New 10 Gallon, (Recurring Theme)

[OCCFan023]

yeai really want the 96, i want the 130 for the dual bulbs but I cant see that happening, but i wish the 96 wouldnt go over 100 with tax but it does.


I have decided to do a FOWLR tank, So I see no difference between the 65 watt and 36 watt. Since wattage wont be as much of an issue, will the difference between the 36 and 65 effect coraline growth on the live rock? Since I will not have any coral I would like coraline growth to be pretty good, does lighting playing a major effect on this?

 

[1979camaro]

true, the difference in wattage will not matter for LR...lower lighting generally promotes coraline growth provided it is of the proper spectrum.

you can still get some nice inverts and such to keep in a low light tank

 

[OCCFan023]

I just ordered the 36 watt light. Im going to run the bulbs it comes with then when it runs out I will check on the bulbs that you can use with it, and ask which ones you reccomend I use with it. I also ordered a 100 watt Ebo-Jager heater so now im just waiting for the packages to come *celebrate

 

[OCCFan023]

also when I get all my packages and stuff, would it be ok to put like 2-3 inches of playsand in the tank and do all of the water changes so the waters clear, and then buy my live rock. Camaro you had told me it would be better to put the liveorck on the glass bottom and get it stable and put sand around it, but would it be ok if I did it the other way?

 

[lordroad]

I added the sand first. Things are so far so good. I really buried the rock down and made it all stable... the problem with adding the rock later is it getting undermined by burrowing critters like crabs.

 

[1979camaro]

yep, lordroad has it right about the sand. my first tank i didn't know what i was doing and i just put the rock on the sand and it led to problems down the road with stuff collapsing. as long as you bury it down to the glass there is not a problem with stability, however if your rock is uncured and there is significant die off it will be much easier to clean the tank w/out sand in there. you shouldn't have to worry about cloudiness too much if you add the sand after as long as you put your water in carefully and wash off the sand

i wouldn't reccomend using play sand either...tends to cause algae blooms from silica

 

[OCCFan023]

I got my first package from Bigals today which contained my two powerheads (perfect size, im very happy with them) and my test kit and a new thermometer. I also returned that heater and got a chance to look at my LFS selection of fish and everything. I was looking and found the skunk shrimps which I have been hell bent on getting for a while, their a little pricy at about 34$. I wanted to get two but I am thinking probably one to start off with and maybe a second later if two will even fit my tank. The Percula (sp???) clown fish were a nice size and about 29 bucks and which I will get two. I was looking at live rock and they had tonga cured live rock for 7.99 lbs, which I will get, but then they had this stuff called Marshall Island live rock for 12.99 per lbs, is Marshall Live Rock something special? Also i saw some gobies and such is their anyway I could have more than 2 clowns in my tank like a third fish along with 1-2 skunk shrimps.

Also I was looking at their inverts and was having trouble trying to picture how to assemble a clean up crew. Should i just buy random crabs, snails, ect to make a clean up crew. They had some emrald crabs (their emrald crabs were like mutalated though all of them were like torn up missing legs and claws except like one, a sally light foot crab, and random snails like bumble bee snails.

Im gonna go put the powerheads in the tank, it serves no purpose but I just want to make sure my surge protectors working after the heater incident. Also is their any specific way I should position my powerheads, im gonna put them across from each other on the side walls like tilted toward the middle of the tank instead of wat each other, is their anwy way you suggest differently?

 

[1979camaro]

your powerhead alignenment sounds fine. you want them to flow through all the live rock more than anything else.

marhsall island live rock tends to be more gnarly and decorative looking than tonga which is why it commands a higher market price

$34 for a cleaner is ridiculous

i would stick with the two clowns in your ten gallon

the cleanup crew creation process is not random. you definitely want to go in with a plan. generally, they consist of a few small hermits and some snails and thats about it in nanos. i would sbe leary of putting an emerald in a ten and i would definitely stay away from the sally lightfoot...and for sure don't my anything which has been maimed. the thing to look at is what types of algae snails/crabs eat and try to cover all your bases.

 

[OCCFan023]

Yea I thought the 34$ for a cleaner was crazy, I think I may just be a jerk and buy on of the skunk shrimps because their amazing (idk why this store jacks up the price so much...)

O yea i was wondering how much Live Rock I should have (ill be getting the tonga cured). The tanks 16 gallons (i think i forgot to add this to this thread that i chnaged to a 16 gallon instead of a ten)

 

[OCCFan023]

I think what Im going to do is when i get my water temperature up and can get a reading of salinity and sg to my likeing I will go out and get 8lbs of Live Rock and get it stable on the bottom glass and have it sit their for a good time to get all the dead stuff off, then as soon as I can get 8 more pounds to finish the live rock and then have that sit in the tank and get all the dead gunk off and Ill be set.

