski/Lynden/any other marine expert - can you confirm it?

Yeah, sadly I can confirm that. Started out having a mix of both until I watched the first blueleg murder one of my scarlets behind the rock stack. Killed him, ate him, jumped in his shell, decided he didnt like it, and jumped back in his old one . Hobbit, if you want a cool lookin hermit with personality that's pretty reef-safe, check out the electric blueleg hermit. They're usually around $5-10 and significantly larger than their dirt cheap blueleg cousins. They have alternating blue and yellow bands on their legs and are much more docile than most hermits.

As for reef-safe fish suitable for that size tank, have a look at fair wrasses, flasher wrasses, some Tangs, gobies, blennies, some anthias, and some others.

Also, on sumps. If you have some decent DIY skills, you can make your own for WAY less than the cost of purchasing one

 

[Hobbit]

http/www.saltwaterfish.com/site_11_03/pr...oot_parent_id=4

what about these?