Hello everyone, I'm new to SWF.com- New tank in progress!

si nyc salty

si nyc salty

New Member
Hello everyone... I am new to saltwaterfish.com- I just got my Fiance a tank about 36 hours ago... it is an early Christmas gift. He had been bugging me for a saltwater set up, I heard all the drama that it was too difficult and opted to talk him into a freshwater tank about a year ago.
In the freshwater tank is a huge Discus, huge Angel fish and a Convict that keeps growing. I have had ups and downs dealing with Discus- hole in head disease- and also ich that don't go.... I have kept those guys healthy for about a year, and now decided to step up to the BIG plate and have saltwater. I just think the fish and coral and overall setup is soooo beautiful.
So far, we have a great Oceanic 29 gallon (I guess it's one of the bio- ball set ups with the filter built into the back. We started off like two nights ago. 20lbs of live sand and about 18lbs of live rock. We mixed the salt ourselves and kicked on the system. It was very cloudy for about 5 hours and by the next morning almost crystal clear. Live rock we picked up has its own little creatures living on it already (like little baby see through fingers) and some shelly objects. Took the deep six tester, salt level in normal range. From there (about 24 hours later) we took a sample into the pet store. Everything was on the money- so we picked up one cute little blue guy! (Shame on me for not remembering his name). But- thats where we are at.
I do have some first pictures of this and will share- I think this forum is excellent and enjoy seeing all of your pictures and progress. BEAUTIFUL! I hope to have such a great Aquarium some day as you guys all do now! As time goes, I'm sure I will have a great deal of questions....if anyone can help along the way that would be great! Thank you all for reading my post- I hope I wrote this in the right Message board category!
And I wish you all well in preparing for the Holiday season!
Linda and Julio-(he's the lucky one getting the new tank)
 
trippkid

trippkid

Active Member
Welcome to the forum. I hope you enjoy your new aquarium. I am not going say anything, but some may about putting fish in to cycle the aquarium, your little guy is most likely a Blue Devil(Damsel), that is usually what most will purchase first, then to find out they can be very territorial and can bother other fish. They all can do this to some extent, but the damsels can be a little aggressive, even with bigger fish. We are here to help if you need, my first recommendation would be to buy some books on keeping SW tanks, I know there is the same info on here mostly, but is good to have some printed reference material to look at when needed, plus being a newbie, you can learn a lot from a couple of books. I can list some later, don't have the time right now.
Again, welcome and I wish you good luck in your new found addiction(you'll see).

Matt
 
si nyc salty

si nyc salty

New Member
Thanks! I will try to keep him (i think that's what he is...) and add some clowns if possible down the road.. I'm really into the coral, my Fiance is into the fish... so- I'll let him do the pickin so if something happens I can say..
. I just pick coral..lol.. only kidding... yeah besides the new addiction of the fishies.. we bought an 87 Mustang about 8 months ago (badddd addiction) thanks for the welcome... I love reading all the posts and pics everyone adds!
 
tarball

tarball

Member
Welcome to the forum, lots of great info here. Can't go wrong hanging around here for good ideas.
I own a 88 Mustang, wanna race...
 
snaredrum

snaredrum

Member
Welcome!!!!
The Best advise I can give you is to check on these forums BEFORE making discisions. I have found out the hard way myself.
Do a search for any questions or post and you will have great success. By the way, I also have a 29 BioCube w/ an additional powerhead and Protein Skimmer added. Good Luck.
 
ameno

ameno

Active Member
welcome to the forum,
as already stated do lots of research, and have patience, you need to let the tank fully cycle before adding any more live stock, test very often and watch you levels as things break down. from ammonia, to no2 and no3. once you get the no3 numbers down low you will be ready to start looking at some fish,some corals will require no3 to be close to 0. just study and research and enjoy this crazy addiction
 
beth

beth

Administrator
Staff member
Welcome to Saltwaterfish.com! Glad to have you join our community.
"The Conscientious Marine Aquarist" is a must read for all new hobbyist, and I would strongly recommend getting this book for your fiancé.
Taking it slow, and being patient and informative is the best all round advise anyone can give you.
 
