Starting 200 gallon saltwater tank

G

Guest

Guest
alright, i recently had a freshwater fish tank and i am planning on turning it into a live fish saltwater aquarium. I have a 25 gallon wet dry, im taking out the bioballs and im gonna put live rock and algae lights because i read and have been told bioballs house nitrates and bad chemicals.And i have a i have a 100 gallon emperor hang-over filter. The tank is 200 gallons so im looking for the more aggressive fish you know since i have the room. I've looked at a few specimens and these are the fish i've considered getting.

*1 Athron Dog Face Puffer
*1 Blueface Angelfish
*1 Dragon Wrasse
*1 Zebra Moray Eel
*2 Radiata Lionfish
*2 Clown Tiggerfish
*3 Salifin Tang

i have talked to people that i have been getting live sand, salt and things of that nature and they have been giving me advice on what im doing. I have also read loads and loads of information about the fish im getting and how to setup/start a saltwater tank.Now id would like to hear YOUR opinion about what im doing, things i should consider, and what i need to know.

Thanks.
Leon
 
if you are doing a fish only then you do not need to remove the bio-balls
 
why i thought they were bad because they housed bad nitrates
 
nitrates are not bad if you do a fish only tank....if you plan on a reef tank (corals and clams) then yes you need to remove them...but from your list of fish you will not be housing corals or clams

planning a refugium without bioballs wont hurt..but for your tank it has no ill effects to go either way wet/dry or refugium
 
Plan on a skimmer that is rated about 100 g over the 200, you have a lot of messy eaters on that list and it will help keep things in check.

And I'm not sure 2 clown triggers is such a good idea, one by itself will probably end up being more than a handful. They also get upwards of 15" I believe.
 
Here is a good article on the Clown Trigger from wetwebmedia.com - http://www.wetwebmedia.com/clntrigart.htm

Unless you plan on eventually housing only a Clown trigger in your 200 it might be best to avoid.
 
hmm i read the entier thing and i took it into consideration, but i think it exaggerates just a bit, the guy at the fish gallery said it would be just fine to have a pair but if i got the same sex i would run into problems, now im considering maybe narrowing it down to one, and do you really think ill be keeping damsels with him? :roll:

and im gonna be running a 200 gallon skimmer and a 20 gallon wetdry i belive it deals for 125 gallon tank
 
I would think that the most crucial part of your entire set up will be your filtration, ie. skimmer! You for sure want to go way overboard with your skimmer due to the fact that the fish you will be keeping are extremely messy.

The better the skimmer, the less likely you will have problems. Dont regret it, spend good money on a really nice skimmer.
 
alright thanks would it be good just to have two skimmers running. maybe buy another close to the size of the one i have and save money rather than ditching this one for one monster skimmer?
 
I have a few words of advise.

1.) Let the tank get good and cycled before adding fish and cleaners.
Add some bio load like dead shrinp and build your cycle up.
2.) Once cycled and youa re ready for fish. do not add to many. it can cause a spike your tank is not ready for.
3.) Make sure you read up on compatibility and add the fish in a order that will insure they get along as well as they can.

Do lots of reading on filtration and the methods and OVER filter .
 
thanks, ive never heard of the dead shrimp meathod though.. I know the damsels are the most common method in building up the tank
 
Yup, damsels are the common method.. and it's rather cruel to them, and damsels will be a terror to other tank mates, most of the time.
 
ok i bought 160 pounds of live aragonite, and a bucket of instant ocean that treats 200 gallons. i put the sand in first then i mixed the salt in a 16 gallon bucket and put it in, it got pretty cloudy, and the filters are clearing it as of now. is there anything i could do at the moment?
 
wait...

have you put live rock in yet?

Also is the sand live.. i doubt it.. If I were you I would find a member that would spair a few cups of live sand to seed with... Always good.

If you want to make the drive I will take a little out of each tank get you a couple of cups to start with.


once you seed the sand you should start looking for live rock. i also have about 20 extra of that...



Once you get your live rock in there how you want it you bacically just have to wait.
No lights on- ( grows alagae)
and wait for a cycle - the best way I think is a dead shrimp fromthe store.. not a bioled red one but a raw one.. just let it sit in there.
I do not do water chages during this time to speed up the process..


Live rock and sand will help with one too...

if you wait for the cycle you can adjust all your flow before you add fish or corals which i think is better.



sump / refuge set up?


I had a wet dry and i coverted it to a sump... i posted pics too... some were... give you something to do while your waiting.. lol
 
:roll: of course, its live sand and i do have 2 lights on to

promote algae growth i wanted to get the tank cleared up a bit before i

put dead shrimp or damsels in, probably some time later on today. i have

20 pounds of live rock. i understand being new to this forum makes me

look like a newbie but im not completly that... ive been keeping

freshwater for 5 years and of all the information i took in ive made the

infrence that saltwater involved new things and materials so no worries. i'll

post some pics sometime.. o and i could use some more live rock come

to think of it how much for 20lbs? or are you just being a generous kind

giving dfwmas member :D ?

Thanks for you concern :oops:
 
you can typically find live rock on the forums for around $3 a pound. Live Rock with a good skimmer can handle alot of the the biological filtration. If you buy rock from a member it will usually be cycled, if it needs to be cycled that will add to the time to cycle your tank.
 
alright the tanks has cleared up and i got some rock, a damsle and 3 crabs. dont ask me about the crabs it was my dad's idea anyway ill try to get some pics on so you guys can help me get started
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top