Hello, here is my life story. Plus I'd like some feedback.

[ObsessiveProgression]

I want to get this out right at the beginning. I AM A FREAKING N00000000B at this stuff.

But Im not as noobish as I could be considering the ammount of time I have been obsessed with fish ( two months ).

I started out two months ago with a 1/2 gallon glass bowl and three small goldfish. Within a week all of those goldfish were dead because I didnt know what I know now about cycling the tank, or changing the water, or.... well, lets just say I didnt know anything.

So I got pissed off. I was pissed off that my fish died, I was pissed off that I spent a whopping $25 setting up my "tank", but MOST of all I was pissed off because I realized that I had been an idiot and had NO IDEA what I was doing.

So I started reading.

I went to the library and pushed my card to its limit on books about fish. I also started browsing the internet for 12 hours a day doing nothing but researching EVERYTHING I could find about keeping fish ( I can afford to spend that kind of time because I work for microsoft doing technical support for windows XP, and I can browse the internet while I help you fix your computer ).

Anywho, it is now two months later and I have a ten gallon freshwater tank, a 30 gallon Brackish water tank ( I LOVE my Archerfish ), and I just finished designing and building a 350 gallon ( thats right THREE HUNDRED AND FIFTY ) plywood and plexiglass saltwater aquarium. I have also made a DIY PVC Protein Skimmer, DIY PVC Kalkwasser reactor, DIY 50 gallon sump, and 100,000k worth of DIY 50/50 and natural lighting for my reef.

So heres the deal. Im HOOKED. There is no cure for me now.

I start cycling 250 gallon tank tomorrow. My local saltwater fish supplier just got in a new shipment of Tonga and Fiji Live-rock, and Ill be buying about 100 Lbs of it on friday to get the cycle started.

My question is this: I am going to let the tank cycle for two full months before putting any permanent livestock into it. I know I want to make it an LPS and SPS reef tank, but I also know that I want some kickass fish in there, and Im not just talking about wrasses and tangs and clownfish and other run-of-the-mill stuff like that.

I want your opinions on what I should put in it to make it the best it can be. But I have a few restrictions:

1. I want a shark. It doesnt have to be a reef shark or a great white, but it definitely HAS to be some sort of shark. It obviously has to be reef-safe. But I have no idea what type of shark to get.

2. I want an eel. I was thinking about buying a Green Moray, but it would be way too aggressive, would try to escape all the time, and would eventually outgrow even this monster tank. So now I have no idea what kind of eel to get. Maybe a Ribbon eel? My LFS has a black one which I understand is the juvenile stage, and it will turn a wicked blue when it gets older.

3. I want a ray. Preferably a blue spotted stingray, but I think it would also outgrow my tank, and Im SURE its not reef safe. So I have no idea what ray to get.

Those are the main requirements. It has to be a LPS/SPS tank with an Eel, a Shark, a Ray, and various other reef safe species. I would like some input on what species to possibly consider.

I would do all this research myself, but I only have two months to plan out my entire ecosystem, and even though Im a dedicated learn-a-holic, I dont know if that is enough time to completely research this thing.

Any suggestions will be appreciated.
Thanks.

[ObsessiveProgression]

How do I edit my previous message? I listed my 350 as a 250 once in there. If I figure it out before anyone sees it, Ill delete this post as well.

[mandarinman]

Dude, that's awsome! but don't make the same mistake alot of people make. DO NOT RUSH THE SET UP. if you do, all that you have spent your money on will die. from what i understand, if you add fish before the cycle completes, you could restart the cycle. i may be wrong. i also think there is do such thing as a Reef-Safe shark. i think they are too aggressive for reefs. if you want to take the risk, though i would reccommend getting a longhorned cowfish. i used to have one, but he died from my power being out for 5 days after CHARLIE. the fish has alot of personality, but can be toxic if picked on or if he dies and is left in the tank too long. this is a very smart fish and tends to follow you around the tank. with a tank as larg as that, i'll bet oyu would be able to have a green mandarin in there. i also have one of those and they are very cool. i have read though, not to put more than one male in the tank. but i think that you are going to enjoy the hobby. along with all of us here have already done, be ready to dump a TON of money into the hobby.

[mandarinman]

I don't think you can edit your posts.

[rwdandald]

Those are the main requirements. It has to be a LPS/SPS tank with an Eel, a Shark, a Ray, and various other reef safe species. I would like some input on what species to possibly consider.

