Hello all,
My name is Jesse and I hail from the armpit of cape cod
. I kept freshwater tanks for many years when I was younger. I had always wanted to go to salt water but was constantly discouraged from it due to the "extra work they take." Recently my girlfriend got a 44 gallon freshwater tank and made sure to stock it with extremely aggresive fast growing fish. After helping her with her tank for about a month and the constant headaches taht came with it I decided that if I'm going to be caring for headache fish, I may as well care for the fish I actually like.
I now have a FOWLR that has been set up for about 3 months, and I must say with such amazing things as Live Rock, and protein skimmers, that salt water tanks aren't a headache at all.
Now after continued research I've decided that the beauty of a reef tank is well worth the added work. I am now in the information gathering stage of converting my tank from FOWLR to a reef tank. Before I get into my questions I'll give some info on the tank:
90 Gallon
90 lb LR
50lb marco base rock
20 gallon sump (will be converted to a refugium first)
1000gph (will be adding some powerheads to increase the flow to at least 2000gph probably more)
reef octopus in sump protein skimmer rated for a tank of 125 gallon
2x 65w compact fluorescent lights ( will be upgrading when i decide what type of corals i want to keep)
4"DSB
ammonia/nitrite: 0
nitrate: 0-5
ph: 8.3
sg: 1.025
livestock:
coral beauty
6 line wrasse
2xfalse clownfish
lawnmower blenny
golden headed sleeper goby
firefish
2x skunk cleaner shrimp
emerald crab
2x mexican turbo snails
first off are there any books anyone can recommend on reefing? i have read 2 salt water aquarium books they only briefly touched on reefing.
I was thinking of going with a softie tank as I like the way they move with the current and that they seem best for beginners, but they also seem like the most aggressive of corals and i dont know if i want to deal with such aggressive chemical warefare.
I also love SPS though, and have been leaning that way as of late. i have read differeing views whther compact fluorescents can keep them or if you need to go up to MH. My canopy is equiped to house 2x250 watt MH.
i am also interested in an anemone for my clownfish. i know they dont need one but i jsut think its awesome to watch the clowns swimming in the tentacles. should i get the anemone before any corals so taht when i place it in the tank and it wanders to find the ideal home it doesnt kil any corals ive already put in the tank? what would be the best type of corals to keep with an anemone soft lps sps?
im also very curious about LED lighting.
any info is greatly appreciated and i look forward to my interactions with all of you in the future and hopefully meet some of you in person if i can ever find the time to make it to NH for one of the meetings.
My name is Jesse and I hail from the armpit of cape cod
. I kept freshwater tanks for many years when I was younger. I had always wanted to go to salt water but was constantly discouraged from it due to the "extra work they take." Recently my girlfriend got a 44 gallon freshwater tank and made sure to stock it with extremely aggresive fast growing fish. After helping her with her tank for about a month and the constant headaches taht came with it I decided that if I'm going to be caring for headache fish, I may as well care for the fish I actually like.I now have a FOWLR that has been set up for about 3 months, and I must say with such amazing things as Live Rock, and protein skimmers, that salt water tanks aren't a headache at all.
Now after continued research I've decided that the beauty of a reef tank is well worth the added work. I am now in the information gathering stage of converting my tank from FOWLR to a reef tank. Before I get into my questions I'll give some info on the tank:
90 Gallon
90 lb LR
50lb marco base rock
20 gallon sump (will be converted to a refugium first)
1000gph (will be adding some powerheads to increase the flow to at least 2000gph probably more)
reef octopus in sump protein skimmer rated for a tank of 125 gallon
2x 65w compact fluorescent lights ( will be upgrading when i decide what type of corals i want to keep)
4"DSB
ammonia/nitrite: 0
nitrate: 0-5
ph: 8.3
sg: 1.025
livestock:
coral beauty
6 line wrasse
2xfalse clownfish
lawnmower blenny
golden headed sleeper goby
firefish
2x skunk cleaner shrimp
emerald crab
2x mexican turbo snails
first off are there any books anyone can recommend on reefing? i have read 2 salt water aquarium books they only briefly touched on reefing.
I was thinking of going with a softie tank as I like the way they move with the current and that they seem best for beginners, but they also seem like the most aggressive of corals and i dont know if i want to deal with such aggressive chemical warefare.
I also love SPS though, and have been leaning that way as of late. i have read differeing views whther compact fluorescents can keep them or if you need to go up to MH. My canopy is equiped to house 2x250 watt MH.
i am also interested in an anemone for my clownfish. i know they dont need one but i jsut think its awesome to watch the clowns swimming in the tentacles. should i get the anemone before any corals so taht when i place it in the tank and it wanders to find the ideal home it doesnt kil any corals ive already put in the tank? what would be the best type of corals to keep with an anemone soft lps sps?
im also very curious about LED lighting.
any info is greatly appreciated and i look forward to my interactions with all of you in the future and hopefully meet some of you in person if i can ever find the time to make it to NH for one of the meetings.
