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#1
Oct 14 2019 09:09pm
anyone out here really knowledgeable on the hobby and would like to talk over discord/pm and help a guy out


I have a 55 gallon tank currently with 40 pounds of dry rock in it.

I have been running the tank for like 2 months. Was expecting the dry rock to start growing but it had not wondering if it was the lighting, the tank gets natural light but my lights for the tank broke and I have not bought new ones yet.
I had put velvet damsel and a cardinal banggai in there because the guy at petco said the fish waste would help add to it and I didnt want to spend alot of money of the fish because I wasnt sure if they were going to die from my salt water i made (first time ever). anyway the cardinal just vanished one day not sure what happened to him but I know I did not throw him out and everyone I asked said they did not see him dead.


Anyway after my ramble there my questions are.

Why is my dry rock not growing its been six months now?
Can the damsel have ate the other fish? hes so small I couldnt see that happening.
Where are better spots to buy fish then petco (they are so over priced) I know this is probably area specific but Just ideas would help, Can you buy fish online?
what are the fish I should get I want a colorful tank and starfish without anything trying to kill each other.

thanks
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#2
Oct 15 2019 04:21am
The cardinal could have got trapped under the rock or died while under there.
I would get at least one yellow tang, a watchman goby and a few wrasse as a start.
As to the dry rock, i prefer it not to grow, so i kept urchins to keep it down, if you do want it then agitate the surface with coralline and try 10k bulbs.
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#3
Oct 15 2019 10:40am
Quote (Plaguefear @ Oct 15 2019 06:21am)
The cardinal could have got trapped under the rock or died while under there.
I would get at least one yellow tang, a watchman goby and a few wrasse as a start.
As to the dry rock, i prefer it not to grow, so i kept urchins to keep it down, if you do want it then agitate the surface with coralline and try 10k bulbs.


ahh forgot to mention that I took out and inspected every rock to see if that had happen

hes not there unless hes like inside all the way in the rock lol
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#4
Oct 17 2019 01:16pm
Quote
Why is my dry rock not growing its been six months now?
Can the damsel have ate the other fish? hes so small I couldnt see that happening.
Where are better spots to buy fish then petco (they are so over priced) I know this is probably area specific but Just ideas would help, Can you buy fish online?
what are the fish I should get I want a colorful tank and starfish without anything trying to kill each other.


Did you cure/cycle the rock before putting anything else in? Did you buy it dry and put it in or get it wet and immediately put it in the tank? Natural light isn't all the great for a saltwater tank. It's not consistent enough like a tank light is. The tank light is what will make anything in there grow. You also need some good flow in there.
Damsel's are dicks. Get rid of that stupid thing asap. They will bully other fish, so its very likely it could have killed it. I had 2 in my tank once and they almost killed my clowns, I took them out and 1 ended up killing the other.
Petco/Petsmart are pretty bad for getting anything saltwater related.. fish/coral/rocks, plus they aren't very well kept there. Look for a local reef store. I have 2 near me, one is great for buying coral and the other has a better selection of fish.
Blue Chromis are awesome beginner fish. Pretty blue colors and they are cheap. (Usually 2-4each) A bit more expensive but one of my favorites are Anthias (lyretail/blue eyed). Both of these fish do well in groups. Avoid Wrasse, they may look awsome but they are jumpers. They love to die.
Starfish? The chocolate chip star is pretty cool. Theres a ton out there. As long as you don't get any aggressive fish they should be fine. Avoid getting a Harlequin shrimp then, unless you want to see it hunt and tear starfish into tiny little bits :evil: ..my favorite shrimp I ever had lol.

Also.. hows your clean up crew? Snails/Shrimp? If you have certain snails, they will eat they fish and you will never find a trace of it. Cleaner shrimp is super helpful. Peppermint and Sexy nice too. Avoid a coral banded though, if it gets hungry enough it'll start taking out fish.



This post was edited by Evster on Oct 17 2019 01:26pm
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#5
Oct 17 2019 02:46pm
This my my tank atm. 40g




This post was edited by Evster on Oct 17 2019 02:46pm
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#6
Oct 17 2019 02:52pm
https://www.instagram.com/relientkiid/?hl=en

lets do one question at a time. what do you mean by this?

