Newbie Setting Up First Tank - Many Questions

[BigEZ77]

Hi All,

I have browsed this forum frequently as of late and am happy to now be a member making my first post. I have some FW experience but have never ventured into salt water and would greatly appreciate some guidance.

I have a JBJ RL-45 on the way with a tunze protein skimmer, a power head, an LED reef light and lots of other items needed to start a tank. The tank is 45 gallons but probably a little less than 40 in the display area. I'm going with 20 lbs of fiji pink live sand and 50lbs of indo live rock. Please feel free to offer any suggestions if you don't think this is the best fit. I didn't want a big tank but did want a little more than a nano to allow a little more room for error. I'm also looking to set up a tank that has very peaceful inhabitants. Here is my projected stocking list...

CUC

-8 trochus snails
-8 cerith snails
-1 skunk cleaner shrimp
-1 blood red fire shrimp
-2 porcelain crabs
(trying to stay away from hermit crabs if possible)

FISH (One of each)

-False clownfish
-Lawnmower Blenny
-Royal Gramma Basslet
-Exquisite firefish (tank has a glass lid)
-Clown Goby
-Banggai Cardinalfish

Would love to hear your thoughts on these choices and/or suggestions for a better mix.

And now, a bunch of other questions lol...


-I think I have a good grasp on cycling the tank, sand and rock for the first time and adding the CUC. For the fish, I've read a lot of posts where its not suggested to add them all at once but nothing that gives a good idea of time lapse in between adding fish or in what order I should add them. Any idea of timeline and order?

-I plan to add the most colorful EASY corals I can. From what I understand, these should be added after the fish (although some disagree) because they need a more established and stable tank than the fish do. I plan to do it this way but have no idea how many I should add? Also, do I need to introduce one at a time like fish? If so, would you suggest specific types, what order to put them in, and how long I should wait between each?

-Amount of food seems to be the hardest thing to get solid information on. I have found the type of food suggested for each but have no idea how often I should feed all these inhabitants or how much I should feed. I've read lots on the dangers of overfeeding and underfeeding. Any idea how much I should feed the inhabitants listed above? Also, any brands of food you would recommend would also be great.

I think that's all I got for now. Hoping to make this first attempt as successful as possible and greatly appreciate any assistance given to achieve that goal.

Thanks!

[davehead86]

If your going to grow corals a glass lid will severely limit your light and your corals. Ditch the lid.

Only feed as much as the fish can eat in 30 seconds. I have to spot feed some fish since they are super timid. I also have to mix in with frozen foods and pellets.

My LFS suggests adding 1 fish a week when you are at that point. I usually wait a little longer. I notice that it takes a couple weeks for my fish to acclimate to the tank (lights, tank mates, feeding schedule, finding their home, etc). I dont QT my fish but i know my LFS and trust them with their procedures. Not everyone can say this, and there are a bunch of way shady LFS. Thats on you but everyone here will say QT the fish. Its gonna take sometime to add the fish, it wont happen in a few weeks either way you do it IMHO.

[BigEZ77]

Thanks for the tips. Will do on the glass lid, and will remove the firefish since I've read that they jump. For feeding, you say whatever they eat in 30 secs, but I have no idea the amount to start at...or even a rough ballpark...or does the food packaging usually offer recommendations?

[Aquageek450]

-I think I have a good grasp on cycling the tank, sand and rock for the first time and adding the CUC. For the fish, I've read a lot of posts where its not suggested to add them all at once but nothing that gives a good idea of time lapse in between adding fish or in what order I should add them. Any idea of timeline and order? in my opinion once the tank is cycled, ad a pair of clowns as your first fish. Once your parameters are in check and are stable you can continue to add the other fish you desire. Just make sure the tank is actually cycled and there is no chance of an ammonia spike.

-I plan to add the most colorful EASY corals I can. From what I understand, these should be added after the fish (although some disagree) because they need a more established and stable tank than the fish do. I plan to do it this way but have no idea how many I should add? Also, do I need to introduce one at a time like fish? If so, would you suggest specific types, what order to put them in, and how long I should wait between each? I would start by adding some Zoa's to the tank as your first coral. They are hardy and come in a variety of colors. Again, once tank parameters are stable you can begin to add other coral. I usually add a pair of clowns fist and then coral.

-Amount of food seems to be the hardest thing to get solid information on. I have found the type of food suggested for each but have no idea how often I should feed all these inhabitants or how much I should feed. I've read lots on the dangers of overfeeding and underfeeding. Any idea how much I should feed the inhabitants listed above? Also, any brands of food you would recommend would also be great. You have two options, frozen food or flakes/pellets. I always thaw the frozen food and rince it in RODI water before dropping it in the tank to prevent the phosphate level in the tank from rising. Mysis is common and Rod's food makes a great variety of frozen foods.

[billdogg]

Rather than use a glass top, build yourself a screen top. It is very easy and inexpensive. You can get the pieces for the frame at HD/Lowes - off the shelf window screen frame, and the clear 1/4" mesh screen from www.bulkreefsupply.com

As for feeding - IMHO, one of the biggest problems people have is OVERFEEDING. Start small. You can always give a bit more. The packages, if they offer any guidance at all, will suggest way too much - they, after all, want to sell you more food!

As for adding fish - PLEASE do yourself and your fish a huge favor and set up a quarantine tank - DO NOT put them straight in to your system. Although you might get lucky, there is a much greater chance that you will introduce a fish at some point with a disease (most commonly Ich) that will require treatment. NONE of the treatments that actually work are reef safe, so you will end up pulling all the fish (if one is sick they all are), treating them in what will now be a Hospital Tank, and leaving the main tank fallow (fishless) for a minimum of 72 days.

hth

[BigEZ77]

Thanks for the additional tips, all helpful. Yes, I have recently been researching quarantine tanks. I definitely plan to get one...just waiting on the stand to come in to see what size of tank I can fit in there.

Does anyone have any thoughts on my CUC list? Is it enough for the size of tank?

[Virtual Balboa]

My advice to a fellow newbie is don't overthink things. Like an exact amount of cuc and don't stress too much. It's easier to run a reef tank than you might think. Take your time and do everything slowly. Keep an eye on parameters especially when you are starting out. Get the proper test kits. Saliferts are nice. You'll want to check salinity, alk, ca, mag, nitrate, phosphate, and nitrite and ammonia during cycling. Salinity doesn't vary that much. An ato will make your life so much easier too. I got sick of manually adding freshwater right away. Like after a couple weeks. Buy an rodi unit if you don't already have one. And stay on top of the water changes. Don't ever add anything you can't test for like 2 part solution. When you mix salt you'll quickly figure out how much to add after you make a batch and test the salinity. Different salt brands have different levels of magnesium, calcium, and alkalinity. You have to figure out the amounts that are in your salt mix. Don't trust the packaging if it says it on there. As you add corals you'll probably need to start adding something to make up for dropping alk, and ca between water changes. So you'll want to test that when you have corals that use it like some lps and sps. I have all softies and lps and add esv bionic every day to keep parameters stable. Add fish slowly and don't overfeed.