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nes999
Regulars
Joined: 10 Mar 2009
Location: Peoria IL
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 Posted: 2009.07.24(Fri)16:13 Post subject: Is my 20 galon sump big enough? |
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I'm in the process of setting up a 125 gallon fowlr. Right off the start I knew I wanted a sump I have a spair 20 gallon tank I was wondering if that is a large enough sump/fuge.
also is I heard that you want to end up with 1 pound of live rock per gallon. is that right?
How is this stocking eventually I want to end up with 2 marron clown fish 2 true clowns, and id like a yellow tang but I don't think a 125 gallon is big enough for a yellow tang. Any ideas for more or is this good. only reason I want the tang is I heard someone say its the pleco of the salt water world
Just to doubble check some info. I heard that saltwater snail don't grow nearly as fast as fresh water.l
with saltwater I just delcorifiy and add salt right because where I live ro/di water is very expensive and I don't have the money for a home system.
thanks
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MarkLehr
Moderators
Joined: 09 Dec 2004
Location: Louisville, KY
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| Posted: 2009.07.25(Sat)10:20 Post subject: Re: Is my 20 galon sump big enough? |
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| nes999 wrote: | I'm in the process of setting up a 125 gallon fowlr. Right off the start I knew I wanted a sump I have a spair 20 gallon tank I was wondering if that is a large enough sump/fuge.
also is I heard that you want to end up with 1 pound of live rock per gallon. is that right?
How is this stocking eventually I want to end up with 2 marron clown fish 2 true clowns, and id like a yellow tang but I don't think a 125 gallon is big enough for a yellow tang. Any ideas for more or is this good. only reason I want the tang is I heard someone say its the pleco of the salt water world
Just to doubble check some info. I heard that saltwater snail don't grow nearly as fast as fresh water.l
with saltwater I just delcorifiy and add salt right because where I live ro/di water is very expensive and I don't have the money for a home system.
thanks |
A 20 gallon sump should be fine for a 125. My 180 uses a 20 gallon sump.
You will often hear that 1 pound of live rock per gallon is a good rule of thumb. Unfortunately this is a ridiculous notion that uses no level of intelligent thought.  The mass of a rock is not determined by its size. Rock from different parts of the world will have an extreme difference in mass, causing rocks of similar size to have a very different weight. You could buy 200 pounds of Caribean rock to get the same size display as 100 pounds of Fiji rock.
When buying live rock you should create a display that looks nature to you, and provides plenty of nooks and caves for the fish to hide and tank shelter. My advice is to look at existing successful aquariums to get an idea of how a live rock display could look, and then adjust your tastes from there. You will probably end up with 150 - 250 pounds of rock. If cost is an issue, you could use 25% live rock and 75% dry rock. I order frequently from www.marcorocks.com. I have found the quality to be incredible and the dry rock becomes live within 2 to 3 months. If you look at my 180 gallon thread, you will see what this rock looks like.
For your fish selection, you will have no problem keeping a ZEbrasoma genus of Tang in a 125 gallon tank. The Yellow Tang, Zebrasoma flavescens, is a great choice for you. Beware that this fish becomes very territorial towards newly introduced fish, so you may want to add the Tang as the last selection. You could also keep a Tang from the Ctenochaetus genus, such as the Chevron Tang, Kohl Tang, or Tomini Tang. I would, however, avoid the Acanthurus genus for an aquarium of your size.
As to the Clownfish, I would suggest only keeping 1 species of clown. You could have 2 Maroon Clownfish or 2 Ocellaris Clownfish, but sometimes differing species will have conflict inside the aquarium. A 125 may be large enough to get away with it, but why take the risk?
Growth is not an issue for most marine snails.
Yes, you can use a product such as Amquel to treat your tap water. You do need to test the tap for Nitrate to ensure it is appropriate for a marine aquarium. High levels of Nitrate in your tap water would not be acceptable.
My final words of advice are these. There are 2 topics in this hobby which beginners often ignore, but are a necessity for success. If you ignore this advice, you will probably hate this hobby. First, you have to have a quarantine tank. This is not an option. A 20 gallon aquarium would work perfect for this purpose. I personally use a 38 gallon. Second, you should monitor alkalinity and calcium levels, even in a FOWLR tank. You need test kits for each and a buffer and calcium supplement. I personally use Kent Marine SuperBuffer DKH and KEnt Marine Liquid Calcium (Calcium chloride). |
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nes999
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Joined: 10 Mar 2009
Location: Peoria IL
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| Posted: 2009.07.25(Sat)11:17 Post subject: |
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thanks so much for clearing that up I was planning a 29 gallon Qt or bigger it just depends on whats on sale at the time. my lfs always has tanks on sale ajnd if I can get a tank bigger for not to much cost ill go for it. but my minimum is going to be a 20 gallon.
I checked out that website. I think I'm going to do what u said to do witch is 25% live rock and 75% dry. I think I'm paranoid but all the reefers I know they sware by fiji rock so I think ill go with that for my system.