Quote (YoungLs @ Oct 14 2019 08:09pm)

Why is my dry rock not growing its been six months now?


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#7
Oct 21 2019 10:42am
Quote (Evster @ Oct 17 2019 03:16pm)
Did you cure/cycle the rock before putting anything else in? Did you buy it dry and put it in or get it wet and immediately put it in the tank? Natural light isn't all the great for a saltwater tank. It's not consistent enough like a tank light is. The tank light is what will make anything in there grow. You also need some good flow in there.
Damsel's are dicks. Get rid of that stupid thing asap. They will bully other fish, so its very likely it could have killed it. I had 2 in my tank once and they almost killed my clowns, I took them out and 1 ended up killing the other.
Petco/Petsmart are pretty bad for getting anything saltwater related.. fish/coral/rocks, plus they aren't very well kept there. Look for a local reef store. I have 2 near me, one is great for buying coral and the other has a better selection of fish.
Blue Chromis are awesome beginner fish. Pretty blue colors and they are cheap. (Usually 2-4each) A bit more expensive but one of my favorites are Anthias (lyretail/blue eyed). Both of these fish do well in groups. Avoid Wrasse, they may look awsome but they are jumpers. They love to die.
Starfish? The chocolate chip star is pretty cool. Theres a ton out there. As long as you don't get any aggressive fish they should be fine. Avoid getting a Harlequin shrimp then, unless you want to see it hunt and tear starfish into tiny little bits :evil: ..my favorite shrimp I ever had lol.

Also.. hows your clean up crew? Snails/Shrimp? If you have certain snails, they will eat they fish and you will never find a trace of it. Cleaner shrimp is super helpful. Peppermint and Sexy nice too. Avoid a coral banded though, if it gets hungry enough it'll start taking out fish.

https://commondatastorage.googleapis.com/swf_product_images/marine_life/587_lyretail-anthias-female_1.jpg https://fscomps.fotosearch.com/compc/FSD/FSD749/blue-green-chromis-in-coral-thicket-stock-image__x75684503.jpg


I bought 40 pounds of dry rock from amazon. Came bleached already I just rinsed it really well to get all the broken pieces and stuff out so it didnt murk up the water. I just bought a damsel because he was cheap wanted to get some waste going in the tank, I dont have any clean up crew because there is pretty much no waste at this time only one fish in there. I have a 55 gallon marine land tank , have a bio wheel filter penguin 350 It puts out pretty good water movement I figured the bio wheel on one side of the tank with my air pump on the other would make enough flow.
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#8
Oct 21 2019 12:10pm
Quote (YoungLs @ Oct 21 2019 09:42am)
I bought 40 pounds of dry rock from amazon. Came bleached already I just rinsed it really well to get all the broken pieces and stuff out so it didnt murk up the water. I just bought a damsel because he was cheap wanted to get some waste going in the tank, I dont have any clean up crew because there is pretty much no waste at this time only one fish in there. I have a 55 gallon marine land tank , have a bio wheel filter penguin 350 It puts out pretty good water movement I figured the bio wheel on one side of the tank with my air pump on the other would make enough flow.


