Kinda long but i think im one the right track.

[rotarygeek]

Ok i have had my 30 gallon tank set up at about the end of january or the beginning of febuary. I have 20 pounds of argonite (i think thats what its called, the black sand stuff) and a couple pounds of LR. I recently started recording all my results for the testing so i could see a difference in levels. Heres my levels for the past week or so.
2/12/08 1 damsel
ph- 8.2 15 pounds LR
Amm- .50
Nitrite- 5.0
Nitrate- 20
Salt- 1.020
Temp- 75 (Went to adjust it up, but went too high)
2/13/08 1 damsel
ph- 8.2 15 pounds LR
Amm- .25
Nitrite- 1.0
Nitrate- 20
Salt- 1.022
Temp- 82 (Way too high, Turned it back down)
2/14/08 1 damsel
ph- 8.2 15 pounds LR
Amm- 0
Nitrite- 1.0
Nitrate- 40
Salt- 1.023
Temp- 79 (Right where i wanted it now)
2/15/08 1 damsel
ph- 8.2 15 pounds live rock
Amm- 25 (Don't know why is spiked again....)
Nitrite- 1.0
Nitrate- 20
Salt- 1.023
Temp- 76
2/16/08 1 damsel
ph- 8.2 15 pounds live rock
Amm- 0 (Back down again)
Nitrite- 1.0
Nitrate- 10-20
Salt- 1.024
Temp-76 (Realized the temp was low, bumped it back up a little)
2/17/08 1 damsel
ph- 8.2 15 pounds live rock
Amm-.25 (Again?)
Nitrite- 0
Nitrate- 20
Salt- 1.025
Temp- 76 (Little more)
2/18/08 1 damsel
ph- 8.2 15 pounds live rock
Amm- 0
Nitrite- 0
Nitrate- 10
Salt- 1.026
Temp- 78 (Got it right)
Did my first water change today, 3 gallons out 4 gallons in.
2/19/08 1 damsel
ph- 8.2 15 pounds live rock
Amm- 0 1 power head.
Nitrite- 0
Nitrate- 15 (still need probably 2 more water changes.)
Salt- 1.025
Temp- 79
2/20/08 1 damsel
ph- 8.1 15 pounds live rock
Amm- 0 1 powerhead
Nitrite- 0
Nitrate- 0-5
Temp- 78
Salt 1.023
The equipment is a 50 watt heater, a 30-60 whisper hob filter, 1 powerhead.
Can anybody see something im doing wrong? Also for the salt, i don't know what range exactly im going for becuase i have no idea of what fish i want yet. Ill try my best to get it to the right range for whatever fish i and up with. But im using the floating hydrometer/ thermometer combo and its not really accurate for checking the salts. Im really looking at getting something better for checking the salt levels.
Oh and as for the powerhead. What positions do you all put them in? i have mine in the back left corner facing towards the middle. Its about 4 inches below the surface of the water pointed directly at the water coming out of the hang on the back filter. It definetly stirs it up pretty good, but do i have it in the right area?
Thanks for reading all of this and please comment.

 

[1journeyman]

Looks pretty good.
Salinity; If you want to keep any inverts you need to stabalize it. Shoot for 1.026SG
Might want to consider more live rock depending on what fish you want. THe more rock the better the biological filtration.

 

[rotarygeek]

Ok so im looking for 1.026sg, But if i can't really measure it with the hydrometer im using, how can i get that. Whats that thing called.... Its on the tip of my tongue but i can't remember the name of it. As for the live rock. Well this pretty much tapped my budget. Im down to $13 in my account and don't get paid till the 29th so im stuck with what i got. And if i have gas to go to work ill be happy. I figure if i get live rock at the local fish store it is already cured in there tank. I can bring it home, clean it off and add it like im pretending its a fish. Wait for the mini-cycle to finish and then add some more. Im going for about 35 pounds in my tank. I guess being broke is a blessing in disguise becuase its Forcing me to have patience and just wait it out. I think in just this tank alone i already have about $200 in it, and thats just from the salt, the testing kits, the sand, the hydrometers, the damsel, and the water.
I started out with using tap water, unfiltered. I did my water change with purified water.
And as for cycling with a damsel, i know lots of people don't like it becuase of how hard it is to get them out when your done, but i only have a small pile of LR and i don't think it will be too hard to remove them and get him out.

 

[1journeyman]

Well, the primary reason people don't like cycling with damsels is that it can kill the damsel unneccesarily.
Understand budget issue.
Refractometers or the glass hydrometers (that float) both work well. Just make sure what you are measuring. SG (specific gravity) and Salinity are different. Depending on temp you will need to read directions to get ideal mix. Once you upgrade your test for it we can discuss that more.
If the local fish store porperly cures the rock, and as long as you don't have it out of water for long, adding it later will be ok.
Tap water, depending on where you live, can be the devil.

 

[rotarygeek]

Refractometer. I was thinking that but i didn't think it was right cuz im watching mythbusters and they were talking about something kinda sounding like that and i thought thats where i got it from. After reading throught the 101 things for beginners thread, i realized i make alot of mistakes before i even started. The tap water was my first mistake. But i don't want to drain it and

[hr]
my cycle up becuase of it. Ill just keep doing water changes with purified water. I figure 4 or 5 25% water changes should get most of the tap water out. And since my test kit didn't come with alk or calcium, is this really important for me? Or is that more for reef only?

 

[rotarygeek]

haha i can't say S c r e w. Lol oh well.

 

[1journeyman]

Alk and Calc are more for Reef tanks where they are being absorbed by the corals. Routine water changes should keep those balanced for you, but it never hurts to test them occasionally, especially when do water changes. Salt mixes are notorious for occasionally shipping with wildly imbalanced calcium.

 

[rotarygeek]

Ok thanks for all your help.
What kind of clean up crew should i be looking at? I like the look of shrimp, but im not sure if i can support them lighting wise. It has a regular hood with the flourescent bulb in it. Snails are for sure coming, and i was concidering hermit crabs, but now not so much becuase of that other guys thread saying his killed the snails. And a red general starfish is something i would like. Along with probably 2 clownfish.

 

[1journeyman]

Well, clean up crews are dependent on what type of fish you plan on getting. Not all fish are safe with all inverts.
Shrimp are not dependent on lighting though. A variety of different snails are good. Hermit crabs are known predators on snails. They will kill for shells, when they are hungry, when they want to, etc.

1 or 2 small ones in your tank, along with plenty of empty shells, would probably be ok.
Many species of starfish are very difficult and require large mature systems. The easiest are the Brittles and Serpent Stars;. They still need mature, stable tanks. Avoid Green Brittles, as they are known predators on fish.

 

[rotarygeek]

So what would be a good kind of starfish to get?

 

[mcbdz]

You will need to wait on a starfish until your tank is mature. Then it will depend on what else you put in there. As mentioned about. the easiest are the serpent and brittle.