Hi

Crumster · 04/16/2016, 09:58 AM

Hi, I am setting up my first sw tank. I've had fw for years. I have a 55 gallon. Right now it is in the cycling stage. Ammonia is 0

Nitrites are being a bit of a pain

Nitrates are rising...

I have a:

Hawaiian Black Live Sand mixed with PFS (yes I know some people dont like the PFS, but I had it in my FW and not a problem)
I wanna say about 10 lbs of live rock (slowly adding more)
2 lava rock (brought from Petco)
Couple of terri pots
HOB Aquatech filter
Heater
48" shop light with 2 daylight bulbs
couple of hitchhikers- 2 hermits, brittle star and a fan worm

I have a wishlist of:
2 Clownfish (I like the Wyoming White and Snowflake)
Coral Beauty Angel
Coral Banded Shrimp
Fire Shrimp
Firefish- maybe purple
Black Cap Basslet
Diamond or tiger watchman goby
royal gamma
scooter blenny
starry blenny
Blue chromis
neon cleaner or sharknose goby
cardinals
small anemone

What should I be feeding my hitchhikers?
Is there any fish that are going to be a problem for another? In what order should I add them?

also thinking about adding a sump, but don't know how big I need it? or how to run the plumbing?

thegrun · 04/16/2016, 10:14 AM

I would try to limit the fish to a total of 5 or 6 with your tank. The Coral Beauty may nip at your corals and will likely get very aggressive as it matures, they really need a tank that is at least 70 gallons so they don't feel so confined. I kept one in a 50 gallon tank many years ago before I knew better. It was fine for a year, then went rouge all of a sudden and killed three tank mates before I could catch it. The coral banded shrimp will try to catch smaller fish when they are sleeping, I don't trust them. I would only keep one of the Blennys, the Stary Blenny would be the easiest to keep and they will help eat algae.

billdogg · 04/16/2016, 10:21 AM

Welcome to RC!

I have a couple suggestions that might make everything go a bit smoother, as well as a question. What is PFS?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Crumster

Hi, I am setting up my first sw tank. I've had fw for years. I have a 55 gallon. Right now it is in the cycling stage. Ammonia is 0

Nitrites are being a bit of a pain

Nitrates are rising...

I have a:

Hawaiian Black Live Sand mixed with PFS (yes I know some people dont like the PFS, but I had it in my FW and not a problem)
I wanna say about 10 lbs of live rock (slowly adding more)
2 lava rock (brought from Petco)

Lose the Lava Rocks - they are almost certainly man-made and probably contain contaminates like heavy metals. Increase your base rock using either dry or live reef rocks - the more porous the better

Couple of terri pots

You mean like garden clay pots?

HOB Aquatech filter
Heater
48" shop light with 2 daylight bulbs

You will have to upgrade your lights, for a couple reasons. First, the shop light is gonna rust away fairly quickly due to the salt exposure. Second, it will not be anywhere near powerful enough for any anemone.

couple of hitchhikers- 2 hermits, brittle star and a fan worm

I have a wishlist of:
2 Clownfish (I like the Wyoming White and Snowflake)
Coral Beauty Angel

will be a snug fit in a 55 due to territorial issues and it's likely nipping at corals

Coral Banded Shrimp

will probably kill the fire shrimp, and has also been known to take out small fish

Fire Shrimp
Firefish- maybe purple
Black Cap Basslet

can be aggressive

Diamond or tiger watchman goby
royal gamma
scooter blenny

your tank is marginally sized for a dragonet even if it (the tank) was fully mature. They eat pods. Lots and lots of pods

starry blenny
Blue chromis
neon cleaner or sharknose goby
cardinals
small anemone

What should I be feeding my hitchhikers?
Is there any fish that are going to be a problem for another? In what order should I add them?

also thinking about adding a sump, but don't know how big I need it? or how to run the plumbing?

a sump is always a good idea - it serves as a place to hide your heaters (2 smaller are way better than one larger), return pump, skimmer, etc, as well as providing more water volume. Increased volume = increased stability.

hth

Crumster · 04/16/2016, 10:28 AM

I was just informed by my husband that we have to get an engineer goby since he was a machinist mate in the Navy. We definitely want the 2 clowns that was one reason why we choose to try the sw.

ok so no to the Coral Beauty, Coral banded shrimp. I like the way the scooter was scooting across the tank at Petco, but if the starry is easier to keep since this is the first tank I guess scooter is out.

Any other suggestions? Any help is always greatly appreciated and taken into consideration

Crumster · 04/16/2016, 10:33 AM

pfs= pool filter sand

terri pot= yes the garden pots, I've read that the clowns use them to spawn. Plus I have some in my fw so it kinda ties the two together

billdogg · 04/16/2016, 02:12 PM

Your PFS is probably silicate based rather than carbonate based, so you will get no help buffering the system. In addition, Silicates can fuel diatom blooms. The other issue with it is that it is sharp edged, so sand filtering and /or tunneling fish can have problems with it.

The terra cotta pots will be fine (assuming they were new???).