MMk, Should be good with the dry rock, wouldn't need to cure it since theres nothing live on it so no die off.
Damsel for waste, good good, still a terrible fish lol. I'd get rid of it as soon as you plan on getting any other fish.
You shouldn't need a clean up crew until you start showing signs of algae. (Theres a zillion different types, not all is bad) but they will help keep it under control.
Are you using sand or running a bare bottom? If you are running sand I would recommend getting (once you start to show signs of algae) nassarius snails. I have a bunchhh in my tank. They burrow beneath the sand and mix it up, cleaning as they go. Also as I mentioned before, these are the guys that will make any fish disappear if it dies :rofl:
Turbo snails are amazing to have to for rock/glass cleaning. Margarita and Astrea are great too. Sand will also help in the tank cycling process.
So far it's sounding good for a fish setup, but if you plan on getting corals, they will need a certain light, something stronger than what looks like came with that setup, and more flow in the tank (powerhead). But for now it sounds good.
Just make sure to do the one thing that both of us never keep up on.. Water changes! Super important, not even hard, just never get around to it :wallbash: But I can see a difference in my coral as soon as I do.
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#9
Oct 21 2019 09:13pm
Quote (Evster @ Oct 21 2019 02:10pm)
MMk, Should be good with the dry rock, wouldn't need to cure it since theres nothing live on it so no die off.
Damsel for waste, good good, still a terrible fish lol. I'd get rid of it as soon as you plan on getting any other fish.
You shouldn't need a clean up crew until you start showing signs of algae. (Theres a zillion different types, not all is bad) but they will help keep it under control.
Are you using sand or running a bare bottom? If you are running sand I would recommend getting (once you start to show signs of algae) nassarius snails. I have a bunchhh in my tank. They burrow beneath the sand and mix it up, cleaning as they go. Also as I mentioned before, these are the guys that will make any fish disappear if it dies :rofl:
Turbo snails are amazing to have to for rock/glass cleaning. Margarita and Astrea are great too. Sand will also help in the tank cycling process.
So far it's sounding good for a fish setup, but if you plan on getting corals, they will need a certain light, something stronger than what looks like came with that setup, and more flow in the tank (powerhead). But for now it sounds good.
Just make sure to do the one thing that both of us never keep up on.. Water changes! Super important, not even hard, just never get around to it :wallbash: But I can see a difference in my coral as soon as I do.



legit have no algae or waste in the tank. I wanted to get some clean up crew but the guy said i need waste first so i got a damsel and i guess it killed the other fish lmao.

im using live sand bottom, have a marine land filter with a bio wheel and air pump on the other side of the tank. I was told that would give it enough flow not sure if its true

also my lights gave out had two marine land 11 inch lights that go into the hood on the tank but they get wet from condensation and stopped working.


so do i need a power head and what kind of lights are good on a budget just spent a bunch on the setup already
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#10
Oct 22 2019 03:48am
Quote (YoungLs @ Oct 21 2019 08:13pm)
legit have no algae or waste in the tank. I wanted to get some clean up crew but the guy said i need waste first so i got a damsel and i guess it killed the other fish lmao.

im using live sand bottom, have a marine land filter with a bio wheel and air pump on the other side of the tank. I was told that would give it enough flow not sure if its true

also my lights gave out had two marine land 11 inch lights that go into the hood on the tank but they get wet from condensation and stopped working.


so do i need a power head and what kind of lights are good on a budget just spent a bunch on the setup already


Well good news! Dead fish will add to the waste :rofl:
Live sand is great for trapping nutrients. So waste from the one fish and food will get trapped in it and the rocks too.
That's odd, that shouldn't happen to the lights. If it's still under warranty I'd email them and see if they can do anything. Your best bet for a light would be some kind of Radion. I'd look to see if you can get a used one, brand new is $$$$.
If you don't really want to get that much into it, I know petsmart/petco have some cheaper led strips, just make sure its the saltwater one. They are crap for most coral, but just starting out, getting the rock to grow it should be good. Also, check out like craiglist or local reef groups for used stuff. People are ALwaYs getting rid of stuff.
Literally the only thing I bought brand new on my setup was my return pump for my sump ($350). Got my tank, radion led light, t5 lights, powerheads, stand, sump, heaters, reefkeeper, etc, all used.
I would still get a powerhead no matter what you put in the tank. Water movement is super important. Stagnant water is no good and it helps to move bacteria and whatnot around and also moves debris into the filter.
I'm rocking a Vortech MP10 + MP40 on my 40g. RelientKiid has 2x MP40's on his 60g cube. We both have coral though, so for right now it shouldn't be needed to use anything that big.

I used to rock these guys when I first started, they did pretty good for what I had at the time

https://www.petco.com/shop/en/petcostore/product/fish/fish-tank-pumps-and-powerheads/hydor-koralia-evolution-circulating-pump-850-gph
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