New tank man

[newtankman]

Hello everyone…
I am new to saltwaterfish.com, and to the saltwater world. My tank is about 4 weeks old now and is doing very well so far. It is a 29 gal. with 20 lb of live sand and 15 lb of live rock so far. Two weeks ago I introduced three clown fish to the tank and I am looking to introduce one or two new fish in about two weeks. I have also found that I had about 7 serpent starfish (I think) hitchhike in with the live rock, they are a real joy to watch.
I live in town with chlorinated water that I treat and prepare days before introducing to my tank.
Any suggestion for an n00b.
Thanks for any input.

 

[joshradio]

First off Welcome!

Now to brass tax!
~ :notsure: Don't use your tap water unless you run it thru an RO/DI unit at your home... if you ask, "what's an RO/DI unit?" This means you're probably not running one!
~ :scared: You are really maxed out on livestock as far as fish go! 29 gallons isn't that large of a space for all the pee and poop... We could lock you in a linen closet with a fresh fruit platter if you need a demonstration.
~

more than likely the "stars" you're referring to are mini brittle stars that are the favorite food of some fish, but you won't find that out until you toss a clown or 2!

Did your tank fully cycle before you plopped Nemo(s) in there? Please tell me you're running a protein skimmer on your nano?! Go ahead and list your setup... we don't mind, that way it's easier to treat any forthcoming problems you might encounter (Which might be due here in about a week!)
Again, Welcome!

 

[dskrezyna]

I would think about getting rid of one of the clownfish so two can eventually become a mated pair, that third clown may have a rough time of it and may get killed by the other two, they are not schooling fish, at least not in a tank.. I would suggest trading it for something else like a few green chromis.

 

[newtankman]

Well…I am half afraid to say anything after that, but no, I do not have a RO/DI unit or a protein skimmer. This is one of them ready to go tanks that have a flat bed filter media and a culture wheel.
Is there a rule of thumb for quantity of fish per gal? Or rock?
The starfish where about ¼” when I first saw them and now they are about ½” tip to tip. What are they?
I am open to equipment suggestions.
Thanks.

 

[joshradio]

Originally Posted by newtankman
Well…I am half afraid to say anything after that, but no, I do not have a RO/DI unit or a protein skimmer. This is one of them ready to go tanks that have a flat bed filter media and a culture wheel.
Is there a rule of thumb for quantity of fish per gal? Or rock?
The starfish where about ¼” when I first saw them and now they are about ½” tip to tip. What are they?
I am open to equipment suggestions.
Thanks.
Sorry, didn't mean to come off rude, just more of a joking stand up routine... was watching stand up comedy at the time...
A good rule I've heard is 5 gallons of water to every inch of the "full sized" fish, regardless of how small it is at purchase time. If you have a great skimmer on it, you can cheat that a little...
Ditch the undergravel filter and do a sand bed about 2 - 4" deep, pop in some live rock, let it cure and cycle your tank and in about 6 weeks, you're ready for fish!
Teh stars are mini-brittles that are fine hitchikers... which is a delicasy for some fish, I know my butterfly liked them... I would trade friends rocks to sit in their tanks to spawn new mini's and then pop it in mine.

 

[f14peter]

Again, welcome, and please don't take anything said here as being rude, it's all offered as help.
Do you have test kit and testing your water (or having it tested at a local shop)? If so, what are the readings?
Being that the fish were introduced into an essentially two week old tank (Tank 4 weeks old, fish in 2 weeks ago), I'd be concerned that the cycle was complete.
Agree with everything else that's been said . . . clowns do better in matched pairs, the odd-fish-out may get picked on if/when the two others hook-up . . . RO or RO/DI water will really do a long way to improving your tank and keeping it up (especially a smaller one like this because it requires more diligence to maintain) . . . undergravel filters have fallen out of favor, might want to look into moving to another type of filtration . . . a 29g isn't going to allow you a lot of fish.
Good luck and you've come to the right place, this board is filled with a lot of people with a ton of experience.

 

[leftyblite]

Welcome to the boards.

You might want to pick up a copy of "The Conscientous Marine Aquarist" by Robert Fenner. That book and this board have been of invaluable help to me. Good luck! :happyfish :happyfish

 

[nigerbang]

Remember to just take it slow...No need to rush, I have to agree with the post about removing the Clownfish...Prolly both just to let the tank cycle without adding unness. stress that can cause them to be overly aggresive or well..Die..Just take it slow and do tons of research..

 

[demartini]

welcome! good luck!

