Hey, New to SW Tanks

[saveourship]

Hello all. First off, great site, I've been lurking around here as a guest for a few weeks to learn more about SW in NYC. I had FW and planted tanks since I was kid, my tanks always had long lives. Now I decided to take a jump into SW by starting small.

I live in Staten Island and from W' chester, so any advice on good SW fish & coral stores in the metro area will be much appreciated.

I'm set up with a BC 14, about +/- 18 lbs. of LR, a bag of LS and established water from a LFS supply. Water for water changes will be done w/ water from there.

I started the tank on 5/12 and my test strips show:

Nitrates: 10 ppm
Nitrites: 0
Alk: 200
PH: 8
Temp between 79.9- 81.4

No water changes yet.

Hardware in the tank is a MJ 900 w/ Hydor Flo on the return and a Koralia Nano 425. I removed the bioballs, sponge and filter pad; using polyfil and a bag of chemipure elite as my mechanical/ chem filtration. Stock lighting since I'm not getting into the harder corals to care for.

I'm about ready to add a cuc and looking at scarlet hermits, blue leg hermits, turbo & nassarius snails and a cleaner shrimp.

Fish will be a royal gramma and a percula. The corals I'll start with would be some frogspawn, hammer and maybe some bright button polys.

take a look at the tank and any advice is appreciated. coffee and donuts are served in the back.

:cheers:

 

[STHILL]

Welcome and nice rock work seems like your off to a good start

 

[kenconnect]

WELCOME!!!! lokking good so far.. cant wait to see wat else going in...

 

[sillysidewinder]

welcome. looks like you have an eye for composing a fish tank. nice rock work, I'm excited to see where it goes from here.

 

[saveourship]

Thanks for the feedback. I enjoyed reading HP Lovecraft so that's what inspired for the rock work. I redid the aqua scape a bit so I dent have to move a lot if the situation requires me to get my hands wet haha. got to pick up tongs and a turkey baster soon. said that to the wife once and she said I'll have a good time alone on a sat night! haha

can anyone suggest a store in midtown or staten island that has a good assortment of clean up crew snails n hermits?

 

[jdnumis]

Nice work

keep it up, looking good.

 

[petraio]

Looks Nice !!!

 

[saveourship]

thanks

Thanks for the feedback. I recently did a few changes to the landscape of the rock so it's easier to get in there if need be, take a look at the pics below.

Can anyone reccomend a store that has a good assortment of cuc members ? I'm starting to notice some hair algae (GHA) build up.
:snail: :eat: :link:

 

[kalapnath]

Hey welcome to MR best advice i can give is to read read and read take in as much as possible and ask as many questions as you can the guys and gals of MR will always help good luck with your tank.......................................

 

[kalapnath]

cuc

Thanks for the feedback. I recently did a few changes to the landscape of the rock so it's easier to get in there if need be, take a look at the pics below.

Can anyone reccomend a store that has a good assortment of cuc members ? I'm starting to notice some hair algae (GHA) build up.
:snail: :eat: :link:

http://reefcleaners.org/index.php?p...category_id=6&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=34

here is a place where you can get a good cuc cheap

 

[The_Robert_Loo]

Beautiful setup, its a highly addicting hobby once you get your first living thing in it. Just make sure your rockscaping had adequate waterflow around it to avoid nitrate buildup from waste. Best of luck with everything.

 

[Mike389]

Reefs2go.com has clean up crews for rele cheap prices and free shipping.... Stay away from petland discounts there prices are outragous...And always come to mr for advice on anything

 

[saveourship]

.... Stay away from petland discounts there prices are outragous...And always come to mr for advice on anything

Thanks!

Can you or anyone reccomend a LFS in SI, Midtown or Downtown that has a quality/ large selection of cuc ?

 

[sillysidewinder]

Manhattan aquariums. It's at 37 between 10th and 11th. You will be amazed by that store. By far my favorite in the city. They're also a vendor on here so look out for sales. I think they have 20% off all fish right now.

 

[jfahim]

Do not go to animal kingdom unless for an emergency. Total rip off!

Take a ride right over the bridge to aquatic obsession.

Or if you have time. Reefcleaners is great!


Sent from my iPhone using Reefs

 

[saveourship]

Do not go to animal kingdom unless for an emergency. Total rip off!

Take a ride right over the bridge to aquatic obsession.

Or if you have time. Reefcleaners is great!


Sent from my iPhone using Reefs

I know about animal kingdom, but thanks for the heads up. The first time we went in there, I noticed an employee adding new fish from a delivery and pulling out dead ones at the same time, a few small clowns less than 1 inch, among other species, that were dead. I learned while researching SW keeping, that is generally not a good idea since water parameters are off from the deceased generating high amonia and there is a cycle of sorts the tank must recover from before you add.

Not to knock a LFS, that just left me w/ a bad tast in my mouth which seems there's more emphasis to push product then to help create an ecosystem for the home and hobbyist.

 

[saveourship]

Manhattan aquariums. It's at 37 between 10th and 11th. You will be amazed by that store. By far my favorite in the city. They're also a vendor on here so look out for sales. I think they have 20% off all fish right now.

i heard about this place, the website has some great photos. i'll have to stop by there for a cuc. The GHA is really a pest.

 

[Mike389]

Get hermit crabs and snails.... cuc can be poisonous when stressed or die i would reccomend them

 

[Mike389]

considering you have a small tank it could be lethal.. It would probably be better suited for a larger aquarium since the toxins they produce are mild...

 

[Mike389]

Also green hair algea is normal for new tanks.. as your tank matures it will go away in my experience