new tank

[guestnurse]

Just started my 180L SW tank yesterday. All I have at present is LR. I want a mostly LR and coral tank with a few fish. I know I have to wait for my cycling to complete before I can add any fish but am wondering what kind and how many fish could I add. I would definately like a clown and anenome but would hate for that to be the first thing I get and have it die. Although the guy at LFS suggested I get that first. I would like a tang but think my tank may be too small...3 Ft. 180L tank. wet/dry biological filter system. Thanks

[ben72227]

nice looking setup there. it would be a bit more helpful if you listed all of the equipment you are using and how far into your cycle you are. what kind of live rock is that?

most tangs need about 6 feet long tank to swim in, but you might try a Yellowtail Blue Tang or a Yellow Hawaiian Tang (they do well in smaller tanks).

as for corals, you might want to start off with:

1 Button Polyp or Colony Polyp
1 Yellow Colony Polyp
1 Hairy Mushroom Coral
1 Bullseye Mushroom Coral or Green Fluorescent Mushroom Coral

those corals are easy to start with and have a variety of color.

as for fish, in a tank your size you can have quite a few fish.

heres a combination you might think about:

1 yellowtail blue tang
5 blue green chromis
1 coral beauty angelfish
1 longnose hawkfish
2 banggai cardinalfish
pair of clarkii clowns with a long tentacle anemone

HTH

[mogurnda]

I would definitely push for some of the less demanding corals, such as the ones Ben suggested. Leathers, xenia and anthelia are good as well. Just because you can get them captive-reared, I might suggest a bubble-tip anemone rather than a long-tentacle. In any case, it's probably a good idea to put an anemone off until you have some experience with some of the easier corals.

[guestnurse]

We have a wet/dry biological filter system, I have 3 30Watt marine white and 1 actinic marine blue 30watt. The guy at LFS said we don't need a protein skimmer or anything else with this type of filtration system. I'm going by what he says because he and his dad have been doing this for 30 yrs. The filtration system is in in the back of the tank, not outside. Thanks for the helpful info, I will save the anenome for later. I just set the tank up Saturday, so I have awhile to go yet. LFS said bring in a water sample in a week and they will check it. I need to get a tester kit...any suggestions on that? Thanks

[guestnurse]

oh..the LR...I'm in Sydney Au so it's from somewhere in the Great Barrier Reef...or close to it....it's really cool with featherduster worms, brittlestars, clams, ...finding all kinds of cool things in it everyday, even some tiny corals coming to life it looks like.

[ben72227]

okay. so pacific live rock from the great barrier reef. that's good to have. i wish i could get live rock like that.

now about that lighting, 90 watts white and 30 watts actinic doesn't seem like enough light for a 180 gallon tank. IMHO.

as for tester kits, the best seem to be salifert test kits.

as for a skimmer, you may or may not need one. some people do fine without them, and reef tanks don't use them as much as fowlr because they take out iodine, trace elements, etc.

what are the dimensions of that tank? (in inches please :p )

[BrianH]

Actually one of the first documented successful filtration methods for keeping corals is the berlin method which uses 1 to 2 lbs. of live rock per gal. of tank, heavy protein skimming, and a bare bottom tank. This method also requires very small amounts of food and vigorous cleaning.
While there are many successful methods for keeping SW tanks, when you add corals to the mix the requirements get more stringent. I would not use a wet/dry system in a reef tank unless your prepared to rinse whatever filter media your using at least once a week. These systems are too efficient at biological filtration and without regular maintenance they will produce nitrates that will harm corals. I would also suggest adding some more light. There are reports of some people having success with NO lighting but I would at least upgrade to Compact flourescent, VHO or T5 lighting. Many would have you think that Metal Halide is the only method for corals. While I don't subscribe to this thinking, I do believe you need more than NO lighting for a successful reef tank.
Do you have any other types of filtration on this tank? Most reefers here in the US who don't use protein skimmers use another method for nutrient export. Usually refugiums or mud filters. Are you using anything like this? If not, I would also suggest a protein skimmer.

JMHO
Brian

[mogurnda]

Even with a refugium full of chaetomorpha algae (and weekly water changes), my water quality went down quite a bit when my skimmer stopped skimming last month. Plus I got a bit of foam on the tank surface.

It had been doing a continually worse job, then stopped producing foam at all. I cleaned it last week, which unplugged the venturi, and I am getting lots of skimmate and the NO3 has gone from 15 to about 5. It may work for some, but I doubt if I'll be tempted to go skimmerless soon.

[Kurt]

Correction here, guest nurse said she had a 180 liter tank which is about 45 USA gallons. so she has 120 watts which comes out to 2.6 watts per gallon. Still a little low maybe.

[ben72227]

oh, sorry i didn't catch that guestnurse. Kurts right. that will probably be fine. but you might want to add a little more light. about 3 to 5 watts per gallon.

[guestnurse]

my tank is 48 gal...36"x18"x18" I have VHO flurosecent Arcadia lights which are double the light output...actinic lights which cost about $58 each.. they are very good lights 3 white and 1 marine blue. I have attached a picture of my filtration system the only media that I have to change is the white filter on the top.

[guestnurse]

I probably have about 44Kg of LR in the tank....and 44x2.2=92lbs of LR.

[BrianH]

Guestnurse,

If your lighting is VHO. why are your bulbs only 30watts each?

Looking at your wet/dry it seems you have bioballs in there. I would remove them, however, you can try testing your nitrates, and see if you can keep them low( as close to 0 as possible). If you can (which I doubt), you will be able to keep corals, If not, take them out very slowly to let the bacteria population in the LR multiply.

Brian

[guestnurse]

This web site will explain about the lights I have, fluro marine blue and white.
http://www.arcadia-uk.com/en/220marineblueactinic.html