noob chronicles.....planning

[SaltyDog143]

Ok decided I am going to name these the chronicles, why? Well why not?

so to recap, we have our tank 120ga, sump aprox 50gal, with divider compartments, steel stand coming next week, we have researched and planned for fish and corals and so far here is what we have come up with

fish we like and want -
- bicolor blenny
- red elongated dottyback
- Ocellaris clownfish
- one spot foxface
- yellowtail damselfish
- mandarin dragonette, one day way down the road
- and dont forget the cleaner crew of snails, hermit crabs, and maybe a starfish or two

corals we like and want -
- ricordea (mushroom)
- zanthus (polyps)
- euphyllia (lps)
plus other soft corals to host such things as the clowns and maybe a crab

Almost evrything we see that we like falls into the "beginner" category, so we are really cool with that. This should mean that we dont need super strong current, super strong lights, and not overy aggressive fish, which are reef safe.

Aquascaping, the idea in our heads is to do a lagoon or C shaped corals with the opening of the C facing the front of the tank with some hidy holes and caves as well as someruns through from front to back, we also want to keep a nice swin run behind the back for free movement.

with current flow around this my thoughts are to add 4 smaller powerheads instead of two larger so that we can direct flow better around and through our structure.

for lighting I am thinking led, just one set for now and add a second one later as demands start to rise, I am guessing it will be a couple months before we ever add fish or corals so not critical just yet, hell we havent got rock yet, we are still planning.

thoughts on a skimmer, well, not my strong suit here but the route I am thinking is possbly a reef octopus classic 150 int, according to the manufacturer specs should do 120gal even under heavy load, it is fairly inexpensive @ $225, gets good reviews, but the trade off is that it isnt very quiet. Our sump is set up with an 8" reservoir where the sump will fit so some of the other skimmer wont work as they require deeper water.

so this is my plan so far, what do you all think? Please pipe in and tell me I'm on track or I'm a fool, I have big shoulders I can handle it. Btw if you tell me a fool, please tell me why, lets at least be constructive in our name calling, lol

[reefwars]

plan seems fine , although avoid dottybacks they are terribly aggressive

as for the skimmer and its depth recommendations....take it as just that a recommendation and not an exact depth point, most even say 7-11" lol

alot of skimmers work fine in 8" of water and even less

[Dearth]

Dragonettes I would steer away from until you have a mature tank and a reliable food source for them lots of beginners get them because they are colourful but then unwittingly kill them because they are specialized eaters.

Dottybacks are notorious for being aggressive however as you have such a large tank they will most likely have their own area that will be theirs and might leave your other fish alone

Have you considered Cardinal fish, gobies, wrasses?

As to coral I suggest staying away from Zenia, Anthelias, Kenya trees they all look pretty but can quickly overtake your tank and all three are virtually bomb proof they can live through stuff that can kill everything else

Frogspawn and hammer coral are easy to care for and can add colour to your tank but need space as they can kill other coral with their tentacles

I also suggest checking out www.liveaquaria.com if you have already not done so it's a very good site to visit and even experienced reefers visit it it's basically the ABC's of fish, coral, inverts

[SaltyDog143]

Dragonette is for years down the road, not until I get a good grasp on what I am doing. Live aquaria is where I have done lots of my research, and on here. Wrasses I love the look of but for now i dont want to put a cover on my tank and they are notorious jumpers, but we will see down the road. Cardinals, yes i have considered but we had to choose between cardinal, damselfish and Chromis, wife really likes the look of the Damsels, so they won out.

When it comes to corals, our prerequisite is, easy care, colorful and maybe host things like clowns or crabs.

[spit.fire]

The elongated dottyback isn't generally as aggressive as other dottybacks but you probably won't see it much In a larger tank

[albert_dao]

Can confirm the elongate being less belligerante.

[tlhood]

Check out springer's damsel (aka sapphire damsel).

I have one in my 30g with my 2 clowns, a ywg, and a purple firefish, and he is the star of the show, and not aggressive at all. From my research, springer's damsels are one of the least aggressive of the damsels. They are super bright and beautiful too.

This is Stu, my springer's.

