[Narmical]

Ive been poking around and asking lots of questions recently. All in the hopes of gathering information to start up my own salt water aquarium. I have come up with a list of the equipment that i want and the live stock that i want. I would like to get feed back on my decisions. I am a complete newbie and would like to make sure I'm not planing something wrong or leaving anything out.

Physical Setup

65g Glass Cube Tank (2ft x 2ft x 2ft)
Stand for said tank
350B Penguin Bio-Wheel Filter (330 gph recommended for 70g tank)
Prizm Protein Skimmer (recommended for 90g tank)
sweeping head power head (160 gph to have more water circulation in the tank)
200 watt submersible heater
150 lbs of Tropical Play Sand (its aragonite sand but less expensive because its marketed for sand boxes, i plan to have a deep sand bed, i estimate this will be enough for the task)

Other Things On The Shopping List

Thermometer
Water Quality Test Kit
Salt Mix
Hydrometer
Hose

Live Rock (as much as i can get for 50 to 100 dollars, i realize this is not much, but I'm on a budget and cant afford more)

Clean Up Crew

Cerith Snail 10
Turbo Snails 2
Peppermint shrimp 2

Other Livestock
Chocolate Chip Star Fish (this is the main animal i want to keep)

The Questions

Noticeably Missing from this list is Lighting. This I'm not too sure of. In one thread someone said that i would only need enough lighting to observer the animals. so I'm assuming that a lighted hood that fits my tank is good enough. Is this a fair assumption?

Is this a workable setup?

Are the clean up crew numbers sound?

[leebca]

You posted this in the Saltwater (Fish-Only) Aquariums Forum so I'm assuming you want to start a Fish Only aquarium.

The short answer to your question is that you are short some things you'll need. The best and most complete list along with instructions are best found here:
Setting Up a FOWLR Aquarium

The tank is too small for a Chocolate Chip Star. Be certain you want to invite this creature into your aquarium. They are hunters and carnivores that can and do eat snails and other benthic creatures. Having this guy will prevent some other good stuff to keep your substrate healthy.

On a budget? Can't afford more live rock now? Then save your money until you can afford the right quantity. Avoid the 'slow start up' and favor a proper start up when you can afford it. If that is too much money, get a smaller aquarium.

My recommendations may seem harsh but they are there for your ultimate enjoyment. Nothing worse then going in partially prepared to be disappointed. Please be sure to go through the above reference slowly and carefully and I would recommend one more read:
Why Quit the Hobby?

We're hear to help and answer questions, but I would want you to read and understand that first reference post, first. Good luck!

[Narmical]

Originally Posted by leebca

You posted this in the Saltwater (Fish-Only) Aquariums Forum so I'm assuming you want to start a Fish Only aquarium.

Good Assumption. Actually the list of live stock in my post is the list of live stock i want to keep.

Originally Posted by leebca

The short answer to your question is that you are short some things you'll need. The best and most complete list along with instructions are best found here:
Setting Up a FOWLR Aquarium

Some things? Which things have i missed?

Originally Posted by leebca

The tank is too small for a Chocolate Chip Star. Be certain you want to invite this creature into your aquarium. They are hunters and carnivores that can and do eat snails and other benthic creatures. Having this guy will prevent some other good stuff to keep your substrate healthy.

Even considering that im not planing on keeping other animals save the clean up crew? If so, then how big of a tank should i get. one person i asked said that 40 gallons was the required size for the starfish [Newbie Questions on Keeping Starfish]

So the starfish eats snails? its going to hunt down and attack them?
Previously you told me that this kind of starfish "doesnt eat snails per se" and that some snails (particularly larger ones) would be ok if the starfish was kept well fed [Clean Up Crew compatible with a Chocolate Chip Starfish]. So which is it? does it eat snails or no? if so, what kind of clean up crew sould i get?

Originally Posted by leebca

On a budget? Can't afford more live rock now? Then save your money until you can afford the right quantity. Avoid the 'slow start up' and favor a proper start up when you can afford it. If that is too much money, get a smaller aquarium.

Slow start-up? my intention is not to get some live rock now and then add to it as i go along. As i understand it live rock serves two purposes which can be handled by other things, Nitrification and Denitrification. So as i cannot afford 500 bucks worth of live rock, i decided to get a bio-wheel type filter (for Nitrification ) and a deep sand bed (for Denitrification) in addition to the live rock which i do get.

