a new beginning

[aerialist]

Havent had a salt tank in ages. Last one was a 25gal with a pair of clowns and a hawkfish - that was years ago. I've got some experience with sw fish but its been at least 9 years since I had a setup running. This time I'm converting my 125gal to sw, my daughter's been bugging me for some nemo fish and I'm down with that. I just got the EHEIM Pro 2 Thermofilter, seems like a solid choice. I'm looking for suggestions, gonna start setting it up this weekend. Plan is to run the tank with just water, salt, and a hang on filter with no media to start. Then I'll add livesand and liverock - worked for me in my 25gal, had fish in there in 2 weeks. Only lost one damsel, but it was a sickly looking thing to begin with.

[coral8]

You gotta consider a school of anthias for that 125gal, they'd be awesome and add some nasty coolness to it.

[felinxo]

Good plan with the setup, having fully cured live rock makes all the difference, you can get a sw tank up and running in no time. I'm not sure about the live sand though, how live can it really be after sitting on a shelf for months?

You're right to consider the clowns, they can be little terrors - I've had my fair share of nips from them when I've put my hand in the tank.

With a tank of your size, the options are endless - are you thinking of going for a full-on reef setup?

Anthias are lovely, but I do agree with coral8, they're not the best choice for a new tank and they do need a lot of feeding.

[aerialist]

id love a shark lol, but ill let my daughter pick what she wants, maybe some nemos and a few other fish she likes. ill probably toss in a moray for myself, they're pretty cool. i used a protein skimmer on my old 25gal setup, but that was mainly because of its small size. for the 125gal, is a protein skimmer really necessary? i dont think i have the patience for inverts or anything too complicated, probably just some sculpted rocks and a few shells to give it some character.

[brunobear]

You gotta consider a school of anthias for that 125gal, they'd be awesome and add some nasty coolness to it.

I've gotta correct you, anthias aren't as easy-going as you'd think. I had a single one for months, then added two smaller ones and what happened? The older one and one of the new ones ganged up on the last new one and killed it - the remaining two get on fine now, though, and the bigger one's even changing sex.

You're planning on clowns, right? You won't be able to get an eel, mate - they'll just see them as a snack. A skimmer will make a big difference, trust me. And don't even get me started on water flow - you'll need powerheads to get it around the liverock, an external filter just won't cut it.

[TerraNova]

i was thinking about this, if the clownfish had a big anenome to host in, would the eel still go after them. on the other hand, i've heard that adding an anenome to a new tank isn't the best idea.

another thing i've found, if you've got a lot of algae and plants in the tank, they'll help take care of nitrates, so you might not need a protein skimmer as much. i've had my 10 gallon tank with zero nitrates for over a week now, and all i've got in there is a juvenile clownfish, a small sixline wrasse, and a tiny crab that hides all day.

[aerialist]

ok so got the tank set up in the basement, leveled it out and threw in a powerhead and an auqualclear 500 - just for mixing, no media yet. still waiting for the real filter to show up, got my salt though. gonna start filling it up tomorrow morning and let it run with the powerhead, 500, and a airstone. planning on adding some liverock the weekend after thanksgiving, depending on my paycheck and if the filter shows up. my tank light's got 2 bulbs, one's brand new but the other's on its way out. what's a good sw light that'll work for me? also thinking of adding some mushrooms to the tank, just to mix things up - don't have time for a full-on reef tank, but want something to add some spice.

[TerraNova]

I think tank dimensions play a big role here, you'll want coverage over most of the rock. Three watts per gallon should be fine if you're not planning a full-on reef. I've got a book that says 5500k lights are okay, but 6500k seems more like daylight and can really bring some life to the tank. 10000k is also an option, it's still white but good for reefs too. Now, 14000k or 260nM, that's a different story, it's got a blue tint and makes colors look muted, but some people like it for stony corals and it doesn't promote algae growth as much as 6500k.

You're gonna have to deal with some brown algae at first, it's a real nuisance and it'll last a couple of weeks. Then the green stuff will start growing. Maybe introduce some good algae or seaweed when you turn the lights on, that way it can compete with the bad stuff.

[aerialist]

where can i get actual seaweed, not just the freeze dried stuff for feeding? i've got a few pet stores around me - petcos, petsmart, and one really good local shop but even they don't seem to carry much in the way of seaweed.

[TerraNova]

You're probably out of luck at Petsmart, they don't usually carry much in the way of saltwater supplies. If you're looking for seaweed, you might have to check out an aquarium that actually has marine fish on display. I was thinking of getting some clumps of coarse algae to compete with the nuisance stuff, but the place I go to was out of it when I tried to buy some.