New fish tank idea

Dustinba · Jan 30, 2015

Soooo i decided to change my mind again on what I want for my tank. With the cost of live rock right now to fill my 40g tank. I decided to just do a fish only tank with artificial coral and rock decorations, then later upgrade my tank size to a full on reef tank. I just figured for my first tank it would be the way to go. That way I can get used to checking water levels and such and keeping up with maintaince and water changes.

I bought all live sand for bottom and I was thinking of adding a few smaller pieces of live rock that I'll buy from my LFS. I plan to buy the skimmer this weekend and fill the tank up asap to start its cycle, then add smaller peaceful fish. Maybe some lawnmore bennies, clownfish, mandarin, and a chocolate chip sea star.

For a fish only tank with artificial decorations, if later down the road i detect Algea on the decor, should I take it out a scrub it down? Or let the clean up crew do its job?

Waters · Jan 30, 2015

Just remember, if you aren't using live rock, you will need some type of filtration material in your sump/HOB to allow bacteria to grow (bioballs for example). As far as the decorations.....it is totally up to you. If your CUC is keeping everything algae free than you can leave them in. If not, remove them and scrub them clean.

Dustinba · Jan 30, 2015

Yeah I forgot to mention I have a HOB filter and will possible run duels if I don't purchase a skimmer for the right price. And are you saying to put bio balls inside of the HOb filter?

fishroomlady · Jan 30, 2015

I would really reconsider not the FO part but the part of not having live rock. You can start up your tank with dry rock which is much cheaper and perhaps just one piece of live rock to help seed it. Live rock really is the heart of a saltwater tank. You can use artificial decorations but I'd suggest getting live rock (or dry to start). In terms of keeping a FO prior to a reef, that is a good idea. You'll need to be cautious when adding a mandarin - they really need some biological maturity and plenty of live pods (which you'll need to provide) for success. I'd hold off on keeping one.

I probably wouldn't run a skimmer while you cycle so you don't have to wait on that. You'll want to be sure your tank has cycled completely before adding any live stock including inverts. Lawnmower blennies are an awesome fish but they really need a good amount of algae to feed on which you probably won't have starting out. You could look at some other types of blennies (I love my midas blenny

) until you have developed some algae for the lawnmower.

Dustinba · Jan 30, 2015

Good to know. So I will hold off on the Blennies. And as far as the pods, I see some places sell like 500 for 10$. How does that work with feeding mandarins? Do you freeze them like shrimp and then come feeding time toss them in?

PaulKreider · Jan 30, 2015

Mandarins feed nonstop throughout the day, 500 copepods wouldn't last but a few days. Yes they look awesome and everything, but AVOID getting one, especially if you are new to saltwater in general, they are an expert level fish in my opinion. As far as rock, you'd be fine with adding all dry rock (about $2/lb) and seeding it with bacteria in a bottle, 20-30 pounds will be plenty for you. I see no problem with a lawn mower blenny if you feed parts of an algae sheet a couple times a week, they enjoy pellets just as well, remember only 1 blenny per tank. And the algae on he dÃ©cor would be rather annoying IMO, you could scrub it down, but that could be a daily chore depending on how you keep up with your tank.

Best of luck!

Dustinba · Jan 30, 2015

Yeah a mandarin doesn't sound like a fish for me then. As far as the live rock, i will probably get around 20 lbs at my LFS. That way I can scope it out before i buy it. I don't think I will have the patience for dry rock. I heard that takes a while longer to become live