Musicman's 40 breeder (1st sw tank!!!)

[Musicmanmoses]

Hello everyone! I moved all of my freshwater fish and plants from my 40 breeder into a 75g last week. I had some live rock cycling in a 10g and I've finally got the 40 breeder set up for salt water! I don't have all the equipment yet, but I'm planning to get the lights and a skimmer over the next few weeks while the tank is cycling. The tank is still really cloudy and I only have about 25 lbs of live / dead rock in the tank so far (though I do plan on getting at least 15 more lbs in the near future). The salinity is at 1.025 right now and the temp is at 79 degrees. I will put up some pics as soon as it clears!

As for an eventual stock, I'm a little torn between two ways I could take the tank. In both scenarios this will mostly have soft corals and zoa's. It's the fish choices I'm stuck on. I either want to just have a dwarf fuzzy lionfish as the only fish in this tank, or a few small fish. Idk yet, but for now I have time to plan!!! Thanks for looking and any suggestions you all might have! :D

 

[Smitty]

Cool...we look forward to seeing it come to life.

 

[little_fish]

Hello and Welcome!

I think a few small fish in a softie reef would be beautiful! But so would a fuzzy :)

 

[Musicmanmoses]

I'm leaning towards the fuzzy!!! Seeing a lionfish for the 1st time as a kid is what got me really interested in saltwater fish!

 

[Musicmanmoses]

I know I promised pictures, but I just wanted to run this by the wonderful people here... before I bought it! I was planning on buying the Reef Octopus Hang on the Back Skimmer OCT BH100 as my skimmer for this tank. It's rated for 60 gallons and thought it would work well! Thanks for any advice and I promise pics will come soon!!!

 

[little_fish]

super awesome skimmer! go for it

 

[Musicmanmoses]

Hey! I finally got some pics ( all be it they're not that great...)!!! The last pieces of equipment I have to get are the lights and some powerheads.

On another note, I started cycling some of the rock for this tank about 2 months ago in a 10g tank. The 10g was fully cycled when I added it into this tank. I did have a mini cycle where the amonia and nitrite spiked a little bit, but I just tested the water and those two read 0ppm, nitrate was between 0 and 5ppm, and the ph is around 8.1 (api test kit). The temp is at 79 degrees and the sg is at 1.025. Barring the lack of powerheads and the lights, are these in the good parameters of a newly cycled tank?

Thanks for looking! :Cheers:

 

[Musicmanmoses]

Also, I have about 35 lbs of rock thus far. I'm looking into getting another 10 or so of dry rock. is there a chance of causing another mini cycle by adding rock as I go? Thanks!

 

[Samhain]

As long as it's dry rock, there's no chance of a cycle. Dry rock has no critters living on it, so no chance of die-off, which is what causes a cycle. Looking forward to watching your build!

 

[Musicmanmoses]

Thanks! I have planted freshwater tanks down to a science, but I'm learning soooo much about sw! Thought it would be better to ask and seem silly than not and do something horribly wrong!!! =)

 

[Samhain]

That's my philosophy! Better to ask a silly question than make a stupid mistake! Or at least that's what I do........

 

[marcah]

no question is a silly question, trust me we have all been there done that in this hobby...:D
Better off asking if you dont know then going out getting the wrong thing and having to replace it later.. there are alot of knowledgable people on this site that are always will to help..

 

[Musicmanmoses]

On that note, I actually just thought of a question or two. What's a good rule of thumb (if one exists) for gph of flow in saltwater tanks? I'm looking into picking up a powerhead or two this weekend and would really appreciate a point in a good direction. There aren't really any lfs's around here, other than petco and petsmart... and the ones here are really only good for buying food... My other question is a mix of a concern and an actual question, lol. My goal is set at soft corals and a dwarf fuzzy lionfish. I'll be adding some life when I'm absolutely certian this tank is fully cycled, but I'm nervous about my 1st saltwater fish being the lionfish. Would it be ok to start out with a chromie to build up my confidence / help my learning curve? I like them and that's a fish that I wouldn't mind having in the tank down the road! Thanks again for all the help thus far!!!

 

[marcah]

for soft corals around turn the tank over about 20 times per hour...
lps 20 to 40 times per hourand sps corals 40 and more... a chromis is a hardy fish that would do fine to start out with...

 

[Musicmanmoses]

Ok, I got my 2 koralia hydor 425gph pumps. I've ordered 2 par 38 bulbs from ecoxotic. Now, I just need to figure out a cuc and an eventual stock list. I like dwarf lionfish, but I've ultimately decided to go with a few smaller colorful fish. Reason being, I think it will be better overall and I would like to keep some shrimp!

I have little idea of a cuc, other than that I need a variety. I'm a little hesitant of any hermit crabs, but only because of hearing that they will kill off snails in search of bigger shells. Would a variety of snails be ok, maybe with one or two emerald crabs?

Other than the cuc, I'm looking at this tank eventually consisting of softies, a pair of clowns, a dwarf angel of some kind, and a dragonett. Four fish total! Thanks again for all the help!!!

 

[Samhain]

Snails, snails, snails! And perhaps a brittle or serpent star would be good. I would stay away from emerald crabs if you're planning on a dragonette. Dragonettes are slow, and emeralds are opportunistic predators of small, slow fish.

 

[little_fish]

+1 Samhain

Having a variety of snails is best because each will target a different type of algae. I would check out reef cleaners.org to see what are different varieties of snails that are good to have in a CUC

 

[Musicmanmoses]

Thanks Samhain & =little_fish! A brittle star actually hitched a ride on one of the pieces of live rock I bought, though I've only seen it's arms darting in and out of the rock work for food! I will do my research on reef cleaners and start pricing a cuc!

 

[Musicmanmoses]

I just ordered the 40 breeder snail crew from reef cleaners!

42 Dwarf Ceriths
15 Nassarius
20 Florida Ceriths
9 Large & 11 Small to Medium Nerites

To me, this seems excessive... but, I'm the one who's learning! =)

 

[Samhain]

Honestly, you rarely see the dwarf ceriths except every once in a while on your glass. They are super duper tiny. So the crew seems excessive, but I've found that their recommendations aren't wrong! You may even need a little more if you're stocking on the heavy side. My favorites so far have been the nerites and the nass. The nass have interesting personalities (it's true, I promise!) and the nerites are just pretty.