New kid on the block

aelene

aelene

Member
Hello. I have been reading through your forums and you guys amaze me with all the knowledge that is collected here along with all the advice that is given. Since everyone seems so helpful I thought I would throw my scenario out there and see if anyone has any advice/suggestions for me. :needhelp:
This is my very first saltwater tank (going for a reef tank) and I'm a novice when it comes to fish. I am a huge animal lover though and I'd be devestated to kill a ton of innocent fish through this process so I really want to be educated about what I'm doing here.
I have a 40 gallon hex tank that I bought about four months ago, it has a regular filter and a protein skimmer (bio pack). I started it with CC and a regular rock and never seemed to be able to get the levels stable enough to actually get any fish in it. Tired of dealing with it, I finally emptied out the tank entirely and went a different route.
I redid the setup, put down LS and got all pre-mixed rdy water. After about a week we got the water tested :
PH - 8.2 ish
Ammonia - less than .25
Nitrite - 0
Nitrate - 0
Salinity - 1.019
Temp - 81F
(Salinity was a little bit low but I have since then gotten it up to about 1.020 - I plan on continually adding SW as I refill it until the level is around 1.021.. then will switch to FW refills.)
Since it was doing well, I got 20 lbs of live rock. Let that cycle for about 5 days, when we went back to get it tested the water was still doing great so the store advised to go ahead and start getting fish. (testing levels all the same as listed above)
Here is what I brought home -
1 Cleaner Shrimp
6 Hermit Crabs
1 Percula Clownfish (Norman)
I have since also discovered 1 hitchhiker - which I identified through your site as an asterina seastar (pic #2 on Ophiura's post)
When I added the fish, I just floated them for 15 mins then added some of the tank water to the bag and let them soak in that then emptied the bags into the tank (I read some posts today saying not to add the LFS SW so next time I won't)
I also read some posts on drip acclimation method. Is that a standard practice? With the method I did use, everybody seems to be doing really well so far (it's been about a week since I brought home the new guys) The clownfish is really active, and he's not timid at all... his personality and behavior lead me to believe he's pretty healthy and happy atm.
Currently my levels are all testing well still:
PH - 8.2 ish
Ammonia - less than .025
Nitrite - 0
Nitrate - less than 10 (mg?)
Temp - 81F
So my question is: are the steps I have taken so far adequate? I need to get a different lighting setup before I consider adding coral (which is a long ways off) but should I consider getting it sooner for the asterina seastar? Does he care for or need that? Is his presence a good sign that my LR is healthy or could it still go either way? If the water continues to test well, I plan on adding another fish this weekend, and hopefully one a week or so until I have around 4-5. Is that rushing it, should I wait longer?
Is there anything else I can do to start getting myself ready? I have also read that alot of people keep a second tank for quarantine, or various other needs. Would it be a good idea to go ahead and get something like that set up? I have a 10g I can use to do it, if it would be sufficient.
I'm basically looking for any and all advice anyone is willing to give. Like I said I want to make sure I am doing the best job I can with this. Thanks in advance for any help.
 
nanoreef

nanoreef

Member
Whats Your lighting
Drip Acc Fish ALWAYS you can float coral but dont add lfs water to your tank
in the long run it sounds as if you know what your doing !
 
clownme

clownme

Member
I think so far you have a great plan in motion.... Patience and lots of Reading

Good decision switching to LS however the the amount of LR you have seems low. The general rule of thumb is 1 - 1 1/2 lbs per gallon of LR, so you may want to consider more LR to complete your setup.
You make no reference to lighting. You may want to do some more research on the proper lighting, keeping your current needs and future plans in mind before making a purchase.
It is my understanding, and please someone correct me if I am wrong, that Salinity is different the specific gravity. When water evaporates from your tank leaving the salt behind, therefore increasing your salinity. Topping off with FW may be a better way to increase your salinity or specific gravity. There are a couple of threads in the archives on specific gravity versus salinity I would recommend that you look them over to get a handle on the difference.
As far as adding stock, I am too am a newbie. My tank is a 36 bowfront with 48 lbs of LR and 100 lbs of LS. I have just added my cleaner crew and will be waiting a few weeks before adding fish. I would like to be able to contol the water with a small bio-load rather than jump in and kill off my fishy's

