1st Timer ?s

[stang]

Hello, 1st time with a saltwater tank. After talking with LFS and reading here, lots of cunfusion sets in. This is what i've done in the past four weeks:
90g rr tank
30g sump/fuge
after two days 100lbs LS
2nd week-120lbs LR - next day 20lbs miracle mud
3rd week - 4 handfulls caulerpa
4th week- added 4 damsels and 2 sally lightfoot crabs
other equipment: compact fluorescent lamps, protein skimmer, and koralia 2 powehead
My questions are
Cycling- how often should we be testing for cycling. We have only tested every 6-7 days and now wondering if changes could have occured in between testing. when a spike happens how long does it last?
Today (SAL 1.023) (pH 8.4) (Ammonia-0) (No2-0) (No3-10)
Water Changes- when do I need to start doing water changes?
PowerHead - Opinion if another powerhead is needed in my 90g tank?
Heres some pics Thanks for any respones.
Mark

 

[dang]

You definitely need more power heads. I have a 90 RR also, in which I'm using 2 Koralia 4's and one Koralia 3. I have the 4's on the back of the tank pointed toward the front glass, and the one 3 on the side of the tank pointed toward the other side. Keeps things moving.
Spikes usually happen inside a 24 hour period. If you are testing every 6-7 day's you probably missed it.
since you have livestock I'd start doing 10-20% water changes weekly as soon as you can.

 

[robertmathern]

If your going reef I would look into mh or t5 lighting. It dont look like the pc are making enough light for the tank.

 

[saltn00b]

welcome to the boards.
your initial cycle is probably over at this point. your ammo is down to zero, and your nitrite is down to zero. leaving only your trates at 10. which will get exported by your cheato, or you can do a water change to help it along.
you are in a great starting position for a beginner with a nice setup, and a fuge that will help save you some aggrevation.
while your tank is still new i would catch the damsels and return them. they are very territorial and you will regret putting them in the tank in the future.
that PH is fine for a FO or even FOWLR tank (fish only / with live rock). you want to be at at least 10x tank volume in in-tank water turnover (gallons per hour).
if you want corals you will need to increase that greatly.
if you want some corals

 

[stang]

Thanks for all the fast responses helps alot.
We will definately purchase more powerheads and get our water change done. We originally were planning a reef, but decided to do a FOWLR set up instead. We are wanting more aggressive fish like lion, tangs, and a niger trigger, just making sure our system is safe before adding any fish.

 

[robertmathern]

PC lighting will be fine for that. I would removed you damsils or your aggressives will remove them for you lol. I think some of those fish will not work in a 90 gal. But a lion and such will be good in there

 

[stang]

Ideally I would like to have something of the following a lion, porcupine puffer, niger trigger, blue hippo, powder blue, and naso tang. Which of these fish would not be compatible together? Thanks for all you advice.

 

[robertmathern]

Well I guess it depends on the type of tang. Blue hippo tangs for onwill not have enough swimming room in there. I dont think but thats my opinion also.

 

[saltn00b]

most will argue tangs belong in a tank that is at least 6' long.
one idea that i did was proceed with a FOWLR but getting only reef compatible inhabitants, so i when i learned enough / gained enough spare cash, i could shift seemlessly to reef.

 

[stang]

I edited last post to fish we would would liked to have so I guess I'll have to rethink my fish inv.
Our 90g is the 4ft model.

 

[mcbdz]

Originally Posted by Stang
http:///forum/post/2827035
Ideally I would like to have something of the following a lion, porcupine puffer, niger trigger, blue hippo, powder blue, and naso tang. Which of these fish would not be compatible together? Thanks for all you advice.
You may want to go on the aggressive board and see what some of them have in a 90. Lion, and puffers usually don't work together. Puffer will nip at their spikes/fins killing the. In a 90g you would really need to look at the small tangs: yellow?, kole, etc
Mostly pick which fish is the most important to have and work around it.

 

[stang]

saltn00b, you stated "you want to be at at least 10x tank volume in in-tank water turnover (gallons per hour)."
I hope this is not too stupid of a ? but does that only pertain to power heads?
I have a Supreme magnetic Drive pump that states 950 GPH and my water is pushing hard on top from right to left and the koralia 2 pushing middle left to right.

 

[saltn00b]

it pertains to all flow inside the tank.
your return counts. but remember to calculate head loss.
so if it at zero feet pushes 950 gph, but travels up 4 feet and over a few twists in the pipes, your end result may be closer to 5-600 gph (just a guess).
also, try to position the outlets and PH's so that all parts of the tank are getting some flow, and try to avoid dead spots where detritus can build up, this will be breeding grounds for cyano.

 

[stang]

yesterday I added 2 koralia 1's (put on back facing front).
Damsels seemed to freak out. have not come out of hiding all day. 1 actually appeared today laying down gasping. Did a search for help and seen this thread.
https://forums.saltwaterfish.com/t/331085/help
reading question about stray current lead me too disconnecting the 2 powerheads and within minutes a few came out and now swimming.
Could the powerheads stress them out that bad? The one is still down gasping.
BTW, we have tested water daily past 4 days with no major changes
today
SAL 1.023
pH 8.4
Ammonia 0
No2 0
No3 0

 

[saltn00b]

that post doesnt have anything conclusive in it. are the PH's brand new or used? did you touch the water and feel a buzz when they were turned on? PH's should not have that effect on fish. maybe scared at first, but they get over that real quick.

 

[stang]

The PH's are new. I'm really at a loss about how the damsels reacted.
After installing the PH's, damsels burried in and would not move, thought one was going to die. I unplugged 2 new PH's and they gradually started moving around again. Now running the PH's again they do still move around but only on the back side of tank
Just seemed really strange to me because the Koralia 1's dont really move that hard.

 

[saltn00b]

check for stray voltage?
also maybe try putting one on, and then let them get used to it for a few days..