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newbie question

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biggz2282

hey guys ...

im new to saltwater and new to this awesome website ...

i just started a 65g fowlr setup that a friend of mine helped me set up ... i was given a bunch of free stuff and i was wondering if you guys could give me some feedback on what i should do

equipment
tank 65g...dimensions of a regular 75 but has a built in wetdry in the back
seclone 100 protein skimmer
and a aquaclear 50 with just carbon in it...(i was told to do this)

inhabitants...
2 large 3 stripe damsels...i used these guys to cycle the tank
20 lbs of live rock.... also used to cycle tank
and about 5 hermits

once the tank cycled my friends decided to "hook me up"
and i was given the fish that they didnt want anymore
so i was forced to adopt
1 algae blenny about 2.5 in.
1 cleaner shrimp
1 sail fin tang about 6in.
1 queen angelfish about 4.5in ...she's a juvie thats almost full adult coloration

now i like the queen ..but i think my tank is too small for it but i want to keep it..trying to upgrade to at least a 125 very soon...i dont like the sailfin cause its crazy messy..algae blenny and cleaner definitely stay,
and my other half...(girlfriend who is also into fish) wants to add a flame angel cause she thinks it shouldnt be a problem cause the queen and flame are different genus of angels

i know i need to add alot more liverock (and am looking for some ...i have a nice sailfin tang in case anyone wants to trade..lol)

what else would you guys recommend????
please be gentle as i am a newb. . .
 
Hawkeye

Hawkeye

WELCOME to NJRC!

Nice friends! The choices wouldn't have been my preference but we make do with what we can get right?

First you have to ask yourself what you envision the tank to be.

If you come up with "a tank with LR and fish" - then let's go from there:

A FOWLR (fish only with live rock) will typically have ammonia and nitrite at undetectable levels and nitrates pretty high (though whatever you can do to keep it down a bit will help).

In terms of equipment - I would suggest the following if you don't have it yet:
refractometer (to measure salinity)
heater
additional powerheads (perhaps a koralia) to help reduce the chance of algae
a better skimmer - or a lot more lr. Even with a lot more LR I'd recommend a better skimmer.

In terms of livestock -
you may want to invest in more snails/CUC to help battle algae
I think the sailfin moving to a bigger tank is a good idea.

Did I meet you at the meeting? I recall meeting two guys who had new 75 tanks.
 
MikeNapoli

MikeNapoli

Sounds like you're doing pretty good.

Are you thinking about doing corals? The angel wouldn't be good in a reef tank unless it was an SPS (small polyp stony) tank. But you have a potential reef if you ever get lighting.

If you wanted to get rid of the Aquaclear and get a phosban reactor you can stuff that with carbon as well.

What kind of water flow do you have in there other than the returns/aquaclear... any powerheads. If not I would recoment 2 Koralia 3's maybe or 2 Maxijet 1200's with the sureflow modification. Up to you on the brand either one is good.

You could add some snails for cleaning also.

My advice would be just to keep reading everything that you can and you'll get the hang of it.

Right now you're not doing anything bad/wrong except the small lack of live rock which isn't a big issue.

Welcome to the club and good luck with the tank.

P.S. this club loves pictures!!
 
A

AnDom1

Hi And Welcome To NJRC

Definitely need a heater, a nitrate test kit and a way to measure salinity (a refractometer is best).

If you plan to add more, large or "messy eating" fish, then you should upgrade the skimmer and add internal water movement as Phil suggests. Adding a little more LR will also help.

In any case, getting the better/additional equipment and LR now will make the upgrade to a larger tank easier especially if you decide to keep some corals as well.

Adding a Flame Angel should be OK as long as there are a few places where it can hide until it can get adjusted to its new home.

Dom
 
B

biggz2282

hey guys thanks for the quick responses...

there is a heater in the tank already... keeping temp at 79-80 degrees

i've been using a corallife deep six hydrometer,but i'll look into getting a refractometer

i definitely see the tank as a fish only tank with live rock ...with emphasis on highlighting the beauty
of its inhabitants...maybe adding some macro algae to give it a bit of diversity and more naturalism

i'm in the process of looking for some more live rock so if anyone knows of some decent priced live rock
please let me know ... by the way how many pounds do you guys think i need in total?

the skimmer i will try to hold out on a bit... my tank is very limiting space wise and i can only use hang on type skimmers
 
B

biggz2282

the sailfin was up for grabs til about 10 minutes ago when some one came to pick it up ...sorry

update...

sailfin gone,

got a koralia ...planning on getting a second one by next week...

still looking for some live rock....anyone?..please!

added a second cleaner shrimp...couldnt help it... its awesome when
the angel lets them climb on her and clean her

thats it for now

looking for a flame angel if anyone has one or knows where to get them
all the lfs by me have them at like $70...which is steep cause the same fish store had
them for $40 a month ago

also what other fish would you guys recommend???..looking for something hardy and that
can hold its own with my queen

pics soon to come
 
MikeNapoli

MikeNapoli

biggz2282 said:
still looking for some live rock....anyone?..please!
Click to expand...

Have you checked our ForSale Thread ... keep checking and someone is bound to post it. Not everyone selling rock will look to this post.
 
B

biggz2282

i constantly check the for sale/trade thread...

but no one is ever within a reasonable driving distance
but im keeping my fingers crossed
 
B

biggz2282

teaser pic 1

IMAGE_030.jpg
 
B

biggz2282

yea ...at first she wouldnt let them get near her ...
but now she just lets them do their thing. . . .

oh yea ...sorry for the bad pics...couldnt find the charger to my cam...
so i had to use my camera phone
 
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