suggestion for beginner

[mrtian97]

fellow reefers,

Nub here, setting up 120 gallon tank mixed reef, already owned some zoa and small monti from the guy that i bought the tank from.

Couple questions:
1 I like to start right and keep the corals alive, I have bought radion XR30 and will have 2 (only one right now, tank still cycling), have skimmers and using RODI. The sump is home made that won't allow me to setup fuge (the way the DT drilled to the side won't allow me buy replacement to the sump and rather not to). What other 1-2 equipment that you suggest for me to get start with softies and LPS?

2. Which kind of softies and LPS that are colorful but also good for beginners?

3. for the fish, I may only have 12 yellowtail damsels (inherited from the guy thaf i bought from) plus already included peppermint shrimp and small starfish

i been watching a lot of utube , reading forums, etc.


Thanks much

 

[Bo N Rachel]

You look pretty set for right now just tune your skimmer to get it working good, frogspawns,torches,hammers look for splatter/ bi color Pinks purples oranges rainbows. How long have you had the tank reset up?

 

[Diesel]

Same question here, how long is that tank running?
Do you know where you are with your parameters on your water?
This all can be a important factor in order to have some coral going in that great looking tank.
As for corals, check out the sponsor page and there are some good deals going as we speak.

 

[mrtian97]

tank will be abt 5 wks cycling, bought new live sands for 120 lbs , and live rock is from the previous owner

 

[mrtian97]

tunze ato newly setup

 

[Diesel]

tank will be abt 5 wks cycling, bought new live sands for 120 lbs , and live rock is from the previous owner

Great, how are your test results on the water?

 

[mrtian97]

I used dr tims bacteria to start (a whole bottle for $40), couple wks ago my lfs tested the ammonia and he said still greenish yellow so still cycling so I will wait till next weekend to start bringing back my damsels,etc which been stored at my lfs (if they have no ick)

 

[mrtian97]

@ Bo, which corals that you mentioned having pink , purple, oranges rainbows?
Thanks

Can't wait

 

[Diesel]

You have any test kits yourself?
What is important is of course ammonia but Nitrite, PH and salt level.
What you should be looking into is Po4 and No3 test kits and don't forget the ALK, CAL and MAG.
If you did Dr Tims and you still cycling after 5 weeks something went wrong, did you add the ammonia to the tank after you did Dr Tims one and only?

 

[mrtian97]

thanks, didn't add ammonia, From the reading, I believe I should but lfs did not suggested it. I will have it tested again this coming Wed or Thurs to check. I got some test kits that have not start using it yet

 

[Diesel]

Start testing, as you should almost everyday with a new tank in order to understand where you are on the process and to get to know your own tank.
Also find a different LFS as I believe they doesn't know what the talking about.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Agreed it should be done cycling.
There are great beginners articles here in this site. Some of the best actually.
Personally I would highly recommend a deep sand bed. 2 or 3 inches of live sand. Live sand also comes packed in bacteria (live) this will add to the speed of your cycle. Also look into PRime and stability. I've used them to great effect. Dr Tims I haven't used but this is the third post today with problems starting a cycle with it.

A deep sand bed you won't ever have to clean and it's a nitrate reducer. See How sandbeds work by Ron Shimek.
Add livestock slowly and spend as little as possible. imo Zoas I would not add for 3 months especially with cycling problems.
I'm glad you had the patience to wait this long. Sorry for the problems. I had a long cycle on my current display tank because of the dry sand I used.