a kid whos new to the reef world

[petlover516]

hi. i have kept fish all my 11 years of life, since my dad has a 125 gallon SW with a few fish and inverts, i have always been learning. what i have is:
-55 gallon AGA aquarium
-coral life salt mix
-old whisper power filter for refugium
-tank hood
-API test kits for pH, NH4, NO2, and NO3


so i think i might try to look for a 20 gallon sump. i am asking what other equipment i need, the best company, and the cheapest price. im not gonna be able to raise enough money until probably late April, so for right now we can focus on the fish i would like to keep:
-2 royal grammas
-2 O' clowns
-2 firefish
-1 6-line wrasse
-1 green clown goby
-1 pygmy angel

thanks in advance!

 

[Killerdrgn]

the 2 royal grammas may kill each other.

 

[masterswimmer]

Welcome to Manhattan Reefs. It's such a pleasure to see some young reefers out there join us here. It sounds like you've got a excellent start to this hobby. Congratulations.

If your parents are into the hobby as well, you might want to talk to them about taking you to a frag swap we're having at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, Sunday, April 26th.

Best of luck with your tank and if I can speak for everyone else we hope to see you with your parents at the swap. FYI, great raffles, auction, vendors, corals, speakers and a chance to see a lot of great reefing products.

swimmer

 

[petlover516]

i meant 2 female royal grammas. i have read alot about maintaining royal grammas, and many people say that if u r shore u have a male/female pair, u will be OK.

 

[NYreefNoob]

i would go slow and worry about live stock after you have all the right equiptment, was the tank you have used for fresh water before ? same with the filter. what type of light is it ? do you plan to keep corals down the road ? one of th best things i suggest for new reefer's is to look through the tank threads and get a idea of others tanks and equiptment used

 

[petlover516]

the tank was used for FW but there is no water in it now. im not sure about the whisper. i stumbled upon while looking around my dad's old fish stuff. so anybody up for reviewing the needed equipment?

 

[NYreefNoob]

what you plan to keep in the long run will help us to give advise, was copper ever used in the tank ? medication ?

 

[petlover516]

idk. we picked it up from somebody my dad was friends with. for coral species, i plan on keeping frogspawn and it would be of great help if i could get reviews of good, hardy invert species. i have a hood but no lighting-what type of lighting should i use?

 

[prattreef]

Welcome to MR. I agree with everything Russ (masterswimmmer) said above. As someone who works with kids around your age setting up reef systems at my son's school and as the host of the aforementioned frag swap, besides reading, reading and more reading, attending the event is the best possible thing you could do. Since you are under 16 you can come for free

Randy

 

[lanacane214]

dont worry kid nobody curses here.one time i cursed and i got a 1 month time out:irked:

 

[petlover516]

i told my dad about the swap and if he could take me. he said no because a lot of black people live there. my dad is prejudice. if my mom will have her license back, than im pretty sure i can convince her. anyway i was reading a magazine about SW fish and saw a pic of a beautiful little yellow hard coral, it branched out, but the branches were short and fat. it was banana-yellow. what kind was it? it was in a pic of an 8 gallon nano-reef, and even in that pic it looked small, so its a very small type of coral.

 

[masterswimmer]

i told my dad about the swap and if he could take me. he said no because a lot of black people live there. my dad is prejudice. if my mom will have her license back, than im pretty sure i can convince her.

I'm very saddened to hear that a young mind like yours is being spoiled by such ignorance. It sounds as if you're an intelligent young boy with a good future ahead of yourself. Please don't let the prejudice of your father affect the way you view and treat other people. :sad2:

swimmer

 

[CHEMCHEF]

+1

I'm very saddened to hear that a young mind like yours is being spoiled by such ignorance. It sounds as if you're an intelligent young boy with a good future ahead of yourself. Please don't let the prejudice of your father affect the way you view and treat other people. :sad2:

swimmer

 

[petlover516]

thanks for the kindness. ok anyways anybody gonna say product reviews? or do i have to wait until april 26th?

 

[Keith P]

thanks for the kindness. ok anyways anybody gonna say product reviews? or do i have to wait until april 26th?

Price range will greatly affect what equipment you should look for. Lighting is not going to be cheap.

 

[petlover516]

ok well what do i need to support the most low-light corals and anemones? i have been doing research and found out decorated firefish are hardier than magnificent firefish-should i switch?

 

[KathyC]

You probably should be focusing on a couple of things before you get to livestock - as previously suggested.
You mentioned 'tank hood' in your first post. Are you talking about a standard FW type light fixture? You will need to get lighting designed for use with a SW tank such as MH, T5's or PC lighting.
Anenomes are not low light corals.

You will also need a protein skimmer and ideally a QT tank to ensure the health of your fish before you add them to your display tank.

Have you decided if you are adding a sump or not yet?
You have many decisions to make before you proceed and should be researching your options at this time. Has your father made any suggestions for you as he knows your budget best and as you said is experienced with SW already.

 

[prattreef]

IMO, I would keep it as simple as possible. I would strive to set up a system that is appropriate for easy to keep mushrooms, zoanthids, and easy soft corals like Sinularia or Cladiella etc. To accomplish this, I would:

1) Ditch the idea of a sump
2) Purchase a Hang on the Back skimmer like a CPR Bak PaK or Aqua C Remora
3) Get the best 4' lighting fixture you can afford either T-5 or PC flourescents.
4) Purchase a HOT magnum canister filter to run carbon and Phosban.
5) Buy 2 maxijet powerheads and mod kits or 2 Korallia's for internal flow.
6) a heater
7) some sort of water purification system if your dad doesn't already have one
8)Then of course you need some liverock and sand
That is all you need to set up a simple, successful and beautiful system.

The corals I mentioned above you will likely not have to pay for, so you can save some $$$ there. If in the future you want to try some more difficult animals you can use most of this equipment in more complex setups.

 

[petlover516]

ok. by water purification system, do u mean those really expensive Reverse Osmosis units? are they a must?

 

[prattreef]

Ideally yes, but you can get by with a Aquarium Pharmecuticals tap water purifier--- cheaper in the short run, but more expensive in the long run.