I need some opinions

[JenniferR]

A guy i work with is taking down his 75 gallon saltwater tank and giving me all of his coral, live rock, and fish.

His fish are the following:

2 domino damsels (which i know will eventually get eaten by my lionfish)
1 large tomato clown fish
1 scopas tang

is there any good way to acclimate them all at the same time, or what do i add first (coral, live rock, fish).

We cant get them at different times, has to be all at the same time

any ideas?

[Samper]

What size and age is your system?

[art_of_war]

bad idea! But then again...dominos are a pain to deal with. I'd say, let them get eaten by your lionfish (if he can catch'em).

Jennifer,

You seem rather new to the hobby. Corals aren't to be taken lightly. If you're going to keep corals (especially SPS and LPS) in your tank with your lionfish and foxface, you better exercise caution NOW. Your lionfish may not do anything but if you're not feeding your foxface enough...you won't have corals either since foxfaces do have a tendency to nip at those.

In addition, lionfish can be messy eaters just like puffers and poop excessively also. Your water quality (especially in a 55) will play games with you. To keep corals, you need near pristine water conditions. Lastly, you don't want to stress out a beautiful creature like a scopas b/c the last thing you want to deal with is...


Ich.

[Poseidon]

I'd pass frankly. Give your tank and yourself time to adjust to the demands of keeping a saltwater tank.

[JenniferR]

So maybe i should just take the liverock and the tang and tomato clown.

He is just going to bring everything to the fish store if i dont take it.


ANd yes i am a beginner, so criticism is welcome lol I have had the tank running for about almost 9 months now.

ANd we have a 75 gallon tank, not a 55 sorry.

[art_of_war]

That's a big difference. 75 vs. 55.

[JenniferR]

i know i dont know why i kept saying 55, my husband read it and was like we have a 75 lol

[returnofsid]

Give us as much information about your current tank as you can....amount of live rock, live sand, filtration equipment, lighting, maintenance schedule and current inhabitants. That'll help us give you more accurate and helpful advice. I think the first thing I'd suggest is saying HELL NO to the Damsels...lol. They're evil. After we get more info about your tank, I'm sure you'll get lots of great advice. Having your current tank set up for 9 months is great though. You may be able to re-home more than you think...depending on your experience and equipment.

[JenniferR]

Give us as much information about your current tank as you can....amount of live rock, live sand, filtration equipment, lighting, maintenance schedule and current inhabitants. That'll help us give you more accurate and helpful advice. I think the first thing I'd suggest is saying HELL NO to the Damsels...lol. They're evil. After we get more info about your tank, I'm sure you'll get lots of great advice. Having your current tank set up for 9 months is great though. You may be able to re-home more than you think...depending on your experience and equipment.

Thank you. Ok i have a 75 gallon tank. I have the fluval 405 filter. I started with crushed coral for the bottom but now that I read more i wish i started off with the live sand. I have a seaclone protein skimmer. I only have about 20 lbs of live rock ( i know i need more but it is 8.00 a lb here). I test the amonia, nitrates, ph, and salinity weekly.

I have no clue what kind of light i have, it came with the tank. I currently only have two fish, the volitan lionfish and the foxface. (The lionfish ate all of my damsels lol).

[returnofsid]

The Lion Fish will also eat all the fish from the other tank except the Scopas Tang...lol. The Lion Fish, Foxface and Scopas tang will all get pretty large. Might be too many large fish for a 75.

Definitely take the guy's live rock. You do need at least 60 pounds more. If possible, get rid of that crushed coral and replace with aragonite sand. I'd also look into upgrading your skimmer and getting rid of that fluval, or at least removing all the media from it and just using it for flow. The media in it will soon become a nitrate factory....which will just compound the problems the crushed coral could cause.

[Ratpack]

If I were in your situation with the tank as new as it is, I would take the whole deal as it seems that is the only way to get it for free if I read this right. Put the LR in your tank for sure, that way you have more. The fish you can put in if you want, or take them along with the corals to the LFS and do one of two things. If they are willing, have them hold them until your tank is more mature (doubtful they will as they are in the business of making money by selling stuff, not holding it) or trade them in for store credit and get more stuff that you need right now, like a better skimmer. The Seaclone is OK but not nearly what you will need for a 75g. And if the lights came with the tank, chances are they are far from adequate to house corals. A photo of you setup will help us determine what you have and what you need to get a reef going.

[JenniferR]

ok thanks.

He is not sure when I will be getting everything (the divorce is going pretty bad i guess).

My husband and I were talking last night about upgrading to a larger tank in a few months, maybe 150 gallon.

If i were to get rid of the crushed coral and do the live stand in the new tank, is it going to mess up my cycle or what exactly do i have to do.

A store by my house has the whole setup ready for saltwater (brand new) for sale. So i think that the lighting may be better than what I have.

I should have some pictures up soon of my setup.

[Ratpack]

Find out what lighting it includes. Set up for saltwater doesn't require much lighting if you only keep fish. I know in my LFS's, I have yet to see a reef ready setup. Mostly I believe that is because everyone's tastes are different and the setup depends on what you want to keep.

[TimH07]

what are you going to do with your 75 if you get the 150

*holds out hands*

[JenniferR]

what are you going to do with your 75 if you get the 150

*holds out hands*

lol maybe sell it to buy some more things for my 150

we went to a bunch of fish stores yesterday but no one really had anything we liked...

we did pick up some more live rock which we needed.

Why does this hobby have to be so expensive?!?!