Newbie, 55g tank setup, what I like & questions

[postshawn]

Well new to me. If everything checks out on condition of tank in person since I'm getting it off craigslist. I'm going to move my 12g nanocube inhabitants into the 55g when it's all setup and cycled. Right now the inhabitants include a Ocellaris Clownfish and Green Spotted Mandarin. The Mandarin is actually doing great. It's loving the Ocean Nutrition Formula 1 Frozen Food I feed it. I'm thinking about maybe adding another Ocellaris Clownfish at the time the current one goes in so there is a pair. But I don't really care one way or the other about babies. I mean it would be cool and I have the 12g to maybe raise them in but saltwater is still new territory for me and one step at a time.

I always liked small fish. Even with my freshwater setup my favorite fish are the small ones. I'd rather see a school or 5 different fish then one larger fish. I don't mind one centerpiece fish of medium size if it doesn't require the whole tank as it's own space. I already have the two fish that I think at most get about 3 inches. If I can get away with a centerpiece fish of 3-4 inches and a few fish 1.5-3 inches then I'd be happy with that. Also I like easy to take care of corals. I'm not thinking of doing anything that requires the higher lighting so no clams and such. But that means the tank inhabitants have to be reef safe. I'm not sure on how much you can stock in a saltwater tank so maybe some of you can look at my lists below and suggest some things to me.

So I'm getting the setup off CL. The tank, stand and canopy alone are worth more then what I'm paying in the stores. The rest is bonus. Has a sump, pump, skimmer, lights, heater, etc. The pictures show a power head so I will either add one or get two in there most likely. I think I'm going to upgrade the lighting since it only shows a two bulb T5 light par. I'd probably go with a 4 bulb T5 +night LED unit or an all LED unit. I'm leaning towards saving for an LED unit so I can keep the tank cool and save energy in the long run. I have a good heater from one of my freshwater setups that I'm in the process of breaking down so once that's gone I will use that as a second heater for backup purposes. I don't know exactly what pumps are there so I will asses and add if needed. I don't want to go crazy but I also heard that two return pumps is good incase there is a failure in the system of some sort? Down the road I'll add some sort of power/timing management.

CURRENT STOCK to be moved from 12g to 55g:
(1) Ocellaris Clownfish
(1) Green Spotted Mandarin
(1) Peppermint Shrimp
(1) Sand Sifting Sea Star
(1) Emerald Crab
(2) Small Hermit Crabs
(5) Small variety Snails
(1) Green Frog Spawn
(1) 1.5" head of Zoanthid
(7) small 1/2-1" Green Mushrooms all on the same rock about 5 inches long.
(-) Live rock that came with blue sponge and other things on it.
(2) had a couple small Sea Cucumbers but haven't seen them in a while since moving the rock around. One was 1/4" and one 1".

POSSIBILITIES OF ADDING to the 55g along with the above stock:
(1) MAYBE another Ocellaris Clownfish. Not sure on that yet.
(1) small peaceful Wrasse. Maybe a Six Line or something smaller.
(1) small peaceful goby. (will a goby get along with the Green Mandarin?)
(1) small peaceful firefish.
(1) small Damsel (I like the Starcki Damsel).
(1+) small Chromis. Maybe a Blue/Green Reef Chromis.
(1+) small Cardinalfish. I really like the Orange Lined Cardinalfish and they are fairly small.
(1) dwarf Angelfish.
(1-2) Cleaner Shrimp. (or blood shrimp or whatever)
(10-15) more snails.
(2-5) more small hermit crabs.
(1) Can I do more emerald crabs and if so how many in one tank or is there another type you would recommend with the Emerald Crab I already have?
(?) any other invertebrates you would recommend in a 55g?

I'm not saying I will add all of that list. That's just things I know of that are peaceful, small and reef safe. So my big question with knowing the above and what I like and sort of what my plans are what would you do with the 55g corner tank? Anything I should stay away from?

- I think the Chromis or Cardinalfish can be kept in a group. If I do one or the other how large of a group would be ideal in a 55g? I haven't seen the Orange Lined Cardinalfish in person I don't think. But I'm sure a LFS can order them for me since I live in Los Angeles and we have good local disturbers. Does anyone have experience with the Orange Lined Cardinalfish?

- I already tried and failed on a couple of angelfish, not at the same time. It's too bad because both of them were rare and some of the more peaceful types of angels. I guess it's part of everyone's first time with saltwater. First I had a Fisher's Angelfish who committed suicide 5 days after acquiring it and jump in the lowest back compartment of the nanocube and I didn't find it in time. And the other was a Multicolor Angelfish that developed something that looked like Marine Head and Lateral Line Disease or something and just died last night. I don't think I can get credit back since I had it 4 days and I think the LFS has a 2 or 3 day policy but I will check on that. I had gotten a great deal on both of them. The Fisher Angel no one else in the area currently has and the Multicolor Angel we've seen priced as much as double what we paid. Both of them the LFS had for weeks before we got them and they were doing fine and eating fine. I'm going to see if the LFS can get any of either of those two again. I really like the Multicolor and I think that would make a nice centerpiece fish in the 55g. Both fish the LFS said would be fine in a 12g (again, not at the same time) if you have plans to upgrade. But I think it stressed them both out. I'm going to hold off on any additions to the 12g now and wait until the 55g is setup and ready.


So my overall plan is:
1) get the tank this weekend, setup current equipment and test for any failures in the system. Make sure everything runs and stops correctly. I will add whatever equipment really needs to be upgraded or swapped out.
2) re-add water if needed after tests and add salt. I will run it a week so the salt gets mixed in good. Should I mix RO water with salt added and ocean water or will that do weird things?
3) add live rock a week or two after. Might mix live and dead rock. Also add live sand. Can I add half of the rock and then the other half or will it keep ruining the cycle that would be already going? Or can I add some dead rock one week and live rock the next?
4) test and re-test and re-test until it is completely cycled. Then wait another week to make sure it's leveled off correctly. Expecting 3-8 weeks on this process.
5) after cycled then acclimate current 12g fish and add any other needed fish (if I do another clown basically so they go in at the same time). When I do this assuming my 12g is healthy can I add the 10lbs of live sand and 10lb of live rock from that tank to the new one or will a 20% addition of live sand/rock like that spike the levels if they are already cured and running in another tank?
6) add other livestock slowly over time.
7) enjoy.


Any input and suggestions will be greatly appreciated. When I setup the tank I'll do a blog post about it so people can follow along and suggest things to be as I set it up too. I know there is a lot of reading in this post so if you made it this far thanks so much for taking some time.

-Shawn

[screamingibis]

six line wrasse isn't that peaceful once it matures

[postshawn]

Thanks. I didn't realize that about the six line. Most wrasses I'm not too fond of anyway. I can easily skip one of them for one of the others on my list.