New Nano!

coastie5685

coastie5685

Member
lol. New to Saltwaterfish.com and saltwater aquariums period. About three weeks ago i started up my 14g Oceanic Biocube with 10lbs. of LR and 20lbs. of LS. Id say two weeks in i added my bada** clownfish called nem-a. She has done an awesome job at getting the cycle going. Three weeks in i went to LFS with news of a bad brown algae breakout and picked up two Emerald Crabs. They have been doing a decent job for now getting rid of the algae on the rocks. Not so much on the sand though. Any suggestions for sand sifters?
I know this is an unfortunate stage of the cycle. So i hear it will go away.
Thinking of taking on a coral for the clownfish to host in. Shes a lonely fish. Something easy to care for such as an xenia coral? Have i been reading right? Suggestions... Any other tips you experts could give a newbie.. Id appreciate all the info i could get.
I have yet to add any chem's to the tank. The LFS says the tank is doing well.
 
scottallert

scottallert

Active Member
well cycling a your tank with a clownfish or any fish is a bad idea because it is harmful to the fish, but good thing she made it, xenia is very easy to care for and spreads like crazy.
 
subielover

subielover

Active Member
Could you please post every water parameter that you test for? Especially specific gravity, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and ph.
In the future you are going to want to about double the amount of live rock in your tank.
 
coastie5685

coastie5685

Member
whats the ohboy for lol? fill me in. and i do not have the exact parameters for the tank. no testing kit for the house. i get it tested about twice a week. so next time ill write them down. and no clownfish for cycling the tank? the fish looks healthier than ever. lol. how will i know when the cycle is through?
 
subielover

subielover

Active Member
Next step is buying test kits. You will want to buy the liquid kits not test strips. Start with a refractometer, then get test kits for ph, ammonia, nitrite and nitrate. When you decide you want to keep coral you will want magnesium, calcium and alkalinity kits.
The oh boy, is because you are cycling the tank with a fish. It is considered cruel as it can be done with just the rock or a raw piece of shrimp.
Go to the new hobbyist section and read the stickies at the top of the page. There is a lot of good information there. Just remember to take it slow. Usually people do not add fish for closer to month, but it all depends on the tank and what your parameters are.
 
coastie5685

coastie5685

Member
gotcha. appreciate it. dumb LFS told me it was a good thing to start the cycle with the fish due to the parameters. hopefully the little clown doesnt croak on me. lots of test kits eh? oh man. when will i know when this cycle is through and i am ready to take on more livestock and coral?
 
subielover

subielover

Active Member
Check this out...
https://forums.saltwaterfish.com/t/116184/saltwater-aquariums-101-the-cycle
Cycling with a fish, gets the job done too. Basically you need to introduce ammonia(waste), ammonia will be broken down to nitrite, nitrite will be broken down to nitrate. When all 3 of those levels return to zero, the tank is considered cycled. Generally the next step is to add a clean up crew, a couple snails is what I prefer. Keep testing the water to make sure all the parameters stay in check. Meaning everything at zero, nitrates is the least harmful of the 3 but should be kept low if you plan to keep coral. After a week or so of having the clean up crew in, you would be safe to add a fish. The problem with cycling with a fish, is that the ammonia in the water will burn their gills, which cannot be pleasant. A much better way is to get uncured live rock and the tank will cycle on its own in about a month. Keep the questions coming...
 
coastie5685

coastie5685

Member
awesome i appreciate reading the posted previous thread. i am looking online to find the cheapest basic api saltwater test kit. lol u all are making me concerned of this poor clownfish. hopefully he is ok. no signs of stress so.. but i appreciate it. i will keep questions coming as they arise.
 
maryg

maryg

Member
Stick to these boards. They won't stear you wrong. The LFS's are in business to make money.
The brown algae outbreak was probably diatoms from going through your cycle. A couple of Nassarius snails and some blue legs should help. For a tank your size I would get 3-4 of each. And a couple of turbo snails and some more live rock. Maybe even a cleaner shrimp or a couple of Peppermint shrimps. That should be a good clean up crew for your tank.
You can "cure" your LR in a rubbermaid bin with premixed salt water and a powerhead for 1-2 weeks. Don't take the LFS word for it that their rock is cured. If you add more LR directly to your tank it could cause another amonia spike or cycle.
Most of all....ENJOY!
 
coastie5685

coastie5685

Member
by the way. whats a good submersible heater to use for my biocube. does it have to be submersible? where is a good place to put it ?
 
subielover

subielover

Active Member
I like the visi-therm stealth heaters. I don't think its fully submersible though, but it works great on my tank. As for a place to buy it, that is difficult because we cannot post links, google it and see what you find. I know mine, which is a 50 or 75 watt can't remember, was under $20 bucks at my lfs, fwiw.
 
nissan577

nissan577

Active Member
hey coastie! i notice you live down here in south florida. what city
. subie has been giving you really great help so learn alot from him. ive learn alot from him myself. as for the CUC IMO the hermits wont do a big job. some pick on algae some dont. it really depends on them. i think a good ones will be the emerald and nass snails to help out.
 
coastie5685

coastie5685

Member
Originally Posted by nissan577
http:///forum/post/2920440
hey coastie! i notice you live down here in south florida. what city
. subie has been giving you really great help so learn alot from him. ive learn alot from him myself. as for the CUC IMO the hermits wont do a big job. some pick on algae some dont. it really depends on them. i think a good ones will be the emerald and nass snails to help out.
whats up man.. im in pembroke pines to be exact - broward county.
and yup pretty good advice he has for me.i have two emeralds in there now. there doing a pretty good job upkeeping my LR. n nass snails act as a sandsifter type of cleaner? ... i need to get this brown algae off the snad.
 
worrballer

worrballer

Member
Once a week 2 gallon change and once a month 5 gallon change. If you get rid of the sponge and bio-balls you won't have to change the filter.
If you have carbon or those other chemical filters then I think its about 6 months but you'd have to check on the box you bought them.
 
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