Done fresh but newbie to marine

[forstral]

My name is Johnnie and I live in Belews Creek, NC. I have just started, by that I mean, I have my Red Sea Max 34g nano and stand put together and just got my lr, sub, and water put in yesterday (July 3, 2007). I have been reading 4 different books because I want to do this correctly, I don't want any of my little friends to go to fish heaven because of something I have done wrong. I am doing a reef with softies and fish. I am thinking of having a b/w clown, 3 or 4 blue-green chromis, 2 neon gobies, 1 lawnmower, 1 scooter, 1 damsel (blue w/yellow tail), maybe 2 clown gobies, and one other (either a mystery wrasse, a dottybac, a cardinal or pajama, or an engineer) any suggestions? And, of course, my cleaning crew including a cleaner shrimp. Have fun out there.:snrkl:

 

[boozeman]

:hallo:
that may be a lot of fish for a 30gal.

 

[forstral]

What if I lose the damsel and the clown gobies; would I be able to add one more of the fish I am thinking about?

 

[goldenmean]

Howdy Hoooo!
Welcome to RS!

Its great you are doing all the research
and RS is a great addition to the books you are reading.

Your tank will not be able to support all the fish you want.
The general guide line is 1" of adult fish per 5 gallons of water.
Check out this sticky tread in the "just starting out(SW beginners)" forum
http://www.reefsanctuary.com/forums/just-starting-out-sw-beginners/16539-ye-old-stocking-limit-question.html

I would especially follow this guideline until your tank has matured (1 year old)
Then you may be able to bend the rule - so to speak- a little bit.

How much LR did you get?

Again Welcome and Good Luck!

 

[forstral]

I have 39 lbs. of lr and aragonite sub (probably about 11 lbs. with 11 more in the bag.) didn't know how deep to make my sub.

 

[goldenmean]

I have 39 lbs. of lr and aragonite sub (probably about 11 lbs. with 11 more in the bag.) didn't know how deep to make my sub.

As for the sand bed. Some go with shallow sand bed (SSB) while others go with a deep sand bed (DSB)
Then there are those that like a bare bottom (BB) tank. Here is a the first link I found on the subject http://www.reefsanctuary.com/forums/general-reef-aquarium-discussion/20183-substrate-articles-threads.html
Im sure you can find many more.
Just use the search function up at the top of the page!

 

[forstral]

How many fish and corals do you have in your 12g nano?

 

[goldenmean]

I have 2 tank raised Amphiprion Ocellaris (clown) and
1 Acanthemblemaria sp. (barnacle blenny)

I have about four inches of fish in my 12g.
I am over the stocking guideline.
However I did not add any fish until my tank was 8 months old.
Then I added the 2 small clowns. About two months later I added the banacle blenny. The blenny stays in his hole in the rock all day except for some nano-seconds that he darts out to eat when I feed the fish. I also see him out sometimes during the few hours that I have the tank completely dark when I am checking on the tank with a flash light. The banacle blenny adds a very small bioload to the tank. (much less than most 1 inch fish).

Also I do have a very efficient protein skimmer. I know your tank also has a protein skimmer but your tank is a new model and I dont know how efficient the RSM skimmer is. There are not a lot of people YET that have experience with the RSM.

I also am very diligent in doing water changes. I usually do a 1 - 1 1/2 gal water change twice a week. (25%/week)

 

[lcstorc]

Welcome to RS! I am very glad to see you are dedicating your time to research it will help a lot in keeping things healthy.
As the others have said you have way to many fish on your list,
First off ditch the idea of a scooter. They are pod eaters almost exclusively and there is very little chance of you being able to support one long term.
Second I would ditch the damsel. They are very agressive particularly in such a small tank.
The next one I would eliminate from the list would be the engineer. They max out at 12-14 inches and grow pretty fast. I got one that was about 3 inches and he has doubled in size in about 6 months time.
The clown gobies are a great idea. They are one of my very favorite fish and they stay very small, Great for a nano IMO.
HTH. Sorry to be giving you bad news but it can be done right and you can have a gorgeous nano.

 

[sasquatch]

Welcome to RS! I think we will all be following with attention your new tank, hope your a sharing kind of person lol. Steve

 

[BigAl07]

Also consider that the green chromis are a damsel fish and unless you KNOW you want them long term don't get them. They are the devil to catch if you do decide to remove them (and you probably will... done this TWICE myself).

