New to the hobby need suggestions?

[rickybutler]

Hi everyone this is my first time on this forum and I had a couple of questions for all you experts out there! I had never had a tank before this september and decided to start up a 14 gallon saltwater tank. Whoa I didn't know what I was getting too but after a few ups a downs (lost a carpet anenome, cleaner shrimp) and a lot of expenses my tank has been stable for about two months now. Currently I have a 14 gallon biocube with stock lighting, 2 ocellaris clowns ( 1 misbar, 1 regular), 1 firefish, 6 snails, 2 blue-legged hermit crabs, and a red bali starfish with 10 lbs of LR. I have an in-tank refugium with 1-inch of live sand, handful of cheato, 2 lbs of LR and my aggressive emerald crab who is in time-out. Now that this has been my tank for around 1.5 to 2 months and has been stable I want to make a couple more additions to my tank. I wanted to add maybe some invertebrates, corals, or if possible more fish. Any suggestions?!?! And do I need to be doing anything else (additives/anything) to make my tank a better environment? I really do love my fish and want them to be as healthy and happy as possible!!

 

[bang guy]

In my opinion you're fully stocked with fish.
For coral, it's always good to start with Mushrooms if you like them.
For inverts I'd recommend trying a pair of Cleaner Shrimp again, any species you like. Scarlet Cleaners are probably the most entertaining.
I can't make any recomendations about additives without a full set of water parameter values. Frequent water changes are usually helpful.

 

[rickybutler]

PH- right around 8.4
Alkalinity- 300 (KH) ppm
Nitrate- below 20 ppm (mg/L)
Nitrite- 0 ppm (mg/L)
Ammonia- 0 ppm (mg/L)
and my salinity is in check and I do weekly water changes of 2-3 gallons using Instant Ocean salt mix

 

[reefkprz]

Fish wise I would say your fully stocked as well, adding more could push your tank in an unhealthy direction because of the bioload.
if your going to go with coral you may consider switching up your salt to a reef tailored salt, like reef crystals as opposed to just normal instant ocean. as well as adding calcium to your test kit regimen.
it also sounds like your nitrates are a bit high, you may want to address that before begining to add corals. some of the hardier ones may not mind but its not worth the risk. possibly consider increasing the size of your water changes to help bring them down. and check into the source, like how much you feed and what other forms of nutrient export you have for removal, if your relying on water changes as opposed to other methods, (by your description even with your in tank fuge, this seems to be the case) your small amount of cheato does consume some of the nitrates but your not going to see serious reduction that way, it is a great place for the breeding of copepods.
If I remember correctly the biocubes have sponge filtration in the portions in the back. make sure you are rinsing them in the tank water your remove at each water change as they can become nitrate farms from the detritus that gets trapped in the sponges. any form of sponge or mechanical filtration that traps waste should be cleaned as often as is possible. daily is best (obviously not always feasable) once a week should be the minimum IME

 

[bang guy]

Originally Posted by rickybutler
http:///forum/post/3178838
PH- right around 8.4
Alkalinity- 300 (KH) ppm
Nitrate- below 20 ppm (mg/L)
Nitrite- 0 ppm (mg/L)
Ammonia- 0 ppm (mg/L)
and my salinity is in check and I do weekly water changes of 2-3 gallons using Instant Ocean salt mix

You Alkalinity is way WAY too high. Did someone talk you into using a PH "Buffer"? If not then you may have received a bad batch of salt. This is a very fast way to crash a reef tank.
What salinity equates to "in check"? The vast majority of new hobbiests are told by their LFS to keep Salinity too low in my opinion. It should be at least 35ppt. This is very important for your starfish and other inverts as well.
Do you have a Calcium test?

 

[rickybutler]

In the beginning someone told me to use a a buffer but I haven't used it in a while. I use the quick-dip test method and every time my alkalinity is always in the "ideal" range which is 180-300 ppm but because of its color I think it is more on the high side. What can I do to lower it. My salinity has steadily been around 1.024 the past couple of water changes and weekly tests. Do not have a calcium test should I?
As far as the nitrates, I have the in-tank fuge but I have heard on this forum and others of people taking out the bioballs in the second back compartment and making it into a fuge and that does the trick in lowering the nitrates. Do you think this will work and should I do this to give my fish some more room to swim? And I did not know about cleaning the sponge filtration I'll try to do that as much as possible. Thanks for your help again!

