From: putzolu@cs.ucdavis.edu (David Matthew Putzolu)
Newsgroups: alt.aquaria,rec.aquaria
Subject: Re: [M] Cowfish, live rock and beginners...
Date: 24 Jan 93 21:53:06 GMT
Followup-To: alt.aquaria
Organization: The University of California at Davis
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X-XXDate: Sun, 24 Jan 93 13:52:49 GMT

In article <1993Jan22.155409.1881@mnemosyne.cs.du.edu> Macs Suck!,
mhatz@nyx.cs.du.edu writes:

Macs do not suck. But to get back to his post...

>1)  What should you visually look for on live rock before you add it to 
>reduce the chances of "bad things" being added to the tank?

Before you add it? That's hard to say. If you are mail-ordering your
live rock (the best way, IMHO) just look for a place with a good rep
(I recommend Exotica Aquaria). If you are buying from a local
store, try to get rock that has healthy looking specimens on it,
and observe it for a while. Don't take rocks that have bristle
worms on them, they can be a real pain to get out. The same goes
for mantis shrimp. Don't get rocks with too much hair algae (or
any at all, if you can help it). Get rocks that are coralline encrusted.
Avoid rock anemonies. The list goes on...

>2)  How dangerous is it to add live rock to existing tanks whether they
are     
>reefs already or non-reefs?

Depends who you ask. I added 50 pounds of liverock to a fish only tank and
everything went fine (well, I had to get rid of the sailfin tang - he was
picking on everything). Other people haven't been so lucky.

>3)  What can be done to minimize the chance of parasitic attack when new
rock
>is added?

Frequent water changes. Maximum filtration. Clean tank often. The usual
stuff. Avoid using anti-biotics or any extra chemicals as a rule, unless
you
want sterile rock instead of live rock.

>I am a newbie and will be setting up my first marine tank this weekend. 
I live
>in Colorado and the water has some serious copper problems.  I would
like to
>add live rock and go with inverts.  The exisiting tank is a friend's 55
gallon,
>It is a "sterile" environment ie nothing but fish and dead coral
decorations.
>It is populated by 1 damsel (I wanna trade it away) and a clown I will
keep.

The tapwater has copper? Aaack! Bad bad news. You don't really have
many options. Either get a distiller, an RO unit, or buy all your water
at the
store. Get a real good protein skimmer & clean the tank alot & maybe you
may get
by with minimal water costs (some reef people never change the water).

>4)  How can I get the copper out of the water and decorations/gravel
that is
>already in the tank?  Would it just be easier to trade away the 2 fish
and
>toss all the tank contents to start over with "virgin" materials?

Change the water in the tank. 25-50% a day for a week should drop the
copper concentrations, longer if you have really high copper levels.
Gravel has little or no place in a reef tank, and should be mostly
removed.
Decorations probably can be boiled & cleaned well enough. Consult
a chemical type fish person about whether copper actually gets into
decorations/glass, sounds doubtful to me. Keep the clown
if you like him, I doubt he is contributing to the copper levels ;) .

>5)  One last question..I would like recommendations for a 55 gallon reef
>population.  I would like all the fish to get along and hopefully be half
>way sociable too.  I would like to add a shrimp or two, anemones and
>corals.  Any suggestions would be very welcome.  I have 20 years of fresh
>water experience and am on the edge of making the "big switch".

Banded coral shrimp are nice & don't mess things up, but may
fight each other. I've got a Royal Gramma who is a model citizen, as well
as being quite interested in whoever is looking at the tank. I couldn't
recomment an algae blennie more either - an excellent laid back type
fish, unless you think they are too ugly. They develop nice irridescent
spots when kept in a nice environment, and also make your life much
easier when it comes to micro-algae cleaning time, which they munch like
mad. I've got a Sebae Clown who is cute, but stupid. I introduced him at
a very
young age to the tank, when he was smaller than the Gramma (and much
smaller than the blennie, who is 4"+), so he never picks on anyone. I
don't know the species of my anemone, so I can't recomment him, and I
don't keep corals (no MH lights).

>Thanks!
Your welcome!

>Mike

"I knew I should have gotten"                ______-==-______
"the new version of Rival..."    ____-------=----------------=-------____
           ________________  _ _-    --------________________--------
          (______________(_||_) _______ /
             /_____/_____            _-
Ex-Capt David Putzolu    \__________-
U.S.S. Yamato
Senior, CS & Psych, U.C.Davis - putzolu@cs.ucdavis.edu - my opinion