Need some help on decisions - I have no idea which direction to go with 450 gallon.

[larsson]

I am pretty much set on at least a Yellow and a Naso tang. I like the Hawkfish with huge eyes. Apart from that, I'm pretty much undecided. There will be snails, crabs, and shrimp in the tank. Eventually, I would like to have some low light corals. I like BIG fish, at least 5 inches. I would however like to have a group of schooling fish. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.

[Geoff]

what are the dimensions of the 450? just wondering if there will be lots of swimming room, or height. if swimming room i like the lookdown fish. they school and are big.

G~

[larsson]

Originally posted by Geoff
what are the dimensions of the 450? just wondering if there will be lots of swimming room, or height. if swimming room i like the lookdown fish. they school and are big.

G~

I love those! They are gorgeous, but I haven't found them anywhere for purchase for less than $200 each. The tank is 90" L, 29" D, and 36" H

[larsson]

First, I don't want to upgrade anything on it right now. It has 12 6ft. 56W plain old Phillips flourescents. If I could find other bulbs to fit the sockets, I'd definitely look into purchasing them, bulbs that offer a wider spectrum.

I would like to go the route of only doing top off water, no water changes. I have heard several people who have done this and were sucessful.

The lights will probably be on full force a max of 6 hrs. per day. Then, I plan to unscrew several of the bulbs and only have maybe 3 or 4 going for about 4 more hours. A moon light would be ran at night for about 4 hours or so.

I want to keep algae to a minimum. The live rock and live sand both come from established tanks, so all I have to do is add the RO water and salt.

After that, I'm not sure what direction I want to take. I would hate to have a lot of algae in a tank that size. It would be awful to clean. Therefore, I was thinking of having snails, some shrimp, and some crabs to keep the bottom clean and the glass free of algae.

Having the inverts is limiting my fish selection. I love Tangs, but I also like the more predatory fish, such as lionfish, eels, etc.

I would like to have some low light corals. Initially, I will probably get about 50 more lbs. of live rock and have two piles of rock with a small bridge joining the two piles. I don't know if I will be able to have corals at that depth of maybe (and I'm estimating after the rock is built up) to maybe 24" with the plain old Phillips 56W bulbs.

Does anyone have any thoughts, ideas, or suggestions? This is my first saltwater, besides the 2 gallon minireef that I have. Any help is appreciated.

Edit: Will I be able to keep the algae down without inverts and crustaceans?

[Silas]

I think you will need about 1 to 1.5 pound of LR per gallon. 50 pounds of LR is going to be a small bump in a big tank. Six hours of light is not very much, the standard is about 12 hours on Actinic and 10 hour on 10K. Personally, I do a 15% water change every week for the bio load I have in my system.

s

[Heyoo]

Originally posted by larsson
I love those! They are gorgeous, but I haven't found them anywhere for purchase for less than $200 each. The tank is 90" L, 29" D, and 36" H

Lemme get this straight... you bought a 450 GALLON tank, and you're worried about dropping $200 on a fish?


A couple that I'd be into (assuming I had a huge tank) would be a Harlequin Tusk, an angel (Imperator or Queen), probably porcupine puffer - but I'm really not sure. Seems like you can do anything you want in that tank. You could go with Lion's, Triggers, etc. Those are definately large, and much cheaper than the lookdowns.

[larsson]

Originally posted by Silas
I think you will need about 1 to 1.5 pound of LR per gallon. 50 pounds of LR is going to be a small bump in a big tank. Six hours of light is not very much, the standard is about 12 hours on Actinic and 10 hour on 10K. Personally, I do a 15% water change every week for the bio load I have in my system.

s

I want to keep the algae in the tank to a minimum. As far as live rock goes, upon completion, the tank will have about 150 lbs. of live rock. I want plenty of room for the fish to swim since I am hoping to have some Tangs. Thanks for your suggestions

[larsson]

Originally posted by Heyoo
Lemme get this straight... you bought a 450 GALLON tank, and you're worried about dropping $200 on a fish?


A couple that I'd be into (assuming I had a huge tank) would be a Harlequin Tusk, an angel (Imperator or Queen), probably porcupine puffer - but I'm really not sure. Seems like you can do anything you want in that tank. You could go with Lion's, Triggers, etc. Those are definately large, and much cheaper than the lookdowns.

The tank is a used glass tank, not new. I'm on a budget, so $200 for a fish is a lot. Thanks for the suggestions of the other fish. I like the Porcupine Puffers also.

[Brooke]

I merged these two threds since they are about the same tank.

[larsson]

Originally posted by Brooke
I merged these two threds since they are about the same tank.

Thanks I keep thinking of new questions.

[Silas]

I think even at 150 pounds of LR is still a bump in a tank that size. If you have not started on this tank yet, you might want to add up what this will cost you. What Brook said about doing it right the first time is very important to learn. I did not do that. I did three upgrade of light before finally getting to what I think should work. That is with MH and PC combo.

If you don't want to spend the money on a light system, how about just a FO tank for now? They are a less demanding than coral but neverless, still more than FW. You might still have to get the DSB inplace for now.

