[blind1993]

Originally Posted by Zia

Thanks for the info about the angel fish blind. Im going to let the tank mature then get one. Generally are any of the smaller ones agressive? Could I put in a firefish first then get a Angel later?

By the way, Im a female. I just have a guys name.

Im glad the skimmer hangs on the sump. Ill check out the kits.

ok well i do not have a firefish so i can not tell u
but coral beauty angels are sometimes know to be shy and it does not mess with any of my fish it seems like it is in its own world.

[Krazy]

Firefish are very peaceful fish, they are usually shy and hide if you have more aggressive fish in the tank..

Angels are hit and miss, some tend to and are well known to nip corals and clams, The same fish in my tank might eat coral, and in your tank it might not... You take a 50/50 chance with them.

[Zia]

I just called coralife. They said that I have 72 total watts of lighting in my tank and that is plenty of light for anenomes.

They also said that they are coming out with a protein skimmer made by them and especially for biocubes. The skimmers have a serial number but there not out on the market yet and the guy didnt know when they might be.

They also said that the differences between the 2006 models and the 2007 models are very slight and that I probably wouldnt even notice the difference.

[reefnoob1991]

Well I coulda told ya that Zia all ya had to do was ask! Also if you spend as much time as I do reading the manual it was in there too ...I really don't think 72 watts is enough to support an anemone..I have 108 watts and it's having a hard time...probably because of the nitrates too but also the lighting. With 72 watts you won't be able to maintain any SPS so your best bet would be to go with a retrokit

[Zia]

reefnoob, just got back from a lfs that I havent been too much. THAT guy is very friendly and seems to know alot. He says I can get 150W and raise my hood up about 6 inches off the tank and I can have alot of neat things. He also said that anenomes are not good for a small tank like mine. He said they either get BIG or dont do so well and eventually die in no more than a year in captivity.

He was very easy to talk to and I think Im going to use that store for my supplies and rock and such. He had some nice premo figi rock. Lots of color on it and the other fish stoeres rock wasnt half as nice.

Yea, Im definitley going to have to have a retrokit.

Reefnoob, theres a manual? All I have is the directions for setting up the tank.

They had a big tank at this lfs with those metal lights. The light set up cost $1500.00 WOWSA!

He also said I really should have a QT tank and I dont want one so Im going to have to talk myself into that one.
Do you have a QT tank Reefnoob?

[reefnoob1991]

Seems like a good guy with good information, stick with him. The only thing I don't get is raising the hood up 6 inches and getting 150W...for 70$ you can add 36 watts with a retrokit and get 108 total watts or for 150$ you can get an extra 72 watts for a total of 144 watts. Now with these two kits you'd be able to keep the lid on it, which allows for less evaporation. Now if he's talking about using a metal halide and keeping it 6 inches off the tank and removing the hood altogether then that would not be a bad idea, people do that with great success. But raising the stock hood and adding more watts would be kinda silly, because you're increasing the depth of the tank which means less light penetration.

[Zia]

He said Id want to raise the lights up off the tank because the tank might not be able to dissapate the heat from the 150 W lights even with the fans that are stock with the tank.

He had some cool fishes there too. Beautiful angels and a really cool sea cucumber and a yellow fish that looked like it had horns but he said if it died it could wipe out everything in the tank but it was still a cool looking fish.

He had a few fish with ich too but he said that ALOT of fishes are still wild caught so I can probably see why they had ich now. I didnt see the real need for quarantine before but I do now.

Who can tell me about how they keep their QT tank?

[swinginbeef]

I like the sound of that LFS guy also. Anyone who discourages you from spending money at their store (like he did with the anemone) is probably a good person to deal with! Most LFS employees will blow sunshine up your ___ and tell you that everything you want will be perfect for your setup and even suggest more stuff to buy in addition.

[reefnoob1991]

All a QT needs is a simple hang over the back filter and a heater along with the normal salt and thermometer to monitor temp. When you buy the retrokit you get new fans that work better than the stock.

[blind1993]

yea they just see money every time u come in.

[swinginbeef]

Originally Posted by Zia

and a yellow fish that looked like it had horns but he said if it died it could wipe out everything in the tank but it was still a cool looking fish.

that's a cowfish and they are so awesome to watch swim. They look like they don't have fins or a tail and just kind hover through the water. If they weren't so toxic, I'd love to have one.

[blind1993]

never heard of one can someone show me pics or something.

[swinginbeef]

[blind1993]

it kinda looks like a jellyfish puffer mix.

it looks cool though.

[Zia]

Yea thats him swinginbeef. I was thinking bull fish but cow fish is close. Haha.
Hey whats up with that name...swinginbeef? That is too funny.

He was soo cute. Anyone know if they get big?

Thanks for the encouragement with this store. He even helped me with thermometers he suggested the cheaper one that was made by the company that also makes the expensive one but that the cheaper one was just as good.


He also said that the shrimp that hangs out with watchman gobies can break my tank if he gets threatened while hes by the tank glass. The shrimp (or crab, cannot remember which) could punch the glass with his claw and break the glass.
Im very glad he told me that because I was going to get one for the gobi when I got the gobi.
There were people there gettting pre mixed salt water from him.
Now I can buy a RO system or go down the street and get it for like 29cents a gallon and mix my own. I want to use the same reef salt everytime.
My question is what do yall do about getting RO water or premixed water? Also, how long can I store premixed water?

