Solana 34G reef tank setup - what corals/fish?

[Saltybee]

Hello everyone,

I'm new to saltwater fish keeping and after researching online for over a year I finally decided to start a new SW tank. Any help will be greatly appreciated.

I purchased a 34G Solana tank set with 150W HQI pendant, 31 lbs Fiji & 6 lbs Indo live rock, Instant Ocean salt, 30lbs Fluval Vuetech 100W heater last week.

So I started my tank 4 days ago and was told by my LFS to use tap water first and later use RO/DI is possible. I added live rock, 20lbs of aragonite sand and ran the tank skimmer and pump.

I noticed yesterday after reading Myka's guide in this forum that I made a slight mistake, I should've used RO/DI water first, not to put the sand together with the live rock.

Here are my water test results done at night time:

Salinity = 1.025 Temp = 78 to 79 F

Oct 5, 2009: Ammonia = 0 ppm; PH = 8.3; Nitrite = 0 ppm; Nitrate = between 0 & 5 pmm

Oct 6, 2009: Ammonia = 0 ppm

Oct 7, 2009: Ammonia = 0 ppm

Now I will have to wait for another week and test the nitrite and ammonia, if I’d get 0 ppm then I will add small cleanup crew.

Here are my questions:

1.Do I have to check for nitrate as well before I add the cleanup crew?
2.How many would you recommend and what kind?
3.Didn’t buy any power heads yet, any suggestions? Would 1 Maxi-Jet 600 with Sure Flow 1600 mod be sufficient or should I get 2?
4.Do you recommend me to take the each live rock and scrub them with a plastic brush or just leave them alone?
5. Oh, I also added Kent Marine Purple Tech – 3ml each time advised by LFS and did it 3 times. I think I should stop adding this until after the cycling is complete, correct?
6.Any suggestions for what type of corals should I keep, easy to keep?

Again thanks for looking and any suggestions please advise.

Regards,
Saltybee

[SeaHorse_Fanatic]

I think you need the Maxijet1200 not 600 to make the SureFlow1600 impeller work.

I would just go with the Hydor Koralia 3 or 4 for your size tank. It comes with its own magnet already. By the time you mod the MJ1200, with the SF1600 & the Sure Grip Magnets, it'll cost more than the HK4 already.

Don't bother adding a large number of cleaner crew critters. The hermits will often kill the snails for their shells. I would just get a few snails & a couple of hermits to start off with, but don't really need much until you have fish in the tank anyways.

Pagoda or Cup corals are nearly bullet-proof. I would start with a few softies, like mushrooms & zoas to add colour & life. Then when you are more comfortable, add some LPS.

Anthony

[naesco]

1.Do I have to check for nitrate as well before I add the cleanup crew?
2.How many would you recommend and what kind?
3.Didn’t buy any power heads yet, any suggestions? Would 1 Maxi-Jet 600 with Sure Flow 1600 mod be sufficient or should I get 2?
4.Do you recommend me to take the each live rock and scrub them with a plastic brush or just leave them alone?
5. Oh, I also added Kent Marine Purple Tech – 3ml each time advised by LFS and did it 3 times. I think I should stop adding this until after the cycling is complete, correct?
6.Any suggestions for what type of corals should I keep, easy to keep?

1. No
2. Do not add any hermit crabs. They are carnivorses. Add two or three small snails (not bumblebee as they are carnivores. Add them after the tank cycles.
3. No recommendations
4. Leave the rock alone. It will sprout lots of life that you want to keep in your tank. Observe the changes daily and in the evening when the lights are out.
5. Stop adding it. Any additives are a waste of money until your future tests tell you what you need after you have added coral.
6. Mushrooms are the easiest. Tiny frags of LPS. polyps and zoas.
Do not add any fish until a month after your tank cycles and add only one fish per month as your tank is small.
Look at www.wetwebmedia.com to see easy fish for the size of your tank and ask here before you buy.
Success depends on going really slow. Remember LFS are in the business of selling fish coral, and, lots of stuff you don't need.
Good luck

[Saltybee]

I will in this case go for Koralia 3 as 4 is too big.

Thanks Anthony and Naesco, I'll follow your recommendations and will do some more research on the corals and fish. In the mean time I'll have to shop around for bargains on Koralia 3 and power centre with timer or I'll use a surge protector and add 1-2 timers for my pendant & smth else.
I'll be back with pics of my tanks and progress of my setup.

Thanks,
SB

[Eyford01]

I agree about the shrooms and zoas as good starters however I might disagree about the hermits, I love my little guys and have never had a problem with them possibly due to the fact that they get enough to eat and have a ton of empty shells available, and as for fish if you want a few ideas check out this link

http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=74703

[Saltybee]

Thanks for the great link Eyford01, that's awesome.

[Saltybee]

I found a small polyp on my LR and since day one I thought it was nice and something came out so fast during the cycling process. Up until 2 days ago I was surfing the net and found the exact pics of what I got and it's an Aiptasia. Yesterday I went to my LFS and asked for Joe's Juice and the guy there said that J's J is not as good as Aiptasia X from Red Sea and so I bought it at $19.99 plus tax.

So my plan today is to take the infected live rock out and put it in pale and use Aiptasia X to eliminate it.

Now I am not sure if that aiptasia has released any seedlings all over my tank, this I hope not.:neutral:

Does anyone have any suggestions, whether I should quarantine the live rock for a while, or make it dry rock, or add something to the tiny hole where the aiptasia is?


Thank you.

[Eyford01]

aptasia when it popped up in my tank got toasted, MUAHAHAHAHA no seriously though i either took a mini butane torch to it if i could get the rock out or boiling water and a syringe if i couldn't but i wasnt gentle and have only seen one since the first couple monthes i've had my tank when i went on my evil rampage:twised: oh and now he's also toast... literally, although if you wanna be on the safe side i'd suggest quarentine over drying or boiling just to keep from having to reseed the rock which can take over a month

[Saltybee]

Hehe, that's what I did. After using Aiptasia X inside the pail, I chiseled out the part where the aiptasia's root was then rinsed half side of rock with hot water. I put that rock back in the tank and changed 25% of water. Let's hope I won't see any of them anymore.

Wish I could buy Berghia nudibranch, but can't find them in my area.