Personally, I would for sure go with the water change route. I hate to see anyone loose any live stock as I did in the past. Tank maintance is a lot of work. My friend Mr. Ono told me that again and again before I get back into reefing this time. I used to hate the work.. in fact, I still do but hate it a little less. On the other hand, having a tank full of living things inside, I have no choice but to keep it up. Now I have no time to do anything else. Wife know where I am at all the time.

You say this is 450 gallons, I just can't see myself mixing almost 100 gallons of water every week or every other week for that matter. It will take my RO/DI unit a whole day to make that much water.


good luck..

s

[Brooke]

Originally posted by larsson
First, I don't want to upgrade anything on it right now. It has 12 6ft. 56W plain old Phillips flourescents. If I could find other bulbs to fit the sockets, I'd definitely look into purchasing them, bulbs that offer a wider spectrum.

You might check out http://www.drsfostersmith.com for starters and see if there are any bulbs that will fit those particular ballasts. Do you know if they are T-10's or T-12's?

I would like to go the route of only doing top off water, no water changes. I have heard several people who have done this and were sucessful.

Don't count on this...especially in a new tank. Plan on regular water changes for the first year.

The lights will probably be on full force a max of 6 hrs. per day. Then, I plan to unscrew several of the bulbs and only have maybe 3 or 4 going for about 4 more hours.

You could set up the lights with timers..this would be a lot easier

I want to keep algae to a minimum.

Me too! Plan on a lot of snails and critters, and a low bio-load till the tank gets established.

The live rock and live sand both come from established tanks, so all I have to do is add the RO water and salt.

Just remember to premix your saltwater. We use food-grade 32g trash cans (they are the rubbermaid brute gray ones).

After that, I'm not sure what direction I want to take....Does anyone have any thoughts, ideas, or suggestions? This is my first saltwater, besides the 2 gallon minireef that I have. Any help is appreciated.

Get Scott Michael's book Marine Fish Pocket Guide. It is an excellent reference and a must buy for all new reefers. Go slow, take your time, and don't skimp on good equipment.

As far as stocking...for $200 you won't be able to do much. You could get about 10 green chromis, 2 tangs, 1 butterfly, and maybe a wrasse for that amount of money. You'd have to buy locally to avoid paying shipping...which would eat up 1/4 of that...but prices are more locally than online.

This hobby gets expensive. There are so many little things you will need to buy like specimen containers, hydrometer, timers, themometers, replacement filters, carbon, food, test kits, etc. etc. etc. If you can't afford everything at once, just keep buying what you can till you get everything.

HTH-
Brooke

[larsson]

Originally posted by Silas
I think even at 150 pounds of LR is still a bump in a tank that size. If you have not started on this tank yet, you might want to add up what this will cost you. What Brook said about doing it right the first time is very important to learn. I did not do that. I did three upgrade of light before finally getting to what I think should work. That is with MH and PC combo.

If you don't want to spend the money on a light system, how about just a FO tank for now? They are a less demanding than coral but neverless, still more than FW. You might still have to get the DSB inplace for now.

Personally, I would for sure go with the water change route. I hate to see anyone loose any live stock as I did in the past. Tank maintance is a lot of work. My friend Mr. Ono told me that again and again before I get back into reefing this time. I used to hate the work.. in fact, I still do but hate it a little less. On the other hand, having a tank full of living things inside, I have no choice but to keep it up. Now I have no time to do anything else. Wife know where I am at all the time.

You say this is 450 gallons, I just can't see myself mixing almost 100 gallons of water every week or every other week for that matter. It will take my RO/DI unit a whole day to make that much water.


good luck..

s

My plan is to two clumps of the live rock with a small bridge. The more I read, the more I am leaning towards fish only. I still want to keep inverts, but will probably wait a good long while before trying for corals. I may stick to the nano I have for keeping corals.

The guy that sold the tank to me had previously been only doing top off water and keeping fish only. I have heard several people that recommend this. I don't plan to spend a lot of money on livestock initially, probably about $65 for 4 Yellow Tangs. I want to take everything slowly and set it up right.

If you have any more suggestions, please let me know.

[larsson]

I'm not very good at spot quoting, so I'll just respond here.

What is a regular water change for a tank that size, 10% or 25% weekly, monthly?

Equipment wise, see my post in the other thread http://www.thereeftank.com/forums/sh...5&pagenumber=2

My additional purchases will be salt, heaters, thermometers, and food. I already have a hydrometer and test kit already.

The canopy lighting has a timer on it, but all the lights are wired together as one unit. I'm thinking of rewiring the lights in groups of 4.

I'm not planning to stock a lot initially. I'd be happy with 2 Tangs. Just something to watch and that is pretty. Eventually, I would love to have the tank well stocked, but it will probably be a year or so until that happens. I plan to add a fish or two very slowly overtime.

[Brooke]

I took my post out of yours above for brevity. You don't have to worry about requoting the whole post every time.

But..I did want to add one thing. I would not add 2 tangs first. They are very territorial. I would start off with maybe 10-15 green chromis. They are active swimmers and very pretty...hardy as well. Keep adding the more docile fish first, then add the more aggresive fish such as tangs and angels last.

Oh ..and the water change question. I'd plan on maybe 15-25% once a month. With smaller tanks doing a 10-20% water change every two weeks is more the norm for a new tank.