a little help.

**atlanticreef** · 08-01-2011, 05:16 AM

hi all, i am new to this site, and newish to the marine hobby. my questions are: what gallon/litre is my tank its 3ft length x 2.5 ft deep x 1.5ft. what fish can i keep in a tank that size. i have 15-20kg of live rock.. and any advice on to keep a good quality for my tank.. Thanks

**Reefing Madness** · 08-01-2011, 09:39 AM

Originally Posted by atlanticreef

hi all, i am new to this site, and newish to the marine hobby. my questions are: what gallon/litre is my tank its 3ft length x 2.5 ft deep x 1.5ft. what fish can i keep in a tank that size. i have 15-20kg of live rock.. and any advice on to keep a good quality for my tank.. Thanks

Roughly looking at 84 gallons and 33-44lbs of Live Rock, your alittle shy of having a minimum of 1.5lbs per gallon, as this is usually or should be your tanks filtration, the more the better. You have a good choice of fish, but not very big ones. Pygmy Angels, Anthias. Unfortunately no tangs, as 3' wide isn't very good for their swim pattern.
Buy Fish Online: Buy Tropical Fish, WYSIWYG corals, clams and inverts online at the Diver's Den®
You will be able to find out if what ever fish you are looking for would work in your size tank.

**atlanticreef** · 08-01-2011, 11:33 AM

thanks for the reply. i have two clowns and a lawnmower blennie at the moment, and coral i have what appears to be a toadstool. and a atlantic anemone, how long would you say is best before adding any new additions, ii want to upgrade my filtration at some point. are sump systems more beneficial rather then a canister filter??

**Reefing Madness** · 08-01-2011, 07:19 PM

[QUOTE=atlanticreef;238657]thanks for the reply. i have two clowns and a lawnmower blennie at the moment, and coral i have what appears to be a toadstool. and a atlantic anemone, how long would you say is best before adding any new additions, ii want to upgrade my filtration at some point. are sump systems more beneficial rather then a canister filter??[/QUOTE]
That is a big Yes. The stuff you keep in there help filter out the junk in the water. IE Chaeto, Live Rubble, Skimmer, Marine Plants, Deep Sand Bed. How long has the system been up, and when was the last thing you added to the tank? I would say to wait initally 3-4 weeks inbetween additions to a new tank, lets the benificials catch up to the Bio-Load.

**atlanticreef** · 08-02-2011, 01:23 AM

ok ill do a bit more research into sump and find a suitable one for my tank. i have a skimmer on there now but its hanging of the side of my tank. i have a deltec v2 400 skimmer are these good models? the tank has been set up for 11 months now. the last addition i made was an atlantic anemone 2 days ago. ok illl leave for a while now. i got told by my lfs that i couldnt have hard corals any know the reason why?

**Reefing Madness** · 08-02-2011, 11:07 PM

Deltec skimmers are one of the best you can buy. Only reason I would think that you could not keep SPS would be that your lighting is not strong enough. Also, they require prestine water conditions. Also, if you've had your tank set up that long, throw in there what you want, with in reason of course, you have a mature system that will support more life. Hmm, but hard corals could be LPS also. Interesting. LPS don't need as much light as SPS.
http://www.liveaquaria.com/diversden...+8&ddid=127962 here is an example of LPS
http://www.liveaquaria.com/diversden/ItemDisplay.cfm?c=2733+2&ddid=127993 here is an example of SPS

**atlanticreef** · 08-03-2011, 04:44 AM

ok thats a good thing to know, is the any nice corals out the, ive seen a few that are nice .but not sure about because of my lighting. not sure what lighting i have on my tank. i have 1 marine blue 420 actinic extra high output and 1 standerd white bulb that came with the lighting fixture i will upgrade that one soon. 1 question is that i get alot of salt deposit on the lid of my tank. how can i stop this?

**twisted** · 08-03-2011, 06:02 AM

Some great and addicting corals are acans and chalices. They are easy to care for and intense light is not needed. Palays and zoas would also add some nice color and are easy. Try to stay away from Xenia and kenyas due to the fact that they can quickly take over real estate.
Welcome to Reefland!!!!

**twisted** · 08-03-2011, 06:05 AM

As for the lid. Most of us don't use them because of salt issues. If you have fish that jump you can add a diy screen. Also, be careful of the Atlantic nem. They aren't very reef friendly

**Reefing Madness** · 08-03-2011, 09:28 AM

Originally Posted by atlanticreef

ok thats a good thing to know, is the any nice corals out the, ive seen a few that are nice .but not sure about because of my lighting. not sure what lighting i have on my tank. i have 1 marine blue 420 actinic extra high output and 1 standerd white bulb that came with the lighting fixture i will upgrade that one soon. 1 question is that i get alot of salt deposit on the lid of my tank. how can i stop this?

I am now curious how well your BTA is goin to be. You really don't have alot of light for 84 gallons, using only one HO daylight. But, there are quite a few corals out there that are low light creatures, some stated by Twisted.
Toadstool Mushroom
Colt Coral
Button Polyps
Hammer Coral, Torch, Frogspawn, you could put these a little higher inthe tank.
Many things you could keep
And the lid thing, ditch it. The problem it called Salt Creep, not a whole lot of anything you can do about that. Its better for the tank that you don't have a lid anyways. Better for light and gas exchange from the water.

**atlanticreef** · 08-03-2011, 10:09 AM

thanks guys. so many corals to choose from gonna be a long day for me. lol.. my atlantic anemone seems to be doing what seems to me very well it was pure white when it was in lfs but changed a white with a hint of pink. i feed it every 2-3 days is that suitable. ive heard they tend move about but it hasnt as of yet. ok ill ditch the lid. i would like to upgrade the lighting at some point to a 4 bulb unit. is it true if i were to have halides would i need a cooling unit? how do i lower my temp as we have had hot weather for 2 days and tank is temp is at 30 degrees