 

[billgray22]

DO NOT USE instant ocean. Cheap salt equals disaster. A bad batch of it killed off my tank years ago. I use Marinemix, expensive, but I never have to add calcium, alkalinity is always perfect, pH perfect, phosphate and nitrate <5. 20 on nitrate is too high. Just my opinion.

 

[fretfreak13]

If you really want to add another fish, go for 1 little clown goby. They barely add to your bioload becasue they're so small, IMO, and a pretty darn cute. Otherwise, good start. Take it slow, it's the best advise you'll probably ever get in the hobby. Also, how bout some pictures? =)

 

[rickybutler]

i'll look into the clown goby thanks for the suggestion! Here are some pics!
/Users/chris/Pictures/iPhoto Library/Originals/2009/Nov 27, 2009/IMG_2136.JPG

 

[rickybutler]

Thanks for the suggestion I'll look for a clown goby!
Here are some pics I just took my clowns as usual are out and swimming and my firefish can't been seen in the photos but he is hanging out in the rocks.
<a href="http://s828.photobucket.com/albums/zz201/cjstoker12/?action=view&current=IMG_2136.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i828.photobucket.com/albums/zz201/cjstoker12/IMG_2136.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>
my clowns
<a href="http://s828.photobucket.com/albums/zz201/cjstoker12/?action=view&current=IMG_2138.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i828.photobucket.com/albums/zz201/cjstoker12/IMG_2138.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>
my fuge
<a href="http://s828.photobucket.com/albums/zz201/cjstoker12/?action=view&current=IMG_2147.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i828.photobucket.com/albums/zz201/cjstoker12/IMG_2147.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>
you can barley see the head of my firefish
<a href="http://s828.photobucket.com/albums/zz201/cjstoker12/?action=view&current=IMG_2148.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i828.photobucket.com/albums/zz201/cjstoker12/IMG_2148.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

 

[rickybutler]

Thanks for the suggestion I'll look for a clown goby!
Here are some pics I just took my clowns as usual are out and swimming and my firefish can't been seen in the photos but he is hanging out in the rocks. I don't know how to post photos directly so here are the links!
http://i828.photobucket.com/albums/z...2/IMG_2136.jpg
my clowns
http://i828.photobucket.com/albums/z...2/IMG_2138.jpg
my fuge
http://i828.photobucket.com/albums/z...2/IMG_2147.jpg
you can barley see the head of my firefish
http://i828.photobucket.com/albums/z...2/IMG_2148.jpg

 

[gill again68]

Is that lava rock in the fuge?

 

[rickybutler]

yes it is i have about 1 lb in the fuge and another 2 lbs in my tank to help make my other LR sturdier. I really like the red and black colors.

 

[bang guy]

It's not advised because there's a small chance lava rock can contain heavy metal that could become toxic to inverts. It's not a sure thing but it's not uncommon for delicate inverts to not thrive in the presence of lava rock.

 

[reefkprz]

here is a list of the general mineral content of lava rock. (obviously this changes from rock to rock and depends on the source, but you'll get the general idea on how harmfull some of this stuff can be).
Mineral Content of lava rock
Nitrate Nitrogen.................................4.0 p.p.m.
Phosphorus........................................6.0 p.p.m.
Potassium.........................................59.0 p.p.m.
Zinc.........................................................6 p.p.m.
Iron..................................................10.0+ p.p.m.
Copper...............................................5.5+ p.p.m.
Magnesium.......................................2.0+ p.p.m.
Boron.................................................10.0 p.p.m.
Sulfate.................................................7.0 p.p.m.
Organic Material...........................................5&#37;
PH.........................................................8.2 Units
Calcium..................................1.3 Meq/100 gm*
Manganese...........................0.6 Meq/100 gm*
Sodium...................................0.1 Meq/100 gm*
Cation Exchange Capacity..3.2 Meq/100 gm*
* Milli-Equivalent per 100 grams