# new tank(opinions wanted)



## Henry22 (Jul 21, 2005)

Well three weeks ago I took down my Twenty Gallon Tall Eclispe FW and sold my fish to my LFS and then i dove into SW. Right now I have 20lbs of live rock, mostly fiji with about 4lbs base and 2lbs carribean(sp) i belive. I have 15lbs argonite sand and sand from the lfs to seed it. I have a mini jet 404 pwrhead for circulation and my old eclispe filter w/o media for additional circulation. I have the standerd lighting in the eclispe hood and dont intend on updating it with more powerful lighting unless i decide and do corals later on.I have a underpowered neptune heater but it maintains a 78-79 temp so im satisfied and i used crystal sea salt mix and also have their swingarm hydrometer(its cheap but i got it calibrated w/ the lfs's refractometer) and Aquarium Pharmiceauticals Master SW test kit. Right now i have 3 cerith snails,1 astrea,2 burrowing snails(forgot name), 1 bumblebee snail and a peppermint shrimp along with many other creatures from live rock. I plan on two clownfish, not sure if im going with the ocellaris or true percula or the black and white. I also am not sure if i want a royal gramma, kaudern's cardinal or pajama cardinal. Any advice or comments welcomed 
Thanks
This are pics of my tank


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## Henry22 (Jul 21, 2005)

I also wanted to post my parameters which were taken on the 16th
SG:1.025 Nitrate:0ppm
pH:8.0-8.2
Ammonia:0ppm
I didnt test for nitrite.


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## Fishfirst (Jan 24, 2005)

Take things slow man, don't dive, wade in... also you'll find stocking levels in salt water are a whole lot different, you might be able to get away with that stocking list without corals, but with corals its usually best to go with a light bioload.


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## Henry22 (Jul 21, 2005)

ohh i know, im adding fish a month apart except for the clowns which will be bought togather at the samt time. I prob will end up not getting corals due to the price of them and the needed upgraded lighting and skimmer. I was wondering though, would two occelaris do well with a pajama cardinalfish with maybe two skunks a brittle star and a peppermint shrimp


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## TheOldSalt (Jan 28, 2005)

Skunk whats? Clowns or shrimps?


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## Henry22 (Jul 21, 2005)

cleaner shrimp, but how does that sound and maybe a sally lightfood crap if i can or that might be too much. Id rather have a low bioload but i know that the brittle is a scavenger and maybe the peoopermint too


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## TheOldSalt (Jan 28, 2005)

Lose the Sallylightfoot and you might be okay.


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## Henry22 (Jul 21, 2005)

Okay, sweet. Im going on vacation for two weeks at the end of july beginning of august and im going to set up my QT with 1/2 tank water and 1/2 new SW and let it run till i get back and then add fish. Is it okay if you switch salt brands say from crystal sea to reef crystal or Istant ocean?Do you recommend hyposalinity treatment or just keep it hte same and keep the fish in the tank for a month or so just to make sure the fish would be parasite free? I would rather not treat the tank unless it easier than hyposalinity because then you have to reacclimate. I cant treat with a medicine containing copper because i plan on getting a cleaner shrimp with the two clowns and maybe he will clean the parasites.


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## Henry22 (Jul 21, 2005)

whats an allround better fish, true perc or ocellaris and for what reasons?
thanks


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## Fishfirst (Jan 24, 2005)

ocellaris is usually easier to feed, and sometimes bred/captive raised which makes them a little hardier fish.


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## TheOldSalt (Jan 28, 2005)

Ocellaris, because they're easier to get tank-raised. Wildcaught clowns are too prone to brooklynella to be worth the trouble sometimes.

The cleaner shrimp won't do enough good. You'll have to quarantine. I don't understand why the shrimps are preventing you from using meds in the quarantine tank. Main tank, sure, but you weren't planning on q-tineing the fish and shrimp together, were you?

Hyposalinity only works for some things. It's useless against just as many more.


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## Henry22 (Jul 21, 2005)

YEah i was planing on QT two clowns and a cleaner shrimp and i didnt want to treat with copper base meds because their harmful to inverts. But would you recommend treatign the QT tank or leaving it as it is with same params as display?


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## Fishfirst (Jan 24, 2005)

here is what I would do... wait til your back from vacation to get the clown and put him in qt (either treat with hypo or copper), add the cleaner shrimp now and let the tank sit fallow (without fish) for 8 weeks, this will prevent the most common illnesses that kill (ich and velvet). Those are the two you need to be concerned about, the rest aren't nearly as contagious (unless you are way overstocked or have poor water quality).


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