Started My 1ST Tank - TODAY!!

[airforceb2]

Originally Posted by Debbie
Your tank looks great! May I ask you about the lights, your pictures of your tank is that with the 13 watt 5000K lights?
Do you find that the 5000K gives a bit of a blue hue to the water?
Deb

5,000K will give you a yellow hue not blue.

 

[debbie]

Yes I found that out today while shopping. I certainly does not have any type of a blue hue. But I have to wait on the upgrade anyways.
Thanks for your reply.......Deb

 

[airforceb2]

Originally Posted by Mimzy
ok, did a 1gallon water change with R/O water today - here are my readings after allowing the tank 2 hours to fully mix and settle etc:
Day4
Salinity: 34
SG: 1.025
amonia: .025
nitrate: 40
nitrite: 5.0
hardness: 425
pH: 8.4
temp: 78
still can't get a good alkalinity reading.
Should I be worried about my pH? Shall I lower it with some baking soda dissolved in my topoff water? If so - how much should I put in?
Thank you all!!

Mizmy,
Parameters look good. You don't need to feed the tank anymore as the cycle has already kicked off. Your ammonia is about gone and the nitrites are eating up the ammonia. SG looks a lot better now. pH is perfect IMO. I wouldn't worry about it...especially since your water is very new. In the future, try to mix your water about 24 hours before adding it to your tank. It is good practice and it allows your gas exchange to equilize so your pH will be stable.

 

[mimzy]

YAYYYYYY!!!!! :jumping: :jumping: :jumping:
Thanx Airforce - I'm stoked...can ya tell???
Ok...no more feedings, I'll test every other day (pple told me every 3 days..but it's a small tank...and I just can't stand now knowing whats going on in there!!!)
When the cycle is finished, I know I do a water change...how long do I wait after nitrites are at zero to do this (don't wanna rush things), and how big a water change should I do on such a small tank?
Oh, and I got myself a powerhead and a dedicated container for future water mixing - I was very silly and didn't have a large enough container to aerate the saltmix before I put it in the tank - couldn't use any of the buckets I had in the house 'cuz theyd all been used for cleaning and I didn't want to contaminate the water! I'm better prepared now... glad I'm learning all this before I get critters!!!
...by the way...which critters do I add first? Clean-up crew, right? I'm guessing one should only add a few of these critters at a time after the cycle and water change - so as not to overload the young nitrobacters?
Should I wait a while after the water change to allow them to mature some before I add critters...or will critters be instrumental in actually FEEDING them?
thank u thank u THANK YOU ALL!!

 

[f1shman]

bout a 20% water change. And yes cleaning crew is first, or a hardy fish.

 

[oaktree]

Not to get off subject where did that lamp come from?

 

[f1shman]

Thats not off-topic at all......

That is an awesome lamp/light thing.

 

[msd2]

Looking good so far
Its always nice to see someone excited about just getting into the hobby. As far as alk testing the stripes arent known for being very accurate, salifert make great testing kits. But your a long ways away from corals so alk/ca testing can wait. As your tank cycles your readings will vary so just be patient, and no need to overtest its on its way. I would suggest a clean up crew first and a fish to start.

 

[dory36]

OMG Mimzy! That lamp in your house is identical to one my parents had when I was a baby. I used to have nightmares that it came alive and was going to get me!!! :scared: I think I'm going to have trouble sleeping tonight!

Anyway, congrats on the new tank! Keep us updated with pictures! :happy:

 

[mimzy]

LoL, everyone loves my lamp :joy: Yay!!
I've always wanted a rice-paper lamp, and when my Husband & I went shopping to furnish our 1st apartment - there they were, cheap as all heck at IKEA. I LOVE that store. That lamp, my friends, is almost as tall as I am (I'm 5'5"), and cost a whopping $25.00.

They come in three sizes, and there's also this really nifty flat version that I've seen used in groups as room dividers - cool as all get-out!! :yes:
I should be getting comission.

Aaaaanyhow...how long after my first water change (when everything's stable and amonia/trites are 0) should I wait to get critters? What should I keep the trates at before I go ahead and stock?
This site rocks - you people rock - this SWtank thing rocks... it's just a rockin' world. And it's filled with really cool lamps! :jumping:

 

[feixjai]

lol mimzy you are really excited as i am because im setting up my 55 soon. i see that your tank has gone off to a really great start. rock work looks nice. your lamp looks nice lol. i think your suppose to do a water change when all the water paraments. someone correct me if im wrong. and good luck to you

 

[mimzy]

...must...not...test...again...

