Thanks for all the advice, I'll respond more later when I have time,
have to get to work in a few minutes.
We are planning on moving the 48 gallon bowfront over to my place and
set it back up for the main saltwater tank, the 29 gallon was more of a
temporary housing until we can get the 48 gallon clean enough to move.
If I'm more doomed using this tank because of my crushed coral/sand
substrate then perhaps when we move the 48 gallon over I should consider
using this 29 gallon as a Q tank instead and just take all the substrate
out except some of the sand from the 48 gallon? Just an idea.
I have 3 separate 10 gallon tanks that are empty that could also be
possibly used for Q tanks if needed.
I have a variety of filters, I have HOB's and even an eheim (one of the
deluxe canister ones with the built in heater inside), but the eheim is
currently running on my 125 gallon tank, so I would have to work a bit
to get things switched around.
Amber
On 9/21/2012 1:59 AM, dawnshungryeyes4u2c wrote:
>
> Ok, the lighting makes more sense now. Can you get a photo of it for
> me? That would help a lot. What you will need for spectrum will depend
> on what corals you decide you want to keep. Be careful not to get too
> many, as they will grow and spread quickly. You might also want to
> start looking into an outlet for coral frags BEFORE you purchase even
> your first one. As they grow and reproduce they will quickly overrun
> the tank and crowed each other out, leaving you with dead/dying corals
> instead of those that thrive. Also before you order even your fist
> coral, do the research about what is involved in fragging each type
> you want to get, as this will be important to know to keep your tank
> healthy. You may find that some are a little more work and difficult
> to frag than what you want to deal with and that might help you decide
> which ones to get and which to avoid. Each one is a little different
> when it comes to frags, and while some are very easy, others can be
> quite difficult to do without killing the whole thing.
>
> If it were me I would still consider getting rid of that crushed
> coral, especially if that is 50% of the substrate. Crushed coral and
> reef don't mix real well in an aquarium and will leave you with many
> up and coming problems and challenges over time.
>
> The filters you are running... the Rena is a good one, however, the
> magnum will clog up quickly. That is one filter I would never use on a
> saltwater tank, also because the parts are not really designed to
> withstand the salinity for any length of time. A sump is not mandatory
> but it does offer some options that make it much easier to maintain
> over time as the tank matures. Personally, I won't do a saltwater tank
> without a sump anymore, for that very reason. Hang on skimmers are not
> real good/effective and can be difficult to get them set properly. A
> sump would offer you a much easier solution to setting up a good
> skimmer, which is important for a reef tank. As surface proteins begin
> to collect on the water's surface they can quickly suffocate
> everything in the tank. This can be resolved by manually skimming the
> tanks surface with paper towels, but this can be messy and time
> consuming. I am not fond of using canister filters on saltwater tanks
> overall... not just due to lack of circulation, but also because all
> of those same things I mentioned will grow in a bridge/tunnel will
> eventually also begin collecting and growing in a canister filter
> too... which means more maintenance than you'd be used to doing in a
> freshwater tank. Spray bars can clog quickly as well, if not from
> coraline algae growth (because it should sit above the water's
> surface) but more because of salt creep. This can also be a pain and a
> lot of work to keep up with. I've run a number of different canister
> filters on saltwater tanks over the yrs and always ended up changing
> over to sump before I was done just because of the hassles involved
> and how often I was forced to clean out or mess with the filter to
> keep it functioning properly. And yes, this includes Eheim, which is
> the only canister really designed for saltwater.
>
> I have also worked with HOB filters on saltwater tanks, and honestly,
> if given the choice, I prefer HOB to canisters if a sump isn't possible.
>
> This brings me to my next warning/precaution for you. Please be sure
> your walls, carpeting, stand, and everything within 2 ft of the tank
> in any direction are protected from salt creep. Salt creep is the
> crystallized salt that will collect on any surface that is in any way
> touched by the saltwater and also has any air flow to it where it
> can/will dry. There is no way to stop it from happening and no way to
> avoid it no matter how well covered the tank is. It will also collect
> on the hoses to your filters where they come and leave the tank as
> well as around O rings and any other part of the filter where
> condensation, spray, etc. will happen. Salt creep is extremely
> damaging to most anything it touches aside from glass and silicone. It
> will eat away dry wall, carpeting, weaken wood (stands), cause wrought
> iron stands to rust, and if it gets up into a light fixture can cause
> a fire hazard. Salt is a great conductor of electricity. Please be
> careful. I am hoping you have a glass cover on this tank? That will
> need to be cleaned regularly, at least once/wk if not more to prevent
> the cover from collecting salt deposits from the spray bars of your
> filters. If the covers are not kept clean all the time this will
> prevent enough light from penetrating through the tank for the corals
> and live rock.
