Question from a newby.

[Nub]

Hey all, first time poster here

I just got into the hobby about a month ago and loving every step. Last 5 years I have done fresh water, and finally stepped up to the challenge of a reef aquarium and glad I did.

With my tank being setup for a little over a month now I am looking to start filling it with some critters. What would you suggest for a newbie and are there any good sites to order from? I live in rural Iowa and only two shops in town that sell salt water anything, and both are about worthless.

I have a 75 gallon tank with about 85 pounds of live rock. For lighting I went with a current usa outer orbit, has 2 150w mh lamps and 4 54w actinic 18 white/blue leds. Like I said im new at this so go easy on me.

 

[Anonymous]

Where in Iowa are you?

There are some good shops in the Iowa City area and the Davenport area.

Are you looking for advice on corals or fish?
With your lighting you should be able to keep a wide variety of corals assuming everything else is stable and within appropriate ranges.

:welcome:

 

[mr_X]

welcome nub.
i don't want to tell you what to put in your tank. that's for you, and you alone to decide.
i also have no experience with online vendors. we have quite a few local stores around here in heated competition
i'm sure others on this forum can help you with that.
i would just like to caution you to take your time, and choose your corals and livestock very carefully. believe me, that 75 gallon may seem large now, but you won't believe how fast you will run out of space if you are not careful. i started with my 75 gallon oscar tank, then bought a 125 and used my 75 as my sump. now i impatiently wait as my 190 is being built 8O .

corals, you can always remove and take to the lfs, but fish are a bit more difficult, especially with 85 pounds of live rock to hide in :wink:
have fun!

 

[Nub]

Pit: I live in Cedar Falls, north of Iowa City, thanks for the tip I will check it out. You know the name of the lfs at all?

X, thanks for the input! These forums are amazing, so glad I came across them.

 

[Anonymous]

Pit: I live in Cedar Falls, north of Iowa City, thanks for the tip I will check it out. You know the name of the lfs at all?

Sea of Marvels is the store in Iowa City (I'm in IC too) and it is a very large, very nice shop. He doesn't have a lot of corals (and they tend to be expensive) but his fish are always very healthy and reasonably priced. Aquatic Environments is in Davenport. Its a smaller shop, but it has a great selection of corals and fish, and a very knowledgeable staff.

The best place to get corals though, is through other hobbiests. You will get much better prices, and generally healthier stock.

If you haven't already, you should check out the Iowa reef club forum on reefcentral.com: Iowa Reef Society

I'm pretty sure there are some club members in Cedar Falls. There are a bunch of people in Waterloo.

Welcome to your new addiction.

 

[Anonymous]

I'm going to give you a site that gives very good research info on livestock: www.wetwebmedia.com .

Welcome & good luck!

 

[SnowManSnow]

You said your tank was up for a little over a month, and you wanted to fill it with critters. I realize that statement probably wasnt literal, but just in case.... move slow.

Realize that a marine tank that has been up for a month is still VERY young. Chances are you haven't experianced the diatom bloom yet that hits most new tanks about 2 months or so.

Also, I noticed you had a lot of rock in there.. keep in mind that flow is extreamly important in marine aquaria. you don't want a big hunck of rockwork that will impede your flow across your corals.

Oh, one more thing.. since you are coming from FW tanks... don't fall under the assumption that your current FW filtration will work for a marine tank. Some will disagree, but most will say that the best filtration for marine tanks are LR and a very good over rated skimmer. As far as skimmers go.. I love mine.. check out the octopus recirculating type.. I have the 150 recirc.

Not trying to be disheartening.. just words of caution.. ive made all the above mistakes before haha.

Good luck to you! Make haste slowly.

B

 

[Nub]

Thanks for all the suggestions!

 

[Anonymous]

Do you have a DSB (deep sand bed)?

 

[shavo]

he nub what kind of filtration are you using? just curious

I ordered from this place, there was a mix up on the order (a misunderstanding) but aside from that all the fish I ordered from them came in perfect healthy condition and are all still alive right now in my tank. every fish I bought never had ich, never died, and are all getting bigger as we speak. I would defenitly re-order from them.

good luck choosing your fishies!!!

here is the link

https://www.aquacon.com/saltwater_fish_aquarium.html

 

[Anonymous]

I don't think I would be exaggerating to say that Aquacon has the worst reputation of any online aquatics retailer.

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[Anonymous]

I use www.saltwaterfish.com . I liked them and have very reasonable shipping prices and great packaging from experience.

 

[Nub]

Shavo, for filtration I have a canister filter, the live rock (85 pounds) live sand (100 pounds). For the skimmer I am using a Tunze DOC 9005.

 

[shavo]

hahaha, aquacon sucks huh? I only used them once and they screwed up my order but the fish were healthy!!

too funny.

I only ordered once online and picked aquacon!!! haha

 

[shavo]

I read some of the reviews you posted!!! thanks, I did have issues with them. but once again I still have the fish they shipped me over a year ago.

NUB I wouldn't use my suggestion now that people have come out to dispute them. I don't have enough expirience with them to back them.

anybody know about jeff's exotics???

 

[Anonymous]

I hadn't ever ordered from Aquacon, but the threads about them stealing images from people to use on their site really put me off. Then I started reading about people recieving dead livestock and not being given a credit. Glad your order went mostly well.

I haven't used Jeff's Exotics, but they don't have a bad repuation afaik.

http://www.marinedepotlive.com and http://www.liveaquaria.com generally get very good reviews for the customer service

 

[Nub]

How long would you guys suggest I wait before adding cleaners like snails and hermit crabs?

 

[Anonymous]

If you have test readings of zero for ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate I think you could start adding hermits and snails now.

 

[Anonymous]

I would order form http://www.ipsf.com and get their $99 dollar mix and match special. At the same time iwould get the detritivvoe kit from http://www.inlandaquatics.com for the same price. That will get you an awesome variety of critters.

 

[shavo]

you can ad a clean up crew as long as you have stuff to clean up, maybe you have some algea on the glass already and stuff like that. but if you have live rock and lights on already then you can add cleaners.