Starting a 90 gallon tank soon, advice wlecomed

Lo Vulpinus

Lo Vulpinus

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Nov 3, 2005
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www.arches.uga.edu
Salutations all,

Being that I'm new to this forum and and have never owned an aquariaum of any sort, I'm looking for some friendly advice.

I'm planning on purchasing a 90 gallon tank that would be FO; possibly WLR, and am curious as to the types of tank inhabitants that would be suitable.

As just sort of a rough idea, I'd like to house the following:

Volitan Lionfish
Longnose Hawkfish
Foxface Rabbitfish
Green Bird Wrasse
Spiny Box Puffer
Humu Humu Picasso Trigger

I do realize that the trigger may very possibly bully the hawk,...no...rephrase...WILL bully the hawk, and that anything a large lion can fit into his mouth is fair game, but once again, this is just simply a rough outline and definitely not finalized. I suppose that if I wanted to have a few smaller inverts such as cleaner shrimp, small lobsters or crabs, the Trigger would need to be eliminated from that list.


Any comments or suggestions would be greatly appreciated,
Grazie mille per tutto =)
 
I'm hoping that you're not wanting all of those fish--that would really max out a 90. I'd go with 3-4, since all but the hawkfish will be fairly substantial fish as adults.

You may also want to decide now if you're going to want crustaceans, since hawks, puffers, lions, and triggers will all go after them, as will wrasses. Basically, the rabbitfish is the only listed fish I would trust with any crustacean, though snails will work with the lion, maybe the hawk and wrasse.

Have you reviewed the cycling threads?
 
Could you provide me with a link to those cycling threads? thanks in advance. I also have another question of the likes that perhaps you could take a gander at.

Since I'm very new to this, I'm still a bit uncertain as to what equipment I should buy. Luckily I have several friends who are very knowledgeable in the hobby.


I sill need to condcut more research and converse with myriad people, but for now, what would you suggest I need in the way of tank materials and equipment?

Roughly something like, and pardon me for listing the obvious ones:

a tank,
a stand,
a pump that moves around 11-13 times the number of gallons of just your tank per hour in volume,
heaters,
a light,
salt,
some rocks,
a pump to mix the salt,
and a filter

anything noteworthy that I have possibly omitted?
 
Good to know. I can comment on a few of them.

Volitan Lionfish. Very pretty fish. Tend to have less personality than other big fish. In a big enough tank (read, 200+ gallons) they are very active. In smaller setups, they usually will pick a cave or overhang to lurk in, with occassional forays to feed. Imagine a large, poisionous basketball. Not safe with any small fish, or decorative inverts. Tends to ignore snails, urchins, conches, stars, but crabs and shrimp will not be safe.

Spiny Box Puffer. There are a number of spiny box puffers. Many of them are toxic, so they added with care. As with most puffers, crunchy food must be part of their diet, or deal with long term health effects. Tend to be nippy, especially on fish with long flowing fins (ie, that lion). Not safe with most crustaceans and cleaners.

Humu Humu Picasso Trigger. Aggressive. Unlikely to attack other fish with malice (less likely than say a clown trigger), but may end up nipping a long fin during feeding. WILL go after anything in the tank for at least a taste--including your hands. No crustaceans, molusks, gastropods, etc would be safe. Urchins, once they learn to stay off the substrate, might be ignored. No toxins, but will limit tankmates. Tend to chomp at things in the sand and then spit sand all over the rock work. Clever buggers, can jump.
 
http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=11232

a tank,
a stand,
a pump that moves around 11-13 times the number of gallons of just your tank per hour in volume,
heaters,
a light,
salt,
some rocks,
a pump to mix the salt,
and a filter
Click to expand...

If you go with live rock, you won't need much in the way of biological filtration, but a mechanical filtration that is easily accessed for frequent cleaning is good on aggressive setups that prevent the use of microfauna for cleanup.

You'll want to know what your source water is like, and if any modification will be needed.

A spare container to mix water in will be needed, too.

Test kits, and a hydrometer.

In a 90, I'd also plan on having 2-3 powerheads to supplement water current and direct it to prevent dead spots.
 
Hello again,


I sort of had my list of tank equipment revised and was wondering if it was ok, I also have a few questions below the list of items.

I plan on purschasing basically the following:

90 gallon reef ready tank
pine stand

versa Top 48 X 18 glass hood

All-glass Aquarium 48" Double strip light

Wet/dry trickle filter/ Protein Skimmer combo w/ 15 gallon sump

Rio Hypderflow 26 Circulation pump as powerhead

350watt heater

40 lbs bag of Aragoite sand

40-50 lbs of Fiji live rock

an RO/DI unit


Er...I might have accidentally omitted some other items, not really sure...however if this is the case, feel free to suggest anything to me.

Also, could someone suggest a salt mix and explain to me how to go about doing, and all the tools necessary for the salt water creation process? I guess I'd need something to the extent of a home depot bucket and a pump?

One last thing I promise! My friend has given me a 40 gallon tank that will fit under the stand and I was just wondering if I'd be able to place the wet/dry skimmer combo inside of this 40 gallon tank. I'd like to do this so I can greatly increase the total volume of the tank. Just wondering if it is reasonable to do this.

I guess that's about it, any comments are greatly appreciated =)
 
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