>
> When I set up my 75 gallon reef tank this past year I laid thick
> plastic on the floor and used duct tape to secure it with about a 1 ft
> span around all sides of the tank. I also had my husband put up large
> pieces of thin plexi on the wall behind the tank and then I taped the
> plastic on the floor to the bottom of the plexi for protection. I have
> to wipe down that plexi and plastic regularly, which is a good example
> of what kind of exposure my wall and carpet would have had to the salt
> creep and how much damage it would have caused to my house.
>
> The other thing I wanted to ask is what you plan to use for a
> quarantine tank? While quarantine is important in freshwater, it is
> vital in saltwater, especially with a reef. Because most saltwater
> animals are still wild caught and because there are so many potential
> things that can be brought into a saltwater tank via live rock,
> corals, fish, other inverts, etc. to not have one puts your main tank
> at total risk anytime you add any animal to it. Saltwater inverts are
> not able to tolerate medications and then there is also the problem
> that live rock will absorb medications, making it virtually impossible
> to treat a reef tank with most medications safely. The last zoanthid
> frags I purchased online came in 1/2 dead as well as bringing flat
> worms with them... and these quickly infested my tanks. I lost all but
> 1 of the zoanthid frags in quarantine due to the flatworm infestation.
> I was ok with it in my main tank without the zoanthids because it's a
> food source for my mandarin, however, getting rid of flatworms in a
> tank is extremely difficult and they can cause an array of problems,
> especially for a beginner. This is just one example of a potential
> issue that happens too often to those who forget or think they can
> bypass quarantine. Even when prepared, these things sometimes can't be
> avoided. There are too many potential issues to name off in just a
> simple post, but I wanted to be sure to warn you so you can work on a
> quarantine tank right away before you get too involved in ordering
> animals for your tank. Everything except crabs, snails, and shrimp,
> should spend at least 4 wks in quarantine before attempting to put
> them into your main tank. If you need help on an easy way to set up a
> saltwater quarantine let me know and I can walk you through it. If
> your main tank is 29 gallons I would suggest a quarantine tank of 15 -
> 20 gallons to suit your needs. It should be large enough to
> accommodate your largest fish for up to a month at a time or a
> combination of all of your fish for up to a month if needed. If fish
> get sick they can be treated safely in quarantine without worry of
> risking the reef to the medications. Corals have zero tolerance to
> most meds. (I can think of only 1 exception that corals can handle)
> Also remember that stocking a saltwater tank is not like stocking a
> freshwater tank. Oxygen levels differ in saltwater and the physical
> needs of the fish differ as well. That tomato clown you currently have
> means you are going to be limited to maybe 1 other smallish size fish
> for a total fish population. Everything else for animals will be
> restricted to inverts (crabs, shrimp, snails, starfish, etc). Tomato
> clowns can be quite aggressive and territorial, especially once
> mature, so be careful if you decide to add another fish. Be very
> selective and ask if you're at all in doubt. (just an example of their
> aggression, we kept a tomato clown in a 92 gallon tank with an adult
> snowflake eel at the store in one of our display tanks... whenever we
> did maintenance on the tank the eel would usually hide but the clown
> would attack anyone who put their hands in the water.. and yes, it
> hurts to get bit.)
>
> Let me know what else I can do to help. I'd like to see you skip past
> all of the easy beginner mistakes and not have to learn the hard way,
> which is expensive as well as heart breaking. I've been keeping
> saltwater tanks for about 20 yrs now, my husband for about 25+ yrs. so
> if there's a mistake to be made, it's likely we or our customers have
> made it already, lol. The best advice I can offer to anyone starting
> out with saltwater is to forget all of the rules of freshwater and
> learn everything new from the start. It's not harder to do if you
> understand it, but it is very different. After the first year when the
> tank is established (it takes that long to be considered established)
> saltwater is actually less work than freshwater as long as you stay on
> top of it and don't let anything go.
>
> Dawn
>
> --- In AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com
> <mailto:AquaticLife%40yahoogroups.com>, Amber Berglund
> <arberglund@...> wrote:
> >
> > I double checked the CFL (spiral kind) bulbs, they are each 42 watts,
> > and there are 6 of them. It's a custom made light fixture, not one that
> > was made for the tank. They are definitely daylight bulbs (6700K), not
> > sure if I need a different spectrum for corals, I'm used to freshwater
> > planted tanks. The live rock I have in the tank is one large piece that
> > weighs about 15 lbs. It seems very dense and was very heavy when I
> > lifted it out of the tank to move it to mine. I'm hoping to get some of
> > the lighter live rock (some of them come in really pretty colors of
> > algae growth on them too), I just can't afford it quite yet. Our local
> > fish store only special orders saltwater fish/inverts so I'll probably
> > be doing my own ordering off of aquabid or somewhere online, as I will
> > get a better deal using my fedex account to ship stuff in.
