# My first SW Tank - 33 G Rimless FOWLR Tank



## PaulCheung (Apr 18, 2011)

I decided to keep a sw tank. Anthony (SeaHorse_Fanatic) helped me a lot in this small project. I got most of the equipment, LR and the fish from him. Many thanks, Anthony. I live very close to Anthony. That helps a lot as I have to make multiple trips in order to set this tank up.

I love this rimless tank with good dimension. This is Day 2 picture. I basically just put the LR inside the tank. No aquascaping is done whatsoever. The water is clearer than Day 1. I hope it will got all clear up within the next couple of days.










Thank you for viewing.


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## SeaHorse_Fanatic (Apr 22, 2010)

You shouldn't go through a cycle (maybe a very mini-cycle) since you live only minutes away and the cured live rock was transported in water. However, still get the water tested unless you have your own test kits. If there's any problems, feel free to bring the cinnamon back and I'll hold it for you. That is a very tough fish and is a great survivor. Been through many moves over the last two years and never had an issue.

BTW, I wish I hadn't let go of that tank & stand because a couple nights ago, Irene decided she wanted a fish tank that size in the baby's room. I would have loved a 32g rimless with proper stand instead of setting up a 20g semi-pentagon on a nightstand.

Anthony


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## PaulCheung (Apr 18, 2011)

I only have the fresh water test kits. Are they any useful for salt water?

Also, the water is much clearer now.

The clown fish is still adjusting the new tank and has been hiding behind the rock most of the time.


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## rich16 (Mar 25, 2011)

Nice...I was thinking of trying SW with my empty 33, but haven't mustered up the courage to go for it yet...


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## Raf (Nov 6, 2010)

nice tank. looks familiar!


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## SeaHorse_Fanatic (Apr 22, 2010)

Yup, he picked it up from my CRV at the auction for the same price as I got it from you. I was debating keeping it for myself (love the rimless look), but knew Paul had been looking for a tank and stand for a couple of weeks now. 

Of course, three days later, Irene tells me she wants a tank that size for the baby's room. Yeesh!!!!!

FW test kits are no good for sw. Bring a sample to J&L or King Eds. 

Like I posted earlier, any issues and bring the fish back. The couple of minutes it was out of my sump, travelling in a cooler full of sw, and into your tank should not have caused any die-off from the fully cured LR.


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## PaulCheung (Apr 18, 2011)

*Day 6 - Clear Water and added cleanup crew*

The water is crystal clear. I added some hermit crabs as my clean-up crew. The lone clown fish is more active and eating flake food.


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## target (Apr 21, 2010)

Very nice. What other livestock are you going to add?


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## PaulCheung (Apr 18, 2011)

I am thinking small fish like a goby, a blenny. I want to have a cleaner shrimp too.

Any suggestions for beginners?


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## CisBackA (Sep 4, 2011)

cleaner shrimp are indestrutable - and funny but can be a pain in the ass (steals food from my corals all the time and he doesnt bother doing any cleaning will not touch food unless its given to him or being eaten by something else haha)

Cardnials are easy.

Id say some small damsels, but well no one likes damsels (they are agressive evil things from hell)

Maybe a 6 line wrasse, can be a little bit of a prick but only to fish smaller then it and its not very big, but they look awesome


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## PaulCheung (Apr 18, 2011)

I went to JL and I looked for Royal Gramma but it was sold out. Instead I bought a Coral Beauty and also a Cleaner Shrimp.

I also bought some water for them to test. The water was good.

Coral Beauty. It is a beauty!









Cleaner Shrimp


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## PaulCheung (Apr 18, 2011)

The Coral Beauty I bought from LFS turned out that it has ice and killed it and my Cinnamon Clown.

I took advantage of the Boxing Day sale and bought some new fishes. I bou ght some from a member

Livestock:

2 clown fish
1 cleaner shrimp
1 coral banded shrimp
1 colorless unidentified shrimo
1 yellow watchman goby
1 Rainford goby
1 Yasha goby
1 bangaii cardinal
1 firefish goby

FTS:









Yellow watchman goby










Firefish









Rainford goby - beautiful thing in a small package









I have hard time taking a picture of Yasha goby.


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## SeaHorse_Fanatic (Apr 22, 2010)

Looking good Paul. Sorry to hear about the ick outbreak. You should come by to check out the new LED lights.


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## gklaw (May 31, 2010)

One of the greatest temptation is to stock up fast. I still succumb to the irresistible temptation.

With rapid stocking, the system could be stressed resulting in ick outbreak. I am quite surprise that the coral beauty went first. Usually extremely hardy. I had one for over 8 years start from day 1 until a major crash induced by the idiotic me.

Otherwise, very nice. You do have a great master - ShiFu Anthony


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## PaulCheung (Apr 18, 2011)

The Ick outbreak came when I have only 2 fishes in the tank. The problem is the Cinnamon Clown is aggressive towards the Coral Beautify and that is how it started. I probably would not have a peaceful tank if the Cinnamon is still in it.

