55 gallon

[Steph11787]

Well, my Finding Nemo tank is almost complete! Patrick bought some fish today!! I have a Clown, a Blue Tang, a Puffer, and a Royal Gramma. We also have a Dwarf Lion now too, Patrick had to have it. I will post pictures when we put them in the tank! I am soo excited! Thanks Fewells!!!!!!!

[SoupySteve]

is your blue tang a hippo tang?

[Steph11787]

Yeah it is a Blue Hippo Tang.

[fewells]

Can I play " Darla" and come and bang on the glass? ha ha j/k

[Deadeye]

PICTURES:

http://img148.imageshack.us/img148/1179/clownle1.jpg

http://img241.imageshack.us/img241/6963/grammayg1.jpg

http://img141.imageshack.us/img141/2402/dsc0028dw1.jpg

http://img228.imageshack.us/img228/6425/lionxo3.jpg

http://img157.imageshack.us/img157/7228/pufferzx6.jpg

[Deadeye]

And yes, there are a stack of DVDs on each side of the stand to keep the dog from going back behind the stand and drinking out of the sump.

http://img241.imageshack.us/img241/6780/dsc0011ap0.jpg

[Deadeye]

Commercial:

Free to Good Home, Dwarf Hamster w/ cage and everything needed to get started. Free becuase Fiance is extremely allergic. Must be able to pick up in Springfield area.

http://img174.imageshack.us/img174/5159/dsc0002io5.jpg

[Steph11787]

My photo skills are a lot better, so I will post some pictures of the fish.

Nemo:
http://img79.imageshack.us/img79/9929/nemotd4.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Bloat:
http://img245.imageshack.us/img245/1201/bloatvk3.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Dory:
http://img54.imageshack.us/img54/9762/dorybr4.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Bubbles:
http://img54.imageshack.us/img54/5655/bubbleseh3.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Gurgle:
http://img60.imageshack.us/img60/3537/gurgleri3.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

[Deadeye]

Dory won't eat her vegetables. She hides them and tries to feed them to the lion fish.

[Deadeye]

The Dwarf lion fish didn't make it. I found it dead today and got it out of the tank right away. I didn't see it eat or come out from behind the live rock, I don't know what happend. problems acclimating maybe?

Found a good link http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2002-11/fm/feature/index.php

[Deadeye]

Puffer doesn't look to good now. uh oh... Not swimming around as fast as he was the first 2 days..

[Shaar]

how are your water param's? did you cycle your tank or just put the rock in for a few days then put the fish in?

[Deadeye]

Everything is high... I thought it was cycled cause we used the water, rock and sand from my 30 gallon tank, and everything was perfect when we tested a few days ago...

[Shaar]

man that sucks. hope the rest of them come through..

[Deadeye]

OK, I did a 50% water change and the puffer is becoming more active again. How much should I feed the fish in a day? Just a little bit of mysis once a day for a while? Should I just start doing 10% changes once a week now?

Also, since the 55 gallon is really to small for a blue tang and the puffer we decided to buy a 125 Gallon with built in dual side overflows from Mr. Fewell. The 55 will become a reef tank. The 125 won't be setup until after Jan. though when we move somewhere else. I am nervous about having a 125 on the second story..

[Deadeye]

I am a little worried about the 125 gallon on my second story apartment.. But as others have said, what about people with water beds? They hold a lot more water than 125 gallons. So, I think it should be ok.

[aquaconnect]

I had a 150gal oceanic on the 2nd floor of Kelly Greens when I lived there. Do you have a skimmer on that tank? It would help in the long run.

[Deadeye]

Did you have your tank up against a load bearing wall? I don't know where or what this magic wall is, but I wish to find it in my apartment to put my tank there, any help?

I have a protein skimmer in the sump and its foaming pretty good. What should I do about water changes though? 10% everyday I hear some people say, don't know if that is right for my problem, or am I basically screwed and my fish are going to die?

[Deadeye]

I asked someone in construction what they thought and got this answer:

"dude, its an apartment. If it gets jacked up, move the tank. they won't know. go for it." :lolspin:

Not exactly the attitude I wish to take, but kinda funny.

[aquaconnect]

Like I said before, that's a big bio load to throw on a tank. You should do 10gal a week or so once you get this thing figured out. Are you using RO water? If not you need to be. How long was the 30gal up and running? I went up from a 75gal to 180gal and only used about 40gal out of the 75, the rest was fresh rodi salt water and I had no problems. If the 30gal was cycled, the sand bed was good, and everything else was good, I'm not sure what happened other than the extreme bioload where you went from none to a lot. I would feed maybe every other day until you get everything else under control, and just enough so they eat it. They're not going to starve. You'll have to test the water daily until you get it under control. Test tomorrow, and if it's not better do a 25% change and see. Are you running carbon, bioballs, or any other media, or a canister filter?

