Hello.. My name is...

[AmberC]

My name is Amber and I am a 24 year old stay at home mom to my 4 yr old daughter Crista and my 1 yr old daughter Megan. I currently have one 125 gallon planted discus community with 12 discus ranging from 2.5 inches to 8 inches in size and 1 koi angel and a whole bunch of other fish.

I have a 55 gallon tank that I was working on making a rainbowfish tank but it was just not going the way I wanted it to. I was trying to figure out what I was going to do with it. Either get some more americans.. different from angels/discus. Go with some Africans as I've never had them, or start a salt. There has been a lot of going back and forth, but I decided to go with salt.. obviously or I would not be here would I lol.

I have a 20 gallon qt/hosp tank and a 10 gallon qt/hosp tank set up. Right now there is a male gold ram in my 20 as I think he is constipated. About to do an epsom treatment on him. He went in today.

I also have a siberian husky/timberwolf mix named Tasha, two cockatiels and a guinea pig. My tanks and pets and kids dont offer me much free time lol but when I do get some I also love to garden.

My 55 gallon going to be salt tank.
Right now: it has 50 pounds of play sand as substrate and an hang on back aqua clear filter. I have a ton of shells that I stuck in there today as the tank is empty (except for one amano shrimp I could not catch out yet lol). The shells.. I found reefwalking and snorkeling in Okinawa Japan. They were all found live and cleaned years and years ago when I was like 10. But they look so cool in there they helped in my decision to go salt. I will use them as deco.

There are a couple of things I would like to know as I get this started. I know that the live rock will be my filtration. I am wondering if I can keep the aquaclear on there and just take out the foam and use that for water movement.. at least for the time being instead of getting a powerhead (i am short on cash right now). Will this work or not be enough current? (Of course the tank will not have fish in it for a while.. cycling and all that good stuff. Establishing the live rock. I will most likely be starting fish only as well. I have read in my book that clowns and damsels are good starters. Do you all agree? I do love clowns lol.

This tank.. is right next to my back door so it gets a TON of sunlight. With freshwater I have had a lot of algae issues with this tank. Will it be different with salt? Since it gets so much light.. do you think live corals would do fine in there now? (My regular lighting is nothing special.. just whatever wattage came out of the box when I opened it.)

The play sand. I am planing on taking out most of it. But thought I might leave a thin layer in the tank to put the live rock on. Would this be ok or can I not use the playsand with salt? Its well established.

Thanks so much for reading!
Amber

[Eric]

Welcome !!!

I'm gonna suggest more reading and questions.

A tank with alot of sunlight grows alot of algea,also I don't think an aqua clear filter even a 500 willl give you enough current

The play sand well that all depends on what brand I've only found one brand that might work tropical play sand is the name but I don't trust it

As far as liverock you might want to add a skimmer

I'd stay away from damsels they get agressive and will probaly have to be removed down the road to add new tenants clowns are good though

I'd ask alot of questions and more research save yourself alot of headachs

This is just my 2 cents again WELCOME

[AmberC]

Originally Posted by EEK

Welcome !!!

I'd ask alot of questions and more research save yourself alot of headachs

This is just my 2 cents again WELCOME

Dont worry.. I know all about that.. I keep discus lol Much more difficult than salt from what I hear!

Amber

[Rougiem]

to the Sanctuary Amber!

I am setting up a 55 gallon at the moment...Welcome to look at my thread for ideas if you wish: Rougie's 55 Ratiocinative Reef II

Yes the live rock does work as part of your natural filtration along with a sand bed - one way to go about it. You could use your aquaclear for some water movement but powerheads are much better. maxjet 900 or 1200 are not very expensive...Check our sponsors. I recommend a good protein skimmer for sure. Best advice is to read and ask here for advice. IMHO it is better to slowly put your items together before rushing on the set up.

What are you planning on putting in the tank? You mentioned fish but also corals. Are you planning a reef tank or?

Lighting will be very important for many corals and I would not recommend putting it in direct sunlight.

I am sure others will add a more advice. We are here to help!

Cheers!

[lcstorc]

I've read several threads about using play sand that say it is just fine. Have some in the garage waiting till I finish removing the disastrous crushed coral then it will go into my tank.
Get some lr and then spend the cycle time reading and asking questions.
People here are great and are more than willing to answer any questions.
I would difinitely get a skimmer and check the wattage on the lights. FO is much more tolerant, but I wasted a lot of money when I started out FO then decided to go reef.
Also, I agree on the damsels. My tank is 8 months old and I am desperately trying to catch mine to take back to the lfs. Pretty agressive and I need to decrease my bio-load.
Remember 1 inch of fish (based on the adult size of the fish) for each 5 g of water in the system.
Don't know about discus, but there are a lot of components and opinions on SW so research is everything.
Fortunately you will have some time while the tank cycles to get started on the right path.
Best of luck and post pics when you have them.
Peace
Lynn

[Kensn]

Originally Posted by AmberC

Dont worry.. I know all about that.. I keep discus lol Much more difficult than salt from what I hear!

Amber

I would guess that depends on what type of salt tank you are planning. A fish only tank is simplier than a reef tank..... I would make sure you have a real good idea of exactly what you are planning to keep in the tank and research from there. Welcome, and look forward to your posts....

[AmberC]

Thanks everyone. I was thinking about fish only to start.. but I was thinking to that when I had this tank planted with freshwater.. the plants grew crazy because of the amount of indirect sunlight they get. Plants that only grow with CO2 set ups.. which I do not use CO2. So I thought maybe the coral would do well too.

Gotcha on the damsels That is just what it said in my book so just wanted to check

I research EVERYTHING before I just jump in so no worries.

Thank you for all the replies! Still undecided on what exact set up I am going to use and I know about the protien skimmer too, just forgot for a min

Lynn.. can you explain "The disastrous crushed coral" to me? Is crushed coral bad?
Amber

[billyr98]

Welcome to RS! Enjoy your stay, there is lots to read!

[lcstorc]

WEll, I have had a problem with nitrates in my set-up since day one. After consulting with many (most on rs) it seems that my bio-balls (which have now been removed) and the crushed coral are both things that increase trates. The bio-balls are nitrate factories, and the crushed coral just holds too much debris and rotting stuff thus increasing nitrates.
Very challenging to remove after the fact, so if I was doing it over I would avoid it to begin with.
Some people have it with no problem, but I have a high bio-load which increases the problem so I'm on a once a week water change regeime and slowly removing the crushed coral. It is definitely making improvements so something is working.
Peace
Lynn