Newbie Needs Help

[DFort317]

Hello Everyone,

I'm very new to the hobby and learning on the fly. This site was recommended to me by another hobbyist at a local pet store, and I'm loving it. I need some help getting pointed in the right direction. I think I'm doing ok so far.

I have a 75 gallon saltwater tank that has been up and running for 1.5 weeks. There is currently about 55-60 pounds of live rock in it. I have 5 damsels as well that have been in there for 5 days or so and appear to be healthy. All my levels are perfect or near perfect (Nitrates, Ammonia, Salinity and pH).

The questions that I have are:

Is 55-60 pounds of live rock enough? I want to grow coral on it as well.

At which point is it safe to remove the damsels and start adding other fish and corals?

I need to purchase a light in order to have corals, but really can't afford anything fancy. I'm considering the T5's or a compact light. But the compacts appear to have so many options, and I don't know what I'm looking for in a light. Any suggestions? Cost is an issue, as this tank is proving to be much more costly than originally anticipated.

Thank you all in advance, the advice given will be priceless.

 

[Base]

I would say to put at least 1 pound per gallon. Others will say up to 4 per gallon. FYI I have about 250 lbs in a 210. It also depends how heavy the rocks are. Some rocks are so porous tahat they dont weigh much.
I seaded my tank with damsels. I wish I didn't cauase they aren't easy to catch. I added my first fish at three month. Coral at six months. Longer is better but I was impatient. Haven't lost anything yet.
as far as lighting goes I've recently upgraded to metal halide all thanks to BRS.
just post a want to buy thread youll get all kinds of ideas. No waranties though.

 

[DFort317]

I see, so roughly 2-3 more months of what I have, and nothing changing, before I can start adding fish?

 

[skyedolphan]

your tank is very new. even though you may be reading 0 on params you can expect to hit an ammonia, nitrate , nitrites high in another week or two. this is the beginning of your cycle. your tank should cycle for at least 3 weeks until you see no nitrates . Honestly the damsels should not have been placed in the tank as of yet but what is done is done. feed the damsels, their waste will help to start the cycle and get the anaerobic (sp) bacteria going. work on getting the lighting you will need to sustain the corals you will want. as once the lights are set they may start an algae bloom ( usually the first 4 months of a new tank you will be combating one thing or another)

as for lighting if you do not want to go MH then try to go with at least the T5
Power Compact (PC) for a 75 gallon tank is OK as long as you are looking to keep softies and some LPS but I would not place SPS under PC unless you are running large numbers of them.

 

[marine mike]

I would suggest using as much rock as you can without the tank looking crowded. Only you can determine when it looks like it is enough, but the more you have, the better off you will be. It is the biggest and best natural filter you can get. Lighting-wise I would suggest T5's at least to start as the bang for the buck is much more IMO than with PC lights. Look on the forums here as there are always bargains to be found. Other than that, I can only echo the toughest part of this hobby that everyone else has, go as slowly as you can! And good luck catching those damsels! If you don't want them permanently, get them out before you get too many hiding places in there, as they are crafty! good luck and keep reading here!

Mike

 

[stratkid1048]

as far as the live rock. the general rule is at least a pound per gallon. but it really does depend on the type of rock. if u get fiji live rock or something similar its very porous so you have a lot more surface area, hence you need less. so pretty much just eyeball it. if it looks like enough it probably is, if your tank looks a little empty, it would probably be a good idea to add some more. as far as the lighting. t-5 would be just fine on your tank just make sure you keep up to date on your bulb replacements. on a tank that size you dont want your bulbs to be weak. if you started off with live rock and live sand. and kept up with all your water changes and levels. you can stard adding some basic corals by 4 months. just make sure u get hardy ones that arent too expensive. the cheapest route would be zoos and mushrooms to see how those go, then go from there. dont go wasting your money on sps and lps because they arent recommended till at least a year in. and good luck catching those damsels with 75 pounds of rock good luck!

 

[Behrmon]

I need to purchase a light in order to have corals, but really can't afford anything fancy. I'm considering the T5's or a compact light. But the compacts appear to have so many options, and I don't know what I'm looking for in a light. Any suggestions? Cost is an issue, as this tank is proving to be much more costly than originally anticipated.

Thank you all in advance, the advice given will be priceless.

Maybe I missed it but what type of corals do you want to keep? I would strongly suggest going T5 over the Pc's - here is an older thread to show you some of what can be successfully kept with T5's:

http://bostonreefers.org/forums/showthread.php?t=32860

 

[stratkid1048]

haha for real, if you have a good set of t-5(i suggest nova) you can have just about any coral. u can mix and match ur bulbs to get ur desired spectrum. and even if the powers there, you can always just move your coral a little higher.

 

[DFort317]

Great, this is all very helpful. I went out and bought another 25 pounds of live rock, so I have about 75-80 lbs for my 75 gallon tank, and it is all very porous.

