In search of expert advice

[rjhiii]

So currently I have four fresh water aquariums running in my apartment. My girlfriend decides to move in, and now I am only going to be allowed to keep one tank (at least it is my 75g). I have decided that it is time to make the jump to a saltwater tank.

Having learned the hard way that research is important, I have started looking around and asking questions. I have heard good things about tampa bay saltwater's "the package". Have any of you tried this and if so what were the results. I like the appeal of not needing a sump and have always been a big fan of doing stuff as natural as possible.

If you haven't seen this before it is at

http://www.tbsaltwater.com/package.html

Thanks in advance for the help. Oh, and I love the board. Spend most of last night reading everything :)

[david]

Wow
I went to take a look, and it could work.
but for me I use about 1lb of lr per gal, and i started with 50% of the blue crabs that they recommended, and most of mine killed each other or something else killed them in a 6 month time frame."could of been the mantis shrimp i had looking back at it"

I hand picked all my Fiji liverock very porus, open, large, pieces.
so if there liverock has much more weight, "and it looks like it dose" all i would recommend is perhaps less crabs.
as for value?

[matrixnyc]

Looks like a great setup, and a great price also :)

I agree with David, the 110 blue leg hermits might be to much to start off with, I have seen 100 gallon cleanup crews with 50 to 60 of them, and this is 110 for a 50 gallon tank.

Let me know if you do get the setup from them, I am looking to set up another tank after the new year.

Thanks
Matrixnyc

[RazerCorals]

A few things that you should look into are...
1. What type of lighting do you want? Power Compacts or Metal Halide are good choices.
2. Protein Skimmer.
3. DSB or Crushed Coral. Personally I'd go with Lived Sand (DSB)
4. Live Rock. What I found best is buy a some really good pieces, some average, and same base pieces. If you order from TBS you will get some unwanted crabs that you need to get out otherwise your reef will become a mess.
5. Clean Up Crew- Shrimp are a good choice. I like Peppermints and Skunk Cleaners. A would skip the crabs because they kill each other, can eat polyps, and eat snails. Instead I would get about 75 Turbo/Astrea Snails.
6. Also think about what type of fish you want to house, and corals you want to keep.

[Si]

rjhii,

You will love the saltwater. Rule of thumb is go slow. You will have to cycle your tank for at least a month to get algae for your cleanup crews. I would be leary of the crabs. I agree with Watchman on the Turbo, Astrea or even some Baja snails, cucumber, Serpent star.

Most important you know from your research that if any copper products have been used in your freshwater tanks chances are slim that any cleanup crews or corals will make it. Unless you can get it all out. I have known a few people that have had success doing this but it took a lot of money and time.

If you happen to know any reefers around you, have them do a water change and give you that water in 5 gal buckets to help speed the cycling in your new tank. When ever I started up a new tank, I used the same principal plus put a piece of raw shrimp in a old net for several days. (This is taking the place of putting a damsel in your tank for cycling - it is cruel on the damsel and if it does make it through the cycle, your going to want to get rid of it eventually as they tend to be pretty territorial and mean). Pull out the net or stocking with shrimp when it is horrible and disintegrating and away you go to the rest of the cycle process.

Good luck, have fun and a lot of patience. It is aggrevating to have to put in one fish or one coral at a time and wait but if you do it this way. You will have way less problems with a new tank.

Si