So waiting for the pro's to add there info is the best recommendation I can make.
So far I think you are doing great!
Welcome to the boards :happy:
 
dogstar

dogstar

Active Member
For a reef, get the S.G. up to 1.025 buy adding SW mixed to around 1.028 or so when you top off evaperated water.
S.G. is the density of mixed water compared to pure water.
Salinity is how many ppm. of whatever is added to the pure water to make the water whatever the S.G. is.
Look in to maybe a 175 watt MH light. And some how replaceing hang on filter with sump/fuge.
 
nomad

nomad

Member
I would not add any more livestock until your ammonia and nitrite are 0. There needs to be several weeks to a month between fish additions to give the bacterial population in the tank a chance to catch up.
Also, the specific gravity of the SW should be 1.025 to 1.026 if you are going to keep invertebrates such as shrimp, crabs, corals; 1.021 is OK for fish only (FO) for fish and liverock only (FOWLR) tanks. If you don't already have one, get a refractometer to measure the specific gravity of the water, they are much more accurate than the plastic boxes with a swing arm (my mind went blank when I tried to type in its name). The cost of several test kits will pay for the refractometer, you can find them on the internet for about $50.
Good luck with your tank.
 
S

sinner's girl

Guest
Yep, sg is low for inverts.
Also, even if you don't use the drip method, you should acclimate them better/longer than that.
float 20-30, add water (1/4-1/2-depending on how much water is in the bag), wait 20-30, repeat till bag is full, emtpy half the water, add water, wait, repeat till bag full, add fish/inverts, don't add lfs water to your tank, unless it's a star, I believe stars shouldn't touch air unless they want to...but both mine did and they were fine.
Did you add anything to cycle the tank?
Since you have am, either your test kit is wrong (some test kits seem to always give a reading of .25 rather than zero) or your tank isn't cycled. The fish will add waste and spike the am, which may kill the inverts, maybe the clown. Did you see the am and nirtites spike?
hopefully one a week or so until I have around 4-5. Is that rushing it, should I wait longer?
I'd wait longer, at least two weeks, imo, and 5 fish, depending on the fish might be too many. I'm not sure the bioload, I'm only getting 3-4 for my 75gl, no need to crowd anyone, you should consider the adult size of a fish when adding it to your tank.
What fish are you thinking of adding?
Opps, nomad's post wasn't there when I clicked reply...but at least we agree
Also, the specific gravity of the SW should be 1.025 to 1.026 if you are going to keep invertebrates such as shrimp, crabs,
:notsure: I kept mine at 1.023 for five years, I had a swinging arm thing, which I now know is off by .001, so my sg was really 1.024. If you can't get a refratometer, test your water, have the lfs test it and see what the difference is. I broke the swining arm, Sinner bought a hydrometer, which was WAY off, 0.004-5 off, I had a guy test my water with a refractometer so I now I know how much my swinging arm is off. I thought about getting one, but I'm not sure now...
 
