new tank person

[aredmon]

Hi, I am totaly new to the whole saltwater thing. I have always loved saltwater fish and always wanted my own. My husband finaly got me the stuff to get started and I have been taking in all the info I can so I do it right. My father used to keep a clown fish and had did great with him so I asked him how to get going. Everything he did seems to be a no no so I think he was just lucky. This may be a funny question to most of you but what is RO water. I used bottled spring water in my tank to fill it. Is that ok? My temp is at 79 my salinity is 1.020 I am only in my 2nd week of cycling so I still have about 4 more weeks to wait. My PH is at 8.2 nitrate at 0 nitrite at 0 and amonia. at 1.0. I have nothing but sand, a few decor, 2 bio filters in the tank (I don't know the gallon ratio but I got 2 of them that are supposed to be good for a 90gal tank and I have a 75gal.) A heater, and a thermomiter. Am I doing ok for cycling? I also noticed that someone said that no ariation with bubbles but one of my decor is an aligator that the mouth opens and closes with the bubbles. Is it ok or should I stop the bubbles? Does anyone have anything to help me out with or add? Thank you!!

 

[thangbom]

ro water is reverse osmosis.. it's a way/type of filtering water.... yeah that spring water is ok.. your temp is good but i think your sg is too low.. bump it up a lil.. and yeah.. your cycle is doing ok.. and your 4 weeks lefth to go?? how do u know that?? cycles take as long as they want.. it will take as long as it needs till enough bacteria is grown to take care of the bio-load...... soo only way u know if the cycle is finish or not is via testing.. ohh and the bubbles... i think it's ok imo.. it dont hurt n e thing.. and it promote surface aggitation.. gl

 

[aredmon]

thanks for the input. I don't "know" that I have exactly 4 weeks but I was stating that to let everyone know that I am not dumping fish in an uncycled tank at any point. I just heard the process takes about 6wks so I am not getting in a hurry. What should all the readings be. I was told at the lfs that 1.020 was good for sg. I know my amonia has to be 0 but and I thought that the nitrate and nitrite levals had to be 0 also? What levals should I be looking at for them? Also when I have got everything set up I am thinking of putting a cc star, cleaner shrimp, and clown fish in the tank. Is that an ok combo?

 

[sinner's girl]

What should all the readings be. I was told at the lfs that 1.020 was good for sg. I know my amonia has to be 0 but and I thought that the nitrate and nitrite levals had to be 0 also? What levals should I be looking at for them? Also when I have got everything set up I am thinking of putting a cc star, cleaner shrimp, and clown fish in the tank. Is that an ok combo?
1.020 is okay for fish, but it's low for inverts, raise it to 1.025 before adding inverts. Since you don't have any fish or inverts, now's the best time to raise it.
amm and Nitrites must be zero. Nitrates most likely won't be. You want them low though. Under 20 is good. When amm and nitrites are zero your cycle is finished, do a water change and test your nitrates. Don't add fish till your nitrates are under 20.
cc star, cleaner shrimp, and clown fish are good. But you can't add any corals or snails with a cc star.
You want to start planning your fish now, so you don't have a compatibitly problem later. What other fish do you want to add? You can add two clowns at once, but then you should wait 4-6 weeks before adding another fish. You can add inverts though.
How much lr? If you want inverts you should have at least some lr. You can get some live rock (lr) and add base rock (rock that isn't alive) and the lr will seed the base rock (the base rock will become 'alive')
? I also noticed that someone said that no ariation with bubbles but one of my decor is an aligator that the mouth opens and closes with the bubbles. Is it ok or should I stop the bubbles?
most people don't put fake decor in saltwater tanks. I don't know why though. (expect in Nemo, and some guy who's wife made him put a ship in the tank). I guess becasue fake stuff looks cheap and doesn't do anything postive. It just has algea growing on it. The bubbles won't hurt anything, but you don't need them. Lr is much nicer and will add in flitration and give your inverts something to eat, and your fish a place to hide/sleep.
You may also need a power head for water current, how much water do your filter move? In my 75gl I have to ph. I had only one, but then algea started growing because there was no water movement on one side of the tank.
hope this helps some. Good luck

 

[aredmon]

THANKS THAT HELPS ALOT! I am planning on investing in on lr but am strapped for cash. I am a stay at home mom of 4 and babysit 2 more. I figured I could get along for a little bit without live rock but I realy plan on getting some asap. The filters I got I am not sure how much water they move but I got two of them because they suck the water from the tank and pour it back in at the top. I put one at each end and this keeps the water moving alot! For right now I just want to get the clown, cc star, and cleaner shrimp. If I can add 2 clowns at a time I might get 2. With all the young children I have I only want to get a few fish and make sure the kids stay out of the tank. I like this cycle wait because I have been able to keep after the little ones to say away before any fish are introduced. Thanks for your advice.

 

[aredmon]

Ok. I raised my sg to 1.024. My ph is still 8.2 temp 79 ammonia 1.0 nitrite 0 nitrate 0. The thing is I have done nothing to raise my ammonia leval. No fish, no dead shrimp, nothing! I tested the water about 1 1/2 weeks after I filled the tank and started cycle and this has always been my readings. Is this normal? And is 1.0 my ammonia spike? How long will this spike last?Aprox?

 

[oceana]

the Ammonia could have been in the water , in the sand, if the filters are used it could have been in there. as for the cycle you should like said above simply wait it out. i have seen tanks cycle in two weeks and others take 8. its really very hard to say without testing every few days. i do know that some peole have simply missed the cycle and a water change took care of everything but in your case i think its just not done.

 

[aredmon]

Being my luck I will have the longest cycle in history! lol Not the problem. I just see everyone else using something to spike the amonia and in my case nothing. Just found it strange. Is it normal to have the ammonia stay at 1.0 EXACTLY for a week and a half maybe more? And is 1.0 a spike or will it go up higher?

 

[aredmon]

????

 

[hedonic]

1.0 could be an ammonia spike, it just depends on what you have in there. If your sand bed was dry, filter pads where new, and you have no live rock... then yes 1.0 could be your spike. You may want to try adding cultered live sand (not from bags, from an existing healthy sand bed most LFS that do a lot of saltwater sales should have it), a little bit of live rock (as much as you can spare, I hear you on the cash thing!), or a live bacterial load in the form of Sand Boost (a Marc Weiss product), New Tank Stabilizer (Seachem), and others (most additive companies have a comparable product). I have found that any one or all of these three things can speed up the process. If you have access to tank-raised or aqua-cultured clown fish, they should be okay to introduce at the month mark, if you have a fair amount of cured LR by that point (30lbs + in a 90gal)