Is anyone else having seperation anxiety for water test results? :thinking:
But really, I just wanted to bump this up so I could get a few questions out there -

How low should my nitrates be at the end of the cycle? about 20, right?
How long do I let them stay stable before I do the water change?
How long after the water change do I wait to add a cleanup crew?
I've got scads and scads of books..but they either make no mention of waiting between the end of the cycle and getting critters, or they suggest that you add a cleanup crew soon as your nitrites hit zero!
I wanted to check on this with all of you... any info would be GREATLY appreciated!!

 

[airforceb2]

Ok, once your nitrites and ammonia are at 0, do a water change. This should lower the nitrates drastically. Once the nitrates get below 20 you can add your clean-up crew.

 

[mimzy]

Thanx Airforce! MUCH more definitive answer - I like those :yes:
um... if you don't mind my asking.... ::little girl tugs on man's sleeve::
do u really work on B2's??
Is that like..the coolest thing I've ever heard or WHAT??? :jumping:
Here's to your health, your safety - and that of your crew, and I gotta say to you - and all the military guys on this board - you are a noble bunch and I've nothing but respect and admiration for you.
B'hatzlacha! (with grace and good fortune!)

 

[airforceb2]

I'm a real living crew chief of 5 years on the B-2. It is truely an amazing aircraft. The first time I saw it I was just standing there in awe. I still am amazed by its abilities every time I see it take off. If anyone every gets a chance to make it out to Missouri you really should take a trip out to the base and take a look. Hit me up and I can hook you up with a tour (as long as you don't have a criminal record).
Thank you for all your support and hopefully I'll never have to deploy over the oceans. I like being stationed well within our nations defense.

 

[mimzy]

Careful there, B2 - my in-laws live in Texas, and my Husband is a huge military buff...next time we drive down there, we might just have to take you up on that...you SURE you want groupies?

(If you really wouldn't mind a couple bright-eyed bushy tailed tourists for a day...PLEASE e-mail me so we can figure out how to hook that up... you totaly made my Husband's CENTURY with your offer!!) :jumping: :jumping:
Mimzywhimzy@yahoo.com
In any case... Was watching the tank, as I always do, and I couldn't help but get a little nervous about all this fluffy-ballonish moldy looking stuff growing in places around the tank.
It's the consistency of the tissue of a jellyfish - u know, fluffy transluscent squishy stuff - and it's mostly growing over the pieces of food lying about the tank from my phantom feedings. It's been there for a bit, and I've heard in places it was normal, but the patches are much bigger now, and theyre covering all the pretty coraline on my lace rock too

Should I be concerned? What IS this stuff, anyway? I took some pix of the easiest spots to photo... thanx guys!!!

 

[airforceb2]

You have mail!!

 

[scotts]

To me it looks like you have some of dis https://www.saltwaterfish.com/vb/showthread.php?t=163866 You might want to check out the sticky post at the top of the page so as you stare at your tank you can say "Hey I have that"
PS congrats on starting your tank the right way, I did the ole jump in with both feet and wallet thing and I am jealous of people like you that do it the right way.
Scott

 

[mimzy]

A POD!!! PODS PODS!!! I FOUND A POD!!!!!!!
:jumping: :jumping: :jumping:
A teeeeeeeeeeeny tiiiiiiiiiiny liiiiiiittle white buggy (smaller than the head of a pin) was rushing about last night up and down the lace rock, running from one clear squishy thing to the next!!!!!
I was so depressed b/c after all the hours I've spent staring at this thing I hadn't seen any kind of fauna at all...and now that I've seen one...well, there's GOT to be more of them! right??
I hope I got some larger critters...but somehow I just don't think I did...only 2 pieces of LR in there (roughly 3lbs each) with lotsa cool holes and such...but I really haven't seen ANYTHING up till now. Did it take very long for all of you to find your urchins/corals/other cool hitch hikers?
Thanx for that thread, Scot - I'd actually checked that one out before. The things in my tank aren't as white as the sponges on that thread - I thought they might be sponges, b/c they've each got 2 or more small holes in them which I thought might be the in& outs... but why would these things only cover the coraline on my lace rock and the rotting pieces of food on the substrate? Hhhm.
Oh, and I also tried to spread the coraline by scraping a couple patches off the lace rock with my finger and spreading the bits throughout the tank - we'll see what happens.
Water test is at 6:00pm today...can't wait!!

 

[f1shman]