My new 55g adopted tank

[HBtank]

Just wanted to say Hi and get some feedback.

I have had freshwater tanks for close to 15 years, though while moving around I have been without my favorite hobby for the last year or so

Well now at the new place I moved into it turns out the old roomate left his very poorly maintained 55g salwater for us to keep, and I have instantly taken over the job of bringing it back to life.

Currently it has a Prizm skimmer (oddly never used, guess he could not figure out how to prime it) that is running now, an emperor 400, and I added a fluval 204 I had for some more water movement and mechanical filtration. It also has about 15-20 pounds of LR (2 months old) that my other roomate had purchased that is doing pretty well considering the poor water quality.

This tank had never had a water change. Nitrates are off the scale.. well they were, and the only inhabitants left were a damsel or two and a banded snake eel.

I have been doing water changes religiously, at least 10% every 3 days, but sometimes 10% every other day. Slowly the Nitrates are coming down.

But just as I start getting the tank looking ok , my roomate (all in good nature) goes and buys a bunch of fish. Your basic predator tank fish... A lion, a grouper, pourcipine and angel fish. All are doing well (except that poor poor nemo the LFS sold with them, his fate was too sad to mention), and I only really am worried about the Koran Angel and hope he lives until he goes. All will go I have decided, even the angel (which I like alot) because I have read too much saying that he would not only be cramped, but may do some damage to some future additions I want.

Anyways. I finally scolded the roomies and have fully taken over. The water changes continue and the Nitrates are slowly coming down.

So now came the splurge. Last week I bought 25 pounds of really nice LR and it is curing as we speak. This weekend I ordered a css 220 (love the price and have seen the results some have gotten from this skimmer) and a 48" 4x65 orbit is on the way.

Soon all the fish will be going leaving only a damsel (his is the oldest and hardiest fish I have ever seen, he deserves it) and 10 hermits (3 good size and 7 small guys). The new live rock and some base rock is going in as soon as I get the light and skimmer up and going.

Next is the plan is a sump (thinking 20-25g) with a refugium. I will then ditch the emperor and canister filters, for sure the 400. But I do like the basic mechanical filtration of the fluval and extra water movement.

Do you think this will be a good enough to get a basic reef tank going? I will be fully researching any new additions, but any suggestions would be a plus. I do know my roomates would love a good clown/anenome combo, any suggestions there? Anything I am missing or should think about.

Of course nothing new is going in until the nitrates go below 10 ppm.

[HBtank]

Oh and thanks for any help and reading my long post

[dwhit0102]

Your starting off great from what it sounds keep up the good work.

Depending on what clown you get

Sebaes-will go to almost any anemone if I'm not mistaking

Maroons-Long tenticles or bubble tips I haven't had a problem getting to go to either one

Tomatos-I've seen them host long tenticles and bubble tips

False Perculas- Have been known to host a variety of things even the neat patch of Xenia my father likes so much

True Perculas-I'm not so sure of for some reason I never thought to find out what they perfer

That's about all I know for clowns hosting anemones

[techigirl78]

Sounding good.

Do you have extra shells for your hermits? As they get bigger they will need them.

Also, be careful of the damsel. They are highly territorial and as you put more in your tank in the way of live rock and such it will be harder to remove it if (i.e. when) it becomes aggressive. Many problems removing damsels if you read posts from other members.

You'll want to make sure your nitrates are at 0 and the tank has been setup as a reef for at least 6 mnths before getting an anemone.

[Sheol]

My A. ocellaris have indeed adopted my Xenia, just at the time I though of culling most of it..

Matthew

[hcahan]

Sounds great. Also, feel free to cull some of your xenia...it will grow back, stuff is a weed.

[cgk29]

techigirl78 is right about the damsel. If you plan on adding larger predator fish in the future the damsel will be ok. The damsel will abuse anything you put in there especially if there is some time that it is the only fish in there.
My suggestion is that while you are rearranging and removing the other fish, take the opportunity to get rid of the damsel as well. I just had to drain down my 75 gallon after trying many methods unsuccesfully to remove 3 of them.

[HBtank]

Thanks for the advice.

Right now the Damsel is in almost permanent hiding. Our blue spotted grouper is a menace and has already gone through seven 3$ fish (all bought by my roomies, after telling them repeatedly that it was just expensive food). It is a yellow tailed damsel, but from what I remember, it was the most dominant and hardy of them all and I might as well ditch him too. I have read about people problems with these guys.

Do I really need to wait 6 monhts...? This tank definately has a live sand/coral bed of 2-3 inches and around 20 pounds of rock that is established, along with the established 400. Once I add the new live rock, CSS 220 and light, then get the Nitrates at least under 5 PPM would I be ok? All I am starting with would be clown/anenome combo, so if anything I am going to be reducing the load by a huge amount.

Planning on adding a bunch of shells for the hermits. Or I could just add a bunch of snails.. right?

Gonna add some pictures for fun tonight.

[Andrew]

Yes, your tank has to be establised to keep an anemone. It will take well over 6 months before you can get an anemone and your tanks old enough. For now, do some research on anemones.

Also,


To Reef Central

[HBtank]

This tank has been running for close to a year, though in bad condition. The only "new" thing would be the additional live rock, which will be cured. Once the nitrates are <5 PPM, what am I waiting for?

Define established.. Guess I am confused. Or maybe impatient..



Thanks for the welcome.

