Hello starting new tank soon

[Aardvark1134]

When I was a kid I had up to 8 tanks at once one of which was a saltwater. Most of them did very well. After about 6 years of having the tanks we had a 8 day power outage. With no generator or UPS as those were rare back then. End up loosing a lot of the tanks due to that. The ones that I managed to save I gave to some other people. About 10 years ago I started keeping fish again. 2 African cichlid tanks. A 120 gallon mbuna and 75 peacock tank. I have found that keeping fish now is so much easier as media, filters, chemicals, etc have all come a long way since I was a kid. Just in case both my tanks are on UPS and I have a generator that can run them if needed. There will not be a repeat of when I was a kid.

I am looking to put up a saltwater tank. It's been about 25 years since I had saltwater so I know a lot has changed. I put a stock help post in the stickied thread for that. Trying to see how much of what I want I can get in 1 tank safely. If I can get most of what I want am willing to do a 8ft 240 gallon. But if I can't get a lot of the stuff I may go with a 150 gallon instead.

My 3 favorite things from my old salt water tank were tomato clown, carpet anemone, and regal angel. I remember the pet store guy getting stung by the carpet when he tried to get it out of their tank lol.

 

[Crabs McJones]

Welcome to R2R!!

#WelcometoR2R

 

[dbl]

Welcome to R2R and back to the salty side. Since it's been a while, a read through the post below may provide a little refresher course for you.

http://reef2reef.com/threads/the-supreme-guide-to-setting-up-a-saltwater-reef-aquarium.138750/

 

[jsker]

Welcome back to salty water and to R2R. After taking a break, I was flatout amazed in the changes. There is an article were on of the old timer authors write about keeping a coral alive for 6 months was a goal in this hobbie.

One of the most important things I have learned is to keep is simple

 

[reef lover]

Welcome to r2r!!

 

[kschweer]

Welcome!!!

 

[Reefer Deez]

Congratulations on coming back to the hobby! I look forward to seeing your build! Lots of good kind people here to help!

 

[Aardvark1134]

Hardest part of building a tank...admitting to yourself that those 20 people saying don't put that thing in there are right and not putting it in there lol.

 

[Aardvark1134]

One stupid question...if you chose your fish carefully can you do a fish only plus dry rock tank 1st?
Then once all your fish are in there start slowly adding all the things that make it not fish only?
The reason I ask as it seems like if you have $8000 in reef in the tank and you missed something on a new fish you could lose the whole thing.
Might it be better to have all the fish and dry rock established for maybe 6 months then add all the corals and crabs and misc critters.

Is this a workable way or a mess?

 

[Chrisfish]

Welcome to R2R

 

[KJ]

Welcome to R2R!!!

 

[GoVols]

One stupid question...if you chose your fish carefully can you do a fish only plus dry rock tank 1st?
Then once all your fish are in there start slowly adding all the things that make it not fish only?
The reason I ask as it seems like if you have $8000 in reef in the tank and you missed something on a new fish you could lose the whole thing.
Might it be better to have all the fish and dry rock established for maybe 6 months then add all the corals and crabs and misc critters.

Is this a workable way or a mess?

First off: Welcome to Reef 2 Reef

No stupid questions here

It's doable but you need to make sure that you fish are reef safe. Also when things stabilize out and all of your parameters are in check, I'd just start off with easier coral species to build up your confidence and keep letting your reef mature while you research more demanding corals and anemones
You also need to figure out your long haul light for corals too. Led's can do the job, but you need to factor in how many units it will take to capture the proper led light spread.

(lol)
I have not booted an new reef for a really long time and I still favor live rock over dry rock, but that's JMO.
There are pros and cons to both and you really can't get the Real Deal (Wonderful) live rock that we used to.

In 2008 we lost the most beautiful MH light 29 gallon Nano Cube that we ever had.
Went to Florida in the dead of summer and while we we're gone our central AC had went out.
When we walked into the door our home was at 96 degrees and your could smell the die off ASAP
It was so heart breaking that we did not setup another reef until early 2010 and we've ran an chiller ever since as an insurance policy for our future reefs.

I'd be patient and do all the research that you can. Nothing beats patients, stability and a well planned setup, including fish bio-load.

Again:
Welcome to Reef 2 Reef

 

[4FordFamily]

Welcome home, you will love it here!

Keep us posted with the build with lots of photos!

 

[mohican]

Welcome back! I know 1st hand about the power outage and losing everything (recent event). Now, I am building in backup processes. You will have a good time here.

 

[Aardvark1134]

Welcome home, you will love it here!

Keep us posted with the build with lots of photos!

Well right now I am in research mode. This looks like it might when all said and done cost as much as a new car... so it's going to be prob 6-12 months before I whip out the cash for the physical tank, after I am sure a 8x2x2 240 gallon is what I want. It seems when looking at the overall cost the tank will be a small cost factor only compared to filling it with nice stuff.

Speaking of which do you want 2 off center overflows (trap shape) or 2 corner overflows? Or does it make no difference and pick whatever you want?

 

[Butitor]

Welcome to R2R!!!

 

[Aardvark1134]

So question on corals and cleanup crew. Is anything on my list a known trouble maker that I would be better off not putting in there?

A clean up crew that won't get eaten by angels
Sailfin/Algae Blenny x1
Dwarf red tip hermit crab
scarlet reef crab
Cerith snail
Fighting conch s
Babylon snail
Banded trochus snail

Any of these likely to be sacked on til dead by an angel?
E is easy M is medium H is hard and EX would be expert which I will not buy.
E-Kenya Tree Coral
E-Red Tip Tree Coral
E-Coral pack beginner LPS 3 random easy to care for ones
E-Candy cane coral
M-Flower Pot Coral
E-Trumpet Coral s
E-Brain Worm Platygyra Coral
E-Plate Coral, Green - Short Tentacle
E-Colony Polyp, Horizon

Mushrooms put on small islands only to prevent overspread
E-Colony polyp orange/green
E-Green floresent mushrooms
E-Lavendar mushrooms