When has a fish outgrown his tank and other questions?

[MaterDei]

Greetings all. I 'inherited' a 75 gallon in wall set up when I bought this house in July. I've really grown attached to this hobby and am in the process of SLOWLY transforming my setup from FO to a reef. Initially (the fish that the previous owner left in the tank) I had one yellow tang and 8 domino damsels (yes, 8). I've added to this somewhat. In the last 2 months I've added a lawn mower blenny, a choclate chip star, about 40 pounds of fully cured Fiji LR from the LFS, and a janitor package from salwaterfish.com. The janitor package consisted of 50 blue legged hermits, 20 turbo snails, 5 astrea snails, 2 lettuce nudibranches, and a serpent star.

Here are my plans. Please tell me where they are stupid, I need your help and won't get defensive if you think I'm moving in the wrong direction. As I said I am wanting to make this more of a reef setup.

-I want to double my LR to 80 lbs. The LFS LR is fully cured but very boring. No hitch hickers to speak of only lovely coraline algae. I would like to get the next batch from TBS but would need to cure it in a vat for a few weeks rather than just a few hours like I did with the LFS stuff I bought.
-I want to trade in 8 of the 8 dominos that I have at the LFS for credit. :) They are not bad fish, just kind of nasty to each other.
-Install a skimmer
-Add better lighting. I currently have 2 30 Watt Philips T12 cool white florescents.
-I know that I want an anemone with a host clown or maybe a mating pair.
-SLOWLY add a couple more fish
-SLOWLY add some polyps, mushrooms, etc.
-watch it grow!!!

I have many questions that I'll list below. Just answering them by number is fine.

Thanks in advance

1. The thing that's holding me back right now is my nitrates. I do weekly water changes of 10% and that has helped bring my nitrates down to about 8, which is still way to high, right? How do I get the nitrates down further? I have a drilled tank with a sump running a wet/dry filter and one pump. There is not yet a skimmer on the tank. Is a skimmer necessary? Will it bring my nitrates down to acceptable reef levels? My ammonia and nitrites are at 0.
2. The nudibranch didn't last long I'm afraid. Was it the water? The lighting? or the Dominos maybe? I never saw the damsels mess with them but when the lights go out who knows what happens in that tank!
3. Comments on my lighting please. Could I just add another fixture and then change all the bulbs to something more reef friendly? If so, what do you recommend?
4. My serpent star never comes out during the day which I expected. I'm just wondering if he is fed enough. Do I need to make special provisions to ensure that a chunk of shrimp goes his way, which I have done, or can he forage for himself?
5. Ditto my choc chip star. I'll occassionally place him on a small piece of shrimp that he seems to enjoy. He spends most of his time on the glass but sometimes moves to the sand and the rocks, does this mean he is searching for food?
6. My yellow tang is very large compared to what I see in the LFSs. He is about 8 - 10 inches long. Is this unusual? If not, do I need to worry about him outgrowning the tank? Has he already outgrown my 75er?
7. When I clean my glass and the cleaner rubs the sand, it releases a lot of bubbles. If this good or bad? The sand is white aragonite and it is white on the surface but brownish underneath. Is this OK?
8. Do the fish ever sleep? They always seem to be awake. Just curious.
9. Once I get the nitrates in check and better lighting, in what order should I start adding the other stuff I mentioned I wanted?
10. Is the LMB the coolest fish I will ever own, or what? He's not as pretty as the tang but what a character. He cracks me up!

Thanks in advance.

Michael

[Unfair Advantage]

Firstly, welcome aboard!
Thusly said, now here's my spiel:

Doubling your LR is a thought, but with a 75gal, I'd say go for the standard doubling of the TANK size in LR (ie: 150lbs). This will be sort of costly, however!! Look around in the selling forums below the normal forums here, check around ads in your local paper, find someone who is breaking down a tank and pick up a ton of rock (literally :) ) for cheap!

