Very new guy with new tank!

Reefscape said:
Eeeeeshhhhh...i cant believe how cheap you can buy sand for over there....its criminal the prices they charge here....
Click to expand...

At most places they want between $16 and $25 per 20lb bag. I just found a great deal and jumped on it. It just happened that they only had 5 bags left and that's what I needed. I do still need 1 maybe 2 bag of live but I will get that somewhere else. The live is gonna be around $30 to $35 a bag.
 
Ace25 said:
lol, wow, that is some wish list. Obviously you know about the Mandarin and what most people will say about it being put in so early, but there is a chance it will be OK.

Yes I do now know about the Mandarin. I still would like to get one when that tank gets older and that is one of the main reasons I built the fuge. I just hope I can get the pods to take hold in our tank.

Horseshoe and Emerald crab.. horseshoe needs a lot of sand area to dig in. I had one a short time, really cool crabs, but I didn't have enough sand/beach area in my tank for him so I gave it to me neighbor. Emerald.. not the most reef safe of crabs, mine used to eat my zoas all day long. Other crabs on your list seem fine. I have had a Sally in my tank for years (well, on my 2nd one now) and they are really cool cleaners but have been known to grab a small fish when they get bigger.

The horseshoe crab I think is out now also. I just wanted one because they remind me of my childhood from living on the shore. After seeing how big they get and now hearing about how much sand you need to keep them I don't think it's a good idea. My GF has an Emerald crab that she has had for about a year in her 20 gal tall and has had no problem so I guess will see about that.

Hippo Tang.. very timid fish and very prone to disease from stress. Personally I wouldn't recommend them. Actually, I would strongly advise against putting any tang in your tank. I have tried, and seen others try time and time again and it has always led to failure in a tank less than 100G. Every time the people that couldn't keep a yellow or purple tang would only put in 1 at a time and from what I have read they really like to be in a group or they stress out. Plus they crap a lot and really can foul up the water. If you do get one I would love to see you prove me wrong and have a healthy tang after a year in your tank.

The Hippo is the one fish that I really really wanted so I think I will at least try and see if I get lucky now that isn't to say that if it doesn't that I'm going to let it get so bad that it dies but I I would like to try and if it gets stressed out I will return it to the LFS.

Cardinals... will be great in your tank, same as the Chromis.

Clowns.. well, pick the ones you want and get a pair. I don't think you will have much luck mixing all those different clowns on your wish list.

No I know I think I will just get the ones that I said that I want a pair of. It would be cool if we could get them to mate.

4 Line wrasse can get big and are mean and not really reef safe from my reading, I don't have personal experience with that one. I did have a 6 line wrasse and those are really cool fish IMO and was reef safe in my case.

I think I will go with the 6 Line. I really want peacefully fish and inverts. No fighting KIDS.

I don't see any Angels or Gobies on your list.. I would look at one dwarf angel if you want one, but as you may have read in the other thread, they are "nippy" fish most of the time. Gobies though.. get a bunch! I love gobies (kind of have to with such a small tank, lol

I know and we have thought about this over the last few weeks and I think the Angels might be out because they are not reef safe. Plus she likes the this one but not how it looks when it get bigger. Now for the Godies, I'm really looking forward to these guys. I'm not sure when I can put them in the tank. Can you put them in right away? I like the watchmen allot. He looks grumpy.)
Click to expand...

OK I think that is everything. As you can see I haven't thought about this much but I guess you have to start some where! ;O) LOL
 
I would think you could easily put in a few gobies at the very beginning. My neighbors first fish was a yellow watchman and he is just as good today, if not better (he always has a FAT belly) than he was 5 years ago.

Other than the "oddball" gobies that are not really a goby, ie, Engineer/Mandarin they are all pretty tame and easy to take care of. I have had my eyes a Yasha Goby for a couple weeks now myself.
 
Cool then the watchmen might one of our fist fish.
 
I'm taking out the tap water that I have been play with and going to lay the sand in and see if it's going to be enough. I also have some small peaces of coral that I got from the islands while on vacation. I do have some cool shells I would like to put in there for decoration. I was thinking of boiling all of them before I put them in the tank. I don't think that will be a problem but if you think so let me know.
 
Yes, I have always read to boil shells/skeletons found on beaches before you put them in your tank.

With the sand, are you going to rinse it and actually put it all in now or what? It is going to be pretty difficult to unbag and put all the sand in and then come back and take it out just to rinse it. That is what I would do.. rinse sand good then place it, maybe put in a little salt water just to cover the sand when your done. I dunno how close you are to actually filling it up but sounds like your almost there... so rinsing the dead sand and placing it in a few inches of water for a few days should be ok, then when you get your live sand/baserock put all that in and then fill the tank with saltwater.
 
Yes I rinsed the sand and then put it all in. I don't have the RO/DI yet so I can't put the sand in salt water. It's dead dry sand why would I have to put water on/in it?

It only took 4 bags to put a 2 1/2" bed in the display and 2 1/2" in the fuge. I figure the 2 bags of live will top it off nice. The sand isn't white like I have seen in other tanks it's like a yellowish pink color. I think I like the white better but I'll just get the white LS.I'm sure that it will mix in and give it a better looking color.
 
I was thinking for more of the sand settling you could put water on it.. no other reason. Every time I have setup a tank it takes a day or 2 for the sand to settle and you don't have a bright white cube you can't even see into. Like of a very bright container of milk.. thats what the tank looks like when you first throw in/stir up the sand.

Also, another tip, use a bowl, like a ceramic cereal bowl or something when you pour in water. Pour the water into the bowl that you put in the bottom of your tank, that way you don't splash all the sand around when filling it. Its not bad once you get about 1/3 of the tank filled, but that first 1/3rd makes quite a mess if you just dump water on it.
 
We've got sand!

Of cores I have some pictures for you guys. Now before you say anything cause I know how some of you can be, the light that I took a picture of just for this reason is not staying. It is just a old light that my GF had laying around from when she first got her tank that we thought that we could use till we get the one I talked about earlier. So no that isn't the light that we are going to use.

It's funny to see just a few rocks and shells in that big tank.

Sand 001.jpg Sand 002.jpg Sand 003.jpg Sand 004.jpg
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
AquariaCentral.com
Top Bottom