Hello to Everyone

kissiefish

kissiefish

New Member
Hi Everyone,
Just wanted to introduce myself, I am new to the hobby and have started my tank. I have referenced this board for alot for some great information. I have had my tank, which is a 55g filtering for about a week now I put my first inhabitants in it yesterday. I started my cycle with 4 blue chromis I was told at my lfs that they would start my cycle just fine. I have an undergravel filter, as well as another filter (I don't know the brand, it was given to me =) Thanks you know who you are). I will be setting up the HOT magnum pro system as soon as I recieve it. The temp in my tank is about 78. I have a Marine Glo light on it which made the tank look cool with out even having fish in it LOL. And I also have Life Glo bulb on it. My SG lvl is 1.021. I took my first readings tonight PH was at 8.0, Nitrate were at less than 10, Nitrite was at 0.22 and Amonia was at 0.8. I started a spreadsheet to keep track of my lvls through my cycle. Its been a day and I am loving just sitting and watching my 4 little fish go about there business. I know its not much but I think this is the start of much cooler things to come.
If anyone can give me some feed back on my levels it would be much appreciated. I am not sure what to make of these just yet. I also bought a PH buffer just incase I needed it and it says that it should be added once every two weeks to keep the PH at the right level. Does anyone do this?
I look forward to hearing from you all
~Kissiefish~ :D
 
T

thomas712

Guest
Welcome to the board :D
Sounds like you ammonia is on its way down now and it will be up with the nitrItes, this will last longer and then decline until you get only some nitrAtes. Sound good so far.
However, I would like to ask if this will be a fish only, FOWLER or Reef system.
I'll be the first here to say that I would remove the undergravel filter altogether, I'm sure many people are tired of my standard talk about them but here it is.
As for undergravel filters, I've been through this, won't go through it again. Why?
1. Frequent water changes to try to get the ditrus and nitrates out.
2. If you put live rock on it you will build up more dead ditrus spots that will pump out more nitrates in you system. This just makes them simply non reef compatible. They were meant for a crushed coral bottom and are no good with sand.
3. You run the risk of Carbon dioxide poisoning that builds up underneath.
4. Although it can help with the bioload it is only low bio load friendly.
5. With what can seep out from underneath the algea blooms can be spectacular leading to what is called New Tank Syndrome even if you think your tank is seasoned, and if you do not vaccum well you will simply reintroduce the waste back into the water colum. This can reek (he he) havoc on your water chemistry and your PH.
6. Even though you use the best strongest powerheads on it, it will just pull the waste and ditrus down into the substrate traping it till it decays and fouls your water or waits to be removed by you and the vaccum tube. Much better to use sand and good water flow to keep the ditrus in suspension in the water to be removed by the protein skimmer or machanical filtraition.
7. No matter how you slice it the UGF is just a ditrus trap. If anything deserves the name nitrate factory it is the UGF.
Just my OPINION.
Thomas
It is your tank and you can do whatever you wish with it but I truley believe that you will be happier in the long run if you remove it now.
 
cb

cb

Member
Welcome to the board. You will find alot of good information here. I think your ph should eventually be around 8.2 and your salinity should be about 1.023 depending what your going to put in your tank.:)
 
kissiefish

kissiefish

New Member
Thanks for your input Thomas, I will definatly consider the under gravel filter. For now the tank will be just fish. I would like to have a clown and an anenome (we have one at work, and they way the clown cuddles the anenome is the cutest thing). But thats about it. I like the way the reefs look, but want to get my feet wet in some fish. I know evenutually I will need a snorkle to be in my apartment, LOL. Its just a matter of time and confidence. I am going to keep an eye on my lvls, is every other day a sufficient time to check?
Thanks,
~Kissiefish~
 
J

joey d

Guest
Hey Kissiefish,
I am also new to this board but looks like there is alot of great info here and some really nice people !!
Good Luck with your tank !!!!!
Joe
:cool:
 
fishtanknewbi

fishtanknewbi

Member
WELCOME!:) This is the best board you could ever belong to. There is a lot you can learn from the people here. This hobby is well worth all the money your going to spend.:D
 
nm reef

nm reef

Active Member

Definitely a Big welcome and best of luck in your new venture. Sounds to me like you are off to a decent start...although I also would question the under gravel filter. There are numerous other methods of filtration that are far more effective. Just to provide a source of vital info check out these links....
Reefkeeping 101
Reefkeeping FAQ's
Pleasure to have you around and don't hesitate to ask question as you progress...folks here will be more than willing to help all they can.:cool:
 
bentrue

bentrue

Member
welcome to the board! it has helped me tremendously!
you mentioned that you wanted to keep an anemone for a clown. anemones are difficult to keep and should not be added to a tank in the beginning stages. this will be especially true with the UGF. you will want the best environment possible to be able to keep an anemone thriving. they also need good lighting.
hope that helps ya! ask, ask, and ask again. it is the best way to learn!
 
scotts

scotts

Active Member
Once again I would like to say WELCOME.
I started this hobby by suddenly changing over my fresh water tank to salt water. I also listened to my lfs. After about 8 months I found this board. I have learned more in the 4 months I have been here than the 8 months listening to the lfs. Every time I went in it was another, "Oh yeah , you should buy this bottle of chemicals for $20. It will really help" I had every problem in the book. I started listening to the people on this board and all of my problems went away.
I would recommend 2 things, do a search for any questions on this board that you have. Granted questions are welcoms, however everything that you may want to knwo has already been asked. Also research anything before you buy it. I bought a beautiful fish at the lfs. Only to find out later that the fish grows to be huge and completely changes it's color. Luckily I was able to donate it to a local aquarium.
Listen to Thomas. He knows ALOT about keeping a salt water tank.
Scott
 
stillfrodo

stillfrodo

Member
I am by no means an expert but I have to agree with Thomas on ditching the UGF. I did alot of research reading questions etc before I jumped into this venture and by far the best filtration recommended is lf/dsb and lots of circulation with as large a protein skimmer as you can find. From what i have read the lr/dsb lessens the likelihood of sudden death in your tank. Anyway much knowledge on this board to be found. So glad I have found this site,
 
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