need help asap

[foresteronw]

As some of you know I'm setting up my salt water tank and trying to ensure that I go about it the correct way. Again I'll give a brief description of what I've got so far.

125Gal tank with a stand and glass tops.
The lights are just basix florecent lights ( I plan on upgrading soon).
Emporer 400 power filter with bio wheels removed
Penguin 350B power filter with bio wheels removed
Two Ebo Jager 15" 200W heaters
Coralife 125 Protein Skimmer will be here on Wed.

100lbs of Southdown sand
40lbs of Aragonite sand
40lbs of crushed coral (I know some dont' agree but I like the look of it mixed).

Water and salt have been in the tank for about one week.

I bought a Red Sea Test Kit today and this is where my tank sits right now(sorry about the spelling)

Alkalinity is in the normal range
PH is 8.4
Nitrate is 10
Nitrite is .1
Amonia is 1.00
Salinity is 1.021
Temp is 79
Test told me that my toxic ammonia leven is 14% which I know is not good.

Now here comes the problem. I found someone local that is tearing down a tank. This is everything she is willing to sell me at a price I can't turn down. She didn't know too much about it and has been paying someone else to take care of it in her house.

Here is what she told me she has as far as she knows, some things she new exactly what they were some she didn't.

100lbs of live rock over 1 year in her tank

Fish-
2 clown fish (not sure what kind)
Yellow tang
Domino
Mandering Goby
Yellow Tail Damsel
Coral Bay shrimp
Blue Striped Sea Star
Annenomie

Coral-
Striped Mushroom
Colt

Now some of this may not make sense but this is exactly word for word what she told me. She said if I bring enough storage that I can take the water as well.

By the way does this sound like a good deal for $150.00? I would think so.

Now from the sounds of it I don't think my tank is ready for all of this, especially with the Ammonia problem. I know I don't have the lights for the coral and to be honest I didn't want to start a reef tank for a while, but now it's tempting. As far as the lights go is it as simple as me swapping bulbs or do I need all new light units?

Please tell me what my options are. She'll hold it for me until tomorrow but there is someone else that wants it if I don't get it so I'd like not to miss this opportunity.

Josh

[rayjay]

You could always remove everything from your tank, fill it with the rocks from the other tank, as well as the water, and then place the contents in after the rock is set up.
The live rock would handle the bio-load as it has been doing in the tear down tank, and, you can then gradually add the substrate that you've removed, a little at a time. It's best that the live rock sits on the bottom of the tank anyway and you just cover the bare bottom with your substrate until you reach the depth you wish to have.
As for the lighting, the mushroom and colt survive low light conditions, and if you can scavenge some more shop lights or whatever that will only help things.
All of my tanks are lit with NO fluorescent lamps, just a lot of them, and I keep clams, LPS, softies, and anemones.
One thing you Really need to to in my opinion is bring up the s.g. level so it's suitable for the invertebrates you would be adding.
Check the incoming water's s.g. and if it's not in the 1.025-026 range, gradually brine it up (or down) to that range which is normal for a reef in the ocean.
While fish don't have a problem with your 1.021, most invertebrates will have, some short term, and most in the long run.
As for spelling, I'm probably not any better, and for some reason, I have a hard time locating the check spell feature on most of these boards.

[Little Luey]

GO GET IT!!!

You will save a bundle. The live rock itself is a deal at that price, you could leave everything in the rubermaid containers for a while while you transfer all her stuff in to your tank and then worry about aquascaping later. Do not pass this up. Once you get familiar with prices and stuff you will be even happier.

[Reefland]

Yeah that's a good deal for the rock alone provided it isn't covered in some kind of nuisance.

[foresteronw]

Well all seems to be going well so far. All the fish are active and hungry again today, if I go near the tank they zoom over to where I'm at and stare at me, beg worse than my dog. The Blue sea star is very active, cruises all over the tank...and yes he's making a mess of the sand so I had to put some poly back in the filters to clear it up. The shrimp is just staying in one spot that I can tell, not moving around much.

[Little Luey]

Good for you Foresteronw.
Sorry if I was a little excited on my other post.