aelene

aelene

Member
LR - Yes I do intend to add more.. it's just expensive heh so I had to space it out a little. If I do set up the 10g tank then will I want to let the new LR sit in there for awhile before adding it to the main tank or does it matter?
Water levels - I think they are actually better than I'm listing. Since I'm new at reading the results I always assume it could be a color level up from where I'm reading it. The LFS says the level is perfect and that ammonia and nitrate are at 0 (as of last week), but I need to go back this weekend to have them test it again to see whether or not the new kids threw the levels off a little. The test results are the same color on my home kit as they were last week.
Lighting - I do need to get a new lighting system, definitely. What I have right now is the regular light that came with the tank, I think it's a glow light or something... but it's definitely not capable of running anywhere near what I'll need. The setup I have been looking at is approx $160-190 depending on which store I'm at. I couldn't really say what the power is on it (remember still a newbie) but it has four lights and some of it works as night light I believe?
Adding more fish - I'm not really sure what I'd like to get yet. Mainly basic stuff.. I guess I figured I would wait and see what I liked. I need to go hang out at the city aquarium and get some ideas. Are there any specific kinds that are really hard to kill? That might be a good place for me to start lol :happyfish
As far as the SG goes - will low SG hurt the seastar that is currently in my tank? He hasn't really moved in the last few hours whereas so far since I found him he's been pretty mobile... so I'm a little worried I already killed him

P.S. - What is sump/fuge? What is RO/DI?
 
S

sinner's girl

Guest
RO/DI Reverse Osmoses/ deionized is water...there is sticky somewhere that gives a list of the stuff.
Clowns and damsels, it's hard to kill a damsel...but they get mean and are ugly when old.
you can get some lr and some base rock, the lr will seed the base rock and the base rock will become live. You can even make your own (see DIY forum)
Low sg, or a sudden change in sg, will hurt a star. Mine dropped to 1.019...lfs was out of salt...brittle took a turn for the worse, but he was already sick, and the serpent was fine.
If I do set up the 10g tank then will I want to let the new LR sit in there for awhile before adding it to the main tank or does it matter?
can't hurt, add the lr, wait a few days, test the water. You don't want any die off in your main tank. If you buy cured lr locally, you shouldn't have a problem adding it to your main tank. If you get it online, I'd make sure it was cured first (die off may hurt your water and spike your am).
 
aelene

aelene

Member
Well, the asterina seastar did die yesterday.
Is that common for a new tank, or should I take that as a warning sign? With all of the reading I have been doing on this site, I realize that my tank never really cycled before adding the crew I currently have in there, which has me a little concerned. Does that mean at some point my ammonia is going to spike up and cause problems?
I don't plan on adding any new fish until I can get a QT tank set up (prolly 20g) but is it ok to add more LR to the tank or do I need to let it cycle out in a QT tank before adding it to the main?
 
clownme

clownme

Member
Either way something needs to cycle. The main tank, it sounds like, has not fully cycled. Just an FYI you need to also cycle the QT tank with a sponge filter and a small pc of LR. The bacteria will take up home in the sponge filter, so no need to add substrate to your QT. Beth did an excellent discussion on the subject...
https://www.saltwaterfish.com/vb/show...2&highlight=QT
Just remember patience is the key to success in this hobby.

I hope this helps.
 
hot883

hot883

Active Member
1st off, Welcome and congrats on taking the plunge into SW(salt water).
In this hobby, slow is the key and slow means slowwwwwwww. IMO (in my opinion)you are adding way to fast since your tank hasn't even cycled yet. I have a 55, started with alot of LR(live rock) and LS(live sand) over CC(crushed coral). Been told a million times that will haunt me. So far so good. It took my tank about 3 weeks to cycle because of the LR,LS and water I used. I live 20 min. from a closest LFS(local fish store) and when I bought more lR they put in stry box covered it with newspaper and poured tank water over the rock to keep it moist. One place I went to actually put the LR in a double bag with some water. Anyways, I added LR whenever I could even at 5 lbs. at a time or 15. It is a woderful filter and holds so much great live critters etc. thats so beneficial. When I add a fish (1 at a time)I try to wait atleast 2 weeks/longer to add anymore. The longer the better. I test my water through 2 different places and when they are compatible, I add a fish. Take your time, keep tabs on your water daily, add fresh water when needed to top off enjoy. I personnaly feed every other day and my fish are doing fine. Good luck, post pics. when ya can and ask, read, ask, read ............
 
aelene

aelene

Member
Well, here is the tank...and the clownfish known as Norman :) Do flashes bother them by the way? I don't think he liked having his picture taken...

 
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