New tank build, first time saltwater

[cdmckinzie]

So I'm finally starting a new tank post. My hubby, David and I (Chris) have started gathering the equipment we need. He needs to fix and paint the stand and clean up the 150g used tank we got. We have a Sea Side Aquatics protein skimmer with a Sicce PSK1000 pump, a 72" Current Orbit Marine IC Loop led light and we are going to get 2 eflux wave pumps, I'm not sure what pump he has for the return but he has one [emoji3] , salt, sand and about 80 pounds of dry rock, we'll be getting about the same amount of live rock when the tank is ready to be filled. We still need to get an Aquatic Life twist in 100gpd ro/di and a sump/refugium. And set up a qt tank. I have a few questions though. How many fish can I start out with when the tank is cycled and water parameters are good? What should the water parameters safely be before adding fish? What chemicals, meds. etc. should I have on hand. Is there anything that needs to be added to the tank while cycling? Any help and information would be greatly appreciated! Thank you. Hmm, I'm not sure how to add photos to this post, I clicked on save and copy and it saved an extra pic of what I was trying to add then put a link on here so I hope you can actually see them [emoji15]

 

[cdmckinzie]

Yah! They did show Up! The first shot is a really bad pic of our tank, sorry, low light in garage.

 

[Jason mack]

Wow .. cool .. welcome too R2R ... new builds are always exciting for us all ... even if it's from someone else .. happy reefing ...

 

[cdmckinzie]

Thanks! Did I post this in the right thread, member tanks?

 

[Jason mack]

Thanks! Did I post this in the right thread, member tanks?

Erm no I think you posted in new too saltwater.. but I'm sure it doesn't matter .. I'm sure the moderators can bump it for you

 

[Reef2zach]

Before adding any fish, I'd start with a clean up crew. Snails and crabs. Get a healthy variety of each. For a 150 gallons your gonna need quite a few. Don't be surprised if a crew Costs 150 to 200 bucks. Rule of thumb is a snail per gallon I believe. Good luck and remember to take your time with this hobby. Patience is very important!

 

[cdmckinzie]

Yeah, I know it will be 4-6 weeks before fish are added. When should I add the cuc

 

[Jason mack]

You can add your clean up crew once you get a diatom bloom from the cycle and if your tank parameters are good
e.g. Ammonia, nitrite ,nitrate

 

[Mako_SnowflakeEel]

I have a 5" snail

 

[cdmckinzie]

Cool. I thought you didn't want diatoms in your tank, you're saying I will or should get them. What if I dont

 

[Jason mack]

I believe you said you were doing half dry rock half live rock .. but yourvtsnk will probably go through some sort of mini cycle .. it could be minimal .. or even non existent.. you can use dr tims , or vibrant,, or many other products too help with this .. I myself have just upgraded to a 90 g did half dry rock ( which I let cycle in my new tank ) and then transferred all my live rock over after 6 weeks .. I'm also experiencing a mini cycle again ..

 

[MaiReef]

Welcome to R2R! I like the skimmer as I have a Bubble Magus which looks eerily similar and mine works great.

 

[SantaMonicaHelp]

So I'm finally starting a new tank post. My hubby, David and I (Chris) have started gathering the equipment we need. He needs to fix and paint the stand and clean up the 150g used tank we got. We have a Sea Side Aquatics protein skimmer with a Sicce PSK1000 pump, a 72" Current Orbit Marine IC Loop led light and we are going to get 2 eflux wave pumps, I'm not sure what pump he has for the return but he has one [emoji3] , salt, sand and about 80 pounds of dry rock, we'll be getting about the same amount of live rock when the tank is ready to be filled. We still need to get an Aquatic Life twist in 100gpd ro/di and a sump/refugium. And set up a qt tank. I have a few questions though. How many fish can I start out with when the tank is cycled and water parameters are good? What should the water parameters safely be before adding fish? What chemicals, meds. etc. should I have on hand. Is there anything that needs to be added to the tank while cycling? Any help and information would be greatly appreciated! Thank you. Hmm, I'm not sure how to add photos to this post, I clicked on save and copy and it saved an extra pic of what I was trying to add then put a link on here so I hope you can actually see them [emoji15]

Hi David and Chris,

Congratulations with such a good start Is it your first tank?
What fish do you want to add in the tank?

Zhenya

 

[cdmckinzie]

Welcome to R2R! I like the skimmer as I have a Bubble Magus which looks eerily similar and mine works great.

We were told it was made by same company as Bubble Magus but used an Italian pump, which they said was better, we almost got the BM Curve 7, both were rated the same gallons

 

[cdmckinzie]

Hi David and Chris,

Congratulations with such a good start Is it your first tank?
What fish do you want to add in the tank?

