First Saltwater Tank, with questions

G

Gario

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Oct 7, 2005
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Okay, I've had many freshwater tanks and never really cared to do saltwater due to it's price tag, but last week a crazy deal fell into my lap and I took it.

To start it off here is my setup:
75 gallon tank, with about 70+lbs of live sand and 70+lbs of live rock, a female maroon clown.

4x65watt coralife PC light with two actinic bulbs and two 10,000k bulbs.

20 gallon sump/filter with berlin protein skimmer (rated to 250gal), heater, pump, blah blah.

The clown was originally bought as a mated pair with a male, but he died recently. What are my chances of successfully introducing a male and have them live peacefully?

Some of the live rock may have dried in some sections during transport (about 15 minutes), are they still alive? How do I tell what rock is live?

I live in the Pacific Northwest, are there any anemonies or crabs or other livestock that can live in my tank that I can catch locally? (just wondering)

I think there might be a hermit crab or two in there, but other than that I think that's about it. There is also a lot of algae growing on the glass, but I'm going to get some snails and work on the cleaning crew.

Any other things I should keep in mind? I appreciate any feedback or ideas.
 
Hi there and welcome to the forums..

First off, the clowns..The only to note is that when you buy another clown to try and get the to pair up again, make sure the new one is smaller, so the one that is in the tank can be the dominant one..They should be fine..

Live Rock - 15 Mins out of the water is not really much to worry about all..When people buy live rock from online stores, it is potentially out of water up to 36 hours, that is when it starts to die..

I persoanlly would not try to catch anything locally, you have to watch out for by-laws which some places proibit removing living things from the areas and also.

Green algae on the glass is fine, buy yourself a good magnet cleaner and clean it off that way, get your clean up crew in there aswell..

Dont really see any issues at all of your setup...

Niko
 
Thanks for the reply. I used about 9 buckets and saved almost every drop of water in that tank, so it should be fish ready..

The reason I ask about if I can use stuff that I can get myself, is because I could walk a little past my back yard and get some hermit crabs, or some anemones, or snails and there are tons of it just crawling around. Or I could go to petco and pay for hermit crabs that are possibly the same? Just curious... as to what the northwest and tropical have in common.

Thanks for the info on the clown, I think I might get another
 
Bump, also just wondering what kind of test kits I should buy? I have none right now, and I've been using de-chlorinized tap water + instant ocean mixing until the right salinity
 
Hey Gario,

As Niko pointed out, there could potentially legalities involved with picking stuff, be it sand, rock, or livestock of the coast or what have you. Another important thing to consider is that not all inverts, especially hermits are reef safe. So far, from all that I've read, only trust the red-legged hermit variety if you're planning on adding corals down the road.

Regarding the addition of the clown, you should be fine as long as you add one that is smaller. Though on this topic too, I have seen varied opinions. With clowns, you'll mostly see a pair hang out together most of the time. I've read cases where the existing (bigger) clown will protect its territory very ferociously when the new clown (even if it is smaller) is added and tries to hang out with the bigger one, thus invading its space. On the flip side, I've heard about others totally accepting the new clown and "living happily ever after" ha ha!! So, you really can't be totally sure until you actually do it. I'd keep a real close eye on them after the addition and see how they react. For the first few nights, try making a surprise visit sometime late, when all the lights are out cos that may be the time when the aggression really comes out. One thing you could do is to move your rock work around a little bit to confuse the existing clown so it sort of loses its territory that it might already have marked out.

Now to your water changes ... this is another topic of heated debate on here ... whether or not your tap water (even after it has been treated) is void of all the harmful elements. The only way you can check for that is running it through all tests for hamful elements. If they all check out, you should be good to go. If not, I'd very strongly recommend against using it for your tank, cos not only will it cause or add to your algae bloom, but it could potentially harm/kill your livestock. Personally, I always recommend going with RO/DI water. You can buy it at your local LFS (as I do) or invest in a RO/DI unit (not all that expensive comparatively). That way you never have to worry about harmful elements in your water!

Finally, regarding your testing needs - besides the Master Test Kit that Niko pointed out (which typically includes PH, Ammonia, NitrITE and NitrATE), you'll also need test kits for Alkalinity, Phosphate & Calcium

Hope this helps mate!
Yash
 
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