New here and likely in over my head

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gt44ever

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cool, so you're going with a predator tank. get a small volitian lionfish just to give some wiggle room with the other size of the fish you get so they have a chance to grow without being eaten.
Yes and no. Everything in the tank was there when we moved in. We've lost a few guys since then and haven't added anything yet.
I've been considering adding live rock when I redo the aquascaping since I've read that can help with nutrient levels and making it a little more of a closed system.
the wife would like to grow corals someday (mostly because they're pretty), but I'd like to get it sorted with FO or FOwLR before I go to something that's a lot pickier about water quality
 

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If it were me I would contact an aquarium maintenance company and have them help you for as long as it takes to get up to speed. Very possible that it was already being maintained by someone other than the owner as this is anything but a easy tank to maintain as just the size alone would require equipment that the average tank would not need. First thing IMO would be to get water parameters stable.
 
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Here's a teaser until I can actually get a few pics. Its the only useful shot I have access to at the moment.
This is rocky road (black spotted horned shark) and buttercup (queen angel). The bamboo shark is also just barely in the shot.

It's unfortunately not the prettiest tank right now as my time and money are finite and I don't entirely know what I'm doing yet

20170621_215505.jpg


Edit: One quick note here regarding the aquascaping: The tall rock that Rocky Road's head is on is the tallest in the tank. The rest are more like what his tail is on if not flatter because he and the bamboo shark have not them all loose.
 
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gt44ever

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If it were me I would contact an aquarium maintenance company and have them help you for as long as it takes to get up to speed. Very possible that it was already being maintained by someone other than the owner as this is anything but a easy tank to maintain as just the size alone would require equipment that the average tank would not need. First thing IMO would be to get water parameters stable.
The previous owners seemed to indicate they maintained it themselves with just occasional help from the LFS. That said, they also appeared to have done a lot of their own work around the house, which has made for some... interesting and scary surprises at times as we find things that need fixing. My father-in-law works in maintenance and actually knows a few things about doing the job right and helps us out a lot. I don't think they had such a resource and generally did not use professionals. This has lead me to wonder if we were kinda handed a ticking time bomb of a tank that appeared to be in good shape just because it was so big that it took time for the levels to get out of control.

Also, while I'd like to be able to get some pro help, that'll really stretch the budget. As far as I know, the only decent place around us is the LFS, which has a pretty steep rate. We had them come in while we were out of town for about 10 days just to feed and check up on things and that was a lot more than I would have liked. If it comes down to it, I'm willing to go that route to get back on track, but really hope I won't have to
 

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@gt44ever secret conversation with the realtor 'I sure wish the monster tank came with the house.'

Realtor '*wink, wink*'

Day of move in @gt44ever says to his wonderful wife 'Awww dang it...they left that here. We'll figure something out!'

Mrs. @gt44ever says 'Sweetheart I kind of like it'.

@gt44ever thinks ***SCORE***

Just get used to saying the phrase, yes, that is a new toy for the tank and was only $20 :)
 
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gt44ever

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@gt44ever secret conversation with the realtor 'I sure wish the monster tank came with the house.'

Realtor '*wink, wink*'

Day of move in @gt44ever says to his wonderful wife 'Awww dang it...they left that here. We'll figure something out!'

Mrs. @gt44ever says 'Sweetheart I kind of like it'.

@gt44ever thinks ***SCORE***

Just get used to saying the phrase, yes, that is a new toy for the tank and was only $20 :)

lol... not quite. We planned on keeping the tank (it's built in so the tank itself was going nowhere) the surprise was when he called and asked if we were expecting there to be fish... we weren't, but went with it anyway.
They had another only slightly smaller tank in the living room that we had them remove though. One tank in the neighborhood of 700g was plenty. Didn't need a freestanding one with another roughly 300g to compound the challenge.

And don't worry. I have plenty of practice with that with my car, and camera, and 3d printer, and... I have a lot of expensive hobbies don't I...
She's actually looking forward to the aquascaping though so got that going for me at least
 
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gt44ever

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Do you talk with Tom at the fish docs?He is the owner.

don't think I've talked with him yet but it's possible I've just forgotten. I don't get there as often as I probably should.
I'm likely going to be stopping in tonight though to see about getting something to hopefully help my lionfish pull through while I sort the water quality issues so if he's in, I might try to make a point to talk with him.
 

HAVE YOU EVER KEPT A RARE/UNCOMMON FISH, CORAL, OR INVERT? SHOW IT OFF IN THE THREAD!

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