beginner help

[rodman844]

I have a 55g with crushed coral, one 48" double bulb strip, has white and blue atinic.emperor 280, cpr bak-pak 2. need to purchase a powerhead and heaters. I just bought the tank used.The tank is sitting empty right know. Have had tanks in the past but little sucess. I will be buying ro system.The tanks i had in the past had algae problems. I think was due to not using ro water. Would like to start out slow and do this one right. want to start with some live rock and anemones and clownfish. do i need to upgrade my lighting for my anemones or is the higher powered lights just for corals? would like to turn into reef system down the road but want to start slow and add things needed to tank over time. Please help.

 

[Anonymous]

I would suggest to go without the anemones for beginners. It is very diffcult to keep one long term, since most of them demand high intensity lighting.

Sounds like you are pretty much setup for a while with the things you get right now. If I were you, I will test the crushed coral to make sure there is no copper or medication on it. It can be a real PITA later if you run into problem and can't figure out where goes wrong.

 

[rodman844]

If I decide to go to a reef tank later do I really need live sand or is live rock with the coral ok? would hate to remove all the crushed coral later down the road. I had a 29g long time ago with some clowns that lived in the two sebae anemones, but i had fluor lights and had an algae problem big time. Are there any anemones that will live in fluor lights that clowns like. thanks for your help.

 

[Anonymous]

Some reef tank were able to go with crushed coral, but the fad now is to use finer sand. I did both, as well as a mixture of both crushed coral and fine sand, and don't really notice the problem (only two years on each type of substrate... so not too sure...)

Clown does not need the anemone to live, and oftentimes it will host on a LPS. I usually recommand people to stay away from anemone as a beginner...

 

[rodman844]

When I get the tank full of ro water and start my cycling should I check for copper then or wait a few days? Are there any meds i can add to remove the copper? I assume i should do this during the cycling before i start to add live rock. Should I by cured or not curred? how do i cure live rock? thanks for all youe help.

 

[Anonymous]

There is the Archive in RDO that you can check for curing live rock, or do a search on the library, or google.

There is no med that can remove copper. I would just put some crushed coral sample into a clean plastic container, add some RO/DI water, and shake the hell out of it for a few minutes. Let it sit for a few days, then bring the water sample to test for copper.... sounds good? I guess I am a bit pessimistic, while you are a bit optimistic.

 

[Anonymous]

Oh, there is a thread on GRD about anemone... don't know how useful will the discussion be for you.... check it out and ask some question there!

http://reefs.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=40142