 

[newtankman]

Here are some of my readings,
Any thoughts?
SGTempPHAmonia Nitrite Nitrate
1.021808.20.04020
1.022808.20.04020
1.0218080.04010
1.021768.10.010.10
1.021788.20.020.10.05
1.021788.20.020.110
1.021788.200.110
1.021788.200.210
1.021788.200.210
1.022808.200.210
1.021768.200.210

 

[newtankman]

Thanks everyone…what I have is a 29gal Eclipse saltwater tank that has a horizontal filter in the back of the lid that feeds into a culture wheel before re-entering the tank. As for my readings, right now they are running at SG = 1.022, temp = 78, PH = 8.2, Ammonia = 0.0, Nitrite = 0.2, Nitrate = 10.
I have had some peeks and have performed three 20% water changes to control.
I am sampling every other day at the minimum.
The three clowns are doing very well. I had a lot brown algae that is now starting to dissipate.
The Live rocks have a lot of life i.e. stars, snails, and what looks like very small bugs that change into flying bugs that die in the light and there dead body then float on top of the water.
I would like to eliminate the bugs.
I will look into an RO/DI system as well as a protein skimmer.
Any thoughts?
Thanks

 

[newtankman]

Can someone tell me what the readings should run normally? And how high should I let them peek before changing water?

 

[puffer32]

As said before, you should get rid of at least 1 clown, they may seem fine now, but the old saying 2 is company and 3 is a crowd aplies to clown fish, and some times thats to many. Eventualy 2 may pair up and kill the 3rd.
You have some nitrites, so need to bring that down to 0. Your ammonia is good at 0 and your nitrates are fine at 10. You need to do weekly or byweekly water changes even when all is well to keep things stable.

 

[nigerbang]

It sounds like your tank is trying to cycle..If you keep doing water changes it wont cycle completely..You need to take the fish back and let the tank cycle all they way through..Ammo will go up..when it goes down the Nitrite will rise..When it drops the nitrate will go up when it starts to come back down then you do a water change..If you keep doing H2O changes during the cycle it will never cycle completely

 

[newtankman]

Thanks…
This is great info.

 

[nemo02]

29g can be a nice lil tank, i have a 29g with a rena xp2 and a cl ss skimmer 125 , with 40#ls and 55#lr . 1 occellaris , and 1arrow crab. 15 blue legged hermits 1 turbosnail, 2 bumble snails, 2 cerith snails. change 5g of water a week,, been great for 6 months. 75 will be up and running soon.

 

[newtankman]

Thanks,
I have been changing 5gal a week so far and things seem to be going well. I plan on picking up a skimmer and RO/DI tap water treatment system this weekend. I did have a lot of brown algae that is going away now, and I am see green algae on the lr’s and what looks like little green balloons.
But I’m concerned, as one of the other responders had said, that I need to let it cycle completely. I did not monitor or change water for the first two weeks (Lack of info at that time) and was introducing food into the tank as recommended on another web site to start the cycle.
Any thoughts?

 

[saltn00b]

welcome! did someone say n00b??? *mighty mouse music*
the skimmer you honestly dont need for another 3 months or so, if you want to save a little bit of your start up costs. but it is a necessity eventually.
i agree about the clowns, definitely get one of them out. also , what type are they? the marroon guys can get to be 5.5" full grown so that could alone be your limit in fish.
the bio wheel is ok, just make sure to clean the wheel and filter with fresh saltwater once in a while to avoid nitrate build up. if you get enough Live Rock and flow, you can get rid of it all together.
something you may not have thought about is a quarantine tank. take a look in the disease forum, and you will see how important it is. a 10g tank can be set up bare bones for <50 bucks. and it will pay for itself over and over again. wouldnt you hate to get another fish, that is sick, and infects your clowns and all your fish die? i think you would!
your water params should ideally be at 0 ammo, 0 trite, 0 trate, pH ~8.4, temp ~79+-
alk - depends on the kit (look into salifert kits, test yourself!!! never trust LFS)
i am worried that you changed your tank water before the tank finished cycling which is a nono. this means it is still trying to cycle somewhat, so dont add anything more, until you have zero ammo and trites, and then change out to clean out the trates.

 

[newtankman]

Should I pull the Clowns out and place them in a quarantine tank while the tank cycles???
How long would it take??

 

[joshradio]

Pull one out and take back to your store for a credit... and the other 2 could live in anything, just don't let them stay in the tank while it cycles... the ammonia can kill, and if not kill damage their gills, utterly leading to an unhealthy fish and then yes, death! (rubbermaid large containers work well as a holding tank!)
And please don't think anyones trying to be mean and run your tank, but do you know what happens in the behavior/sexual change clowns do? Even if you bought all 3 males... someones turning female! :scared: and then the battle begins for her mate, resulting 70% of the time in death for the abandoned male