Some questions from a new person.

[Aderowlands]

Hi, picked up my new Aquarium yesterday, a Red Sea Reefer 250, put the cabinet together and am just waiting on some help to lift the tank into the cabinet, who'd have thought that would be an issue? So obviously I'd done some research before such a large investment. Now previous experience within the hobby is limited to just over a year with a small freshwater tropical tank so I'm not a total novice to fish keeping but not far off one plus I've swapped formats to a reef tank so after googling some questions I had before purchasing the tank and all the accessories required this place seemed to crop up as a source for a lot of my answers so I decided I'd best join up.
Planning to cycle the tank beginning in a couple of weeks have some holiday time coming up and I'll be away from the tank off and on for a few days here and there so won't start until that's done, gives me time to work out my aquascape. So once it's cycled and I'm ready for livestock, I'm working off the idea that a tank of this size and dimension can cope with 6 - 7 fish that aren't too large to begin with ( the plan is to keep fish that won't grow much more than 3/4 inches as I don't want to worry about rehoming at a later date and due to the size of my shoe box proportioned house a larger tank later on is out of the question). So the plan is to begin with some of the more easy to maintain corals and get a little more fancy as I grow into the hobby. As for live stock I'm thinking along the lines of

1 X Flame Angel
1 X Mandarin Dragonet
2 X Clowns, probably a mismatched pair colouration wise
1 X Yellow Tail Damsel
1 X something from the Blenny family undecided on which as yet

I'd dearly love a Yellow Tang but am pretty sure that would out grow the tank at some point. If anyone foresees any issues with my planned stock feel free to point it out. As for clean up crew I am undecided at this point. Though I'm fairly sure there will be a Hermit Crab or 2 in there plus a Shrimp of some variety, recommendations welcome on that front. Though being open top I'm obviously keen to avoid any fish of the jumping variety. Also being that I do spend a few days away from home every few weeks I'm keen to have a tank that's happy with pellets or flakes from time to time.

So on to my questions. Though my local shop is very good and staffed by people who know what they are talking about rather than one of the local chainstores where they just want to sell you everything and anything and have you come back next week and repeat the process I'm bound to forget to ask something when I'm there, the most glaring one, despite numerous visits was how the hell do I get 250 litres of water to my house from there? Finally remembered to ask that one yesterday, 'we'll deliver it if you want' was the simple answer. I do like a simple answer.

Water changes, how often and how much?
Vacuum the substrate or not? If so do I dig in or just skim the surface?
Lights off or on whilst cycling the tank? Have ordered some Red Sea Reef Mature to try out when the time comes.
Should I set my lights to mimic a 24 hour pattern Dawn/noon/sundown/night or is just off and on enough?

That should do it for now, no doubt more will arise as answers come and I remember other things, I also understand that there will be several different answers to the questions I've asked as we're all different and vary the way we do things but a general consensus would be great. I also apologise for the length of my first post. If you got here to the end I commend you. Thanks.

 

[mcgyvr]

1)Most recommend starting with about 20% water change every 2 weeks.. or 10% weekly
2)I personally do not recommend nor do I do any routine vacuuming of the sand..
3)In general lights should be kept off for the first few days but then you can turn them on if you want.. It can help get you to and through the "ugly" stages quicker as the light will promote the algae growth,etc...
4)on/off is sufficient but you can certainly do a dawn/dusk,etc... setup..

 

[billdogg]

It sounds like you are off to a great start! Ditto to what mcgyvr said.

Your stocking list may need a little rethinking, however.

The Flame Angel will be marginal in a tank that size. They can be fairly territorial so that could easily become an issue.

The dragonette is almost certainly doomed in a tank that size without DAILY addition of pods for it to eat. Although some can be trained to take pellets or other prepared foods, their primary diet consists of live pods. Literally hundreds to thousands a day.

The clowns I'll give you a maybe on. Maybe they'll do ok, maybe they'll take over the tank.

The Damsel could be even worse than the clowns. Generally speaking, 50g/damsel is a good starting point. Remember also that clowns and damsels are in the same family.

Gobies and Blennies are a great choice for a tank that size. Consider also one of the many flasher, fairy, or leopard wrasses. They are all quite striking in coloration and tend to play well with others.

JM.02

hth

 

[Aderowlands]

Thanks both for the answers so far. As for stocking the tank nothing is set in stone, that's why I put my proposed stock list out there, for people's opinions and plus/negatives from past experiences.

 

[EzReefs]

Maybe a flasher wrasse instead of the mandarin? What do you mean mismatched pair? Like two different species? I would keep two clowns of the same species if that is what you mean.

 

[Kremis]

no mandarin in that small of a tank unless you culture pods. you could do a wrasse or if you still want a rock dwelling fish tailspot blennies and other small gobies are really cool.

