I'm new and have a question...or two

[Midknight]

Where are you located Mike?

[MikeP]

Midknight, I'm in Calgary.

Sushiman thanks for the detail in your response. As far as what fish I plan to get I have to get a nemo and a dori for the kids, I think a clown will do well in my tank and as for as a 'dori' fish anything blue will probably be fine (the kids won't know the differance and I don't know what type of fish that is anyway). I'm thinking a blue damsel? Any fish I buy to start out will be $25 bucks or less until I'm more confident but I will make sure that anything I buy will get along with the other tankmates and also not end up being to big. I gather the name nano tank means anything on the small side? And what do you mean by sump for the 30gal? I was thinking if things go well I will convert my 55gal to salt in the future and in that case try out a reef.

[Palster]

The blue fish named Dori in the movie Finding Nemo is a Regal or Hippo Tang. These fish do not do well in tanks as small as yours (they need at least a four foot long tank in the range of 90 gallons or more for long term sustainability). You are wise to stick with Clownfish and Damselfish as you learn about the hobby. Both of these species are fairly hardy and inexpensive.

[demon666]

ya a hypo tang would not be recamended in a 30 gallon "dori" yes you are correct in nano= small

the sump remark refers to a type of filtration system where water from the display tank runs down into another tank "sump" where it gets filtered by a protein skimmer and such..... or also a refugeium with lr and ls and micro algea..... (skimmer a must on larger systems)


your 30 gallon tank would be ideal for a sump for your 55 when you change that to a reef tank

so when you buy you equipment for this tank (30) and you plan to upgrade to the 55 i sudgest buying equipment that will handel the 55 too... that way you can just swap your equip over to the bigger tank

you will also need to have an idea of the type of coral you will want to keep as they all have different lighting requirements........ metal hylide is the way too go you can keep anything you want with those....

[MikeP]

I've read a few things about people having nitrate problems, how can I make sure I'm not one of them? I intend to do frequent water changes and I use 'prime' water conditioner which is supposed to remove chlorine, chloramine, and ammonia and detoxify nitrite and nitrate at every water change. Is that enough to keep things in check? Is there any filter media that I should use? Right now I've just got foam, carbon, and bio spheres. I'm foing to start with a couple of clowns and if all goes well I will get a blue damsel. How long should I wait to get some sort of 'cleaner' like a cool shrimp or something? Another thing I wanted to ask about was iodine? Some guy at petcetera told me I need iodine if I'm going to keep any sort of invertabrates. He didn't really seem like he knew exactly what he was talking about. But here I am research, research, research right?

Thanks for any help

[demon666]

i would get rid of the bio balls and foam they are huge nitrate factories......... as for iodine im not sure i know nothing about it..... i have inverts such as hermits but i dont dose iodine....

[MikeP]

So how about suggestions on filter media. I figured the foam would cause problems down the road but I thought bio balls were the best thing to have in your filter. The filter I'm running currently is a aquaclear 300.

Thanks

[EmilyB]

Mike, you'd be wise to visit some Calgary reefers to save you some grief. I for one would welcome you to my home, PM me if you'd like.

[Sushiman]

Originally Posted by MikeP

I've read a few things about people having nitrate problems, how can I make sure I'm not one of them? I intend to do frequent water changes and I use 'prime' water conditioner which is supposed to remove chlorine, chloramine, and ammonia and detoxify nitrite and nitrate at every water change. Is that enough to keep things in check? Is there any filter media that I should use? Right now I've just got foam, carbon, and bio spheres. I'm foing to start with a couple of clowns and if all goes well I will get a blue damsel. How long should I wait to get some sort of 'cleaner' like a cool shrimp or something? Another thing I wanted to ask about was iodine? Some guy at petcetera told me I need iodine if I'm going to keep any sort of invertabrates. He didn't really seem like he knew exactly what he was talking about. But here I am research, research, research right?

Thanks for any help

Let me help; what the oh-so-helpful clerk at your local fishstore was vaguely talking about refers to soft corals (the respond positivly to iodine supplimentation) your cleaner shrimp will benifit as well. Don't worry about that for now. That is the last time I want you to get advice from a LFS clerk. By & by, your typical (not all) Petcetera or whatever is not where you want to get advice from. Come here, or Reef Central, etc. Now stay the heck away from suppliments or any miriacle-in-a-bottle for now. Most of it is crap. I want you to invest in the best quality live rock you can find /afford (this is your backbone of you system both physically & bio-filtration-wise), nice sugar-sized arragonite substrate for a deep sand bed (another key part of your bio-filter), lab-grade carbon for your chemical filtration (you'll need to swap this out every other month or more depending on the tanks bio-load). You can continue to use tapwater conditioner if you like however the best route is to utilize RO or RO/DI water in your tank. There are all sorts of things in tapwater that don't belong in your aquarium, such as phosphates & silicates, heavy metals, etc. Consider investing in a good quality protien skimmer. There are many hang-on-tank models that will do a good job on a system of your size. Skimming is one of the best ways to strip desolved organic wastes out of your system.
Consider small, hardy fish & invertibrates & add the well after you set up your live rock and soon to be live sand bed. Nothing good happens fast, but if you take your time, you could have a very nice looking tank that is stable & ready for the long haul. Stick with the basics: don't overstock, don't over-feed, make regular H2O changes using a quality salt mix & RO or RO/DI if you can, do regular tank maintenance & treat the tank as a system! It's not a "fish tank", think of it as a garden or ecosystem. The fish are only a small part of it and that is one of the reasons reeftanks are sooooo captivating /addicting.

[TheReefGeek]

Excellend advice so far for you.

If you are going to use a 55 with 30g sump eventually, buy your protein skimmer according to that water volume. And you cant use the published gallon ratings, come here to find out some models you should use.

I would go skimmerless for now, then get an in-sump ASM G3 skimmer.

For lighting, buy metal halide or T5 from the start, don't mess with PC lighting fixtures you will replace it eventually.

I like to over-buy so I dont have to upgrade as much (I learned the very hard way, I am on my 5th skimmer, and have used VHO, PC, and metal halides for example)

Just keep posting questions, you will get good answers here, they might vary depending on people's experiences but take it all in and decide for yourself from there.