Is this not workable?

Also you previously told me that live rock isn't strictly required for a working tank, and there were other options, like the deep sand bed. [Live Rock is too expensive for me, Is there a cheaper alternative?]

Originally Posted by leebca

My recommendations may seem harsh but they are there for your ultimate enjoyment. Nothing worse then going in partially prepared to be disappointed. Please be sure to go through the above reference slowly and carefully and I would recommend one more read:
Why Quit the Hobby?

We're hear to help and answer questions, but I would want you to read and understand that first reference post, first. Good luck!

I have already read the posts that you have cited. As well as other articles on other websites and instructions from books on how to set up a tank.

I have done my best to study and internalize the information. I have made a plan on how to proceed with my tank. I'm looking for assistance in this plan.

so again i ask, is my setup workable?

[leebca]

I didn't want to list the things you've not included in your list, since they are listed in the reference.

Your list of equipment doesn't include such things as:
Quarantine Tank & equipment
Salt make up equipment
Source water
etc.
Again, I didn't want to go through the list of things not on your list but suggested in the reference. All in all, the list is good.

The Chocolate Chip Star does best (that is, will live healthiest and longest) in an aquarium with detritus and missed fish foods. Usually that is sized on the high end, but if you don't plan on keeping fish, then it should be okay with more frequent feedings of the proper foods.

The Chocolate Chip doesn't hunt snails, true. But the Star will eat one if it is handy. This doesn't make them incompatible, just so long as you know the snails will be expendable over time. A well fed Star will still likely have an escargot appetizer now and then. There are no absolutes. I have had these Stars totally ignore snails and others eat them all in a few weeks despite being well fed.

I would still recommend snails for the cleanup crew, along with bristle worms and a few other live rock hitchhikers, since you don't want fish.

The deep sand bed will do the job. I mis-read your post and thought you would be adding more live rock later. It is so common. With the system you have planned, live rock is optional.

As the tank ages, you may find you need more snails. The snail population will equilibrate with the available foods. I don't think the number of snails you've planned are enough unless you're talking about very large snails.

Fair assumption on the lighting. If you want to cultivate much coralline algae growth, then you'll need additional test kits and lighting. Otherwise, lighting is for viewing.

I think your plan is good and workable for keeping the cleanup crew you mentioned.

[Narmical]

Ah yes, i did miss the quarentine tank. My dad has a 10 gallon fish tank with one of those corner filters that he said i could have (my family used to have gold fish when i was younger).

Will this suffice?

In terms of the salt mixing, would a lager plastic garbage can be sufficient? and maybe a pump to get the water into the tank?

As the starfish is my intended animal, i will be directly feeding it.
the eating of snails i do think i think i can live with.
but what do you thing is a good number for the snails?

Is 2 shrimp a good number? or can the tank support more?

[leebca]

The quarantine tank you propose is good. I'd suggest just buying a new sponge corner filter rather than what I think he has (the corner plastic chamber filter?). Don't forget the air pump for it. You'll probably need a light (can be almost anything from the 5 and 10).

How are you going to mix the salt? I like the kind of setup I've alluded to in this post: how do I do a water change?

I use a pump to mix the water and a pump (separate) to pump the water out. You don't need this much equipment, but I'd recommend that the mixing pump be adequate to churn the water fairly well.

Plastic garbage containers are usually okay, just be aware that not all plastics are created equally. I don't know enough about plastics other to suggest that the container plastic be a plastic that is 'food grade.' That is, the plastic is one suitable for people to eat from. This would be a conservative approach (and some might think it overkill ) The 5 gallon white buckets have gotten good reviews. If you find a specific container, you can post the question and photo and see if anyone has experience using it.

When it comes time to add snails, I'd start with 20 Cerith (assuming they are small) and 20 Turbo (assuming they are small). Make sure they come from tropical water.

You ask about support/bio load. Your system is capable of much more, that is why I was assuming you were going to just begin with the cleanup crew and then add fishes. If the Star and snails is all that will be nitrogen waste producers, then you can put in 12+ shrimp if they will get along.

After the Star, snails, and two shrimp, that system could easily support 2 or 3 small, or 2 medium fishes.

[rjs5134]

Narmical,

Where did you find the sand??? I've been looking but have only found aragonite in aquarium stores for an arm & leg.

Thanks

Rob

[Narmical]

Home Depot. Aparenty not every store carrys it