squee!
03/19/2007, 11:33 AM
So I have spent many years maintaining large tanks in the freshwater realm and went abroad for about a year and a half and returned to the states about a year and a half ago. So It's been about 3 years since I have done anything aquaria related. I had thought about it often, and considered setting up a tank while I was abroad (in the caribbean actually) but found that SCUBA served my needs. Now that I am back in the midwest I am taking the plunge. I would appreciate any and all advice in my set up. Here is what I have:
a 110g all glass drilled tank, a 175W metal halide pendant and bulb, a ouple actinincs, a trickle/filter/sump, a skimmer, some powerheads and pumps. I'll post the specs on the pumps and skimmer later when I look at them again.
My initial questions are the following:
I intend on keeping a porcupine puffer. I have kept many different species of freshwater puffers in the past (Brown, suvati, fahaka, golden, etc.) and they are my favorite fish. I don't really care about keeping many fish, just want the puffer really. Are there any types of corals or other fish I should watch out for with this fish? With the freshwater puffers, they were practically solitary animals and couldn't be trusted with any other fish that you wanted to live. However, from what I have read, porcupines seem to be a bit friendlier/tolerant. What should I absolutely not keep with him?
Also, I had read about metal Halides and don't think I am that keen on growing highly light-intensive corals, so I may just go with regular high output flourescent tubes instead. What types of corals can I keep with normal aquarium lighting? And are there certain saltwater plants (like a kelp or something like that) that I could keep? Or maybe some mushrooms?
Lastly, I had also inherited a ton of rock that used to be in the tank (I purchased the tank used). How much live rock should I buy and how long should I wait if my intent is to colonize the dead rock? Should I then get live sand? Thanks for your help!
a 110g all glass drilled tank, a 175W metal halide pendant and bulb, a ouple actinincs, a trickle/filter/sump, a skimmer, some powerheads and pumps. I'll post the specs on the pumps and skimmer later when I look at them again.
My initial questions are the following:
I intend on keeping a porcupine puffer. I have kept many different species of freshwater puffers in the past (Brown, suvati, fahaka, golden, etc.) and they are my favorite fish. I don't really care about keeping many fish, just want the puffer really. Are there any types of corals or other fish I should watch out for with this fish? With the freshwater puffers, they were practically solitary animals and couldn't be trusted with any other fish that you wanted to live. However, from what I have read, porcupines seem to be a bit friendlier/tolerant. What should I absolutely not keep with him?
Also, I had read about metal Halides and don't think I am that keen on growing highly light-intensive corals, so I may just go with regular high output flourescent tubes instead. What types of corals can I keep with normal aquarium lighting? And are there certain saltwater plants (like a kelp or something like that) that I could keep? Or maybe some mushrooms?
Lastly, I had also inherited a ton of rock that used to be in the tank (I purchased the tank used). How much live rock should I buy and how long should I wait if my intent is to colonize the dead rock? Should I then get live sand? Thanks for your help!