Brand new Salty :D

[Ballyhoo]

Hi everyone!
I'm 20yrs old and a college student at Meredith College Raleigh NC. I'm in the process of setting up my first salt water aquarium!

I purchased a 75gal drilled tank with an overflow, sump, plumbing and lighting for 200$ on Craigslist and I am excited to set up my first SW tank!

I have kept freshwater fish for going on 8 years now and have 6 FW tanks currently.

and of course everyone's favorite part... pictures!
Empty tank.

Lighting...one half of each bulb is blue when turned on.

I'm still hunting a sump...have no idea what I should be looking for in one though.

 

[BL1]

Congrats on the tank. Welcome to the site and a great hobby!

 

[Bifferwine]

Hello and welcome! That is going to be a great tank. You will need a new light if you plan on keeping corals or photosynthetic inverts. Most people start with fish only tanks, then gradually save up for lights and move into corals later on.

 

[Ballyhoo]

I was planning on a Moray eel of sorts. A snowflake or skeletor. I read that they don't do well in reef tanks, they eat fleshy corals and such, and are nearly blind so don't need a large light.

 

[BL1]

snowflake eels can safely be kept in reef tanks, it's been done by others on this site.

 

[Ballyhoo]

I didn't know that. I was told that it wasn't possible. That makes me happy to know though :D

 

[BL1]

here's an article about reef safe eels A Serpent For Your Reef Tank: A Look at Fish-Safe Eels by Frank Marini, Ph.D. - Reefkeeping.com

 

[Ballyhoo]

Thank you!
To what kind of lights should I upgrade?

 

[Smitty]

Hello and welcome top the site...glad to have you. :)
Look into a 6 bulb T-5 light fixture, preferably with independent reflectors.

 

[Ballyhoo]

I hadn't looked into any lights because i was under the impression that the light that came with the tank was adequate

 

[yote]

Welcome aboard.
The light you have is fine for a FOWLR tank.Fish dont have to have a whole lot of light.
For the Eels.its not corals you have to worry about them eating.Its the shrimp and small fish they'll go after.While they will have trouble catching a fish when the lights are on,they become efficient predators at night.BUt the biggest problem with Eels in a reef,is they are bad about knocking stuff over.

 

[Ballyhoo]

I'm planning a PVC skeleton of tubes that have elbow bends at various hights and then forming the live rock around that. That way there is a cave system, structure or rocks and if I have to remove him from the tank I can get him into the pipes, cap the ends and lure him out one cave and into a net.

 

[ErinCahir]

I just got a snowflake eel for my reef tank Saturday. Doing well so far. I'm sure everyone will hear if he starts acting up. We've fed him twice already (I have a couple smallish fish I'm worried about) and he's blind as crap but super fun to watch. No problems with the corals other than him crawling across my zoas. But they came right back out.