I think one thing you need to really understand is the sensitivity marine fish are to water quality. FW fish are much more tolerant to water that's less than perfect through generations of "adaption". In a freshwater world the water volume in general is less than in the Sea Water world so FW fish have developed ways to cope with water changes. SW fish are in a relatively stable environment and can't adapt to ANY sudden changes (temp, quatlity, chemical composition, etc etc) and most SW fish will quickly perish from seemingly minor changes to water chemistry. Also remember that in the ocean except for a few schooling exceptions the fish have massive expanses of water area with few close inhabitants. Over crowding even slightly greatly increases stress on everyone involved which ultimately leads to their demise. It's just a whole new set of rules when compared to FW tanks. Add to this how over crowding or overloading the "bio-load" drastically reduces your water quality and you can see why the "rule of thumb of 1" per 5 gallon" is where you need to start. It's conservative but it's also a formula that greatly increases your chances of SW success. After you get used to SW life and how the tank "Evolves" you can tweak the formula a little bit but you can't EVER get a tank of SW fish to be crowded and "full" looking like a FW tank can.

I am intrigued by your new tank. I know of a local reefer who is seriously considering one for himself. I'll be trying to watch you progress as you go along.


Good luck and excellent work on doing research BEFORE hand!!

Allen

 

[blue_eyes53813]

Hello and welcome to RS

 

[forstral]

Ok, I have revised my list of fish, corals, and other inverts. This is what I am planning and I am only going to add one item at a time. I will determine when to add the next "pet" by my ammonia level going back down and staying at "0". Here is the list:

Fish:
(1) B/W Clown
(2) Clown Gobies
(2) Neon Gobies
(1) Royal Gramma
(1) Mystery Wrasse

Corals (all softies):
Hammer
Star Polyp
Xenia
Finger Leather
Torch

Other Inverts:
Cleaner Shrimp
Purple Lobster
(7) Asteas
(7) Nerites
(4) Blue Leg Hermits
(4) Scarlet Hermits
(2) Emerald Crabs
(1 or 2) Nassarius'

How does this sound? This will probably take place over the course of a year and if I add anything to where my ammonia does not return to "0" (with regular water changes) then I will either step-up water changes or he goes back to the store. I will try my best not to endanger the life of my little buddies.

 

[forstral]

I will going over to the specialty forum now with further notifications, success, and set backs. It will be under "Forstral's Red Sea Max Adventures"

Thanks again for all of the welcomes.

 

[BigAl07]

Looks MUCH better! looks like a list I would want to have in mine as well!! Just take it slow.... some of those fish are small but they still contribute a little bit to the Bio-Load. With 34 gallons and the "golden rule" of 1" per gallon you can have around 6-7" of adult fish. Your list is still heavy but it's just a "wish" list. It will probably change as time goes by.

As for your corals I like your list personally. I have
Frogspawn, torch and hammer in my current 10g tank and LOVE them. They are all in the same family so they get along great but keep in mind this family is aggressive and has the ability to launch a chemical attack on closely sitting corals. My closed brain has a permanent "tumor" where a frogspawn snuck out a "stinging tentacle" one night and literally burned a black hole in it. I had to move it immediately or risk further attacks. Look at some Zoas for color and "fill" around your tank. I have grown to LOVE zoas over the last few months and plan on making a takn specifically for growing them for other tanks in the near future.

Can't wait to see pics of your progress.

sincerely,
Allen

PS Sorry for being rude on my last post... Welcome to the REEF!

 

[forstral]

Oh, the post is under the reef chronicles heading in the specialty forum. Thanks again.

 

[forstral]

Allen,
Do you have any pictures of some zoas? The corals I listed are the ones I have actually either seen in the LFS or in a friends tank, I do actually want more color than just brown and green but I really don't want to get into SPS or LPS, I don't think the PC's are powerful enough and I can't use VHO or MH on this tank.

Thanks.

 

[DrHank]

Welcome! Since you're looking at having a reef tank there are two things that you need that haven't yet been mentioned. First a source of DI water (your own RO/Di filter id recommended). Second an excellent protein skimmer (this is the single most important item). Good luck, take your time, research, and ask lots of questions.

 

[goldenmean]

Here are some Zoanthids from my tank.

 

[goldenmean]

Hey Johnnie
your tank has T5 lights which are better than pc so you could keep LPS in your tank. I have an open Brain, fungia, and a pagoda cup in my nano with pc lights.
When you look at my tank the red open Brain and green Pagoda cup really POP out at you.