First Time Marineer

[Turbo]

Hey guys and gals. Ive been an avid freshwater planted guy for a few years and am finally going to set up my first salt water tank. But my knowledge in this area is VERY limited; so I've been reading the beginner links to catch up. My first question would be in regards to the setup I've found and wonder if it will be sufficient. Here is the link, so please check out the details.

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=9018&Ne=40000&R=13948&N=2004+62759

Next would be to tell you that what I would like in the tank; for starters is 'fake' decorations such as coral and the such. Dont worry, this is just for now. And a pair of Clown fish since my wife and son adore them after seeing "Finding Nemo". Are there any other colorful yet peaceful fish I could possibly put with them that wont cost to much if I mess up and lose them? Also, what fish or animals are there that I can get to help clean the tank. Thats pretty much it until I get comfortable with the new chemistry.
What can I do about substrate? Sand sounds nice, but I was interested in the black, possibly Tihitian Moon sand? And for rocks and the such in the tank, can I use rocks from the pet store, clean them up and put them in there? Is there any such think as reef rock that is dead that I can put in there just for the looks. I wanna kinda have the enviroment darker to set off the color of the fish, is that a good idea or not?

Any advice you can give is better the great so feel free to comment away. Also if you have any other good info. sites feel free to email them to me at: thevoyde@hotmail.com

[OrionGirl]

On that kit--those lights will prevent you from having any photosynthetic inverts. You'd need to upgrade to PC or MH--even VHO would increase your options. The Bio-Wheels are really not good in SW. Not only do they increase the evaporation and spray (meaning salt creep all over), but they can contribute to nitrate spikes. Live rock and live sand are your best bet for filtation.


Are there any other colorful yet peaceful fish I could possibly put with them that wont cost to much if I mess up and lose them?

Clowns are very aggressive fish--think of them as cichlids. Territorial and tempermental. They will share space with some fish, but not with each other very well. A pair will make life stressful for most other inhabitants. The size of the tank will be a serious limitation--I would add maybe a goby, and a pair of cardinals to that tank. Or, a goby and a dwarf angel. Inverts will be fine, but please oh please do not get an anenome for the clowns. Not needed, and not a good choice for a new tank.

Also, what fish or animals are there that I can get to help clean the tank.

Snails, hermits, variety of crabs, conchs, starfish, worms. There are tons of cleaners, for more than just algae.


What can I do about substrate? Sand sounds nice, but I was interested in the black, possibly Tihitian Moon sand? And for rocks and the such in the tank, can I use rocks from the pet store, clean them up and put them in there? Is there any such think as reef rock that is dead that I can put in there just for the looks. I wanna kinda have the enviroment darker to set off the color of the fish, is that a good idea or not?

Live rock/sand is the best filtration. The bacteria needed for processing ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates will all thrive in rock and sand, and without any mechanical filtration to trap solids away from the clean up crew, quite efficient. You can go with orous rock, and seed it with a few pounds of LR. For sand, pretty well any type opf sand will work. Argonite based sand is preferred, since it will help buffer your water. Not sure about the black sand. I'd worry more about the fish changing colors to blend in--getting darker and drabber, not brighter.

A few powerheads to prevent dead spots, and you're set.

[Turbo]

On the light quality...what size, quantity, and type of light do you recommend?

For filtration, basically you dont need any kind of mechanical filter? So the only thing that you would need for the tank is your lighting and a heater? The live rock and sand do the rest?

After comparing Clown fish to a Cichlid that puts it all in spectrum for I know the behavior of Cichlids.

When you say orous rock; what is that? And by saying LR, I conclude that means 'Live Rock'.

And your using the powerheads just to help keep the water circulating?

[OrionGirl]

For lights, it depends on what you want. Fish only, the light is basically for your viewing, so regular (NO) strip lights are fine. For any corals, at least 4-5 watts per gallon, while clams will need a lot more--up to 10 wpg. Metal Hallide are costly, but they are the best. Power compacts are the next best choice, and fairly decenlty priced. VHO will work, but not as well. The spectrum and the output level are the things to look at. I'm not the best one to ask about lights, but there are several very good threads in the Reef forum.


Mechanical filtration traps solid particles where the cleaners--snails, crabs, shrimp, etc--can't get to them. To prevent this solid waste from causing water quality issues, you would have to clean the mechanical filtration often. It's easier to the let the critters do this for you. The rock and sand are biological filtration.

Sorry--typo. Should have said porous rock, meaning any rock that has lots of little holes in it. Tufa rock and lava rock are too common varieties.

Yep--lr = live rock, ls = live sand.

Powerheads are for circulation. You want lots of movement in a SW tank--around 10-20 gph turnover. Some corals need to be in strong movement in order to thrive, and the more movement you have, the less chance there is for things like cyano algaes to take hold.

[Slappy*McFish]

I agree with Oriongirl, here. Buy live rock and sand..your LFS can help you in selecting it. The only peice of equipment, as far as filtration is concerned, that I would recommend is a good protein skimmer. The live rock/sand will provide all the biological filtration, while the skimmer will remove all the proteins, and dissolved organics from the water. Definitely invest in a few powerheads..you'll need good water circulation.
If you don't plan on keeping living, photosynthetic corals, then you really don't need to upgrade your lighting as of yet. A good light for a FOWLR(fish only, with live rock) tank would be a GE Aquarays Fresh/salt water bulb and a 10,000K bulb(very good spectrum for saltwater tanks). With live corals you'll need to upgrade to at least PC compact fluorescents and actinics @ around 4-5wpg. Metal Halides are even better.

[Turbo]

Thanks for the excellent information, and sorry but I have a few more questions.

Im gong to just do fish but that other information is very useful for future tanks. :) The live rock will surive under standard striplights right?

I am also curious about this live rock. Ive been reading alot about this 'curing' process and to never put it not cured while fish and other living stuff is in there. Would it matter if I put the ls and lr in right away and let it 'cycle' like you would a freshwater tank for a month or so before putting in fish and the clean up crew?

Also, what kind of trace elements do I need for the lr and ls? Would it hurt to just use a pH buffer to keep it around 8.1 - 8.3?

Sorry for all the questions but your have become my main source of info and have been very helpful. I appreciate it.

[Slappy*McFish]

I would advise buying your live rock already cured. Many LFS's sell cured live rock...ask them if they do.

Here is a good article on live rock:
http://saltaquarium.about.com/cs/filterselection/a/aa111901.htm

it should answer many of your questions concerning LR.

[Slappy*McFish]

Also, I would like to add, it would be very beneficial to position one or two power heads to blow "through, behind, around" the piles of live rock to insure the bacteria get ample oxygen and to prevent any dead spots.

[OrionGirl]

You can cycle a tank with uncured rock. I like seeing mine before I buy it, but it is cheaper to get it uncured off the net--several sources are listed in various other threads here. Or, you can set up the tank and sand, cycle with some cocktail shrimp, then add cured rock and sand--this way you don't lose the critters from the rock. Some of these will die off or recede under low lights, but the bacteria don't care.

For trace elements and pH--the salt mix will provide these. Regular water changes replenish them. For evaporation, you use FW, but changes with SW are done same as in a FW tank.