Adopted 55Gallon Tank - My First SW - Advice?

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cynicalcriminal

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Mar 17, 2004
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Hi all. Sorry this is long - but I could use some advice and/or words of encouragement.

I just adopted a 55 gallon SW tank with livestock. I've had freshwater up until now - about 18 years.

We showed up, boxed/bottled up as much water as possible (about 2/3 to 3/4) and drove everything back to my place and filled up my empty FW tank with everything out of his SW tank.


He was using UG filters with powerheads, which isn't really my thing (I used UGs with freshwater for a short time about 15 years ago and gave up on them) but I kept them this time just because I wanted to keep everything working as is for now.


So, as of right now I have UG w/ powerhead filtration, a heater, and a bubble-disk type thing running in there.

The tank was gravel (I think gravel and not CC), so that is still the same - I figured it was "live" and didn't want to mess up the system.

... buncha plastic plants, some fake corrals, some seashells, a couple lava-like rocks (real or fake? I can't tell) it looks nice. I'd like to figure out what it'd take to convert it to FOWLR and then Reef when possible (or when I purchase a bigger and RR tank, probably).



Anyway ... I've got 2 energetic clownfish (Clarkii & Percula), 2 yellow-tailed blue damsels, a gunshy large yellow damsel, a BIG mature golden damsel (now dark grey/black) and a coral banded shrimp that hides constantly. They're all about 7 years old.

Their previous owner had them on a "eat once a day at around 8pm" setup, and that works for me right now, so I'm going to try and stick with that. Problem is - they aren't really eating. He was feeding flake ... but they won't eat for me, they just let it sit on top of the water, ignore it, and it gets funky and I have to skim it out. There any super secret SW feeding things I should know? Are they just stressed from the move last night?

One of the clowns will eat bits of food sometimes, but it basically just spits it back out (because it sits too long?) ... I dunno'

I had Convict Cichlids before this and they'd practically chew my arm off when it was time to feed them, so I'm not use to this lazy SW non-frenzied ignore-the-food thing I have going on.



Also - the tank I got from him ... well, the corner got "smushed" on the ride back to my place. There was no big glasspane shatter, or spiderwebbing, or anything ... but the very edge of the corner at mid-height got pressed against the metal stand enough to turn a small section into gravel and sand, basically. Is there a good way to repair that? Should I just slap some superglue in it and tape it up and fill the tank and see if it bursts? Am I crazy to consider using it? Do I put it on craigslist as a "lizard" tank? lol



Again - sorry for the length - I just am totally new to SW and don't want these lil guys to suffer because I'm a newb.


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Well there is lots to say.

First off welcome to the wonderful world of SW.

Ditch the UG filter and just get some stand alone powerheads. Two Koralia 3's are what I would get. For filtration you can get a HOB and fill it with LR rubble or just buy 50lbs LR and 50Lbs Base. More LR than Base if you can afford it. A good CUC also helps out alot in the area of filtration and tank cleanliness obviously.

Gravel? I would ditch it for a sand/Aragonite mix. You can put some of the gravel in a couple leg stockings and leave it in the tank for a few weeks while the new tank is seeded. I would use atleast 4 stockings because its a large tank.

Ditch the plastic plants and fake corals. Disease traps and they look unnatural.

Use only RO/DI water in a SW tank. Anything else will cause algae blooms unless you have AMAZING tap water.

Test your parameters alot.

Use a refractometer. You can never be to accurate when mixing saltwater. Hydrometers are not accurate at all.

Use high quality salt mix. Don't buy Petco brand. I have learned my lesson with that crap.

That is a very odd mix of fish to have. First off you dont want 2 different species of clowns in the same tank. Considering all the fish have been together so long I would say its fine. But dont plan on introducing anything new with the current stock.

Them not eating is nothing unusual. They are just very stressed out from the move. Its probably gonna take 3-5 days for them to get used to their new digs. What kind of food is it? I recommend OraGlo. All my fish love it.

How bad is the nick? Does it go all the way through the glass or just half way? I bought a tank on Craigslist.com that had a nick in the corner that went just over halfway through. The guy melted a small piece of glass in it and its good as new. I sealed it with some aquarium silicon for good measure and peace of mine though. Been going for almost a year with no problems(Knock on wood).

Any other questions feel free to PM me. I check this site alot but I dont always make it back to threads.
 
Hi Eddie, thanks for the response. Lets see ...

I had hoped to ditch the UG's & switch to a good sand bed. I'm currently trying to procure some sand from fellow hobbyists in the area. That means I'll have to uproot everyone in the tank again, but it'd be for the better I hope. Leg stockings are an idea I didn't think about, thanks, I'll plan for that.

Think I could cover the intakes on the two powerheads I currently have with a piece of filter or sponge for now, once I pull the UG filter? I'm cash strapped. One is a "SecondNature PowerHead 840" (No idea) and the other is a Zoo-Med PS-40 (270gph, "sweeps" back and forth). They're probably older models as this is a long-established tank.

