I live in Nassau, Bahamas and finally found a tank that doesn't cost as much as my car did. It's a 38 gallon. I plan on having a FOWLR tank. I plan on collecting live rock and sand. I also will use ocean water that I collect. Other tanks I have seen here do not use a chiller so hopefully I will not have to either. So my first round of questions, the live rock I will collect, will dead coral and rocks from around reefs be fine? How much do I need and Live sand, can I just get sand from the ocean floor by reefs, and how much? After it cycles for a while I will add some cleanup crew. I can get various hermits, snails, sea urchins, bristle stars, cleaner shrimps, arrow crabs, other crabs, sea cucumbers, atlantic pearl oysters, conch, starfish, sea pens, etc. Which of these are good and how many? Filtration and circulation, any suggestions would help, I have a bunch of powerheads and I am trying to find a decent protein skimmer here. Thanks for the help.
As long as local regulations permit collecting of ocean rock and critters, then this would be an affordable way to go!
Before you collect a cleanup crew, get the rock in there and let it cycle for a long time. Rock coming right out of the ocean will have a long cycle period.
As far as how much sand, do a little reading on sand beds. There are shallow sand beds (which is a few inches), bare bottom (no sand), and deep sand beds (over 4"). It's up to you to decide what you prefer since no method is better over the other.
Feel free to post some pictures and start a tank journal thread.
__________________ Gwen - 2008 Atlanta Reef Club Board MACNA XX Committee 125g RR AGA "The Simple Reef Tank"
welcome to Talkingreef...
you are in a good position, one many of us wish we were in..
as for pulling from the ocean, as gwen mentioned make sure you are violating any locaal laws, but that said, you should be fine. make sure you keep a close eye and understand what you are getting.. make sure you dont introduce and wild diseases o bad hitchickers.. etc.
you will want to shoot for the reef rock, not the dead corals, about 50 Lbs should do good for ya
as for sand, check out the substrate podcasts, this will help you understand this topic better.
as for clan up crew, each on of those you listed have goods and bads to them.. but they all dont belong in a tank together..
i would start with some small snails and maybe some small hermits and move from there.. make sure you ID what you are getting so you know what you are dealing with
best of luck to you, and if you have more questions, please let us know
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welcome bud, hope you enjoy your stay with us here at TR.
given the nature of the reefs, its prob easier & more ethicle to collect from the outer reef, or semi rubble zones.
do u have a boat, or access to one!
the easiest way is to suspend a basket from the boat above where your collecting it possible. carrying rock even under water is heavy work. so u dont want your destination too far away!
take a large cup or scoop down with you for the sand, sand you can collect in the good zones. take only the top 3inches of sand max, cause thats where most of the benifical creatures will be. you can use special socks to carry and house the sand!
bactera on these rubble zones will be resilant, although they should be deviod of much life forms. outer reef rocks should have something of interest, although they are prob used to higher flow rates than the inner reefs. just something to keep in mind! throw them in a housing vessile with a skimmer or equivilant for a few weeks and check each piece carefuly when your happy they are ready!
bait buckets with the internal baffels removed so it can sink are useful whilst collecting as well! permits & regulations permitted!
i dont subscribe to collecting in the heart of the inner reef, if everyone did that there wouldn't be anything left to build on. sand is a slightly different story, u have to mindful cause sand clouds can dammage the reefs animals
No need to worry, as pretty much everything goes down here. I snorkel pretty much everyday and have a few areas in mind to collect from, a little there and a little here will be fine compared to some of the things that happens here. Rob, by the way I lived in MI before I came down here about 2 years ago.
No need to worry, as pretty much everything goes down here.
I don't pretend to know the Bahamian laws regarding collecting from the reef but, I have a friend who sailed Bahamian waters six months out of the year for seven years and he had a first hand experience that nearly cost him his $150,000 Catamaran sailboat the first year. They arrested him for having one lobster over the limit. Confiscated his boat, fined him a hefty sum and it took a lawyer to get his boat back, that took two weeks. He, too, thought "pretty much everything goes" in the Bahamas. He was lucky. He could afford a good attorney and found one. If you are going to make an error, make it on the side of caution. At least check the laws before you break them. Ignorance of the law is a useless defense. The laws may differ for residents of the Bahamas and visitors to the Bahamas. They love American money but, are tough on law breakers.
__________________ Amphibious
Reaching my 70th BD, I realize that I cannot help but grow old. However, I refuse to grow up!!! My wife would tell you, "He may be 70 but, He's going on 17". Life is wonderful with a woman like that.
Oh, by the way, if you find that you can collect, I'll be jealous as hell.
Good Luck!
__________________ Amphibious
Reaching my 70th BD, I realize that I cannot help but grow old. However, I refuse to grow up!!! My wife would tell you, "He may be 70 but, He's going on 17". Life is wonderful with a woman like that.
BohamaBaker, Welcome to Talking Reef. I personally believe that you have just entered on of the best Reef Communities online. We have a great group of people here all with varying experiences with saltwater that will be of great help when needed. As for your location. All I can say is that I'm hating on you soooooo much right now!
BahamaBaker
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