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Kevin 
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 Topic: What to do with old FO tank.
Posted: November 10 2003 at 8:49am |
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I recently met a person that has Fish Only saltwater tank. He said that someone gave it to him with the current fish and everything in it. The tank is a 40 Gallon with just floresent tank lights that come from the store and has what looked like a penguin biowheel 330 for filtration. As I looked in the tank I noticed that he doesn't have any liverock and there is not coriline algea or anything growing in the tank.
Ok here is my question. He was expressing interest to me that it would be nice to add some live rock and to put some corals in there. What is best for him to do? Since he knows nothing about the tank's past should he take down the whole thing and start with all new rock and sand or should he just slowly add live rock into his existing tank over time?
A local fish store recommended that he start all over because there may be some existing disease or chemicals in the tank that could cause future problems when he begins to try to add live rock and corals.
Last question, what corals are there that are cheap that will live under a small amout of floresent lighting?
Thanks
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Carl
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Posted: November 10 2003 at 9:29am |
IMO, I personally think that it would be more beneficial to not start over. He does have SOME bio filtration in the sand that would be lost if he tosses it. It's a start anywayand there really wouldn't be anything other than copper to be concerned with. The best thing that he can do is go VERY SLOWLY.
I would suggest finding more out about his lighting. There are a lot of retro lighting kits that he can get that will upgrade the lighting for him. Also, he really needs to educate himself. He needs to learn about the different types of corals, etc, what their requirements are and how to care for them.
I would start out with one or two pieces of LR that are fully cured. From there, he can design the aquascape and get his base going. He will need to monitor his Am Ni and Na levels. After awhile, a couple of weeks to a couple of months, he will probably start to see some neat growth on the LR.
The soft corals will be his best bet for a start. Shrooms, button polyps, maybe a xenia. Good luck!
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In Syracuse
"I believe that forgiving them is God's function. Our job is simply to arrange the meeting." - Gen. H. Norman Schwarzkopf
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Adam Blundell
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Posted: November 10 2003 at 10:17am |
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Come to a meeting, they’re fun!
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Mark Peterson
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Posted: November 10 2003 at 11:52am |
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My 2 cents:
Don't you just love the LFS. Most of them always seem to come up with the answer that puts $$ in their pocket!
One of the best coral for low light is the mushroom. The other day someone wrote that the Aquarium has individual mushrooms for $5. There are also many here in the forum that could easily spare a mushroom!
Green nepthia, available from Oboy, is great in low light too.
Just throw in a mushroom and a small piece of LR from someone's tank (hence, fully cured) and see how it does during a week.
If it does well, keep adding, including more circulation and light.
If it looks bad give it back to the original tank and start over.
Edited by Mark Peterson
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Reefkeeping Tips, & quick, easy setup tricks:www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=9244 Pay it forward - become a paid WMAS member 
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tfowers
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Posted: November 10 2003 at 1:14pm |
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I'm looking at going the other direction Reef -> FOWLR after moving all the corals to another tank. I'd like to make a trigger of lion tank out of it, but I want something I can keep snails and hermit crabs with to keep my life easier. Maybe even a coral or two. Also it's only 29 gal. Any suggestions on fish?
Thanks - Tim
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Will Spencer
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Joined: September 04 2003
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Posted: November 11 2003 at 1:49pm |
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Carl, Adam and Mark are right, I wouldn't start over either. But, if the LFS scared him with the heavy metals or something else bad in the tank thing, take a couple months and do fairly large water changes every 2 weeks or so before, or after, adding the live rock, but before adding many corals.
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ewaldsreef
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Posted: November 11 2003 at 3:11pm |
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tfowers, IMO 29 is to small for a lion or a trigger.
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Contact me for professional aquarium maintenance and localy grown coral frags. [URL=http://www.aquatitranquility.com][/URL]
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Carl
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Posted: November 11 2003 at 3:11pm |
I don't think that the metals in the water column are an issue. They will either adsorb into the substrate or LR or possibly precipitate. Scheduled water changes are usually a great practice IMO, but I do not think that it's the case here. I believe that the "real danger" would be in copper usage, which water changes won't help with either IMO.
I would just go slow and monitor.
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In Syracuse
"I believe that forgiving them is God's function. Our job is simply to arrange the meeting." - Gen. H. Norman Schwarzkopf
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Mark Peterson
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Posted: November 11 2003 at 5:56pm |
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I started to write a post here but decided to put it on it's own to create a discussion around my belief that FOWLR tanks are unecessarily restrictive in their outlook.
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Reefkeeping Tips, & quick, easy setup tricks:www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=9244 Pay it forward - become a paid WMAS member
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