S

swalchemist

Guest
I think you will find that if you rush into this hobby with the same pace as freshwater you will likely not be in it for long. Your tank is new and as such has not cycled or really started to cycle yet. If you have not done so go buy a test kit and start testing your water daily. Look for a spike in ammonia (deadly to fish) followed by a spike in Nitrite (deadly as well). After the nitrite spikes you will see the ammonia levels drop. You will notice the nitrite dropping and the nitrate going up. After Nitrite and ammonia are at 0 ppm you are safe to add fish. Personally I would take the damsel back until you finish the cycle. If you want to speed it up add more live rock and start skimming. Do not overstock that is a big mistake newbies make and it is a costly one at times. You mentioned coral, make sure you have the proper light and water flow for a reef system and read, read as much info as you can before buying anything, try to find a local reef club in your area, real experience you can see is worth far more than that you cannot IMO. That's my best advice welcome to a great hobby.
 
mikeyjer

mikeyjer

Active Member
Welcome to the forum! Since you mix the salt on your own, I take it you used tap water. It's a big no no in saltwater!!! Get you some RO/DI water to do the mix instead. Like everyone else have said, TOO early to add fish, you can not tell in two day period that your tank is cycled. Since you started out in such a small tank, you have no room for errors. So everything you do must be checked. In a 29g, you have very little room for just a few small fish, that's about it. You can find all kinds of information on this site, just search for them. Do a lot of research before you move any further! Good Luck!
 
andy51632

andy51632

Member
Be careful taking the LFS advice, remeber they are running a business and it won't be any big deal to them if you lose a fish and have to buy another one. Like said before when you get ready to buy something, post on here first and see what people say about it. You will avoid alot of mistakes by doing this.
Saltwater just takes a little more time than freshwater. Good luck!!!!
 
S

swalchemist

Guest
"Be careful taking the LFS advice, remember they are running a business and it won't be any big deal to them if you lose a fish and have to buy another one..."
That is not a blanket rule, there are some great LFS still out there, the one I deal with has taught me everything I know. I have been told that is rare but I have found several that are pretty good and contrary to the rumors you find on forums they do care, it's the big box fish stores that could care less, they don't want repeat business or need it, there is a sucker born every minute and they thrive off that. As for advice, I have seen some pretty bad advice given out to newbies since I joined this comunity so take everything you hear with a grain of salt. I say do your research and you will find what YOU need what you don't need and what you need to know to succeed.
 
matt b

matt b

Active Member
i would say get a nice powerhead and every1 on here is sayin the damsel is gonna die but i dont no ive had damsels in my tank while its cycling or to cycle it so IMO i think it will be find but that just me
 
mikeyjer

mikeyjer

Active Member
Originally Posted by MaTT B
i would say get a nice powerhead and every1 on here is sayin the damsel is gonna die but i dont no ive had damsels in my tank while its cycling or to cycle it so IMO i think it will be find but that just me
Not everyone saying it will die. It may survive through the cycling process but with it's gills burning from ammonia. What they're saying is do you want to put a fish through that sort of suffering?? It's like putting you in a room full of toxic fumes. You may or may not survive through it. You really need to do your research!!!
 
si nyc salty

si nyc salty

New Member
Lol. You all are right. I had kinda forgotten about the board for a while and started to freelance upgrading the tankeroooo. Lol. A few bucks and headache later....It seems to be in check. Except for the speed bumps along the way. Well the damsel made it happy and healthy for about a week and then found him floating. He was fine untill that morning. The tank is running for about 2 months now, we managed to do pretty well considering the amount of creatures we have added.... Lil impatient and couldn't wait- like I said we should have listened!
Lost a few guys along the way- thankfully most costly one was $30 starfish- sad- I really liked him, but... I probably should have researched it MORE thank I didn't. lol. Well guys, I'm back on the board and begging for help! Lol. I thank you all for yor responses, like I said I forgot about all the great help the board could be- Shame on me!
 
hillius31

hillius31

Member
Well it sounds like you learned your lesson the hard way. I did about 4 months of research before I set my tank up. Its been set up for about 4 weeks now.
another two weeks and the fish will come. This website is SO SO helpful
. Utilize all the VERY intelligent people on here.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top