This will help get you some critter-laden rock, as well as add some needed hidey spots, living spots, etc. to your tank :)

#3 - You're going to want to invest in some decent lighting with the animals and corals you are planning to add. Consider what you want carefully, as many hobbyists spend as little/mid as possible up front, only to find in time they soon desire more more more! Spending $3-700 on lighting is a worthy expense (and will be necessary with the anemones, corals, etc).

#9 - Add the polyps first (zo's for example) because they are hardy. Add fish slowwwwly and QT them first. Do the anemone last, as it is the most sensitive and a "mature" system will help ensure it's longetivity.

#8 - Yeah. They do. Mine sleep in the rocks, my clown sleeps in it's host anemone. They wake up so quickly, it's hard to tell if they are sleeping or not.

I'll let someone else jump in on these others and GL HF and Happy Reefing!

[MaterDei]

Thanks, UA.

GL HF?

[leheath]

I am guessing, Good Luck and Have Fun? :)

[leheath]

I will try to answer some of your questions, although I am a relative newbie myself (but I have done a lot of research!)! :)

1. You nitrates are not that high, I believe 10 is the max you should have, but I know reef tanks in my area that regularly run at 30 and are thriving. I have heard a wet/dry can become a 'nitrate resevoir' so this may be why you can't get it any lower. General concensus is that wet/drys are not suitable for reefs (for this reason), but that a skimmer is if not essential, highly recommened.

2. Nudibranchs do not have a long life spans - I am not sure how long 'not very long' is, but it may just have died of old age.

3. Adding another similar fixture will probably not give you enough light for what you want (especially the anemone). I recommend investigating Power Compacts, T5s, and Metal Halide (those are from lowest to highest light output and price). Try searching on here - personally, I love the T5s - no heat issues (a problem with MH) and more light for less watts than PC.

4-8. Not 100% sure, hopefully someone else will chime in!

9. I would add hardy corals such as polyps and mushrooms. You should try to only add 1-2 fish at a time, with approx. 4 weeks between additions. You can add more corals at once since they don't significantly contribute to your bioload.

Hope this helps

[i8chicken]

Just thought I'd mention that your chocolate chip star is not reef safe. He will eat the new corals you are planning on getting. It might be time to find him a new home. Maybe you can trade him in at your LFS for some credit towards a coral? Sorry to give bad news, but it's better to know before you pay a bunch of money for a nice coral and it just becomes an expensive choc. chip starfish snack. :eek:

[MaterDei]

better to know before you pay a bunch of money for a nice coral and it just becomes an expensive choc. chip starfish snack. :eek: :eek2:
Thanks for the warning, he seems like such a nice fellow. Are there any starfish that are reef safe that don't just hide all day like the serpent?:bigeyes:

[i8chicken]

I am not sure which ones might be safe. I have heard that star fish that have the big bumps on them like a choclate chip or african nob star are not. I know that there was an article on stars in a recent issue of Reefkeeping magazine, maybe you could look through the last few issues. Couldn't hurt.

Good luck.:)

[Unfair Advantage]

GL HF = Good Luck Have Fun, yes :)

Blue Linkia starfish I BELIEVE are reportedly reef safe.

[sdevaney]

Some stars that are safe for reefs are Orange and Blue Linkias and the Feather Star. Good Luck!!

[jay24k]

If you are going with TBS, do not double your rock. I would stick with 80 pounds. Their rock is very nice but also fills up your tank fast. Also when you add corals, most will come on rocks. So eventually you will be adding alot more rock. Nitrates around 8 are good imo. If you use macro algae in a sump, you should be able to drop it to 0. I haven't added macro to mine and all my corals (soft, lps, and sps) have been growing very well. My nitrates are generally around 5-10 but when I added a sump, it dropped to 2. Most of been the 15 gallons of water to my existing tank.

[MaterDei]

Thanks for the answers, so far... :)

[MaterDei]

Shameless BTT :)