Anyway, lesson learnt and got to move on.


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## gklaw (May 31, 2010)

That would do it too. Interesting that the same species of fish can have quite different personality. Wish they have fish jails for mean bad fish. I have a couple I am monitoring for potential catch and release program.

Your coral beauty probably from the same batch as the one I bought at boxing day. Mine had ich as well but doing well so far. Still have a bit of ich oytbreak in my system at the moment as well. Being control with Ich-X.


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## PaulCheung (Apr 18, 2011)

It has been a while since my last updated. 
Bad news are: all the shrimps are gone, Yasha goby jumped out and died, Rainford goby starved to death. Lost all my snails and some hermit crabs.
Good news: The tank seems stabilized and also got some new fishes. I sold the reguarl firefish and bough a purple firefish in boxing day sale. I also bought a scooter blenny back in Nov. Rearranged the rocks.

Livestock:
2 clown fish
1 yellow watchman goby
1 scooter blenny
1 bangaii cardinal
1 purple firefish

Here are the pictures:

Yellow watchman goby, in his cave.









My favourite fish so far: Purple firefish









Scooter blenny. I like to watch this guy. It climbs and glides rather than swim. He is getting thinner. I am a bit worried about it.









FTS: a bit too dark, sorry









Thank you for viewing.


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## monkE (Aug 4, 2010)

love the rimless tank man! the live stock looks great! the colours on that gobey are awesome


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## PaulCheung (Apr 18, 2011)

Thank you.


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## dabandit1 (Dec 6, 2010)

Looking good congratulations on going marine now.... where to begin,firefish are jumpers not recomended for open tanks as are most gobies and blennies,that poor scooter did you not notice the care level of that fish your tank is way too young and small too keep one healthy,and lastlly your adding too many fish at once a tank that small can only handle one or two at a time then needs to balance before you add more......same as freshwater. I suggest a little more looking before you leap,I'm surprised your buddy didnt advise against any of this.

Please dont take me wrong I mean all this in the nicest way possible,more research/guidance could have saved some poor little critters lives and you a pile of money. 
I hope youve learned something and I wish you success in your marine endeavour,good luck


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## PaulCheung (Apr 18, 2011)

Thank you for your input.

I do plan to add a screen to prevent fish jumping. Fortunately, the two firefish and yelllow watchman gody never jump. I guess, if they are not stressed, they do not jump. New fish added will more likely to jump, I suppose.

Some time it is quite hard to suppress your impulse. I did try to go slow. The last two fish I added are 6 weeks apart. Before that I did not add any fish for several months. The deaths reported happend in over 11 months period as my last posting is Feb 2012. So I learnt the lesson already. I was so tempted to add corals but I decided to wait. Still trying to learn to be patient.

The question is: how slow is too slow and how do you know the tank reaches the balance?

Where should I go from here?


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## yvr75 (May 21, 2010)

The scooter Benny is going to die in your tank. Your set up is not mature enough and it's also pretty small to meet the needs of this fish that's usually best suited for larger mature systems. I I were you I would try to sell/give the scooter blenny to somebody with a larger system, or it's just a matter of time before the poor fish starves to death.


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## dabandit1 (Dec 6, 2010)

Sounds like your over the hump I wouldnt worry about it. Hey man we all know about the temptation and we all did the same thing or worse on our first salties,your lucky I didnt have the internet on my first one so people could keyboard spank me lmao
When your change the load in the ecosystem even minutelly like a snail dying it can trigger a mini cycle adding one at a time keeps it a mini cycle adding too many will trigger a big cycle ie tank crash or die off. When you add something watch your parameters rise,when they start to drop again then level off your ready to add more. Marine more so than fresh is all about stability...no sudden changes of any kind good or bad.
P.S I'm so happy you didnt take offence I was worried I might have come off too strong lol



PaulCheung said:


> Thank you for your input.
> 
> I do plan to add a screen to prevent fish jumping. Fortunately, the two firefish and yelllow watchman gody never jump. I guess, if they are not stressed, they do not jump. New fish added will more likely to jump, I suppose.
> 
> ...


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## dabandit1 (Dec 6, 2010)

Sounds like your over the hump I wouldnt worry about it. Hey man we all know about the temptation and we all did the same thing or worse on our first salties,your lucky I didnt have the internet on my first one so people could keyboard spank me lmao
When your change the load in the ecosystem even minutelly like a snail dying it can trigger a mini cycle adding one at a time keeps it a mini cycle adding too many will trigger a big cycle ie tank crash or die off. When you add something watch your parameters rise,when they start to drop again then level off your ready to add more. Marine more so than fresh is all about stability...no sudden changes of any kind good or bad.
P.S I'm so happy you didnt take offence I was worried I might have come off too strong lol



PaulCheung said:


> Thank you for your input.
> 
> I do plan to add a screen to prevent fish jumping. Fortunately, the two firefish and yelllow watchman gody never jump. I guess, if they are not stressed, they do not jump. New fish added will more likely to jump, I suppose.
> 
> ...


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