i am new and need a lot of help.....

[llunacy82]

I am new to this whole thing and trying to get as much info as possible. I have a 46 gallon tank...with live rock, some mushrooms, buttons and feather dusters. I am wondering what are the best fish to get that are easy going and can get along with clowns, mandiran gobie, shrimpgoby, 6 line wrasse, and longnose hawkfish. What is the best lighting to have? what are the easiest anemones to have? coral? stuff that is easy to take care of for a first timer. I would appreciate any info.

also i am trying to buy something to improve my water flow...i was told to get a azoo poerhead. does that attach to the existing one i have? how does that work??

 

[mmkeeper]

Sound like you are at your bio-load limit with your current fish. Welcome to Reef Frontiers. Read some of the threads in different areas, they will give you a ton of info. You will be ask for a lot more info about your system. Sump, water parameters ect.

 

[Bainic]

It sounds like you're very uninformed about what it takes. Please read more, LOTS MORE!!

 

[MarineTeng]

maxi jet's are pretty popular powerheads and last well, sounds like you have some of the easier anemones/corals as mushrooms are anemones but usually put into the coral category, but in the coral category alot of the easier ones are soft corals, kenya trees, star polyps, green star polyps
xenia is hit or miss, can thrive often, but sometimes tanks just can't keep them alive
and i'd agree with mmkeeper, your fish load is pretty high as it is i might wait on adding any more if any if you want to keep your water quality high for your corals
More info on your tank such as what kind of lighting do you have already and such, what things making flow, any skimmers,

 

[sc18702]

Anyone have a suggestion for a good quality small powerhead ? I bough the Seio 820gph yesterday and don't like the way it looks in my tank. Too big. I was thinking of ordering the quiet one 3000. Seems to be a bit more compact and hopefully less notieceable. Also, since I have built my rock up close to 8 inches from the top of the tank in the back , it only leaves a small distance between the powerhead and the rock and/ or inhabitants.

Any suggestion would be appreciated.

 

[llunacy82]

this is what I have
40 lbs LR
11 lbs substrate
30g sump with a large ball or two of chaeto
3 VHOs on an Icecap 660 ballast
Berlin Skimmer (I know)
400 gph return
400 gph PH

 

[returnofsid]

I've also got a 46 gallon bowtank. I can make a few suggestions.

To start with, I do think you're a little overloaded with fish. Also, the 6 line Wrasse and Mandarin are NOT going to work out...unfortunately. As was mentioned above, the Wrasse will eat the same food that the Mandarin HAS to have. The Mandarin is a slow, deliberate hunter. The Wrasse is a very quick eater and will quickly eat all the pods that the Mandarin needs to survive. Also, with only 40 lbs of Live Rock, you'll be hard pressed to keep enough pods growing for the Mandarin, even without the Wrasse in there.

As for lighting...it would appear that you're wanting some of the easier corals to keep, which would include soft corals and some LPS. You're also wanting an anemone. A fairly good source of light for soft corals and LPS would be Compact Fluorescents. A 2X96 watt unit would give you plenty of lighting for soft corals and LPS and will be fine for a Bubble Tip Anemone. A lot of people will tell you different but I've had a RBTA in my 46 with PC lighting for over a year. It's thriving and very healthy. An even better source of lighting would be T5HO lighting. That would be great for any Anemone and would allow you to keep most SPS species of corals as well. T5HO would also be adequate for some Clams. The 3 VHO's on an Icecap 660 should be adequate for what you're wanting as well though.

Instead of having 1 400 GPH power head, you'd be better off with 2 or more power heads. That way you'll be able to get more random flow instead of a single source of linear flow. Even if you were to get 2 or 3 Maxijet 1200s, you could aim them in ways to create great random flow.

As was mentioned above, do a lot of reading. There's a lot of great information available on this forum. Another source of great information is www.wetwebmedia.com .

Welcome to RF and good luck!!

 

[Bainic]

Mandarins are very picky eaters, most of the time they will NOT accept unnatural foods, only copepods, and even without the six line wrasse, a tank of your size would not be able to consistantly produce enough copepods to keep the mandarin alive, he would eventually starve to death. Please consider selling or giving this beautiful fish to someone who can care for it properly!!