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January 23rd, 2010
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| My First FOWLR Tank
This is going to be a very slow process. I'm taking my time to make sure I do this right. I'm very excited, but I want to be smart and not rush anything.
I have the tank set up with a powerhead and a filter and live sand. I'm working through the salinity and will be adding live rock (hopefully) tomorrow.
It's hard to see in the pics, but I have the "saltwater" lighting (bluish) and the sand is black/white mix. I'm shooting for a goth theme. This will be the home of a half-black angelfish (thank you Harpua2002) and a few others (adding much later and very slowly).
I am in the very beginnings of the learning process, any and all comments and suggestions are welcomed. 
Attached are the very first pics. 
Last edited by bolivianbaby; January 23rd, 2010 at 10:25 AM.
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January 23rd, 2010
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| | Fish Mentor
| YIPPEE!!!!!!!!! Its gonna be great!!!!!!!BB's goin' salty!!!!!!!! | |
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January 23rd, 2010
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| | Fish Master
| Great start! I like the way the sand looks in there. Are you considering a background? | |
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January 23rd, 2010
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| I didn't think about the background until after I had it set up. But if I keep getting weird salinity readings and decide to drain it and get the "pre-mixed", I'll put one on there
This morning, it was at 1.012. I'm about to scream and I couldn't get to the LFS we discussed today. I'm hoping he's open tomorrow. | |
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January 23rd, 2010
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| | Fish Keeper
| Cool
Cant wait to see it set up and everything | |
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January 23rd, 2010
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| | Fish Keeper
| The salty side for bb!
I've always wanted to venture over ... but must admit I'm a bit intimidated. I've considered setting up one of my 20g long tanks as an FOWLR with smaller fish such as orange lined cardinal, firefish, yellow clown goby, etc.
What kind of powerhead and filter are you using?
I'll be interested as your tank progresses. How much is the 'pre-mixed' water vs. the regular salt mix? The salinity level is already stable with the pre-mixed version I would assume? | |
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January 23rd, 2010
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| Quote:
Originally Posted by ccb04  The salty side for bb!
I've always wanted to venture over ... but must admit I'm a bit intimidated. I've considered setting up one of my 20g long tanks as an FOWLR with smaller fish such as orange lined cardinal, firefish, yellow clown goby, etc.
What kind of powerhead and filter are you using?
I'll be interested as your tank progresses. How much is the 'pre-mixed' water vs. the regular salt mix? The salinity level is already stable with the pre-mixed version I would assume? | The filter is just a top fin. The powerhead is a Koralia 1. The filter is just a top fin 40. Once the live rock is in, the filter isn't really going to have to do much.
I think the pre-mixed water is around $1/gallon. Yep, the salinity is already set with the pre-mixed  . I can't remember how much I paid for the salt, but it's enough for 50 gallons.
Thank you. I'm still a little nervous, but with all of our wonderful friends here on Fishlore, I'm sure I'll be able to pull it off.
I think you should go for it!  | |
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January 23rd, 2010
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| | Fish Keeper
| Quote:
Originally Posted by bolivianbaby The filter is just a top fin. The powerhead is a Koralia 1. The filter is just a top fin 40. Once the live rock is in, the filter isn't really going to have to do much.
I think the pre-mixed water is around $1/gallon. Yep, the salinity is already set with the pre-mixed . I can't remember how much I paid for the salt, but it's enough for 50 gallons.
Thank you. I'm still a little nervous, but with all of our wonderful friends here on Fishlore, I'm sure I'll be able to pull it off.
I think you should go for it! | You enabler you!
True about the filter. How much live rock are you looking at adding?
It would seem the pre-mixed water would make things easier. Any specific brand that's best? | |
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January 23rd, 2010
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| | Moderator
| Quote:
Originally Posted by ccb04 You enabler you!
True about the filter. How much live rock are you looking at adding?
It would seem the pre-mixed water would make things easier. Any specific brand that's best? | I'm getting 20 pounds of live rock tomorrow. I lucked out. There's a guy taking down his 125 gallon salty tank. he's selling the live rock for $1.50/pound. He lives 10 minutes from me.