I've been looking online for a lighting system and I've come across several different kinds of T-5's. What is needed the 4 bulb or the 2? And, please excuse my ignorance, but what are the difference between bulbs (bluemoon, 12000k, 10000k, actinic, 50/50, etc)?

I've been looking at this light that contains 2x 54W T5 12000K bulb, 2x 54W T5 Actinic Blue True 03 bulb, 4x Bluemoon Double LED. Is this what I should be looking at? I have also seen some T-6's, are these better than the T-5's?

I'm sorry, but I'm so dumb to this stuff and really eager, willing and trying to learn. Thanks for all the help.

 

[marine mike]

I've been looking online for a lighting system and I've come across several different kinds of T-5's. What is needed the 4 bulb or the 2? And, please excuse my ignorance, but what are the difference between bulbs (bluemoon, 12000k, 10000k, actinic, 50/50, etc)?

I've been looking at this light that contains 2x 54W T5 12000K bulb, 2x 54W T5 Actinic Blue True 03 bulb, 4x Bluemoon Double LED. Is this what I should be looking at? I have also seen some T-6's, are these better than the T-5's?

The different kinds of t5's t6's etc are just that, different types. IMO no one is better than any other, it depends on your needs. Anything referring to "moon" is generally a night light which simulates moonlight conditions in the tropics. The "K" rating is the Kelvin temperature of the lamp. The lower the number generally the more yellow the bulb and the more actinic (blue) supplementation you might need. The higher K bulbs 10-12000 or more are either a very white or going to blue light. They simulate deeper water conditions and less actinic supplementation is needed. The T5 fixture you describe above is a 50/50 fixture or half daylight and half actinic or blue light. this is definitely along the lines of what you might be looking for but you may need more based on the corals you want down the road.

 

[DFort317]

Great, thank you for the help. I'm going to go with that light and potentially upgrade down the road. But for right now this is the most cost effective solution for me.

One last quick question. It was told to me by a local pet store owner that protein skimmers are not needed and are more of a gimic than anything. Is this true? How do they work, and what exactly do they do?

 

[Base]

let me know where that store is so I can stay as far away from it as possible

 

[Alex]

Not to confuse things here but there are many beautiful tanks that are run without skimmers. Go take a look over on reefcentral. Some people like to have high nutrients in their water and export them in other ways. Personally I like to run a skimmer but I don't over skim really. There are many different ways to be successful in this hobby so if someone tells you their way is the only way they are most likely full of it. I do think the skimmer would give you more room for error and allow you to have a larger bioload faster. Hope I didn't confuse you but wanted to let you know there are many paths to success.

 

[JohnK]

"It was told to me by a local pet store owner that protein skimmers are not needed and are more of a gimic than anything. Is this true? How do they work, and what exactly do they do?"


It is entirely possible to run a reeftank without a skimmer as Alex pointed out, but being told they are just a "Gimic" is really bad advice IMO.

Skimmers inject large amounts of air into a chamber of tank water creating a frothy foam. In saltwater many substances are attracted to the interface between air and water. In a skimmer, these (mostly waste) substances get stuck to the walls of the bubbles in the skimmer creating an oily film. This film makes the foam become more stable and eventually you get darker foam sort of growing out of the top of the skimmer. This foam is bubbles and all sorts of nasties. The foam is collected and thus removed from the water.

Without a skimmer, all of those same nasties stay in the system water. As they sit there they basically rot (get broken down into nitrate, phosphate, and other stuff - mostly bad).

Skimmers are without a doubt the easiest and most consistent way to remove waste from a SW system. Systems not using skimmers are generally set up that way for specific reasons and have other means to deal with pollution. Arguably, non-skimmed systems will require more skill on the part of the aquarist and probably more maintence. It's also quite possible that you'll end up spending more $ in the end by not getting a skimmer (lost livestock, other equipment to try to deal with the waste problems, and finally buying the skimmer when every other attempt has failed...)

Read read read, but IMO don't take advice from anyone that calls a skimmer a "gimick", that's just plain irresponsible advice.

HTH, and if I sound unfriendly, it's only directed at the person who gave you that advice

 

[NateHanson]

After a few more weeks, if you're still testing zero ammonia, then you can assume that any cycling is probably nearing the end, and you can add a clean up crew. A few dozen nassarius snails (detritus-eating sand-dwellers), a few dozen scarlet and blue-leg hermit crabs (rock-dwelling detritus-eaters), a handful of emerald crabs, a few turbo snails perhaps (both algae eaters), a dozen cerith snails to turn the sand-bed. You might also want a conch to clean the sand-bed, and some people like astrea snails (I never found them useful). A few peppermint shrimp are entertaining, and potentially useful if you get some aptaisia anemones (pests).

That'll give you a lot of entertainment for a month or two while you plan your coral and fish stocking.

You can also spend that time trying to catch the damsels, because you probably won't want them in the tank when you add fish. The damsels can be pretty mean and territorial.

 

[JohnK]

Oh yea, the Damsels. Feel free to PM me if you'd like to borrow a fish trap when the time comes.

jk