 

[Aderowlands]

Maybe a flasher wrasse instead of the mandarin? What do you mean mismatched pair? Like two different species? I would keep two clowns of the same species if that is what you mean.

I meant difference in colouration between the 2. An Orange/White one and a Black/White one, I like both types and can't decide on one or the other so that compromise seemed like an idea.

 

[LuizW13]

I think you should really consider an RO/DI system. I have a 25gal all in on tank and thought that i could get by without one, and the minute i started curing my rocks, i realized how much of a pain it would be to make multiple trips to the store for water. Just from curing my rocks and leak testing my display and quarantine tank, and rinsing off equipment, i must have used close to 50 gallons of water. I would have had to make something like 10 separate trips for water and carry them up 3 flights of stairs, all at 39cents a gallon.
So, for your tank size, i would TOTALLY get an RO/DI system. Plus, you can use it to make water for cooking, like i do.

 

[Aderowlands]

I think you should really consider an RO/DI system. I have a 25gal all in on tank and thought that i could get by without one, and the minute i started curing my rocks, i realized how much of a pain it would be to make multiple trips to the store for water. Just from curing my rocks and leak testing my display and quarantine tank, and rinsing off equipment, i must have used close to 50 gallons of water. I would have had to make something like 10 separate trips for water and carry them up 3 flights of stairs, all at 39cents a gallon.
So, for your tank size, i would TOTALLY get an RO/DI system. Plus, you can use it to make water for cooking, like i do.

I did consider it initially but it's not really practical for me as access to the mains water pipes is limited and I have nowhere to place the system, I know they aren't large but my kitchen is not blessed with storage spaces that are unused. I'm in the UK and remember having several discussions with an American friend who thought it weird my washing machine was in my kitchen. As for the filling of the tank, I was only really worried about the initial fill but the store will deliver the water for that, the store is something like a 10 mile round trip from my house, or I can make it a stop to or from work which will not add a couple of miles to the round trip that way and doing the trip every couple of weeks for water for top ups and water changes won't be too bad. No stairs involved for me thankfully, tank is downstairs and if I'm feeling particularly lazy that day I can reverse my car right up to my main door and then slide the jerrycans along on a dolly. I do plan to upgrade the auto top up reservoir with something larger though so I can get a week to 10 days supply stored in the cabinet and not worry if I'm away from home. I'll be looking in to that later.

 

[Aderowlands]

As for the above recommendations for Flasher Wrasse the stuff I've read on them so far suggests they may be potential jumpers, which with an open top tank I need to avoid which is why they didn't make the initial stock list. But again, nothing is set in stone as regards what I want to put in there yet. Though I will drop the Dragonet from the list until I'm more set up in the hobby.

 

[Aderowlands]

Ok, so an amended stock list.

1 x Flame Angel (Really want this one as it's the fish that made me decide on switching to saltwater)
1 X Clown (colouring yet to be decided)
1 X Blackcap Basslet
1 X Sailfin/Algae Blennie
1 X 6 Line Wrasse (Not listed as a Jumpers as far as I can tell)

Leaves me with a spot or 2 open as none of these fish are large. Whatever aquascape I end up going for will have a few overhangs and hiding spots. It's only a rough list of what I'd like to put in the tank, it all depends too on what stock the store has or is able to get as I don't want to buy online, I'd prefer to see what I'm getting first.

 

[billdogg]

about the 6 line wrasse - they are known to, sooner or later, go rogue. When they do they will quickly decimate your fish population. I wouldn't put one in any tank I own.

As for preventing jumpers - and any and all fish can - a simple DIY screen top using window screen framing and 1/4" mesh from BRS is a easy way to prevent escapes without inhibiting oxygen exchange

 

[Aderowlands]

Thanks for the heads up on the potential assassin. Scratch that one from the list. I'm pretty sure I can put together a simple mesh top if needs be. Thanks for that idea.

 

[Rani]

Watch out for clowns - renowned for jumping!


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[Aderowlands]

Ok all, thanks for the answers so far. I won't begin cycling the tank until the middle of next month so that plus the cycling time of around 6 weeks will give me more time to give it some serious thought and time to do more research on pretty much everything from livestock, corals, my lighting and aquascape. I have a new auto top off reservoir on order to replace the small one that came with the sump set up, a 36 Litre one so should be fine on that front now as work does sometimes require me to be away from home for a day or 3 from time to time and I don't really trust the neighbours enough to give them a house key (you may laugh but the house next door is a rented property and twice in the 10 years I've lived in my house I've come back from a few days away to new neighbours).

 

[Maggie321]

I enjoy my goby/pistol shrimp pair probably more than any other critters in my tank.

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[carrots]

How about considering dropping the blennie and basslet and trying a pearly jawfish.