Newbie

[saltykid101]

Hello Everyone, This is a pic of my 29 gallon aquarium 2 days after adding saltwater. I have a couple of newbie questions. 1) Can i still have an anemone if i dont have live rock, but have coral rock that im getting from a friend tomorrow. 2) Would it be ok to have coral rock and just a couple pound of live rock for an anemone. Thanks.

[zhenya]

Hi saltykid101,

WELCOME TO REEFLAND!

I don't think you are ready for any invert or fish at this point. Let your tank cycle for 3-4 weeks or as long as it takes to complete it.
Keeping an anemone is not an easy task and one should think about getting a tank stable and mature before attenpting to keep one of this creatures.
Basically, your tank is just too new to keep anything in there.

Here's something for you to read about anemones while you are waiting for your tank to cycle.
http://web.archive.org/web/200208061...wb/default.asp

http://web.archive.org/web/200208061...wb/default.asp

[Ninong]

Hi saltykid101, welcome to Reefland!

You can't post pictures from Reef Central's gallery on other boards. All you get is their logo. ;;

You are not ready for an anemone yet. Your tank has only been up for a few days. Did you get your specific gravity down from the 1.032 yet? All you needed to do there was to remove some of the saltwater and replace it with freshwater. You should try to keep your specific gravity in a range of 1.024 - 1.026.

Have you decided whether you are going to keep the crushed coral substrate? Personally I don't care for it and I always advise people to take it out as soon as possible, the sooner the better. It can become a nutrient sink and a detritus trap.

My advice would be to remove the crushed coral now and replace it with aragonite sand. If you can't find the cheapy Southdown Tropical Play Sand in your area, you will have to buy the more expensive stuff. You could use plain quartz play sand but I wouldn't. I just don't like it myself but some people use it.

After replacing your crushed coral bed with aragonite sand, you will need to buy several pounds of live rock. You don't have to use ALL live rock but you would want to have at least 10 or 12 lbs. of good quality live rock in your 29-gal tank. You could add another 10 or 15 lbs. of cheapy base rock or dead rock to stretch your budget.

Then you will need to wait for your tank to go through an initial cycle before you can add any animals. I would suggest that if you are using only 10 lbs. or so of live rock that you throw in a raw shrimp from the supermarket to help the tank cycle. Peel the shrimp first so that you won't have the shell causing a mess in your tank. As the shrimp decays in the tank it will give off ammonia that will act as food for beneficial bacteria. You will also have a lot of beneficial bacteria in and on your live rock. The dead/base rock will gradually develop beneficial bacteria, too.

You will need to test your tank water before adding any live creatures. You may be able to start adding a few snails, hermit crabs, etc., after about three weeks. It may be possible to add a clownfish or two about a month after your tank has been set up. I would NOT add an anemone until the tank has been set up for AT LEAST a few months. You don't need an anemone for your clownfish and anemones are difficult to keep. Don't get one until you are more experienced and your tank has had time to become established. And, IF you do get an anemone, get one that is known to host the species of clownfish that you have.

Good luck with your aquarium but remember that only bad luck comes to those who rush things.