New Tank Owner

[bededog]

I just set up my first Saltwater Tank and now I am wishing I would have found this site first. It has only been a week since I got the tank going so it isn't too late to fix anything that I might have done wrong.
I have a 46 gallon, bow front.
Substrate is mostly live sand with some crushed coral
I have 40 lbs of base rock from Florida
Added two little yellow tail damsels yesterday
I plan to only have fish and inverts until I can afford to buy enough lighting. I currently have a triple tube fluorescent fixture on the tank. I don't need anything special for fish do I?
I am running a Fluval 404 filter. Do I need a skimmer?
I was planning to add some uncured live rock in a month or so? Is that a bad idea?
Any suggestions or whatever anyone has to offer would be very much appreciated.
Thanks

 

[aarone]

Welcome to SWF!
To answer your questions,
The NO fixture that you have right now will be sufficient for fish and inverts.
The 404 is a good start but i would invest in a skimmer if you plan on keeping a heavily stocked tank, or a reef system.
Dont add uncured LR to a tank that has already cycled. It will have alot of die off, and the resulting ammonia will most likely kill everything in the tank. Get cured rock.
Has your tank cycled yet? Take the Damsels back to the LFS, just cycle with a piece of raw shrimp.
HTH and post more questions!
aaron

 

[ackermsb]

Welcome aboard. It sounds like so far everything is going great.
You may get some flac on the site for cycling with live damsels but most have done it at some point so don't worry about it. Just make sure you don't add anything else into the tank until all y our readings are zero. Some people like to throw in a raw shrimp to jump start the ammonia cycle but if you are already in it then I wouldn't worry about it.
The only problem I forsee so far is that when you get your new Live rock do not place it directly in the display tank is it will cause another cycle and your ammonia will jump and you could have a possible disaster with everything living in the tank.
You can use a big 30 gallon tupperware bin from Home depot and grab a power head and cure the rock in there. Then you can put it in the main tank when completely cured.
I too have a FOWLRAI (and inverts) and will possibly move onto bigger and better things when I get some new lights but it can be rather expensive on a 180.

 

[beaslbob]

First of all welcome to salt and this board
As I understand it you have had the tank a week and already put in two dasmels. OH boy, that is way too fast. I would not feed those fish for a week or , if possible remove them to another tank. You just haven't had the time to build up bacteria do support those fish. I would prefer at least three weeks of running fishless to allow any possible fish borne parasites (ICH) do die off from lack of a host fish.
I very highly recommend you get some form of plant life established ASAP. Macro algaes or marine plants will complete the nitrogen cycle by consuming phosphates, ammonia and nitrAtes and in the process consume carbon dioxide from the fish. Plants will also crowd out the ugly algaes because the uglys need the same nutrients. Additionally, they filter out heavy ions, buffer ph and generally balance out and stabilize the system.
Skimmer is optional, your lighting is fine for fish, your base rock will probably be fine though most want live rock. Live rock is usually added before the fish. If you need to cure future liverock most recommend this be done outside an extablished system.
Again welcom to salt and this board

 

[bededog]

Ok, so it seems that I have two options? One would be to get the fish out and get the live rock and cure it in the tank and the other would be to keep the fish and cure the rock in another container.
Ackermsb said I could cure the rock in a 30 gallon tupperware with a powerhead. What exactly would I have to do to get that to work? No filter or heater? I think maybe that it might be better to take the fish back and start with the uncured rock and go from there.
Anyone want to make some more comments? All of you help is very appreciated.
I have a few more questions too:
Beaslbob said:
"As I understand it you have had the tank a week and already put in two dasmels. OH boy, that is way too fast. I would not feed those fish for a week or , if possible remove them to another tank. You just haven't had the time to build up bacteria do support those fish. I would prefer at least three weeks of running fishless to allow any possible fish borne parasites (ICH) do die off from lack of a host fish."
How could fish born parasites get in a tank that is so new and had never had fish in it before?
I found a place on the internet that sells live rock that isn't cured yet. They say it is better because of all of the organisms that are living on the rock. Should I not buy this? Should I get rid of the fish and wait for the tank to cycle before putting the rock in? Should I get rid of the fish and get the rock in right away?
To anyone that relplies, Thanks for all your help!!!!!!!!!!

 

[ross]

You could get the uncured lr and it will produce the ammonia needed to cycle your tank. I would get the rock right away. You should probably get rid of the damsels because they will probably just die.

 

[liz50138]

I second on returning the damsels, they can sometimes be aggressive anyways. The fish could have had parasites before you bought them, that's how you would get them into the tank. If this would happen, then you would have to leave the aquarium fishless for a month or more to let all fish born parasites die off. But, unless you see something unusual on the fish, you won't have to worry about it.
And Welcome to SWF.

 

[crazy4reefs]

i agree, returning the damsel and getting the uncured live rock.. the live rock will cycle your tank for you, that way you dont have to worry about setting up something else to cure it.. btw

 

[bededog]

Ok, thanks to those that have given advice. I will order the live rock after returning the fish. The people here are very helpful. I am happy that I found this site.

 

[beaslbob]

Originally posted by Bededog
...
How could fish born parasites get in a tank that is so new and had never had fish in it before?
My concern was that the rock itself may have been in an environment where there were fish. Therefore, the rock itself may carry ICH. Just an extra precaution.

 

[rolangunslinger]

Hello BeDe,
Welcome to the boards and SW, Here you will find a wealth of information on just about any topic you may have questions about. I would also recommend you go to the library or the bookstore and get a couple of books on the subject as well.
I also would say return the fish and get the uncured LR to cycle the tank. The damsels might survive the cycle but there is no need to expose them to the pain of burned gills when there are other, better ways to do it.
Once again, welcome to the boards and enjoy.
Kevin

 

[nicky1.8t]

hi