Nano

[jon carman]

I am looking into getting my son a 20-40g reef tank. Any suggestions on coral/fish combos that would work well. He wants a Nemo(clown) and some star fish and a cleaner shrimp. I have read a lot about it, but I am not going to pretend to know what to mix.

[sirknight]

I would go with the larger of the two tanks (The bigger the tank the more stable). Start with live rock to cycle the tank and some good lighting and a skimmer.

Since he wants a clown fish I would recommend an anemone. Maybe a nice bubble either green or red. Note: the reds are a little expensive.

[davidtcb1]

From everything I've read, in a tank of that size, you'd probably only want 1-3 fish (3 only if you went with a 40g) and maybe a couple of invertebrates. Something like a mandarin goby and/or six line wrasse would be good candidates. Red legged crabs are also fun to watch.

[sirknight]

A few more comments:

Live rock - is your primary bio-filter, don't use a wet/dry with bio-balls in time it will raise your nitrates, use a sump. I would say in a 40 gallon tank with a light load 50 Lbs would be enough. You can get good deals at foster & smith

Skimmers - can either be in sump or HOB.

lighting - for your tank what I would recommend is HO T5's.

Joe

[jon carman]

Thanks, I'm checking into it. It might be a next year thing, I had a $500 budget and it looks like it is going to be more.

[sirknight]

Jon,

If you go with a 40 gallon breeder, I have a T5 light that should work and am willing to trade for fish.

Joe

[jon carman]

OK, I will let you know. We are debating the tank and a computer for him.

[oneyoda]

Jon send a PM to "oldsaltydog" He recently upgraded his 30nano to a 75al and has a 110 waiting to upgrade to it. Couple of months ago he was looking to sell the nano tank and stand. I'm shure he'll work something ou with you in your budget. He's off all next week too!

[baisley101]

I've got a 24 gal nano cube with about 30# live rock. I've got it stocked with 2 clownfish and a mix of crabs, snails, and peppermint shrimp. Its expensive and a pain to maintain, but it looks really nice.

[oneyoda]

Talked to Richard at lunch. Jon, sent you a PM w/his number. Talk to him and then talk to Joe about it. I think he'll agree about what a deal it is.

[jon carman]

I added the live rock- 21lbs, and I am going to get about 25 more this week. That stuff is pricey. I had a dead octopus in it I had to remove. Looks like I have a couple of clams and some sponge or something. I will post some pics soon.

[angel]

Dead octopus? Is it supposed to come with octopus and stuff? I saw earlier on CraigsList someone had live rock for sale for $5 a lb in Gallatin. Here's the link.
nashville.craigslist.org/pet/1514046516.html

[angel]

25 lbs and you get the live sand for free! Nice.

[sirknight]

Yes, Local stores over charge for live rock and some people think they can charge the same price.

For example foster and smith charges about 3.39 a lb shipped for Fiji live rock. That is a lot better than 5+ dollars a lb.

Jon,

If you found dead things on or in the Live rock, remove them and make sure you cycle the rock before adding anything to the tank.

Also mix your salt a little high 1.024 is better then 1.018 which most stores use, using a Hydrometer.

Joe

[jon carman]

Thanks Joe, I'll check my salt out. The only reason I went to the critter was they said their's was fully cured already and it had a bunch of purple on it. I didn't think after shipping and everything Foster's was going to be too much more. It was 7.99 a lb. + tax.

If I get some from Foster and SMith, how do I cure it with the other that is already cured.

I contacted the person for the live rock on CL, but I think I had better just stick with what I have for now. I might go check it out.