FOWLR complete setup

[predator]

I have a brackish eel that can be converted to pure salt... and i want to convert him. im having to move him so i have started raising the sg in his tank and after i dissasemble the tank to move i want to set it up as a fowlr tank for him while it is cycling and he is finishing his acclimation process. what all do i need? i want specifics... filtraion, lights, substrate, best liverock, cheap (but good) inverts for the tank, and so forth. BTW my tank is a 55 gallon.

thanks all.

[Fishfirst]

Filtration - Protien skimmer or refuigum, or both
Lights - About 2 watts per gallon would be great for "live rock" more is better, less is alright too (if you don't want that pretty stuff to live on the live rock) I would go with VHO's or Metal halides... pc's tend to get expensive.
Substrate - sand, and live sand
Liverock - keys or gulf rock from www.liverocks.com
Inverts - red legged hermits and snails (nassarias, astrea) maybe an urchin?
what kind of eel is it?

[predator]

its gymnothorax tile.

i was thinking about mixing it with a true saltwater snowflake, but that would be a later on thing.

[Fishfirst]

sounds good to me

[predator]

what is the difference between a refuium and a protein skimmer. a more detailed explination if possible. remeber im a brackish dude which is pretty much salty fresh water.

and any good brands on them?

an urchin... interesting where do i get them and what is the care lvl on them. can you think or any other cool creepy crawlies?

[Fishfirst]

[Fishfirst]

protein skimmers are like ocean surf, they create bubbles that seperate and take out the gunck in your water. Refuigums are tanks that you take water in from the main tank and have multiple places for nitrates to be absorbed. Like a deep sand bed, live rock, macro algae, and saltwater plants. Then the water is pumped back into your aquarium... look at liveaquaria.com for refuigums, skimmers, and urchins... google aqua c remora and you'll find one of the better skimmers out there, but most will do on a tank like yours.

[wrasser]

IME sea urchins will eat everything off your live rock, As in all of your algea that grows on it so becareful buying one of these.
The protien skimmer will work great hand in hand with a refugium if those are the two combos that you want to go with.
DO some research on the inter- net and ask the people at your local fish store and come to your own conclusion. with the combonation of what is in your pocket and is best for your tank

[Fishfirst]

true urchins will eat a lot of stuff off your live rock but I was just throwing out ideas for inverts because he has two eels in there (or will have) plus its not really bad... I'm planning on having one in my 125 gallon.

[wrasser]

have you ever had an urchin, if not you shouldn't be telling some else to get one

[Fishfirst]

no but I've done a ton of research on them, and I know what they are capable of, and their behavior. If he doesn't mind its behavior it'd be a great addition to the aquarium.

[wrasser]

Well it seems that if it is not coming out of your pocket book and you have NO first hand experience you should not give the advise. They are like LAWN MOWERS and WILL eat everything down to white rock. You will have a white line across every rock it has been.
You book smart people have no clue about INDIVIDUALITY of the marine world. Alot more is possible than just words. ( it is all not FACTS, its theory too)

[TheOldSalt]

Urchins have more "cons" than "pros," but they are interesting.

Some will strip away all the brown and green algae without touching your coralline, so that's good, but some will do the reverse.

Some are mildly irritating or even toxic, but most aren't. Some are brittle, some aren't. Some will chew through yur rocks, some won't. Some can even chew through the GLASS!

One thing they almost all have in common, though, is the fact that their hydraulic systems make them ridiculously strong. This makes them into little bulldozers in your tank, causing rockslides if you don't have your rocks anc****************d together. That's the main reason I quit keeping them, despite my otherwise liking them.

They'd be interesting and safe in a tank with eels, but just be sure to watch for any of the things I mentioned.

[Fishfirst]

like i said... I was throwing out IDEAS... not opinions or advice. There is a big difference, and he is the one to judge wether an urchin is right for his tank or not. In a preditor tank its hard to find inverts that do a good job at cleaning up. Its his decision if an urchin eating algae off his rocks is a bad thing or a good thing, and like the old salt said, its not set in stone that an urchin will eat down to the white of a rock. I myself am going to look for one that doesn't... I do, however, want one in my tank, for my kauldern cardinal pair, so I have a chance to save the fry from my wrasse and other fish.

[wrasser]

[predator]

holy crap alot of replis since i last checked it... thanks alot for the advice and ok maybe not in the invert area, but in the odd area what are some other stuff that would be cool (starfish (prolly inverts), small rays, prety much anything but swimming fish). and if the animal isnt too expensive i dont mind loosing one every now and then... this is an eel tank to me... not a small ecosystem... not that i just want to feed live fish either.

oh and my local shop doesnt keep SW... soooo cant really ask them.

[wrasser]

there are alot of fish you can put in an eel tank, angles, tangs, triggers, puffers, groupers and wrasse. As long as the eel can not put his mouth around it, to eat it you will be ok

[TheOldSalt]

Hey, Fishfirst, I've found that Banggais don't really need urchins to spawn and protect their young, and I've also found that the urchins aren't really all that much protection anyway. Banggais are lagoon fish which normally don't have to contend with reef fish poking around them, and while the longspine Diadema urchind they like are usful in the laggons, they aren't much help against many reef fish.

I guess what I'm saying is that while the urchins would be a nice luxury, a luxury is what they are. If you want to breed Banggais, just put them in their own tank with lots of cover, preferably longspine urchins if you can get them, but anything they can hide in will make them comfy.
Oh, and unless your pair likes each other, you'll want to get a few more more for a little group of six or so. This will let them pair off like they do, although the poor guy at the bottom of the pecking order will need your attention and extra feeding.

[wrasser]

Hey Oldsalt don't Banggais keep there young in its mouth?

[TheOldSalt]

Yep, sure do. They even feed them when they're young. This is very handy for us, as it makes the Banggai one of the easiest marine fish to raise, since we don't have to worry about what to feed the fry until they're big enough to eat much bigger foods than, say, a clownfish would need. The babies are sooo cute! They look like little tiny versions of the adults by the time they make their first appearance. There are only a few born at a time, but their survival rate is many times higher than that of most other marine fish thanks to the parental care.