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amandab

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I'm new to saltwater and I would like some opinions from any who would care to share... Tank will be 70 gallon 50"x18"x18" (DIY). Filter: Magnum 350 canister filter. Skimmer: Bak-Pac 2. Powerheads: 3 Maxi-Jet 1200's. Heater: Ebo Jager 250 watts. Lights: 4 bulb VHO ballast with 48" tubes of different light spectrums for a total of 360-410 watts for the tank. Live sand/ DSB: 100 lbs. of Southdown 50 lbs. of Live sand. Live rock: 100(?) lbs. Inverts and corals: 5 scarlet reef hermits, 5 blue leg hermits, 20 astrea conehead snails, 1 red serpent sea star, blood-red fire shrimps, scarlet skunk cleaner shrimps. Button polyps, toadstool mushroom leather coral, Hairy mushroom coral. Fish: 2 ocellaris clowns OR 1 ocellaris clown and 1 cinnamon clown (added at the same time), 1 fridmani pseudochromis, 2 neon blue gobies, 4 blue green reef chromis.
Which rock is better, cured or uncured? Are there pros and cons to either? From what I can find, everyone on this list will " live happily ever after", does anyone disagree? Thanks to everyone!
 

danmhippo

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1 ocellaris and 1 cinnamon may not work. Cinnamon will eventually beat the crap out of the ocellaris. Whichever clown specie you want to go with, get 2 small individuals and one of them will turn into a female.

LR get uncured. Even if LFS tells you it's cured, chances are you will experience cycle again after you bring them home. In theory, uncured rock are cheaper, and there will be more (life) on the rock.

No livestock should go into the tank until the tank is fully cycled, and water changed at least once after cycle. I would also suggest you setup a quarantine tank for all new arrivals (except the rock, obviously).

I would also drop the magnum filter. It's not needed in the reef setup. I suppose you have a sump too, right? Have you thought about adding a refugium?
 

danmhippo

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OH, by the way, Welcome to Reefs.org! If you have a few minutes to spare, you could click on the "library" link above for our article archive. Many of these will be very helpful for you.
 

amandab

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Actually, no one has advised me on the use of a sump, so I'm going to go look it up. I had not thought of adding a refugium, what are the benefits of them other than increased surface area of water? Something to do with nitrites, I think...
 
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Anonymous

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Hi amanda. A refugium (with a deep sand bed--DSB) is going to do several things for you. First, because you have the DSB your nitrAtes (the final product in the ammonia oxidation or nitrification cycle) will be converted in the anoxic regions by anaerobic bacteria into nitrogen gas (this is what comprises approximately 80% of the atmosphere). Also, because you'll have this sand bed, you will be able to culture a variety of very small to microorganisms--known as "the pods"--isopods, arthropods, copepods, as well as numerous tiny worms and such that will not only consume a fair amount of detritus, but will feed certain fishes and many filter feeders.

I will strongly suggest you break up your heating, first NO Ebo Jaeger, I've been hearing far too many horror stories to not directly dissuade you from purchasing this product (they're often getting stuck in the "ON" position), and to divide the heating into two heaters. For your 70 gallon system, you would do well with a sump/refugium on the order of about 30-40 gallons (if anyone disagrees please voice your opinion!), which would give you a total volume of around 100-110 gallons. Using the 2-3W/gal rule, you would then use two 200W-300W heaters--place one low down in the tank, and the other low down in the sump/refugium. Believe me, by dividing heating duties you'll again spare yourself some heartache.

(You'll need a good pump for the sump/refugium, use the money you were going to spend on the Magnum for this.)

danm is spot on about the live rock, don't EVER take anyone's word for it that it's cured, unless you SEE it setting in a dealer's tanks and there is no smell coming from it. He could have linked you directly to our library, so I'll do it for him (you silly man) http://www.reefs.org/library as well as kick you to another excellent site (I am also associated with this site) http://www.wetwebmedia.com This site also has a forum, http://www.wetwebfotos.com/talk What you'll want to look for are the newbie and set-up articles, as well as the copious FAQ's. When stocking with live rock, the basic rule of thumb is 1-2lbs/gallon, so 90lbs would give you just a bit above the bare minimum. I'll suggest that if you think you'll want more, get it now and cure it all together.

GET A QUARANTINE TANK!!! This is, without a doubt, the BIGGEST mistake I see people make, over and over and over again. They get their stock (fish AND inverts) and throw it into the display and it is so easy to end up with problems that you'll be hard-pressed to sort your way out of without one. Quarantine everything, this is more than a suggestion here. Protocol for quarantine is 30 days minimum. Quarantine doesn't have to be a proper fish tank, it can be just about any watertight container that has a decent surface area to water volume ratio (this is why tall and narrow is no good). Lots of folks just use Rubbermaid tubs/containers for this end. Keep it bare-bottomed, and use some pieces of PVC for the animals to hide in. Once your live rock is cured you can also keep a piece or two in the quarantine system for the animals' psychological health.

Oh my..what else? Well, just visit the links I've provided you, I wouldn't be surprised if you find subjects none of us thought to cover. Good luck!
 
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Anonymous

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Oh yeah! If you haven't already started, you need to build a library, and now's the time to do it. I will strongly recommend my friend Bob Fenner's last book, "The Conscientious Marine Aquarist", as well as Martin Moe, Jr.'s "Marine Aquarium Handbook". I haven't read it, but there are those who swear by Scott Michael's book (don't know the title) as a good marine fish reference, however, I'll warn you to not go by his recommendations and get caught up in the idea of having a shark (especially because you're a newbie). I know of three different people who went by his book in setting up systems specifically for sharks, spent thousands they did, and all failed miserably. This is not to say that his works are bunk, not having read them I couldn't ever say that, I'm just warning you away from the shark thing. They're so beautiful, and fascinating, that many folks get bitten by that bug and next thing ya know...

Anyway, you must have a decent reference library, to be sure, and this is a start. I'm sure there are others who'll have excellent suggestions for other books, as well.
 

amandab

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Thank you for your info, Seamaiden. I love wetwebmedia.com, spend at least two hours there every night and I never seem to run out of interesting things to read... I went to the bookstore to get Bob Fenner's book, but it was more expensive($50) than I thought it would be and I didn't have enough cash on hand. But thanks, I'll do research on sumps and refugiums now. By the way, on the shark thing-- I got "hooked" on the idea of a shark tank about 17 years ago, I am 21 now and I've spent most of my life independently studying sharks (but not fish, oddly enough). My very first word ever was "fish". And when I grow up to be a millionaire, I will get a shark tank (I've got it all planned out...heh,heh..), BUT, not now, rest assured. Thanks again.

Oh, do you know anywhere by chance that sells Mr. Fenner's book for less than $50? Thanks
 
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Anonymous

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Yeah! Jeez! You can get it on his site via his wife, the diaphanous Diana, I got my HARDCOPY via amazon.com for around $40.
 

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