170 gallon tank for newbie...suggestions?

[laura270380]

Hi Guys & Girls,

The hubby has decided he would like too keep fish again. This time however he has decided he is going to keep saltwater fish....never having kept salt water fish before as you can imagine I have some concerns especially with him starting out with a such a large tank.

Anyways decision made, he has bought a "bargain"....we are looking to collect the already established tank in less than a week!

I know this doesn't give me much time to read up....so I am hoping to skip some of the pages of text (in the books I have found) and gain valuable knowledge from people with experience...... this is where you come in

I would appreciate any information you can give us!

Laura

 

[Fishmonger70]

Read all the stickies. that should get you started anyway

 

[KahluaZzZ]

i second that opinion.

Also...less than a week ? Getting an established tank can be a challenge even for experienced aquarists, and moving all the livestock unbalances the params.
I would prepare a lot of new filtered water. BTW don't throw out all the water from this guy's tank, better use some container and get a good % of the original water to reduce the shock. The tank..had substrate in it ? (sand, crushed coral) or was barebottom (no substrate)...not talking about the rocks, only substrate.

 

[laura270380]

umm whats a stickie? yup crushed coral/sand at the bottom. have a 4 foot tank which we be setting up during the week. I read that 50% of original water would be best to keep...does this sound about right?

 

[raymond2688]

the stickys are at the beginning of this forumn. they are the first articles on the page
alot of good info.