As far as the brands, I'd check with the fishlore saltwater experts. I'm way too new at this to feel comfortable giving advice. I would think they'd be the same, but I'm not positive at all. | |
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January 24th, 2010
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| | Fish Keeper
| Quote:
Originally Posted by ccb04 You enabler you!
True about the filter. How much live rock are you looking at adding?
It would seem the pre-mixed water would make things easier. Any specific brand that's best? | Salt mixes:
I prefer either instant ocean, reef crystals, or seachem reef salt. at my LFS, the instant ocean is 49.99, reef crystals 69.99, and seachem is 79.99. This is for the five gallon bucket worth of salt
As for pre-mix, there is no brands. You pick it up either at a LFS or public aquarium usually has member ship so you could pick up they're saltwater. I would not use it in a reef though. They're water parameters are sometimes off.
ATP,   | |
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January 24th, 2010
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| | Fish Keeper
| Quote:
Originally Posted by bolivianbaby I'm getting 20 pounds of live rock tomorrow. I lucked out. There's a guy taking down his 125 gallon salty tank. he's selling the live rock for $1.50/pound. He lives 10 minutes from me.
As far as the brands, I'd check with the fishlore saltwater experts. I'm way too new at this to feel comfortable giving advice. I would think they'd be the same, but I'm not positive at all. | bb ... sounds like a great deal on the LR.
BTW, forgot to mention I like your stand and canopy setup. | |
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January 24th, 2010
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| | Fish Keeper
| Quote:
Originally Posted by ATP Salt mixes:
I prefer either instant ocean, reef crystals, or seachem reef salt. at my LFS, the instant ocean is 49.99, reef crystals 69.99, and seachem is 79.99. This is for the five gallon bucket worth of salt
As for pre-mix, there is no brands. You pick it up either at a LFS or public aquarium usually has member ship so you could pick up they're saltwater. I would not use it in a reef though. They're water parameters are sometimes off.
ATP, | Ah ... gotcha on the pre-mixed. Thanks, ATP.
If going with a mix (which I would probably do) ... I would use either Instant Ocean or Reef Crystals. | |
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January 24th, 2010
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| | Fish Keeper
| Quote:
Originally Posted by ccb04 Ah ... gotcha on the pre-mixed. Thanks, ATP.
If going with a mix (which I would probably do) ... I would use either Instant Ocean or Reef Crystals. | no problem
oh yeah,
I would just use instant ocean if it was going to be a FOWLR. The only difference is there's more trace elements that would benefit coral in the reef crystals compared to instant ocean normal salts.
ATP,  | |
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January 24th, 2010
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| Quote:
Originally Posted by ccb04 bb ... sounds like a great deal on the LR.
BTW, forgot to mention I like your stand and canopy setup. | Thanks!  | |
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January 24th, 2010
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| | Fish Helper
| Hey BB looking good, but I thought you were going Discus lol | |
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January 24th, 2010
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| Quote:
Originally Posted by Sonfish Hey BB looking good, but I thought you were going Discus lol | Thanks! I still have empty tanks There's still room for discus  | |
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January 24th, 2010
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| | Fish Master
| Quote:
Originally Posted by ATP Salt mixes:
I prefer either instant ocean, reef crystals, or seachem reef salt. at my LFS, the instant ocean is 49.99, reef crystals 69.99, and seachem is 79.99. This is for the five gallon bucket worth of salt
As for pre-mix, there is no brands. You pick it up either at a LFS or public aquarium usually has member ship so you could pick up they're saltwater. I would not use it in a reef though. They're water parameters are sometimes off.
ATP, | Good Lord, that is expensive! Our Seachem Reef salt was only $49.99 a bucket at the LFS.
I totally agree on using the cheaper salt for a FOWLR. It's the corals that are going to do better with more expensive brands, but it won't really matter just for fish. | |
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January 24th, 2010
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| | Fish Helper
| Im going to get a tank from Matt today and get started on mine lol, I sure wish he hadnt posted the pics of his on here lol (NOT)
Have ya thought about the CUC you`ll be getting? | |
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January 24th, 2010
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| No, I'm just concentrating on getting the tank set up properly for the half-black angelfish. I'll handle the rest after that.
