Newbie starting first tank...Help and advice please :)

[Megabeth]

Hi everyone! I want to set up a nano saltwater tank but I need some help. The tank I have is a 14 gallon hexagon. The equipment I have or will get is an auto top off system, heater, filter with filter floss and carbon (changed out or rinsed each week.), 2 wavemakers on each side, and I'm going to reuse the light from my freshwater take because I don't want corals right now.. I will use instant ocean salt and RODI water. I will do 20-25% water changes each week. For stocking I'm thinking 2 ocellaris clownfish, a tuxedo urchin (I will supplement feed, I really only want the urchin because its cool.) and a skunk cleaner shrimp for the same reason as the urchin
I have a few questions though

• I don't know if I should use live or dry rock. What prosses do I have to go through like curing? I don't know If this is significant but my LFS has live rock for only $4 a pound.
• I have no idea what to get for a CUC so could you guys suggest some stuff?
• Does this stocking sound good? Could i add anything else?
• Ive heard you don't need to quarantine inverts so if i got the clownfish first could i put them in the display tank first then put in all the inverts and not have to set up a separate quarantine?

Thanks for your help sorry if this is a lot of questions!

 

[tnewell]

• live rock would be ideal and would cycle much faster in your tank thank dry rock would, plenty of reliable places selling live rock. If you did resort to using dry rock, you would have to let your tank cycle for 2-3 months to get your water params under control. Expect algae blooms if you do use dry rock. I don’t trust my lfs’s live rock because it usually comes littered with pest.
•I would start with mainly hermits, then evaluate how much your urchin is consuming before buying snails, but I would buy 2-3 nasssurous snails because they stay primarily in the sand bed.
• stocking sounds good, you could add more small peaceful fish, but I wouldn’t personally, my clowns killed 4 other fish cause they are bullies.
•I’m not familiar with this, but I added inverts whenever I felt like it, never had a problem.

 

[\m/reefsnmetal\m/]

I would start with live rock because it's faster and usually has some beneficial hitchikers. There's no limit to the variety of CUC you could invest in. I personally had better success with snails than crabs, cerith snails are a great start. If you quarantine the clowns in your display tank you could cause problems down the road if you use any medical treatments like copper. I would be extremely cautious about taking that approach to quarantine as the treatment will kill all of your cleanup crew and is very hard to get out of your system.

 

[Megabeth]

• live rock would be ideal and would cycle much faster in your tank thank dry rock would, plenty of reliable places selling live rock. If you did resort to using dry rock, you would have to let your tank cycle for 2-3 months to get your water params under control. Expect algae blooms if you do use dry rock. I don’t trust my lfs’s live rock because it usually comes littered with pest.
•I would start with mainly hermits, then evaluate how much your urchin is consuming before buying snails, but I would buy 2-3 nasssurous snails because they stay primarily in the sand bed.
• stocking sounds good, you could add more small peaceful fish, but I wouldn’t personally, my clowns killed 4 other fish cause they are bullies.
•I’m not familiar with this, but I added inverts whenever I felt like it, never had a problem.

Sounds good! Im not sure what other fish I would want to add but concerning the live rock, it doesn't look like my LFS has pests but I can ask. Would I need to cure the live rock? My LFS has blue leg hermits would those work? Thanks for your help!

 

[tnewell]

Sounds good! Im not sure what other fish I would want to add but concerning the live rock, it doesn't look like my LFS has pests but I can ask. Would I need to cure the live rock? My LFS has blue leg hermits would those work? Thanks for your help!

Oh yeah, personally, blue and red legged hermits are my favorite part of my cuc, they become ninjas when crawling all over my rockwork. They will hang upside down and all that good stuff lol. Usually I go into the store looking for aptasia, any algae in unfamiliar with, or any vermitid snails, all of them are a pain in the a** to deal with. Other fish that could fit are fire fish, banghi cardinals, goby, or something along those lines. When I started my tank, I spent hours on youtube looking up compatibility between different fish and what tank requirements they need. Make sure your 20 gallon has a lid, any and all fish are prone to jumping when stressed.

 

[ShepherdReefer]

Hi everyone! I want to set up a nano saltwater tank but I need some help. The tank I have is a 14 gallon hexagon. The equipment I have or will get is an auto top off system, heater, filter with filter floss and carbon (changed out or rinsed each week.), 2 wavemakers on each side, and I'm going to reuse the light from my freshwater take because I don't want corals right now.. I will use instant ocean salt and RODI water. I will do 20-25% water changes each week. For stocking I'm thinking 2 ocellaris clownfish, a tuxedo urchin (I will supplement feed, I really only want the urchin because its cool.) and a skunk cleaner shrimp for the same reason as the urchin
I have a few questions though

• I don't know if I should use live or dry rock. What prosses do I have to go through like curing? I don't know If this is significant but my LFS has live rock for only $4 a pound.
• I have no idea what to get for a CUC so could you guys suggest some stuff?
• Does this stocking sound good? Could i add anything else?
• Ive heard you don't need to quarantine inverts so if i got the clownfish first could i put them in the display tank first then put in all the inverts and not have to set up a separate quarantine?