[Dearth]

I am a big fan of crabs others are not but there are a few choices out there but be mindful that even though most species are considered reef safe they are omnivorous and if not well fed can potentially start munching other things as well

Some crabs that are popular choices

-Standard blue legged and red legged hermits these are the standard cleanup crew
-large blue legged hermits get up to about 2" in size
-Halloween hermit crabs colourful colouring
-pompom crabs and porcelin crabs harmless decortitive
-emerald or green crab known to eat bubble algae but has been known to eat coral and slower moving inverts
-arrow crab primary food source is bristle worms but has been known to attack slow moving or sleeping fish and shrimp


It's only a small list of a much larger crab community but are generally the more popular crab species to keep

[SaltyDog143]

Hi everyone, thanks for the reply's and opinions

a trip to Edmonton on saturday and a visit to big Al's helped us empty some of the wallet and we brought home a new JNS skimmer, I have to say I liked the look of the skimmer in action, liked the adjustability of it, liked the footprint with the internal pump and the price was within budget....or maybe I am a sucker for a good sales pitch, either way we have our skimmer, picked up a powerhead, refractometer, and a couple buckets of salt.

Hooked up with a fellow member on here in Lloydminster and picked up his used gen2 radion xr30 at a pretty good deal, we will need a second for our 120gal, but lots of time for that later. After a discussion with him on powerheads I have looked into the Jebao rw series, and from what I see, I am impressed, think I may return my hydor and purchase one or two of these instead, anyone have any experience with them? I am thinking one rw-8 for the time being, should get enough flow in a 48"x24"x24" to get my rock started?

so we are one step closer to starting this little adventure, been fun and informative so far, next step, a proper pump.......gonna have a 5' lift from my sump to top of tank so gonna need something with some power I am thinking.

til next time
Randy

[reefwars]

Originally Posted by SaltyDog143

Hi everyone, thanks for the reply's and opinions

a trip to Edmonton on saturday and a visit to big Al's helped us empty some of the wallet and we brought home a new JNS skimmer, I have to say I liked the look of the skimmer in action, liked the adjustability of it, liked the footprint with the internal pump and the price was within budget....or maybe I am a sucker for a good sales pitch, either way we have our skimmer, picked up a powerhead, refractometer, and a couple buckets of salt.

Hooked up with a fellow member on here in Lloydminster and picked up his used gen2 radion xr30 at a pretty good deal, we will need a second for our 120gal, but lots of time for that later. After a discussion with him on powerheads I have looked into the Jebao rw series, and from what I see, I am impressed, think I may return my hydor and purchase one or two of these instead, anyone have any experience with them? I am thinking one rw-8 for the time being, should get enough flow in a 48"x24"x24" to get my rock started?

so we are one step closer to starting this little adventure, been fun and informative so far, next step, a proper pump.......gonna have a 5' lift from my sump to top of tank so gonna need something with some power I am thinking.

til next time
Randy

Your one power head is fine for movement while cycling for sure


Flow rate, turnover rate


Flow rate is the amount of flow in your display , it's not pinpoint but a general guideline as to what corals need for movement in the display.

Softies - 20x
Lps and mixed reef - 50x
Sps- 75 x

To figure the flow rate which is ,what corals need to aquaria nutrients and shake off particulate and detritus , take the total of your display and times it by the number above.

If your shooting for sps for example then go 120g x 75 = 9000gph

All the items that provide flow should add up to about this , power heads , return pumps , hang on back filters etc. all provide a little bit of flow. This is just a guideline not a pinpoint guarantee.


Turnover rate


This is the amount of water that flows through the sump and back to the display. Too much and water passes by filtration and doesn't get filtered enough , too little and not enough filtered way makes it to the display and you may also not keep temp up above.

Most people shoot for 6x , this would be done in total water volume so tank + sump and displace sand and rock, times this number by about 6 to get a starting turnover rate. If you have a 120g and a 50g sump that's 170 or about 140 after rock displacement x6 so a return of about 850g after head pressure is needed at the minimum. I always go larger as I add reactors to my return pump and keep a few spares in case I ever need them (manifold return line)

Don't use my numbers but calculate your own