Will I really need a CUC? If so, do you have any ideas? | |
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January 24th, 2010
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| | Fish Helper
| Not sure if you Have to have one but I think they are good at removing algae and un eaten food and stuff, when I started my FOWLR soon after the cycle I started getting a diatom bloom so I got snails and they cleared that right up and kept it in check, then I saw some aptasia so I got peppermint shrimp and they got those out, some fish will eat them as well, I have seen people say to inject them with lemon juice but to me that just added more work to the tank maintenance, them Peppermints are on duty 24/7 lol and they also eat some of the food the damsels miss
then my daughter saw those little blue legged hermits and just had to have them lol, so I kinda ended up with my CUC out of need, beware tho some the other hermits are killers, when I first got ine going the guy at the LFS sold us one and told us they were safe with other criters, turns out its a murderer lol, he can peel a snail outta its shell in just a few seconds flat and I think he pretty much wiped out the shrimp, I know you know about researching the animals and fish you want so nuff said about that...
Some of the SW fish get pretty big lol | |
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January 24th, 2010
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| UPDATE: Live rock is in. Pics attached. Sorry it's blurry, but it was the only one that showed the "true color" of the lighting.
2nd powerhead installed. I also got a second hydrometer to verify my salinity until my refractometer comes in.
I'm going to run my base readings, add shrimp for a fishless cycle, and keep working on my specific gravity. Right now it's 1.016.
Moving forward, slowly but surely.
When my specific gravity is on target, you all will be able to hear me scream world-wide  | |
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January 24th, 2010
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| | Fish Master
| Nice pickup! I'd suggest adding more live rock when possible. | |
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January 24th, 2010
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| | Moderator
| Quote:
Originally Posted by harpua2002 Nice pickup! I'd suggest adding more live rock when possible. | Thanks! I may call the guy and see if he's sold it all. | |
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January 24th, 2010
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| | Fish Keeper
| Congrats on the LR, bb.
What kind/brand of sand did you go with? I like the look of it. | |
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January 24th, 2010
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| | Moderator
| Quote:
Originally Posted by ccb04 Congrats on the LR, bb.
What kind/brand of sand did you go with? I like the look of it. | Thanks! It was an argonite/live sand mix. It's AragAlive by CoralSea? I think. I know it's AragAlive, I just couldn't see the company name when I looked it up online.
Base readings before I put the shrimp in the tank to cycle it:
Temp: 78
Specific gravity: 1.022-finally! pH: 8.0 ammonia: 0 nitrite: 0 nitrate: 0
Carbonate Hardness: 12-is that too high? If so, what do I need to do to correct it? I'd like natural correction procedures if possible. I'm not a huge fan of chemicals in my tanks.
Last edited by bolivianbaby; January 24th, 2010 at 07:43 PM.
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January 24th, 2010
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| | Fish Mentor
| Maybe later I try the salty side but for now I stay on the fresh. Congrats BB. | |
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January 24th, 2010
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| | Fish Keeper
| Is the company CaribSea possibly? | |
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January 24th, 2010
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| | Fish Mentor
| woooo-hoooooo!!! lookin' good!!!!!! | |
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January 24th, 2010
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| | Moderator
| Quote:
Originally Posted by navyscuba Maybe later I try the salty side but for now I stay on the fresh. Congrats BB. | Thanks, Navy Quote:
Originally Posted by ccb04 Is the company CaribSea possibly? | That's it! Sorry, my eyes aren't as young as they used to be. Quote:
Originally Posted by lorabell woooo-hoooooo!!! lookin' good!!!!!! | Thanks, Lori | |
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January 30th, 2010
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| | Moderator
| UPDATE:
I haven't been able to run water tests on the FOWLR since Tuesday due to illness of two pets and my daughter. Since there are no live fish in this tank, I put it at the bottom of my priorities list.
Today's results:
Temp: 76 SG: 1.022
PH: 8.2
Ammonia: .5
Nitrites: 0
Nitrates: 0
KH: 11 | |
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