Zhenya

Yes this is our first saltwater tank, I've had freshwater alot though, but I had no idea how different it is, haha. I know some of these fish I won't get until the tank is more established and I'm more experienced but some of the ones I want the most are

Green mandarin
Atlantic blue tang (not hippo)
Clown tang
Purple tang
Powder blue tang
White tail bristle tooth tang maybe
Emperor angel
Coral beauty angel
Flame angel
Maybe goldflake angel or bicolor angel
Blue Green bird wrasse
Springeri damsel
Blue reef chromis
Green chromis
Leopard wrasse
Marine betta
Gobies, blennies, dartfish,
Royal gramma
Some shrimp, starfish, serpent stars, crabs etc.
I was really wanting some triggers but they'll eat the clean up crew. Though I was told the blue throated wouldn't so that's a possibility too.
And we'd like to get a few soft corals after were used to the fish. I'm sure not all these will fit, we'll have to see, but my absolute favorites are the blue tang, mandarin, clown tang, flame angel, blue reef chromis and bird wrasse. I hope they all play nice in the pool [emoji3]

 

[cdmckinzie]

Oh and I'd like a pair of lightning maroon or black ice snowflake clowns, if they'll fit, hana

 

[Reef2zach]

Yes this is our first saltwater tank, I've had freshwater alot though, but I had no idea how different it is, haha. I know some of these fish I won't get until the tank is more established and I'm more experienced but some of the ones I want the most are

Green mandarin
Atlantic blue tang (not hippo)
Clown tang
Purple tang
Powder blue tang
White tail bristle tooth tang maybe
Emperor angel
Coral beauty angel
Flame angel
Maybe goldflake angel or bicolor angel
Blue Green bird wrasse
Springeri damsel
Blue reef chromis
Green chromis
Leopard wrasse
Marine betta
Gobies, blennies, dartfish,
Royal gramma
Some shrimp, starfish, serpent stars, crabs etc.
I was really wanting some triggers but they'll eat the clean up crew. Though I was told the blue throated wouldn't so that's a possibility too.
And we'd like to get a few soft corals after were used to the fish. I'm sure not all these will fit, we'll have to see, but my absolute favorites are the blue tang, mandarin, clown tang, flame angel, blue reef chromis and bird wrasse. I hope they all play nice in the pool [emoji3]

All awesome fish! Blue throat triggers are my favorite. I have a pair and they are absolutely model citizens in my tank. Pink tail triggers are also reefsafe I believe. I've always been told to stay away from angels if you like coral but I'm sure there are angels that don't bother. Carefull with some of those fish since they can get quite large and possibly fight over space. Tangs can also be tricky since they can be very territorial. I've heard it's best to introduce all tangs at one time and to add tangs from different subspecies (body type). I added all mine first and they're all buddies thankfully lol

 

[Maacc]

Yes this is our first saltwater tank, I've had freshwater alot though, but I had no idea how different it is, haha. I know some of these fish I won't get until the tank is more established and I'm more experienced but some of the ones I want the most are

Green mandarin
Atlantic blue tang (not hippo)
Clown tang
Purple tang
Powder blue tang
White tail bristle tooth tang maybe
Emperor angel
Coral beauty angel
Flame angel
Maybe goldflake angel or bicolor angel
Blue Green bird wrasse
Springeri damsel
Blue reef chromis
Green chromis
Leopard wrasse
Marine betta
Gobies, blennies, dartfish,
Royal gramma
Some shrimp, starfish, serpent stars, crabs etc.
I was really wanting some triggers but they'll eat the clean up crew. Though I was told the blue throated wouldn't so that's a possibility too.
And we'd like to get a few soft corals after were used to the fish. I'm sure not all these will fit, we'll have to see, but my absolute favorites are the blue tang, mandarin, clown tang, flame angel, blue reef chromis and bird wrasse. I hope they all play nice in the pool [emoji3]

You have some pretty large/ high bioload fish on your list, and unless you are going FOWLR, some serious coral nippers. You may want to pare back to 2-3 tangs and definitely add them last. All the angels are coral nippers /potential nippers with the emperor in the 90+ percentile and the others being better than 50/50. Damsel can be a mean sucker. With this stock list you will need to be extremely careful and patient. For instance woth what you are adding the mandarin should be one of the first fish, but needs an established 6+ month established tank for pods unless you are willing to feed frequently / get lots of oid cultures.
Please don't get me wrong, it can be done, but needs lots of planning and patience to be successful.

 

[Reef2zach]

Also going to want a quarantine tank running since a bunch of these fish are very susceptible to diseases (like every tang).Those emperors can fetch a pretty hefty price tag, you'd hate to lose one from added an infected fish.

 

[cdmckinzie]

I read that the coral beauty and flame are reef safe so il, cross my fingers. The Emperor angel is probably last on my list as is the other 2 angels. I have heard to watch tangs that are the same body shape, type and/or colors so I am a bit worried about the Atlantic blue and the purple, but I have seen many tanks with both in it doing well, but I want the blue more than the purple but I like the purple more than the powder blue and I've heard you need to be more expert at this to get the powder blue so he might be several years down the road. I love all the damsels but we're told they were very aggressive but the best one to get was the springeri but I also love the blue reef chromis so I can just stick to those. You should see the original list I made of all the fish I liked until I whittled it down to the ones I want and will fit the best, I'd need a public size aquarium for them all! My hubby and I also really wanted seahorses so we'll have to set up a smaller tank at some point for those.