Newbie Question ??

weber518

weber518

Member
HELLO,
FIRST POST AND A NEWBIE TO SALT WATER AQUARIUMS, SO BARE WITH ME. I HAVE A 35 GALLON HEXAGON TANK WITH A EMPEROR 280 FILTER CRUSHED CORAL FOR A BASE, 15 LBS OF LIVE ROCK AND TWO DAMSELS (A DOMINO AND A YELLOWTAIL) BOTH SEEM TO BE THRIVING AND THE ORIGINAL LIVE ROCK HAS SOME PURPLE/PINK LIFE ? GROWING ON IT. THE TANK IS APPROXIMATELY 2 + WEEKS OLD. MY SALT IS READING BETWEEN .23 AND .25 WITHIN LIMITS FROM WHAT I AM TOLD AND PH IS 8.0. I AM NOT IN A HURRY TO GET MORE FISH IN THE TANK ALTHOUGH I AM LOOKING FORWARD TO IT. MY LOCAL FISH STORE SAYS PRETTY MUCH WHAT I HAVE READ ON THESE FORUMS, JUST LR AND DAMSELS FOR THE FIRST 2 MONTHS AND THEN GO FROM THERE. DOES ALL SEEM RIGHT TO YOU ALL, OR WOULD YOU RECOMMEND ANYTHING ELSE ? HOPEFULLY I INCLUDED ALL YOU NEED TO RESPOND BACK. THANKS... :happyfish
JASON
 
earlybird

earlybird

Active Member
Hello.
Has your tank cycled? You can and should fit more live rock in there. Recommended is 1-2 lbs/gallon. As for crushed coral, most consider it to be BAD and choose live sand. CC is a PIA and will require a lot of regular maintenance. Having damsels during the tank cycling is an old approach and now considered cruel as the ammonia is painful to all fish. They will live and can handle high ammonia levels but still is not healthy for the fish. Your purple on the rock is coraline algae and is good b/c where it grows, other nuisance algae will have difficulties taking hold. The best measure for salt is a refractometer and should be around 35 ppt (salinity) or 1.026 (specific gravirty). pH 7.8-8.5 is acceptible but 8.0-8.3 is optimal. Damsels can be very mean fish and not compatible with others. Most end up taking them out before introducing new fish. Successful fish keepers QT their new fish one at a time for 4 weeks in a separate tank before adding them to the display tank. This 4 weeks is used to monitor and observe to make sure you don't also add a disease or parisite to the display tank and if the fish is infected, it's easier to treat in a smaller tank. Good luck, do some research, and read Fenner's The Concientious Marine Aquarist
 
mcbdz

mcbdz

Active Member
You didn't say anything about you test results. :thinking: I would also recommend that you test your own water. If you don't already. this is how you will know the actual numbers and know how you are really doing. Don't depend on the lfs to test, just use them to double check if you think something is wrong. Hope that helps a little. :happyfish
 
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