The (poorly named) "Scooter Blennie" is not in the Blennie family. It is a Dragonet, same as the Mandarin, and requires the same living conditions.

hth

Crumster · 04/16/2016, 11:58 PM

yes the pots were new and soaked

ok so based on suggestions wishlist cutdown:
engineer goby
2 Clownfish (I like the Wyoming White and Snowflake)
Fire Shrimp
Diamond or tiger watchman goby
royal gamma
starry blenny
Blue chromis
neon cleaner or sharknose goby
small anemone

any other considerations I should take into account to trim my list? anything that I might need to consider in clean up crews or whatnot?

amperidot · 04/17/2016, 08:53 PM

The engineer goby likes to dig in the sand, so I wouldn't recommend using PFS in your sand or else it could harm him.
Make sure you get a good light if you want an anemone, and wait at least 6-8 months to add the anemone to your tank after you have added all the fish.
Neon cleaners are really neat but from what I understand they usually starve in a tank since they really only eat parasites that live on your fish, and after those are picked out of the tank they can be difficult to feed.
Keep in mind that mated clownfish will mainly stick to their area of the tank but can also be very aggressive in pairs, whereas a single perc or occ will be fairly friendly, so if you chose them I'd probably cut your list down by a fish..probably the gamma since they're aggressive too usually.
Add the more aggressive ones last.
That's my opinion at least, good luck!

04/16/2016, 09:58 AM	#1
Crumster Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2016 Location: Texas City Posts: 12	Hi Hi, I am setting up my first sw tank. I've had fw for years. I have a 55 gallon. Right now it is in the cycling stage. Ammonia is 0 Nitrites are being a bit of a pain Nitrates are rising... I have a: Hawaiian Black Live Sand mixed with PFS (yes I know some people dont like the PFS, but I had it in my FW and not a problem) I wanna say about 10 lbs of live rock (slowly adding more) 2 lava rock (brought from Petco) Couple of terri pots HOB Aquatech filter Heater 48" shop light with 2 daylight bulbs couple of hitchhikers- 2 hermits, brittle star and a fan worm I have a wishlist of: 2 Clownfish (I like the Wyoming White and Snowflake) Coral Beauty Angel Coral Banded Shrimp Fire Shrimp Firefish- maybe purple Black Cap Basslet Diamond or tiger watchman goby royal gamma scooter blenny starry blenny Blue chromis neon cleaner or sharknose goby cardinals small anemone What should I be feeding my hitchhikers? Is there any fish that are going to be a problem for another? In what order should I add them? also thinking about adding a sump, but don't know how big I need it? or how to run the plumbing?

04/16/2016, 02:12 PM	#6
billdogg Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Grove City, Ohio Posts: 10,806	Your PFS is probably silicate based rather than carbonate based, so you will get no help buffering the system. In addition, Silicates can fuel diatom blooms. The other issue with it is that it is sharp edged, so sand filtering and /or tunneling fish can have problems with it. The terra cotta pots will be fine (assuming they were new???). The (poorly named) "Scooter Blennie" is not in the Blennie family. It is a Dragonet, same as the Mandarin, and requires the same living conditions. hth __________________ I'll try to be nice if you try to be smarter! I can't help that I grow older, but you can't make me grow up! Current Tank Info: 120 mixed reef with 40b sump, RO 150 skimmer, AI Sol Blue x 2, and a 60g Frag Tank with 100g rubbermaid sump. 2 x Kessil A360w lights, BM curve 5 skimmer

04/16/2016, 10:14 AM	#2
thegrun Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Garden Grove, Ca Posts: 17,023	I would try to limit the fish to a total of 5 or 6 with your tank. The Coral Beauty may nip at your corals and will likely get very aggressive as it matures, they really need a tank that is at least 70 gallons so they don't feel so confined. I kept one in a 50 gallon tank many years ago before I knew better. It was fine for a year, then went rouge all of a sudden and killed three tank mates before I could catch it. The coral banded shrimp will try to catch smaller fish when they are sleeping, I don't trust them. I would only keep one of the Blennys, the Stary Blenny would be the easiest to keep and they will help eat algae.

04/16/2016, 10:28 AM	#4
Crumster Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2016 Location: Texas City Posts: 12	I was just informed by my husband that we have to get an engineer goby since he was a machinist mate in the Navy. We definitely want the 2 clowns that was one reason why we choose to try the sw. ok so no to the Coral Beauty, Coral banded shrimp. I like the way the scooter was scooting across the tank at Petco, but if the starry is easier to keep since this is the first tank I guess scooter is out. Any other suggestions? Any help is always greatly appreciated and taken into consideration

04/16/2016, 10:33 AM	#5
Crumster Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2016 Location: Texas City Posts: 12	pfs= pool filter sand terri pot= yes the garden pots, I've read that the clowns use them to spawn. Plus I have some in my fw so it kinda ties the two together

04/16/2016, 11:58 PM	#7
Crumster Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2016 Location: Texas City Posts: 12	yes the pots were new and soaked ok so based on suggestions wishlist cutdown: engineer goby 2 Clownfish (I like the Wyoming White and Snowflake) Fire Shrimp Diamond or tiger watchman goby royal gamma starry blenny Blue chromis neon cleaner or sharknose goby small anemone any other considerations I should take into account to trim my list? anything that I might need to consider in clean up crews or whatnot?

04/17/2016, 08:53 PM	#8
amperidot Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2016 Posts: 28	The engineer goby likes to dig in the sand, so I wouldn't recommend using PFS in your sand or else it could harm him. Make sure you get a good light if you want an anemone, and wait at least 6-8 months to add the anemone to your tank after you have added all the fish. Neon cleaners are really neat but from what I understand they usually starve in a tank since they really only eat parasites that live on your fish, and after those are picked out of the tank they can be difficult to feed. Keep in mind that mated clownfish will mainly stick to their area of the tank but can also be very aggressive in pairs, whereas a single perc or occ will be fairly friendly, so if you chose them I'd probably cut your list down by a fish..probably the gamma since they're aggressive too usually. Add the more aggressive ones last. That's my opinion at least, good luck!