Thanks for your help sorry if this is a lot of questions!

Hello and welcome to the channel.

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The Supreme Guide To Setting Up A Saltwater Reef Aquarium This article was sponsored by @MarineDepot at www.marinedepot.com. Introduction The marine environment is one of the most complex systems on the planet. The aquarium you are about to set up is only a tiny sliver of the vast ocean...

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[Megabeth]

I would start with live rock because it's faster and usually has some beneficial hitchikers. There's no limit to the variety of CUC you could invest in. I personally had better success with snails than crabs, cerith snails are a great start. If you quarantine the clowns in your display tank you could cause problems down the road if you use any medical treatments like copper. I would be extremely cautious about taking that approach to quarantine as the treatment will kill all of your cleanup crew and is very hard to get out of your system.

Ok how long should i quarantine and is there anything I should look for when quarantining?

 

[Dave1993]

Don't buy live rock buy dry i bought live rock my ammonia is stuck sky high and i can't drop it i wish i went dry

 

[Megabeth]

Oh yeah, personally, blue and red legged hermits are my favorite part of my cuc, they become ninjas when crawling all over my rockwork. They will hang upside down and all that good stuff lol. Usually I go into the store looking for aptasia, any algae in unfamiliar with, or any vermitid snails, all of them are a pain in the a** to deal with. Other fish that could fit are fire fish, banghi cardinals, goby, or something along those lines. When I started my tank, I spent hours on youtube looking up compatibility between different fish and what tank requirements they need. Make sure your 20 gallon has a lid, any and all fish are prone to jumping when stressed.

Could i do a goby and pistol shrimp Pair or would that be too much? If I could what goby would you recommend. I personally like the yellow watchman goby. Also the tank is a 14 gallon hexagon so not that much floor space, not sure if that changes anything.

 

[LegendaryCG]

Big pros and cons to live rock.. Having a diverse microfauna in your tank can be really beneficial. It also could have things you don’t want in your tank. I think for a beginner dry rock is a better choice because it will help you avoid some of the possible pitfalls that can come with live rock. If it’s from a very clean and trust worthy source it can be great.

 

[Megabeth]

Thanks everyone for all the help!

 

[LegendaryCG]

Do you have to cure live rock?

You don’t but it kinda depends on what is on it. If it’s got sponges or other things that could die in your tank it will trigger a cycle which can toss your system out of balance for a period of time.

 

[Megabeth]

Big pros and cons to live rock.. Having a diverse microfauna in your tank can be really beneficial. It also could have things you don’t want in your tank. I think for a beginner dry rock is a better choice because it will help you avoid some of the possible pitfalls that can come with live rock. If it’s from a very clean and trust worthy source it can be great.

I know you have to cure dry rock so that's one reason I have stayed away from it. Do you have to cure live rock? Please tell me if I'm wrong lol

 

[Megabeth]

You don’t but it kinda depends on what is on it. If it’s got sponges or other things that could die in your tank it will trigger a cycle which can toss your system out of balance for a period of time.

Wouldnt i have to cycle my tank anyways because this is a brand new tank?

 

[ReefSapper]

@Megabeth as you can see by the comments their are many ways to do things and many opinions of what way is better. My best advice for you is to commit to a path and stay consistent, understand their will be ups and downs but don't get discouraged. I personally go dry rock and 'cure' it by itself for as long as possible, sometimes that has been weeks, my most recent set up cured for almost 4 months because i was trying to source some items for the new build. Have patience, do your research, dont chase the perfect numbers and most importantly have fun!

 

[LegendaryCG]

Wouldnt i have to cycle my tank anyways because this is a brand new tank?

Yes.. but live rock is already cycled —- but you can still have die off that spikes ammonia.

 

[LegendaryCG]

Anyway my vote is dry rock and use a bacteria supplement like microbater7 or Dr Tim’s one and only to kick start the system.

 

[Megabeth]

Anyway my vote is dry rock and use a bacteria supplement like microbater7 or Dr Tim’s one and only to kick start the system.

Sounds good, would you recommend curing the rock then using the bacteria in the tank? Im sorry the whole curing thing is really confusing to me.

 

[LegendaryCG]

Sounds good, would you recommend curing the rock then using the bacteria in the tank? Im sorry the whole curing thing is really confusing to me.

Dry rock will usually experience a diatom explosion that indicates your cycle is finished and you now have nitrites present in the water. That’s what cycled means— curing is typically either synonymous with this or refers to the die off cycle that used rock experiences.

To put it simply— cycled means your fish won’t die. Cured means your rock organisms are basically done decomposing.

 

[tnewell]

I probably wouldn’t put pistol shrimp and a goby pair in 14 gallon along w clowns... that being said, I would do some research on your livestock... you have to cycle your tank anyways for awhile. You could get lucky if you get a nice pair of clowns, but if you want a bunch of fish, I would go with smaller, nicer fish... only reason I reccomend clowns is because they are nuke proof.