Help w/ 37 gallon aquarium please!

[buga3]

This is my first saltwater fish tank so i need help with my 37 gallon aquarium, i set up the tank with live sand and have about 7 pounds of live rock so far (and plan to get more-what is the least amount i should get?) ,i have one yellow tail blue damsel fish with 5 turbo snails, 4 blue legged hermit crab, aswell as another type of Crab but im not sure of the name. Recently my nitrite levels have been high and i dont know what to do , i did a water change and no change in the nitrite level occured, i have no powerheads should i get and will they help? and my filter is a Aqueon Aquarium Power Filter 30 should i upgrade ??? please helpp

 

[tang4me]

How long has your tank been set up? If it's a new set up the tank needs to cycle for a few weeks. The levels will convert from ammonia ->nitrite->nitrate. You don't want to do a water change until the cycle is complete. Your nitrites will convert to nitrate. Once the nitrite levels come down you can do a water change to help the nitrate levels some. I would slow down and let that process complete.
A powerhead will help prevent debris from building up, but it won't help this nitrite issue.

 

[tang lover1961]

Sound's like your tank is still cycling did you test all your levels of ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and PH from the start of your tank to now? I keep a loge book started on the day I set up my tank. That way I new where my tank was at as it cycled. when all ammonia and nitrite were at 0 and I started to see nitrate I new it was finished cycling. then i could do my water change to lower nitrates. Still battling to get my nitrates down to 0. I started a refugium to try to get them to 0. It has lowered them but not at 0 yet.

 

[srfisher17]

If you do a WC and nitrite isn't reduced, you almost certainly have a bad test kit. There has been a lot of opinions lately that suggest that nitrite in a SW tank isn't dangerous, but its not normal. What media you have in your power filter to culture bacteria? 7# of LR in your tank is not enough to maintain ammonia/nitrite; so you need more LR or some sort of bio-filtration in your filter. I have to disagree on the post above; a WC during cycling may be necessary. Its very possible to kill the beneficial bacteria with high ammonia levels.; and because the tank (not the water) is what cycles, there is no reason not to do them. And, yes, get a PH or two. Just the flow from your filter isn't enough.
The big question above is "how long has your tank been set up"?

 

[buga3]

my tank has been setup for a month and today i upgraded my filter to a marineland penquin 350 biowheel and it already looks clearer, my fish store was closed today so i couldnt purchase more live rock i plan to get some by the end of this week aswell as the powerhead. would a koralia 240 be good enough?

 

[srfisher17]

Bio-Wheels do a good job with ammonia & nitrite and the LR should keep nitrate under control (along with normal water changes). be sure to keep the filters inserts clean and rinse (don't scrub) the bio-wheel assembly as needed. IMO, your PH may be too small; but, with the flow from the filter, should be fine for a 37 gal; assuming no corals.

 

[buga3]

the tank is only gonna b a fowlr tank, today my nitrite went down the nitrate went up

 

[srfisher17]

It should, your tank is still cycling. Ammonia & nitrite should stay at zero and nitrate will rise. Nitrate, at a reasonable level (say, subject to argument, less than 60ppm) is fine for fish---but not inverts. BTW, I'd sure get rid of that damsel before you start stocking fish, they are terrors. If your LFS told you to cycle with a damsel, tell them its not the way to go and question any other and question any other advice they give you.

 

[buga3]

i had bought my tank at a ***** and the associate had told me to cycle with a damsel me not knowing i thought it was ok , i feel terrible now that i know, now i go to a lfs that specializes in saltwater aquariums , & im not sure i want to get rid of the damsel i hrd horror stories about them maybe im just hoping mine is different

,
-after my tank is fully cycled and more liverock and PH is added what do you think my stock list could be?
any suggestions
.....thank you!

 

[srfisher17]

What do you like? You are somewhat limited, because of the size of your tank.

 

[buga3]

anything with nice colors that would be good for my tank size. im def getting a clown , but dont kno what else yet..

 

[srfisher17]

just a few off-the-wall suggestions. Maybe a Royal Gramma, or one of the small Flasher Wrasse, Firefish, one of the less aggressive Dottybacks, and there a lot of appropriate Gobies. Really do some research before you buy; many fish that look great at the LFS will outgrow your tank---but you still have a lot to chose from.

 

[langlandjoshua]

srfisher17, you have some great advice but I think he could look into some smaller crabs. and buga3 your very limited with a 37 gallon tank. Also if you switch your filters out in mid cycling it will restart the process. Because all cycling is is building up the backteria levels that your filter needs to have to support and clean after your fish. Now if you transfer the old filter media to the new filter like I did when I transfered from my Fluval 205 to my newer 405 the cycle should not restart. But check your levels after the filter swap you may get a spike like you did when you first cycled meaning it has restarted and you have to wait even longer for new fish.