New 46 Gal Saltwater!

[matt dean]

After many, many years of Freshwater Tanks I am ready to take the plunge (pun intended) into a saltwater aquarium. Since day one, like most enthusiasts, this has been my true desire.

So, I have a 46 gal Bowed Front Tank, EHEIM Professional II canister filter, Turbofloater Multi Skimmer rated for 150 to 200 Gallons, a Sea Fan for circulation, 3 flourescents, 40 punds of sand and 50 pounds of live rock ( I was able to find some beautiful live rock with natural caves and lots of crevices and one piece already has some coraline and feather duster worms on it! ) giving me a net volume of 41.8 Gallons.

Now, I am a rather impatient person, fortunately, I am abroad for 3 weeks and was able to get the tank setup with the live rock before I left, hence, giving it time to cycle while I'm away. So the torture of waiting will be less, although I find myself wondering what is emerging from the rock http://www.aquaristsonline.com/forum/images/smilies/scratch.gif Before I left, I tested the water and everything was on the money.

I have read countless articles online, "Saltwater Aquariums for Dummies" cover to cover and spoken with a few people at the LFS.

So, you see I am not completely without some level of knowledge. However, my wife REALLY wants some coral for the beauty but I am not interested in doing a full fledged reef tank, I am all about the fish. Mind you, I have always aquascaped my tanks for the greatest visual effect. My plan is to stock my tank slowly, of course, with some inverts, etc. then fish. Which brings me to my questions :


My intention is to have as many inverts (crabs, love the shrimp - would like as many as is safe, and HOPEFULLY in time an urchin) then 6 small fish ( 2 clowns for sure) and 3 slightly larger show fish. I would very much like to have an anemone for the clowns. I am looking for suggestions on interesting - and fairly hardy - inverts, fish and corals that I can get the most out of my modest setup.

I will be extremely patient in my adding to the tank. No mistakes this time. Thanks for the input. Happy to be part of the community.

MATT

Unfortunately, I can't seem to get the pic of the tank to upload. Will try again when I get back home.

[deadmongoose]

The pic upload hasn't seemed to be working lately, the mods say a day or two tops. I've been inserting pics from photobucket via the link all morning and that seems to be working fine.

[matt dean]

OK, got the pic uploaded!

[tigerbarb88]

wow thats a nice start!

[matt dean]

Thanks Tigerbarb88! :)

[cM iPro v3]

nice start mate :)
what are you planning too stock in it?

[matt dean]

Well, I am looking at inverts (crabs, love the shrimp - would like as many as is safe, and HOPEFULLY in time an urchin) then 6 small fish ( 2 clowns for sure) and 3 slightly larger show fish.

I am hoping I can get some interesting suggestions and warnings as to what to get or not get. Of course availability will play a role in what ultimately ends up in the tank.

[cM iPro v3]

well you could get a yellow tang maybe some chromis or Anthias or cleaner wrasse :)

[p rez06]

I also have been interested in an urchin for my saltwater tank; however, i understand from numerous sources that if your rocks are not glued together that the urchin will almost certainly wedge between them, most likely resulting in causing them to tumble. just a heads up:)

[matt dean]

Thanks for the heads up. I thought I heard something about the urchins. My rock is NOT glued together, so I will be careful there.

I am looking at the chromis and the anthias, however, I thought the Tang needed a bigger tank. It would be nice.

Cheers!

[Reefscape]

Thanks for the heads up. I thought I heard something about the urchins. My rock is NOT glued together, so I will be careful there.

I am looking at the chromis and the anthias, however, I thought the Tang needed a bigger tank. It would be nice.

Cheers!


I would not add any tang to a 46gal tank...

[matt dean]

Yeah, after some more reading, I see that it is not a good decision. So...no tang for me!:thumbsdown:

So, what inverts (cleaner crew) would you guys suggest? How many - and what kind of shrimp can I get. They are by far my favorites

[Reefscape]

Most shrimp will be fine to have in the tank ( besides mantis )..Cleanup crew wise, i would start off small and go with 5 or snails, 5 or so hermits, and a few shrimp...The main thing with a cleanup crew is making sure there is adequate food for them..Its common for people to bang in loads of hermits and snails, only for them to start dying off because there is not a big enough food source of algae and detritus in the tank...Start off small, add more if you deem it neccesary...

[matt dean]

Excellent Reefscape. this was my concern. I knew overstocking would lead to starvation, but wasn't sure exactly what would be considered too much, or not enough.

Cheers!

[Almondsaz]

As for the urchins, I have had a tuxedo urchin in my 125 and it is just fine. Will push frags that are not secured and sometimes makes a mess of the frag racks, but haven't had a rock tumble yet and mine are not glued. If you get a long spine or pencil urchin they do seem to wedge and tumble the rocks. Any urchin will make a meal of the coraline algae in your system...it is part of ther cleaning activity and it is apparently a favored food source. I would recommend against a pencil or longspine and shoot for a tuxedo.

Your aquascape looks nice. I would make one suggestion and that the rock on the far left in your picture appears to be leaning on the glass. I would change that, best not to have any rock against the glass.

What lighting do your have? Sorry if I missed it in your earlier post. Becuase you mentioned your wife wants to keep corals but you don't want a full blown reef tank. What corals were you wanting to keep in the tank? Your lighting will have a lot to do with that.

Matt - I forgot the most important thing. WELCOME TO AQUARIACENTRAL!!!!

[matt dean]

Hey Almondsaz,

thanks for the info and advice. I am away from home for another week, so can't say exactly what lighting I have, but I intended to upgrade the bulbs once I knew what I was getting. No sense in buying until i know what I need!

I'm not sure if I can move that rock without changing the layout. I REALLY like that rock there. Why is it unwise to have the rock against the glass? If it's a big deal I will try to move it.

As for the urchin, it sounds like I may want - or need - to hold off and reconsider it.

Thanks again. Cheers!

[Almondsaz]

Matt: as for the rock on the glass it is typically because one tries to avoid scratches on the inside glass because the coraline gets into it and is a bit of a pain to get out, it adds a stress point to the glass it is leaning on so if the rock structures move it helps avoid the glass failing. I agree it looks good, I just wouldn't chance the glass failing. While remote...still a possibility. I would think you would have to have more pressure on the glass than just a couple of pounds of rock.

[matt dean]

Cool. I'll see what I can do to sure it up. as for scratvhing the glass, over the years, the glass has been plenty scratched up. I considered buying a new tank, but cheaped out :)

Cheers