As far as a load bearing wall, I put mine next to the door where I exited the apartment. You can also use the wall between the kitchen and livingroom/hallway if you have one. Now that's what worked for me. At the time, Kelly Greens was rather new. There are some shady places in Spingfield now. But a 125 w/live rock shouldn't weigh over 1500pounds I wouldn't think.

[Deadeye]

hmm, I don't think I have enough room at either of those locations for a 125. I have a 55 on the wall that divides the living room and a bedroom. So, I guess i ran that the wrong way across the beams..........................? hmmm

I guess a 55 isn't to bad though.. Maybe I will just do another 55, but I was hoping to get the puffer and blue tang a bigger home. I am worried from what I read a 55 may be to small for them eventually.

Thanks for the help by the way. I will check the water tommorow again. The 30 gallon was up and running for well over a month. I thought it cycled, and everything that needed to be 0 was 0 on the tests. I need to get a RODI system, I buy RODI for top off water and water changes, but not when I first did the initial tank fill up. But the sand turned brown on top which I believe is an indication that it is cycling? So, I guess I messed up on that.

Oh, I'd say this apartment building was built about 9-10 months ago, so it's new also.

[aquaconnect]

I don't think you'd have any problems w/a 125, really. The bigger the better.

[Deadeye]

So, would you say my tank is cycling again? Since I got some of the sand that turned brown?

[Shaar]

when i first cycled my tank, i got brown slime growing everywhere, then it turned neon greenish yellow, then disappeared. i never did any param tests on my tank and still haven't to this day. but i let it cycle for a good month to a month and a half with just live rock and sand

[Deadeye]

I'm going to be losing sleep over wether or not to get the 125.

If I did it, it would be the FOWLR, and would just like 40-50lbs of LR be ok? If I did a sump or 2 canister filters maybe. I don't want to have to buy 125lbs of live rock, to expensive.

[Deadeye]

OK, Tested this morning. Ammonia is at 0 now and nitrite is at .25. I could not make out the color on Ph but I think it's ok. I didn't bother testing Nitrates.

So, should I let it go and see if the nitrites goto 0 or do another water change? Say 20% or 10% with some RODI water?

By the way, the puffer is back in action and is extremely active again just like before, so hopefully he made a good recovery. He want's food, but I wasn't going to feed the fish today.

[aquaconnect]

Here's the deal with this hobby, and I'm just being honest and this is from my experience. If you plan to do something, do it all out, or don't do it at all, otherwise it'll be a waste.

If I were you, go with a 75gal for now, put 80-100pounds of rock in it, cycle it for a month or so and use that for the fish. Then in a few years, up grade it to a 125 then. A 75gal or 80gal is big enough for now, and will be for a couple of years. That way you can spend some extra money on equipment for the tank like a good skimmer, and so on.

[Deadeye]

I was thinking of just leaving the 55 FOWLR alone, and getting another 55 for a reef tank, I would get a canopy and do 2x175watt HQI retro kit. That way I would be able to buy everything I need for a set-up fairly quickly, where a bigger tank would take a long time for me to buy stuff for.

Unless I get a lot of crap for having a puffer and a tang in a 55, but I think they will be ok. If I just have the tang, puffer, gramma, and clown in there.


Here are my plans for the 55 reef.
55 tank/stand from Fewells
2x175 watt retro kits from Fewells
lifereef siphon overflow
500GPH return pump
1x820GPH SEIO
60-70lbs of live rock
sump w/ hopefully a refugium if I can find one at a good price
300 watt Rena heater
40lbs of sand
I have no idea on a protien skimmer, definitly want an in sump one, definitly don't want to spend $300 on one though if possible

Am I missing anything?

[Deadeye]

adding 2 T5 retro's to that list. just for a little extra blue lighting.

[Deadeye]

I changed the carbon in the carbon bag that I put in the sump this morning. I tested the water 3 times today and Fewell tested it once. The final test I just did a minute ago the nitrites and ammonia both are 0 now.

The puffer was acting normal again, but then I saw he had puffed up for maybe a second, which I hear isn't good. then about 5 minutes after that he went behind the live rock and isn't moving around. So, the water is fine now but the puffer went back to acting weird.

The other fish so far haven't shown any signs of problems, which I kinda think is odd?