[Andrew]

You do want your nirates are 0 but you want your tank to be old enough to the point where your water levels have been good for awhile and not change alot. Your tank establised when your water quality and water levels have been good and haven't changed from good to bad at any time much. This will take awhile. Your going to have to wait for your tank to become establised. It my take up to a year.

[HBtank]

Hence why I would wait for my nitrates to be at 0-5 ppm consistantly.

Ammonia and Nitrite have been at 0 for awhile. Once any spike from the new rock is done and and Nitrates are at the levels I want, I would call that "established", no?

I guess I see blanket "time limits" as silly, especially when it is a cycled tank with just high nitrates.

[Andrew]

Your tank just have to estblisted only because anemones can be picky with the water and it needs to be perfect for them or they will just end up dieing and your wish you would have waited. Many people add them to a tank thats not estblised and they end up dieing. How do I know, I did it two years ago and learned my lesson.

[HBtank]

Originally posted by Andrew
Your tank just have to estblisted only because anemones can be picky with the water and it needs to be perfect for them or they will just end up dieing and your wish you would have waited. Many people add them to a tank thats not estblised and they end up dieing. How do I know, I did it two years ago and learned my lesson.

Well I am a perfectionist, so it sounds like a job for me...

I will take youre advice...

If I were to test the water quality every other day for everything, for how long would they need to be stable to be established? Lets say there is no change at all for a month, is that still to short?

Also, any suggestions on some fish I could stock it with to keep the cycle going when I get rid of the messy predators in there right now? I really like angels and tangs... but finding reef compatible ones seems to be the tricky part.

[Andrew]

Water levels do have to be good but your tank has to be estblished which takes atleast 6 months. Its where your tank gets good growth and has been set up for awhile. Its not going to take a month or two. Also, you don't want to use fish to cycle your tank or put fish in the tank while the tank is cycling. Tangs aren't the best idea for 55 gallon tanks only because they get rather large and will outgrow a 55 gallon in the future. Getting a full stocking list you want and posting it would help alot because then we can let you know if those fish would be good for your tank.

[HBtank]

That 135 gallon reef ready tank with stand and canopy for $600 bucks at my LFS is looking better every day. Make that 55 gallon into a quarantine tank or something. Damn this hobby, tanks reproduce faster than the fish themselves.

So, no fish to cycle, hmm, what should I use during my long wait?

[Andrew]

The liverock will start the cycle in your tank. You don't want to add fish to the tank durning the cycle. Once the cycle is done and your water levels are good it will be safe to add fish. $600 for a 135 Reef Ready tank is a good deal.

[HBtank]

Originally posted by Andrew
The liverock will start the cycle in your tank. You don't want to add fish to the tank durning the cycle. Once the cycle is done and your water levels are good it will be safe to add fish. $600 for a 135 Reef Ready tank is a good deal.

I think your missing the fact that 1 6 inch blue spotted grouper, 1 5 inch Koran angel, one 4 inch pourcipine puffer, two damsels, a 16 inch banded snake eel and 13 hermits are doing just fine. This is a cycled tank, I think that the bioload created by just 20-25 pounds of new rock would not even compare to what is currently being dealt with (especially since I am curing it in a seperate 30 gallon container and doing water changes every other day)... Remember these fish are going back to the store within the next 2 weeks.

There is no sump ATM so the 400 and canister will be there...

[techigirl78]

Cycle is the time to get the ammonia and nitrite down to 0 and the nitrate as low as possible, 0 for anemones. Once this is done, you can take time and let your tank get established (i.e. stable water parems). During that time, you can keep fish, inverts such as crabs and snails, and some newbie corals. Just remember to go slow. A fish a month is a good rule of thumb.

Try looking at other fish for your 55 beyond angels and tangs. I was dead set on them when I started the hobby as well. They are flashy and draw a lot of attention. But small fish are very interesting as well and much better in your 55. Drawf angels, which could fit in your tank, are not reef-safe. Some people get lucky and have one that leaves corals alone, others have the joy of removing an angel after it picks at something. My suggestion, try looking into the shrimp/goby combos. Similar symbiotic relationship as clown/anemones, but could work in your tank early-on as long as ammonia and nitrite are 0.

[techigirl78]

One other note, does the fluval have the bio-media in it still? This can become a nitrate factory and isn't typically used in reef tanks.

[HBtank]

Originally posted by techigirl78
One other note, does the fluval have the bio-media in it still? This can become a nitrate factory and isn't typically used in reef tanks.

No, just the pads and a bunch of filter floss. I plan on changing it often. Using it more as a filtering powerhead at the moment.

THe 400 does have those wheels, and currently does have media inserts. I plan on ditching the media when i put in the new live rock and I get the good skimmer up and running.

A reef rule of thumb is no media filters right? Just live rock and sand, with a good skimmer, right? And also a refugium is even better?

[Andrew]

Take the bio-wheels out. Adding a fuge can help more and aren't needed but most people have them.

[techigirl78]

Oh forgot, one thing you may want to remember is to keep the media running in the tank for your QT tank. When you QT newcomers, it will help to prevent a cycle if you have an established bio filter to run in it.

Otherwise, yes, most reef tanks don't have the media running as it can trap detritus and such and produce nitrate problems.

[HBtank]

Ahh that poor RBTA anenome, I should have listened! I was a stupid newbie!

Never stayed put and after one encounter with my in-tank heater (and fully re-growing) it got happy "foot" again and found Mr. Powerhead. Almost had another life... but alas it did not make it.

I did get it after 3 months, a credit to my ability to have half the patience needed in this hobby.

R.I.P RBTA. One of the nicest (and toughest) I have seen.