Advice for a newbie

[bostontim]

Hi. I am just recently starting a sw tank. I bouht it established. Its 55 gal. I got a yellow tang, halfblack agel. marine beta, goby, and turbo snail. I am planning on a little coral. I got one small frag of xenia that the guy at tropical isle said would grow under small lights. Currently i got 80 w but i jst ordered two 110w lamps. Any suggestions for me?? All help is greatly appreciated.

Tim

 

[TomD]

tank

You are going to need more light to keep any corals, however I do not believe that a marine betta is reef safe, meaning it will kill or eat your corals. I am not sure about the angel either.

Also, you need a cleaning crew for a saltwater tank that consisits of snails, hermits, shrimp,...Some use different combos, one snail will not be good.

You should probably wait for corals til we get all this other stuff worked out, and you give us just a little more info so we can help.

Did you get any liverock with this setup?
Sump? Protein skimmer?
When did you set it up?

 

[ReeferDude]

well Metal Halide or T5 lights will open up your choices for corals. And your marine Betta will quickly out grow your tank fast.

 

[bostontim]

You are going to need more light to keep any corals, however I do not believe that a marine betta is reef safe, meaning it will kill or eat your corals. I am not sure about the angel either.

Did you get any liverock with this setup?
Sump? Protein skimmer?
When did you set it up?

I got about 40 lbs of rock. I know i need a skimmer. I also will need to upgrade my filtration. As for the beta he is 4 years old and is about 4 in. Neither he nor the anel ave gone near the coral so far. Is 220w enough for some types fo coral? I dont want to make it a full reef just add some color and movement. I have a 20 gallon that im considering making into a reef tank in the future.

 

[TomD]

That may be ok for lower light corals but shoot for the best you can get. T5 is very nice and will not limit you as much as PC. Always go for the most you can afford because if you stay with it.....you will want more.

Check Hellolights.com

Also, I would go with at least 55-60 lbs of LR. Do you have a sump?

For a skimmer the Coralife Super Skimmer is cheap money and does ok. Go for at least the 125 model.

 

[bostontim]

That may be ok for lower light corals but shoot for the best you can get. T5 is very nice and will not limit you as much as PC. Always go for the most you can afford because if you stay with it.....you will want more.

Check Hellolights.com

Also, I would go with at least 55-60 lbs of LR. Do you have a sump?

For a skimmer the Coralife Super Skimmer is cheap money and does ok. Go for at least the 125 model.

I might actially have closer to 50 lbs. I will add some more.

As for a sump i dont. I think i need to upgrade a bit. He gave it to me wiht a standard hang over filter, an ungravel filter, and two powerheads.

As for lights i will check that website, Thanks

 

[ReeferDude]

maRINE BETTAS DONE EAT CORALS THEY EAT SMALL FISH AND INVERTS

 

[bostontim]

maRINE BETTAS DONE EAT CORALS THEY EAT SMALL FISH AND INVERTS

I find so far that the beta wont mess with the corals. He is known to like shrimp but he doesnt mess wth my hermit crabs or snail.

 

[Chris L]

each fish is different. i have a marine betta and he is a model citizen. he touches nothing and noboby. he is one of my favorite fish

 

[FinzAquatics]

if you are looking into skimmers, i am a fan of the remoras. ive tried prizms, coralife, remoras and a few others... i believe that the remora is a good buy/

 

[TomD]

In my opinion do not use the undergravel filter and if you have to use the HOB filter, you have to keep it clean to keep nitrates down for corals.

You really would be much better off staring with 1-2 lbs of LR per gallon. You can add dry rock and it will become LR with a little live seed rock. Try Marcos Rock. He is in the sponsor section under awesomeaquariums I belive. Cheap and a 50lb box you will be good to go with what you have. LR is the best biological filtration you can have. That is why you will see so many members tanks and sumps filled with LR.

Also, are you doing any testing? Although it was establsihed moving it will create a spike so test and wait before new additions. At the very least you should test amonia, nitrite, nitrate, PH for the cycle and then other parameters become imporant for corals such as calcium, ALK, PH, Strontium....

 

[bostontim]

This might be a stupid question but can a condi anenome close up completely showing no tentacles or does that mean its dead??

 

[reefhunter]

it can close up fully an anemone the size of a basket ball can close up to the size of a tennis ball they have no bones at all so no its not a stupid ?

 

[TomD]

Yes but you currently do not have proper conditons for an anenome.

 

[bostontim]

it can close up fully an anemone the size of a basket ball can close up to the size of a tennis ball they have no bones at all so no its not a stupid ?

Thanks. Its actually opening up again now. I thought i didnt have enough lighting. Another question, I have 1-Vho white 110w and 1- VHO blue 110 w. What wouold be the next economical step up??

 

[merk1_99]

T5's for the lighting. Skip getting a Remora as a skimmer. Way overrated. I was happy the day I bought the Remora, and even happier when I sold it.

 

[TomD]

Also just in case you are planning on having clowns to try and host a condy is not the best anenome for that.

 

[bostontim]

Also just in case you are planning on having clowns to try and host a condy is not the best anenome for that.

Yeah. i was planning on getting a clown and a bubble tip. That was going to be the end of my fish. then a few corals.

 

[bostontim]

Is it normal for a yellow tang to just hang ot behind a rock most of the time?? he eats and doesnt look sick. He will occasionally swim fast through the tank kicking up sand and then right back to the same spot. is this odd behavior??

 

[Fingolfin]

Is it normal for a yellow tang to just hang ot behind a rock most of the time?? he eats and doesnt look sick. He will occasionally swim fast through the tank kicking up sand and then right back to the same spot. is this odd behavior??

No, this is not normal.

In spite of purchasing an established tank, the transportation could cause a lot of problems. I would suggest to do some water changes and to implement a skimmer to help stabilize your tank. Until you provide some essential parameters, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, ca++, temp, salinity, and others, it's very difficult to make any diagnosis.