Oh one more question. Which rock do yall prefer? Marshall islands or Figi as far as color?

[clown shrimp]

I have a 24gallon aquapod and its awesome!! I have a 150watt MH, it is great! if i were you i would get the MH for your system. It will soupport ANY kind of coral. with the question about angels, i say get one! ive had a african flame back in the tank for about 4 moths and hes doing awesome, he doesnt pick at ANY of the corals, i have 2 blue maxima clams, hammer coral, bubble coral, moon coral, mushrooms, xenia and montipora. with the MH you ncan also keep any anenome!
Oh and dont worry about evaporation being a set back, if you check it every day you should be alright! it only takes a couple of minutes to check, P.S reefnoob you talk like a kid how old are you???? i am only 15 lol

[clown shrimp]

Oh and zia cow fish get HUGE, about 20in. and they are toxic when stressed

[Zia]

Hi everbody,
Ive got my tank setup now and I have a few questions if yall dont mind.

My tank has been set up and running for about 6 days now.
I have put about 15 pounds of LR and 15 pounds of dry sand in my 29gal biocube with 72watts of light. I got rock with lots of nice coraline on it and mushroom and some other little critters i dont know the name of that came with the rock. Everything is looking good and Im adding bacteria to the tank to help it cure faster.
I have minium amounts of ammonia right now, Ive added a ph buffer to get to 8.2 but I was at 8. anyway and I had little nitrite going on yesterday but not much.

My question is with just this amount of LR can I get a nice shrimp NOW?

I really want a shrimp today!!

[glampka]

The only shrimp to put in there now is a cocktail shrimp to get your tank to cycle. Slow down - this hobby is about patience!! You could also stand to add some more LR.

[cappy290]

Troy i would do what Gary said an add more LR. I have a 29gal cube also and i have close to 50 pounds of LR in my tank and 30 plus of live sand.

[Lazy Iguana]

Originally Posted by Zia

He also said that the shrimp that hangs out with watchman gobies can break my tank if he gets threatened while hes by the tank glass. The shrimp (or crab, cannot remember which) could punch the glass with his claw and break the glass.

I had a pistol shrimp when my 55 gallon was set up. I got the pistol shrimp from (of all places) a bait store. I bought a few shrimp to start the cycle process, and the people threw in a pistol shrimp because they could not sell it as live bait. It was not colorful like the photos of some pistol shrimp I have seen - it was just a dark brown solid color.

Anyway, the critter was petty cool for a shrimp. The bait shrimp did not last too long, but the pistol shrimp did. When I added the live rock, the shrimp picked a rock and dug out a massive cave under it. You could always tell where the shrimp was by the constant digging. Every so often it would snap, but as far as I know it never killed any fish and I know 100% that it never broke the glass.

So if you want something that is going to dig like crazy - the pistol shrimp is hard to beat. But they can be aggressive. They do not want anything near their home. If you hear a pop it is because something got too close. In a small tank there will be a lot of popping, unless there is nothing in it but the shrimp. Or unless the other tank creatures learned not to bother the shrimp. But I never observed it "punching" the glass. In fact, it would never venture too far from its cave. Unless it did so at night - which is very possible.

So there is my pistol shrimp story. It was cool to have, but I do not think I would get another one.

Now a mantis shrimp could "punch" the glass and break it. I had a biologist tell me that they can split your thumb open down to the bone! OUCH! The larger mantis shrimp are said to pack a punch that can rival a .22 caliber bullet. They use their club like appendage to smash open shells and eat the yummy clam / snail inside. If they can smash a clam shell, I would not want them hitting glass holding back large amounts of corrosive water. Other mantis shrimp have a spear they use to lance fish and stuff. Neither is good for a community tank.

[Zia]

Thanks for the shrimp "tale" Lady.

I went to a new LFS today. His tanks were very, very nice. Crystal clear water, in all of them and beauiful healthy corals and fish.

He told me I didnt need a protein skimmer if Ill do a 10% water change weekly and he also said I need to add Idodine, Stronium and Calcium on a regular basis to feed the corals.

I dont understand why the other LFS owner/employees in the other two LFS stores Ive spent serious money in didnt tell me theses things.

Oh, I also got a small brain coral. When I put it in the tank it started letting off white ribbons of "stuff". Would someone tell me whats up with the brain coral?

Also, how do I mix salt water to the right salinity before I put it in the tank?

Thanks guys yall are a great help to me to figure this stuff out.

[swinginbeef]

did this guy know that your tank had only been running for 6 days?? If he knew this and still sold you livestock, then you should probably go back to the other stores. He's just there to take your money, not to help you out.

[Zia]

Hi Swinginbeef,

Ok, you could be right. I told him that the tank had only been set up that long.

I got my LR from an established tank and he said that was a big plus to getting the shrimps, snails and brain coral.

Yea, he could of ripped me off and itll be the last time he gets my money. Thats not smart business.

But well see here. Ill keep yall posted about whats going on in the tank. Everyone is looking great.
Everyone might be dead in a week too.

[swinginbeef]

most important thing to remember in this hobby is,

"The only things that happen fast are Bad Things."

Take your time. Even if the rock was "fully cured" when you bought it, I'd still wait a month or more before adding living things to it.