After the 16 pounds of Live Rock (is this a adequite amount of live rock for a 16 gallon, or do I need more) I will add my sand, I havent decided on weather or not to get argonite saltsand or like Southdown tropical play sand (or any play sand in general) and put that in and let it sit for a day and le tit settle then do some water changes to clear it up.

 

[1979camaro]

16 pounds should be plenty, but remember desnity matters. the lighter the stuff the better. mostly, in a tank this small with a small bioload, you want it too look good to you. even 10 pounds is probably plenty. hopefully, since you are buying locally, you will get cured LR so you won't have any die off at all

 

[OCCFan023]

When you say that the lighter the better, do you mean like larger peices that are less in weight are better then the same size peice that weights more, or like small peices in size that weight less then a bigger pecie in size that weights more (I hope that makes sense). Im guess that the larger peices that weigh less have more holes and such in them that create more surface area, I could be way off but thats what Im thinking.

What I was thinking since you said that even 10 lbs of live rock would be enough (I saw that you said alot of people tend to "overrock" their tanks so this is good news, that maybe Ill get 5 pounds of tonga, then 5 more at a latter date, and get it all set up, then buy some Marshall Island live rock (not as much) since its real cool looking and would look awsome in a tank. Is is ok to mix to mix live rock? COuld I have the tonga live rock and some marshall island live rock in the same tank? (also the Tonga is cured so dieoff hsouldnt be a problem, im not sure about the Marshall island but im like 95% sure it would come cured like the tonga)

and o yea, I see you got a new avatar. looking good *thumbsup2

 

[1979camaro]

you are right about the density thing: if you have two pieces of equal size the one with less mass (thus less density) is better

as far as mixing types of rock you certainly can...if you really like the marshall i would reccomend just buying all marshall...for a tank of that size the cost difference is minimal

props to you for noticing the avatar...i was going through some old pics and found it so i popped iton

 

[OCCFan023]

After I get my clean up crew settled in, which will consist of some snails and hermits (and atleast one Skunk Shrimp) I was thinking about a stocking list. I am planning on 2 clown fish (either 2 Ocellaris Clownfish, or 2 True Percula Clownfish, I havent decided on which one yet.) I know you told me earlier that I should stick with the 2 clownfish, but would it be ok to have the two clownfish and a Royal Gramma Basslet. I was reading they have a very peaceful personality, and are very nice (as long as they arent with others of their own kind). I think this is doable or is this just totally gonna overstock my tank and create a deathtrap.

 

[1979camaro]

i wouldn't do it but it is undoubtably doable with proper maintenance...im notorious for not filling up my tanks just because i think it is easier to manage a tank which is understocked rather than one which is so full that a couple little problems could send it over the edge...

 

[wayne]

The gramma could be nice , but could be nasty. I have a 6 line wrasse that is similar in character and mine is wickedly aggressive. You have to see.

I would strongly advise thinking hard before buying your live worck, and then buying only 3 or 4 large pieces rather than lots of little bits - it makes the aquascaping a ton easier.

29 dollars apiece seems a lot for common clowns - sure you want them? You might try to get hold of one of the more peaceful pseusochromids, but know they will cost a bit. How about a dwarfdwarf angel and a bicolor blenny?

 

[1979camaro]

$29 each is about what i would expect for true perculas...ocellaris maybe more lik $15 to $20 each

 

[OCCFan023]

I was looking at some pictures of dwarf angels and was very intrigued, Im gonna think hard about a stocking list. This clean up crew is still on the back of my mind. The cleaners they had were really odd and such and assembling them is gonna be slow, Im probably gonna go their and get some small snails and crabs and see if I can convince them to give me a deal on hem all together. Ill probably have to order the dwarf angels if I decide to go with them. My light is scheduled to come tommorow along with my heater so Ill be ready for live rock shorty W000000000t, and my heater will allow me to take a hydrometer reading with warm (79 degrees water) that ive been wanting to take since friggen last like last monday... With the live rock I think I may get some like good big sized peices of tonga live rock like 7+ pounds and then get cool looking Marshall Island live rock to add to the decor and aquascaping presence. Ill post back tommorow after my light and heater comes to let you know if this heater actually works lol, and tell how the light looks (after much deliberation on which one to go with, still wish i had the 130, but its all good, ill deal with the low lights, still look cool )

 

[1979camaro]

you should check with your LFS about adding a fish to their shipment before you order online...most LFS choose what to recieve on a weekly basis so ordering something special is generally not a problem and they should not charge you for shipping or anything.

also, i think your tank might be a bit small for a dwarf angel because they tend to be pretty active scavengers but you know me

 

[wayne]

I agree abouit the size - it will have to be an argi, acanthops, flavicaudala or similar very small angel. A flame would be pushing it(too much for my liking), and bicolour, eibliis or similar far too big.