First salt tank - 27 G FOWLR

[JaxTank]

Hello everyone,

 

I received my 27 gallon Marineland tank as a gift 4 years ago. It housed 2 large Ryukin goldfish for over 3 years until they each died of swim bladder disease within a few months of each other.

 

The tank was empty, clean and sitting in the living room for a few months. I cleaned it out some more on Sunday with a water and vinegar mixture. Yesterday, I convinced my wife to approve the few hundred dollars it would take to get started in the saltwater world.

 

I would love to eventually have a reef tank, but have decided to stick with a FOWLR setup until I am familiar with the many differences between maintaining a freshwater and saltwater tank. Yesterday, my wife and I picked out 27 lbs of live rock and added 20 lbs of Fiji pink sand. My LFS is less than a mile away, so I bought the water from them as well. I don't have room to mix/keep my own water, so we'll be paying the $6-7 every 2 wks for water changes. I will be using the standard LED lights that came with the tank and stand.

 

Here's what I plan to use with the tank:

 

I cleaned out my Aquaclear 50 and plan to use chemi-pure blue sandwiched between 2 foam filters.

1 Koralia Nano 425

1 Cobalt Neo-therm heater 100 W

I am also considering a Reef Octopus NS-80 HOB protein skimmer. I am on the fence due to mixed opinions regarding their use in smaller tanks.

 

I will post some photos later today. Any comments, questions, suggestions, opinions?

 

Thanks,

Ryan

 

[Mariaface]

What water are you paying for? Actual, freshly mixed saltwater from a reliable salt? Sometimes a LFS will try to get you to buy what's called 'pre-cycled water' or anything that isn't freshly mixed or RO/DI water. And usually, that's waste water from their tanks. Don't go for that. The rest of the time, you may be relying on them to give you water made with RO/DI source water with low dissolved solids (1-2), but lack of filter maintenance could ruin that and give you algae problems.

 

A 5 gallon paint-mixing bucket (aquarium use only, of course) would be enough for a 20% water change, and you can fill it with RO/DI water, then the amount of salt necessary to mix to your salinity (get a refractometer for about $30, hydrometers aren't reliable), and put in a cheap mixing pump and heater. If you're buying the RO/DI water and not filtering it yourself, that shouldn't take more than an hour or two. If you're filtering your own RO/DI water, you'll have to add the time you spend making the water itself.

 

How are you compensating for evaporation? An ATO system would be very useful, but you can manually top off water on a daily basis. Just make sure you're using RO/DI water and not saltwater or tap water.

 

Try to vacuum out your gravel whenever you do a water change to avoid detritus buildup inside it. That habit may carry over from freshwater tanks. It's not strictly necessary if you've got enough sand sifters (or if you just don't want to, and want the bacteria in the sand to take care of it), but detritus builds up quickly and will bring up nitrates as it breaks down. You won't have a deep sand bed, correct? Those are a different story, and require some research in order to function properly.

 

Keep an eye on how well the AC50 does at keeping the tank filtered on its own. HOB filters are often overpowered in these tanks for a reason, but if you keep your bioload relatively low, you should be alright. Try to aim the powerhead so there are no dead spots in the tank, too. If there still are, you may need a larger powerhead. I think Jebao has come out with very good ones, like the WP line or the RW line.

 

A protein skimmer will help if you're a heavy feeder or have a particularly high bioload, but if you're only adding as much livestock as the tank can handle and you don't overfeed, then regular water changes will probably be just as good. Thirty gallons isn't that small, and the tank may benefit from a skimmer.

 

For your fish's sake, have both a fallow period and a quarantine tank. Your live rock could've brought in parasites or other illnesses, and it's best to leave the tank fishless while it cycles and then some, say two months total. When your fish arrive, have a quarantine tank set up for them where you can observe their behavior and medicate if necessary. There are many different ways to set up quarantine/hospital tanks, you can research that on the website.

 

Make sure you invest in a test kit for ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate at the very least. :]

 

Good luck!

[JaxTank]

 

Thanks for all the tips. I'll continue to update as the tank progresses.