Point noted on the plastic plants and fake corrals. I'd like to switch to base rock/live rock when I can. I'll probably need to do more base than live for the time being due to the cash crunch unless I find someone tearing down their tank for cheap.

I have my used FW filtration sitting idle - if that'd be good for a SW tank I can utilize it:
I've got a Fluval 304 canister filter - I could fill it full of rock rubble if I find any? Or does that move too fast to be effective. Right now its got probably-spent carbon bags and Fluval's ceramic BioMax in it, but its from the FW tank ... I could boil them and put them back in I guess.
I've also got 2 good HOB filters I could stuff with rock chunks as well.

As for a CUC - I haven't even thought about that yet. I doubt the one lil' corral banded shrimp does much (if anything). Maybe once I get the sand and see what I can come up with for rock I'll check back in and get help with that.



RO/DI units - they really required? Probably makes a big difference in a reef tank, but a requirement in general SW? I'll talk to the local guys about water quality and what they use. I don't drink the tap water here, but its actually one of the better in the area.



The two clowns seem to get along fine - a lot better than my Convicts got along and they were all from the same batch of eggs - I think because they've been together so long. The large yellow damsel is kinda' being a jerk though ... it took over the one big "cave" area in the tank and headbutts the clowns if they swim by.


Salt - I picked up some Instant Ocean - I heard about the Petco brand being junk, thankfully.


As for food, I have a container of "Omega One" veggie flakes that came with the tank, and a bulk bag of general flakes I bought from a breeder. If they're ok eating flake I'll just keep at them and hopefully they'll get comfortable.



I'll attach a couple pics of the tank's crushed corner. It doesn't seem to have gone through the glass, but it shaved a good piece off. Maybe some silicone to smooth it out. The pics may be hard to get a good read on, its an odd angle to deal with.

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Hi,

You should be able to cover the power head intakes no problem. When you get the money I would upgrade. Not a huge deal just much more efficent these days compared to the old ones.

Any filter would work fine. I know plenty of people that use canisters packed with LR rubble. Hopefully one of them will chime in because I dont have a canister and never have.

RO/DI is a must for a reef. You might make it with a FOWLR but I wouldnt try it. You can get some nasty algae blooms if the water isnt very good. Take it to the local LFS and have it tested and see what they say. Oh and Petco doesnt count. They suck.

Good call on the salt. I bought Petco stuff because here it was $10 cheaper by the bucket and I figuered thats more corals. Boy was I wrong.

As for food flakes are fine. Not sure about the brand though. Brand makes a huge difference in the SW hobby.

I would fix the tank. Thats about how mine was. You can either melt a small piece of glass in with a torch or fill it will silicon or both. I would do both.
 
I'm back :)

So far so good. A 'GE Silicone 1' touch-up on the dinged tank ... a couple days of letting it set with water in it ... everything looks alright, didn't see any leaks. Guess I now have a 55 gallon backup/curing/hospital/whatever tank. Man do I wish it'd fit under my current 55, in the stand, to convert into a sump or something.



I picked up a couple Koralia 3's that I expect to show up soon.

I have 80lbs of Caribsea Oolite coming. Well, 40lbs coming ... 40lbs arrived here on Monday and got left out in the cold on my porch for who-knows-how-long. When I got home from work I brought it in and put it in a Sterlite tub in the bathroom with a spare heater and airpump & stone. It took until this morning to de-cloud enough to not look like a grey swirling mass of yuck. Hopefully it is still "live."

I also have 40lbs of dry rock from Marcorocks coming. I figured around 1lb to 1.5lbs of rock per gallon? .. so 55-85lbs'ish in a 55 would be fine? I'll add live rock as I find nice pieces, or a good deal.

A friend of a friend is a guy that sells LR to the LFS here. Might be able to get a few random pieces for cheap.

So .. when the rock and other bag of sand get here, and if my golden damsel is safe to move (started a thread in Newbie about her missing scale issue) I'll be converting this tank to a 'Fish Only with base Rock' situation sometime next week.

I almost ordered another 40 lbs of Marco rocks, but I thought that might be overkill on the base-rock.



I still have base aquarium lighting (my choices are either a pair of 18" bulbs or a 48" bulb standard-fare aquarium bulb ... so can't really do corals, or inverts, or whatever I'd figure. Hopefully that is enough to expand LR and good algae onto the base rock.


What would you suggest for a CUC? I have the 1 banded coral shrimp in there ... so I can't do anything that'll start a holy war in my tank.
 
Welcome aboard.
Some good advice given already.
The only thing to bear in mind is the fact it has been running for 7 years and working, so take your time and plan for what you hope to achieve with this setup in the long run, an inexpensive quick fix now could cost more in the long run.
Your clean up crew needs to be added slowly as it also needs food start with a few Hermits Scarlet leg and electric blue legs and later a few turbo snails when things settle.
Beware blue leg Hermits i think these are the most trouble.
Leave the sand shifting starfish for a good while.
HTH.
 
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