[sere]

foresteronw,Great deal. Looks like you got to skip the whole cycle pain. Hope all goes well for you. One thing about the lights. Some may disagree but you said you got an anenome in the deal.. If you do not add more lights it will die. You can try placing it up high and it should do OK but in a tank that deep NO lights will not cut it. Even if you put a bunch of lights over the tank it will not significantly help because NO lights will only penetrate the water so far. Not only watts per gallon matter but intensity of those watts. IE 400 watts of NO flourescent is not the same as 400 watts of halide. I did see that you will be getting new lights but if they are NO then just be aware. Also please put more flow in that tank it will only help.Good luckJerod

[foresteronw]

foresteronw,Great deal. Looks like you got to skip the whole cycle pain. Hope all goes well for you. One thing about the lights. Some may disagree but you said you got an anenome in the deal.. If you do not add more lights it will die. You can try placing it up high and it should do OK but in a tank that deep NO lights will not cut it. Even if you put a bunch of lights over the tank it will not significantly help because NO lights will only penetrate the water so far. Not only watts per gallon matter but intensity of those watts. IE 400 watts of NO flourescent is not the same as 400 watts of halide. I did see that you will be getting new lights but if they are NO then just be aware. Also please put more flow in that tank it will only help.Good luckJerod

I've added a Rio 1700 powerhead in there now. I know after reading on here a lot of people aren't happy with Rios but for now it will have to cut it. There should be plenty of flow in there now but I'm thinking about getting another one for the other side of the tank (currently it's on the left side pointing to the right side.

As far as lights go I'm an idiot. Can you recommend something that will not break the bank but still do the job I need it too? Are you talking just changing the bulbs or the whole light fixture.

Just an update too, everything in the tank is doing well and eating like crazy. My coral banded shrimp has already shed, not sure if that's a good sign or not. My Coralife125 skimmer is pulling quite a bit of "crap" from the water. I'm feeding my fish one frozen cube a day, it is gone much faster than three minutes, but I don't want to over feed them, as much as they seem to wish I would. Also there are tons of feather dusters from the size of a 50cent piece to very very tiny all over my live rock. I'm also starting to get a red algae on my substrate, but none that I can see on the glass, is this a good sign?

[sere]

Sounds like all is going fairly well. As far as red algea on the substrate...May be cyano try siphoning with airline tubing to get just the cyano not the substrate. An algea outbreak can be expected since there will be an upset in the balance after moving the tank. Just do your best to keep it in check. Also the LR is probably loaded with detritus (gunk) that can eventually lead to a cyano or other micro algea outbreak. You may want to do a search on "cooking LR" on RC. I did it and it works like a charm. Try and stay ahead of the algea. 5-10 min per day will keep it from getting to plaque proportions.As far as the lighting. Big subject but if you want the anenome to live (long term) you will need to upgrade your lighting. Do a search for VHO or T-5. They are both flourescent tube type lighting and yes that would require a whole new lighting system. If you have a hood on your tank I would suggest doing some DIY. Get one or two "Fulham Workhorse 7" ballast and 2-4 VHO (Very Hight Output) bulbs, endcaps and some wires and you are in busines for around $150-200. You can then keep pretty much all the soft corals, and most LPS. If you do not have the cash to get these lights (I have been there) then just put the anenome high in the rocks or sell him to a buddy or LFS. Store credit is always good. If you stay with the NO (Normal Output) definatly get some good 10,000 Kelvin (color) bulbs. Let me know if you have anymore questions.Jerodone more thing. You might try feeding the fish half a frozen cube twice per day. Most SW fish spend all day eating so I am sure they would appreciate it. If you want you can turn off all of your filters and melt the cube in a cup of water prior to putting in the tank. This will ensure all the fish get food and none goes in the filters left to rot. I personally feed a large variety of foods to my fish. I mix some good flakes, formula one cubes, freeze dried brine shrimp, freshly minced garlic, and selcon in a tupperware bowl in the freezer and just feed what I need several times per day. Since I started feeding this way the fish grow much faster, colors are better, and I have seen less outbreaks of disease.

[foresteronw]

I must not have added it, but I got rid of the anenome and the corrals. Two mushroom corals did find their way into my tank though, didn't see them when the guy came over to get the other stuff. I also don't have the yellow tang anymore, traded him for some base rock.

I was at the LFS tonight and they showed me some 20,000K lights and 10,000K lights as well as 50/50 lights. These were all bulbs and she said I could use them in my current fixtures. Her advice was to get one 20K and one 10K as well as an additional light fixture with a 50/50 for my tank, does this sound right? I want whatever is going to be best for my tank long term as well as a better quality looking light (just for looks, but obviously the fish's well being is most important).

So it sounds like I am underfeeding my fish? I have four fish (one Huge Domino...which I would like to get rid of, a yellow tail damsel, and two perc. clowns) a coral banded shrimp and a blue sea star and again I'm feeding them one cube a day...should it be more?