When scaping is there a good way to glue them together? also I'm going to put all the rock in my 125 gallon first let it cure so I'm not messing with mutiple tubs and tanks since I won't have fish in it yet
I've yet to decide one the inverts I want I have to look through my books again because in the far future I would like to change to a reef setup but that far off
is there anybooks you guys suggest to read? I have the conscientious marine aquarist
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MarkLehr
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Joined: 09 Dec 2004
Location: Louisville, KY
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| Posted: 2009.07.25(Sat)19:15 Post subject: |
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I used a mixture of Fiji and Key Largo dry rock in my 180. I like the Fiji best, in terms of taking on a nature appearance and quickly growing coraline algae. It has been only 4 months and you can't tell the experienced live rock apart from the Fiji dry rock. You will be satisfied.
By the way, the Key Largo rock is easier to aquascape with, so you have decisions to make. If you want to create a nice cave and overhangs as part of your display, you may want to order some Key Largo as well. The rock is very open, with very easy options for using cable ties to attach the rock together. With the Fiji rock, you will have to work a bit to get a cable tie to attach.
The rock in this picture is Key Largo. You can see how porous it is:
This picture is a mixture of both rocks. The tank is 50 pounds live, 75 pounds Key Largo, 125 pounds Fiji:
You can see how easy it is to work with the cable ties to create overhangs, caves, and ledges. I also used PVC pipe, by threading the PVC into the rocks, forming long overhangs.
For books, I recommend the Julian Sprung / Charles Delbeck 3 part series, "The Reef Aquarium". It is the best series ever written in this hobby. You may also want to check out this online magazine:
http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2009-04/index.php |
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nes999
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Joined: 10 Mar 2009
Location: Peoria IL
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| Posted: 2009.07.25(Sat)19:30 Post subject: |
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wow your tank is amazing and I will purchese those books later tonight.
I just placed a bid one voulme 1
heres my stocking list.
2 marron clowns
yellow tang
snails/shrimp
eventually I want aneme but from my understanding your suposed to way 6 months to a year before adding anemoes
and I'm still on the wall weather I want 2 normal colored clown fish
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MarkLehr
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Joined: 09 Dec 2004
Location: Louisville, KY
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| Posted: 2009.07.26(Sun)5:26 Post subject: |
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| nes999 wrote: |
eventually I want aneme but from my understanding your suposed to way 6 months to a year before adding anemoes.
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Thanks for the compliment. I've been happy so far, but the tank has a very far way to go before I'll be happy with it.
As to an anemone, I agree you would want a mature system. By mature, I would mean a system which has had the following experiences:
1) a completed cycle (obviously)
2) a diatom bloom, which has receded.
3) visible signs of copepods and amphipods.
4) coraline algae growth.
5) for systems with 4'' of sand, Nitrates that have started to drop near zero.
Rather than waiting 6 months on an anemone, following this general guildine for a mature aquarium, and at that point you should be fine.
On another subject, anemones are also very difficult animals to keep in captivity. Make sure you do significant research, and have the proper lighting. Here is a nice link to someone who has had great anemone success:
http://www.karensroseanemones.com/ |
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nes999
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Joined: 10 Mar 2009
Location: Peoria IL
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| Posted: 2009.07.26(Sun)13:33 Post subject: |
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I took a breif glance at the site and it looks like somthing ill deffinatly look at. right now I'm busy re-building a hood for my 55 gallon.
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nes999
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Joined: 10 Mar 2009
Location: Peoria IL
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| Posted: 2009.07.26(Sun)16:08 Post subject: |
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I was talking to my lfs owner and he only carries the hang on the back protein skimmers he told me he'd order in any type id want. when I asked him what type does he recommend he said "I don't know very much of saltwater aquriums and I don't feel that I should be giving you misleading information. Maby you should to aquahobby.com or reefcentral.com and ask them."
I'm glad he didn't just pull a random name out of his live rock tank. lol. any suggestions? I don't care how hard it is to clean I just want something that cleans extreamly well..
if I had unlimited supplies of money id get this bad boy at 2,400 dollars H&S A300
one of the guys walking around the salt water section told me he loves his msx200 and would never go back
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nes999
Regulars
Joined: 10 Mar 2009
Location: Peoria IL
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| Posted: 2009.07.26(Sun)23:06 Post subject: |
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well I was at my lfs and I realized that the maroon clown fish I wanted was really and onyx clownfish but I was talking to him and he did say some maroon clown fish are as dark and onyx so that made me feel better.
as for lighting since I want to go reef some time will a t5 HO work?
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MarkLehr
Moderators
Joined: 09 Dec 2004
Location: Louisville, KY
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| Posted: 2009.07.27(Mon)20:02 Post subject: |
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| For a protein skimmer, I am very happy with the performance of my ASM G3 on my 180. You could use the G3 or the G2 on a 125. You can order them online at a nice discount. I use www.thatpetplace.com for my expensive purchases. |
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