I do not believe that there is such thing as a reef safe shark. I personally do not believe even a 350 is large enough for any true shark regardless but that is just an opinion, take it for what it is worth. As you already mentioned - a ray is not reef safe. These are species tank animals , not reef tank animals. You can have a reef tank with an eel IMO. Snowflakes are a common choice and nice, a blue ribbon eel is beautful and mostly workable, if you really want exotic (and have deep pockets) a dragon eel is workable.
It would be a pity to waste all your efforts trying to keep things that simply can not be kept togeather.....IMO.

[ObsessiveProgression]

Thanks for the replies. You may be right about the ray... I think almost all of them feed almost exclusively on crustaceans and other bottom dwellers which would make them most definitely NOT reef safe...... but there HAS to be some sort of small, non-aggressive shark ( say under 15" total length ) that I could keep, and that would not bother the other fish.

[ObsessiveProgression]

what about a bamboo shark?

Ill go read up on them now, so hopefully I can post the answer before someone beats me to it.

[ObsessiveProgression]

Ok, so I just read up on them a little bit, and apparently they get up to 40 inches long. Thats not too big for the aquarium, and I might get one, but apparently the feed on smaller fish. That would limit me to big tangs and other fish too large for it to eat. That sux, cuz I want some gobies and clownfish and other stuff in there too.

There has to be some sort of small-mouthed or filter feeding shak that I could get.

[reefworried124]

Hey dude, did you watch the discovery channel's first biker buildoff? Well the famous bike builder jesse james has a really big tank at his shop, possibly between 300 and 500 gallons, and he actually has some blacktip reefsharks in it. But I dont think there was any live rock in it. They must have been like 2 or 3 feet long, and he was feeding them fish and it almost took his hand off! Blacktips are super agressive and dangerous though and almost impossible to get I heard. Just thought you should know.

[reefworried124]

oh yeah, put up a pic of your tank, I want to see that monster!

[ObsessiveProgression]

Ill put up a pic of it when its done. Right now its sitting in my backyard. The glue and silicon just finished curing yesterday, and I successfully stresstested it today, so Im going to start cycling it on friday when I get my live rock.

So lets see..... two months to cycle.... another 6 months to get any kind of decent corals on my rocks........ I figure it will be almost a year before its to the point that I can say OH MY GOD LOOK WHAT I HAVE!!

If you want though, Ill post a website with monthly or biweekly pictures so you can see how its coming along.

If I do, Ill be sure to post the link here.

[ObsessiveProgression]

If you want to see it now, I can turn the porch light on, stick my webcam out my window and take a snapshot

[ObsessiveProgression]

Originally Posted by mandarinman

DO NOT RUSH THE SET UP. if you do, all that you have spent your money on will die. from what i understand, if you add fish before the cycle completes, you could restart the cycle. i may be wrong.

The last thing I want to do is start correcting people when I have only been doing this for two months, but I think I can shed some light on this for you.

"Cycling" the tank is no more than letting a complete nitrogen cycle take place so that the tank has enough beneficial bacteria to break down the ammonia (fish waste) into Nitrites... and once THAT is done, you have to wait for ANOTHER beneficial bacteria to develop in sufficient quantities to convert the nitrITEs into nitRATEs, which are not very toxic and can be removed either by water changes or by live plants in the aquarium.

So, over the first couple of weeks, youll get an ammonia spike.... then after that, youll get a nitrITE spike ( either one of which could kill any but the hardiest fish )..... then that will subside and youll start producing nitrates with no measurable levels of ammonia or nitrites anymore because they are all bein eaten by bacteria the second they find their way into your tank. Once this happens, the tank is cycled.

So with that understanding, it seems to me that adding fish or other animals to the tank will not restart the cycling process, it will just add to length of time the cycle takes to complete.... or if the tank is already cycled, it will result in a sort of "mini-cycling" process for each substantial addition.

This is because with each living addition you are increasing the "bio-load" of your tank. This means that the organisms in your tank are now creating more waste than the beneficial bacteria can effictively dispose of, and so you have to wait for more bacteria to develop.

So adding the fish too early wont restart the cycle, it will just prolong it ( if your fish live through it ).

Anyway, thats my two cents. I didnt want to sound high and mighty or anything...... the main reason for this post was to make sure I still remembered exactly what cycling was, and to see whether or not I could describe it effectively.