I've Been Bitten

bloke

bloke

Member
This hobby has bitten me bad... I find myself fascinated at every turn. My question to you is where do I go from here? What do I need next? Any suggestions?
Here is what I have:
55 gallon tank, stock lighting, Penguin 350 Bio-Wheel, CPR Bak Pak2, 2 Maxi-Jet 600, Neptune submersible heater, 40 lbs of LR, 10 lbs of base rock, 40 lbs of CaribSea Aragonite, 20 lbs of CaribSea AragAlive
I've even started a 20 gallon QT with 20 lbs of AragAlive and 3 lbs of LR.
As far as livestock go, I used Damsels to cycle the tank and just did a water change of 25%. After the water change I bought two aquacultured percs and things seem to be going fine. My water parameters are awesome: pH (8.2), NH3 (0.0), NO2 (0.00), NO3 (5).
So...naturally I'd like to continue to add livestock. The tank cycled with 5 damsels and currently only has the 2 percs so the bioload is very low considering the load during cycling. My question to you is where do I go from here? What do I need next? Any suggestions?
 
sfoister

sfoister

Member
How long has your tank been running?
Edit: When you say "stock lighting", what do you mean? What did the tank come with?
 
bloke

bloke

Member
Tank has been up and running for about 3 weeks. The LR helped to cycle the tank quickly along with the live sand.
By stock lighting I mean the 40 watt light fixture that came with the tank.
 
mopar9012

mopar9012

Active Member
your tank sounds a little on the young side, IMO i think you should wait a couple more weeks before you start adding more.
 
sfoister

sfoister

Member
To avoid killing your live stock I wouldn't add anything significant to the tank for another 3 weeks at least.
I'm right in the middle of setting up my first reef, and I have done TONS of research. Everything I have read says 3-4 weeks after cycle begins, add your cleanup crew, at the 6 week mark you can begin to add other livestock, slowly.
With only 40 watts you'll be doing yourself a favor if you stuck with fish only and live rock. My reef will have 4x54 watt T5's w/ 4 lunar lamps. I've been told that is the minimum required for a reef tank of my size. (75 gal)
 
browniebuck

browniebuck

Active Member
We bought a second tank after was given a 55 for my classroom and added a brackish water Fugu Puffer fish. I too was bitten by the bug.
We bought a used 55 in early December. We have about 40 lbs of LR and about 70 lbs of LS. After cycling the tank with only the live rock, live sand, and a few snails (approximately 3-4 weeks), I achieved the correct water parameters and was given the go ahead by both of my local go to people for advice to start adding fish. We started with a few turbo snails and red leg hermits...and they did fine! Next we added a queen conch...again, no problems. On Jan 1, we added two maroon clowns, an Eibli angel (gorgeous fish!), 2 cleaner shrimp (really neat to watch). After almost two weeks, testing the water daily, my water levels stayed in the desirable range. Yesterday, we went all over Ohio looking for new and exciting stores. We ended up back at our tried and trusted store in Canton and bought a BEAUTIFUL Naso Tang (about 4 inches), a tiny porcelain/anemone crab, and three HUGE turbo snails.
I guess what I am trying to say is, I know that becoming a saltwater aquarist requires patience, but it also requires common sense. We have moved rather slowly and I have done more research for this than I have for both my undergraduate and half of my master's degrees. As long as you keep up on your water tests and water changes, I think that you are good to go in terms of adding fish.
We are planning on going out tomorrow looking for another couple additions (blue hippo and possibly a psychedelic mandarin goby (I continue to try to talk myself out of this as I know that they require lots of critters to be in the live rock)
 
memphis

memphis

Member
Im new to the board but not to the hobby... I would recommend another week or two before increasing the bioload. Everything will look fine and then BAM! All outa whack. Then you have to wait it out for enough bacteria to handle the ammonia. It will be like another small cycle. Fish may or may not handle it. JM2C... Good luck and post some pics.
 
joncat24

joncat24

Active Member
browniebuck....I would suggest you take a step back. You said you put a naso in a 55 gallon??? And now you want to put a Hippo in there too?????
 
bloke

bloke

Member
I have no plans of adding more fish right now. The tank cycled with 5 damsels and they have since been removed. Consequently, there are only two fish now. 2 aquacultured percs. That's how it will remain for a few weeks to make certain that the bacteria grows and reproduces before increasing the bioload.
I would agree that new lighting is the next step, but I am unwilling to spend the money quality lighting requires. Some of it seems to cost more than the tank itself!
My water changes are in the range of 15 gallons and the water comes from the LFS where I can get saltwater for $.85/gallon. $15 a month is not bad for quality water.
As far as picture goes... the tank looks a little empty without the 5 damsels, but here is a pic of the percs this afternoon...
 
bloke

bloke

Member
Thanks - that's the hope!
I thought about adding some of that PurpleUp stuff. I have heard mixed things about it, but it is supposed to work great according to the LFS.
 
cannonman

cannonman

Member
You don't need LS and LR in the QT tank- if you ever have to use it to treat a fish with ick the medication will kill the LS and LR- of course if you have a seperate hospital tank then never mind.. Don't give in to your impulse on the Mandarin- it will die in that young of a tank no matter what you do. If I were you I would go slow.. er. Keep reading about stuff on here. Good job on your rock work I must say- looks really nice.
If you do frequent water changes and keep your CA levels up then you don't need purple up. Good CA levels and good water perameters combined with frequent water changes will give you all the purple coraline you want.
 
bloke

bloke

Member
Originally Posted by Cannonman
Don't give in to your impulse on the Mandarin- it will die in that young of a tank no matter what you do.
Mandarin? What are you talking about?
 
bloke

bloke

Member
This will probably sound very NOOBish, but with frequent water changes, how do I keep my calcium up? Does this happen naturally or is there some sort of buffing required?
 
cannonman

cannonman

Member
There's CA in the new salt water, and other trace elements that your corals will need, frequent water changes keep there levels up there. If you end up with a lot of stony corals you may have to add a calcium supplament, depending on how often you do WC. What kind of lighting are you going to get?
 
bloke

bloke

Member
Lighting?
Well, What do you think about a Coralife Sattelite of 130 (2x65w)?
I know the wattage is low in comparison to 250+watts, but I don't want to spend $300 on lights right now.
 
cannonman

cannonman

Member
It's only my opinion but: I would get better lights now if you want to keep corals, you might be able to keep some nice softies with that light but it is kind of on the low side. It IS a good brand of lights though.
 
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