> >
> > It's a mixture of crushed coral and (what was once live) sand, I may
> > have forgotten to say that, it's not ALL crushed coral. I'd say it's at
> > least a 50/50 mix of sand/crushed coral. The sand I moved from my
> > boyfriend's tank was from an established (over 5 years) saltwater tank.
> > Thanks for the tips on the water bridge idea, I'll probably not do that
> > now that I have more info on what could go wrong, but it was a nice
> > thought to have the tanks connected.
> > Is a sump/overflow necessary for a saltwater tank? I had one that came
> > with my 125 gallon tank, but I gave it away about a year ago, so I no
> > longer have the sump box and powerhead that was in it.
> > As far as the equipment goes I have 2 filters running on the tank, a
> > Rena XP (I think it's a XP 2), and a Magnum 350 canister filter. I also
> > have 2 extra powerheads that can be used in the tank if I need even
> more
> > water flow for corals, I wasn't sure how much I need and the powerheads
> > have been in the closet for about a year but they still work just fine.
> >
> > I have a calcium test kit around here somewhere that I can use, I just
> > have to find it, LOL.
> >
> > Thanks
> > Amber
> >
> > On 9/20/2012 4:23 PM, dawnshungryeyes4u2c wrote:
> > >
> > > Amber, can you double check the info on the light fixture and
> bulbs as
> > > well as the measurements of your tank please? Something in the
> info is
> > > off... compact fluorescent bulbs don't come in 90 watt sizes and a 6
> > > bulb fixture over a 29 gallon tank wouldn't fit. Not sure what is off
> > > but would like to help you sort it out. Knowing for sure what you
> have
> > > is important because it will determine what animals (corals) you can
> > > keep in the tank. Can you tell me what is written on each of the
> > > bulbs? (the print directly on the bulb) There should be letters as
> > > well as numbers there. That would help me to identify what you have.
> > >
> > > Hermits can work with crushed coral but they tend to have a more
> > > difficult time finding enough food or keeping the substrate cleaned
> > > up, especially if you are sticking to hermits that are reef safe (not
> > > all crabs are reef safe). You might want to consider removing the
> > > crushed coral and making up the difference with live sand. This
> can be
> > > done with a strainer where the sand can fall through but the crushed
> > > coral pieces are too big and will remain in the strainer. This would
> > > preserve the sand you have at present and then you'd only need to add
> > > to it. Also, the sand in your tank that's mixed in now will settle to
> > > the bottom under the crushed coral because it is smaller and lighter
> > > weight, so using a tube to suck the crushed coral from the surface
> may
> > > also be an option... depends on your ratio of each and how you are
> set
> > > up. I suggest this now because it will make the long term keeping of
> > > this tank much easier and because doing it now before you start
> adding
> > > animals also makes the process easier.
> > >
> > > I do not suggest connecting the tanks via some kind of
> > > tunnel/tube/bridge system. In a healthy saltwater tank there is
> > > coraline algae growth that will build up quickly, that's a good
> > > thing... however, it's very hard, can get very thick quickly, and is
> > > near impossible to remove from a tunnel/tube type of situation. Put
> > > simply, it would start out looking nice but would quickly be crusted
> > > in coraline algae where you wouldn't be able to see through it and
> > > then eventually it would slow water flow/circulation as the coraline
> > > continues to build. If your intention is for the animals to be
> able to
> > > pass back and forth through this "tunnel" from one tank to another,
> > > again I say don't do it. There are so many things that will get up in
> > > there and get stuck or begin to grow where you have no access to
> > > remove them, it would become a nightmare situation before long.
> Things
> > > such as tube worms, aptasia, various forms of algaes, bristle worms,
> > > etc. would all "live" in there and make for one heck of a mess. If
> you
> > > know anyone who is running a saltwater tank at present, an
> established
> > > tank that is at least 1+ yrs old with a sump/overflow system, ask
> them
> > > if you can take a flashlight and peek into the overflow box for a
> > > minute or 2 and you'll quickly see what I'm talking about. If you
> > > don't know anyone where you can do this let me know and I'll try to
> > > get some photos for you on this end. It's important for you to
> > > actually be able to see what I'm referring to.
> > >
> > > I have company due to arrive any moment now, but later after they
> > > leave I will get out my camera and take some photos for you of my
> > > saltwater tanks. One is a quarantine tank that I don't really have
> > > anything in so I just let it do it's own thing and the other is my
> > > main tank that is maintained daily. I will be able to then show you
> > > some of the things to prepare for and watch out for as well as avoid
> > > in your own tank. Every tank is different but there are some things
> > > that are common about all marine set ups... and going in unprepared
> > > can mean more work as well as more expense later. I'd hate to see
> that
> > > happen for you.
> > >
> > > I'll be back later.
> > >
> > > Dawn
> > >
> >
> >
> >
> > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
> >
>
>
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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