Just Started a Salt Water Set Up

Ohk..so i have had my 35 gallon hex tank set up for about 3 weeks without the live rock and about 3 weeks with the live rock..you can see the difference in the rock b4 i got the algae problem which i was told was normal..i also have a hang on emperor 280..im lookin to add coral..what kind of light do i need and a protein skimmer??? Anything else i should be lookin to add?? And does it look like my tank is ok so far??


JaZlyN...;D

 

Looking at the 3rd picture, it looks like you may not have enough live rock. You should have about 1 lb live rock/gallon of water. If you need more live rock, you might want to go to a different local fish store (LFS) since what you have has no coloration.

I have a 29 gal. bowfront tall tank. Most would recommend a skimmer. Do NOT buy the SeaClone unless you have abundant patience.

I have 150watt of metal halides. I don't know how easy it will be to get light for a hex (one of the reasons I stayed away from hex).

 

welcome aboard.

 

Hi vbennet

your tank is 3 weeks old and from the photos (they are small pictures and I have old eyes) I can see you are in the middle of the diatom period - the brown stuff on your rocks is diatoms, they utilise silicates, when the silicates are used up, they die of - may take another 2 - 4 weeks but by then the rocks will be clean looking again

It looks OK to me for where you are now, but I agree with Paralegal that more rock would be a good thing, 1 , because it will give you more surface area for bacteria to colonise ( better filtration) and 2 it will give you more options on coral placement

Lighting - depends on what species you want to keep,if you can describe your current lighting, people will be able to advise what types would do well under it and also what types you would be best to avoid without a lighting upgrade

good luck and enjoy

 

couldn't agree with steve more.Let us know what you have right now,what your plans are etc.There are many different corals with many different lighting requirements.Your lighting needs depend upon the coral you wish to keep.IMO there would be no need to purchase Metal Halides if you only wanted zoanthids and mushrooms.Also, your tank looks great,and you're off to a great start.At this point however it is a little early to put coral in the tank.I suggest you let the diatom bloom go away,and allow the tank time to stabilize and mature before putting further lifeforms in it.

 

Also, what is the size of your 35 hex, 21" length?

 

man i cant wait to start mine

 

Yes its a 21"...

 

Yeah..i was thinking about adding more..my boss actually has a salt water tank also and he ordered the rock off the net..i took it because it was free..its 30lbs about how much more do you think i need..??

 

Thanks for the info..i really appreciate it, im basically just looking to put some mushrooms..zoanthids..