Tropical Fish Forums

[Aquablue]

OK. I've talked to my mom and she's gona let me get a saltwater. I've been researching for about 3-4 months and have a good idea of what I'm going to be doing. We're most likely going to get either a 55 or 75 gallon. I do have a few questions though.

1. For stocking I had in mind for the 55: 1 pair Ocellaris Clowns, 2 Purple Firefish, 3 Longfin Fairy Wrasse (these are reef safe wrasse), 1 Coral Beauty Angel, and 2 Skunk Cleaner Shrimp. For the 75: 1 pair of Ocellaris Clowns, 2 Purple Firefish, 5 Longfin Fairy Wrasse, 1 Coral Beauty Angel, and 3 Skunk Cleaner Shrimp. My question is, would this be okay? Would the tank be overstocked?

2. We have a 15 gallon we're going to use as a quarntine tank. I planed on putting a little plant pot (new, not used) in it with the LS. In the quarntine, should I use a filter or protien skimmer, or both? Would I be able to get away with just a filter or protien skimmer?

Any help would be very much appreciated. If I think of anything more, I'll post it on here. Thanks for any help.

[Aquablue]

Oh yeah, I forgot.

3. How much live rock should I use for the main tank? Would I need to put some LR in the quarntine tank, or could I get away with not using any?

[Mike612]

You should use approximately the same amount of live rock as you have gallons. In this case, 55 or 75 lbs of live rock.

The only problem I really see in your livestock list is that you have too many shrimp. It's recommended that you keep 1 Cleaner Shrimp for every 50 gallons. Otherwise, the other shrimp could lose out on food or there's also the possibility that there will be territorial problems between the two shrimps.

[Aquablue]

OK. Thanks.

[chatyak]

I've been doing some research myself and apparently this is a good general guide for a quarntine tank. Someone correct me if wrong please.

10 - 20 gal
no substrate ( soaks up medicine if needed )
pvc piping for hiding
heater
lid or cover
lighting
canister for filtering


On a side note - what canister filter do you people recommend for filtering a quarantine tank? If you could take a look at this website and let me know because I do my shopping on here....

http://www.bigalsonline.ca/?splash_done=1


Thank you,

[unissuh]

[Mike612]

I'm just basing this on experience. I think they prefer to be kept in groups, not really pairs. I got a pair at first and that entire night I saw the first one cornering the second, they were fighting a lot and everything. When I went down the next morning, one of them was dead. Anyways, it's still better to only have one in a 55 or 75 gallon.

[SLACkra]

heres a very good link to how to setup a quarentine tank.
http://www.petsforum.com/personal/trevor-jones/quarantine2.html

so in a quarentine just have a biological filter and maybe a mechanical filter. no rock, no substrate but some pvc of various sizes.

also I have only heard bad things about cannister filters when it comes to marine aquariums. imo if you have a tank with liverock ect just provide sufficient water movement and some mechanical filtration where it is extremely easy to clean out the filter material.

with live rock I would put enough to make it look nice. though to save money I would buy a decent amount of base rock and place some good uncured bits ontop. do this at the start of the cycle as the uncured live rock is literaly straight out of the ocean and has a lot of life on it which will die off and start the cycling process.

with the firefish make sure you get a mated pair, if its just two random firefish they will squable. so get 1 or a mated pair or a group.

good luck with your first marine, pat on the back for choosing to start with a 55 or 75 gallon tank!

also are you going to have a sump? will the tank be drilled? internal or external overflow ect?

andrew

[Aquablue]

I'm not sure what all equipment I'll be using yet, but I'll keep you updated as I go.

[Aquablue]

I thought of another question.

4. If I stick with these plans, in which order should I add the fish? I may adjust my stocking plans a bit, but it won't be just too different.