[JaxTank]

I have now added a 100W Cobalt Neo-therm heater (78 degrees) and a Koralia Nano 425 for circulation. I also cleaned up and installed an an AquaClear 50 from my old freshwater tank. After another week or so, I plan to add a bag of chemi-pure blue to the AquaClear 50 and a foam filter.

 

I added 1 turbo snail, 2 trochus snails, 2 bumble bee snails and 2 emerald crabs on Sunday, 9/6.

 

Any thoughts on the new additions and future additions?

[Mariaface]

Careful with the emerald crabs; the tank's a cube, which means less square footage for territory. Observe them and if they start to fight, it might be best to return one. They're omnivores, so you'll find that algae isn't enough and they'll need to be actively fed. I'm not sure if you did this purpose, but bumble bee snails are also opportune feeders and will happily eat through beneficial scavengers in the sand.

 

Do you have enough algae for the turbo snail? They're hungry hungry hippos, but the bright side is that in the absence of nuisance algae (and some macros) they'll happily accept packaged seaweed. And make sure your rockwork (and in the future, coral) is nicely secured, because they'll bulldoze.

[ETucc]

Bumble Bee Snails DO NOT eat algae or detritus, they are carnivores and hunters. They eat other snails and inverts. You probably shouldn't have bought them, especially not two. Beware, sir.

[JaxTank]

Thanks for the input.

 

The emerald crabs haven't been an issue yet, but I'll keep an eye out.

 

As for the bumble bee snails, I've come across plenty of conflicting information (which there seems to be plenty of in this hobby) regarding their appetite for detritus. My peppermint shrimp has eaten all visible aptasia within a few days, and I read that some won't eat it at all. I'll return the bumble bees if I notice too many small inverts disappearing.

 

I currently provide seaweed to supplement the available food supply for now.

 

If my water test comes back fine, I plan to add a fish on Sunday.

[Mariaface]

Thanks for the input.

 

The emerald crabs haven't been an issue yet, but I'll keep an eye out.

 

As for the bumble bee snails, I've come across plenty of conflicting information (which there seems to be plenty of in this hobby) regarding their appetite for detritus. My peppermint shrimp has eaten all visible aptasia within a few days, and I read that some won't eat it at all. I'll return the bumble bees if I notice too many small inverts disappearing.

 

I currently provide seaweed to supplement the available food supply for now.

 

If my water test comes back fine, I plan to add a fish on Sunday.

 

You probably won't notice the bumble bees' effect other than a mysterious drop in benthic copepods, since the things they eat aren't something we label/stock, and they usually come in on live rock. Maybe you'll notice that without beneficial fauna providing current within the sandbed, it'll get grosser faster. These snails look like they're eating detritus because that's where their food hangs out. I can understand wanting to keep them (their shells are pretty awesome), so long as you know the cost to it.

 

Good luck with fish! How are you testing water?

[JaxTank]

There's a LFS less than a mile away. I bring them water samples to test.

 

I'll post some new pictures of the setup tonight.

[JaxTank]

I have this light, which came with my tank originally: http://www.amazon.com/Marineland-Double-Bright-Light-24-Inch/dp/B00325575S

 

Will anything grow successfully with this light? I'm just wondering if anything can be added to make the tank a little more interesting to look at. I'm not very picky, just looking for something that grows in low lighting conditions.

[Mariaface]

I have this light, which came with my tank originally: http://www.amazon.com/Marineland-Double-Bright-Light-24-Inch/dp/B00325575S

 

Will anything grow successfully with this light? I'm just wondering if anything can be added to make the tank a little more interesting to look at. I'm not very picky, just looking for something that grows in low lighting conditions.

 

I highly doubt it. You said you wanted a FOWLR, though, right?

[JaxTank]

Yes, sticking with the FOWLR. Just curious.

 

I currently have some greenish algae growing on portions of my live rock. The tank has been up and running for about 6 weeks now. My wife is looking forward to the coralline algae. How long does it usually take to show up? A brief brown algae cycle has come and gone.

 

Also, what's a goodsolution for a background? At this point it's too late to paint. Is there a good product you'd recommend that is self-adhesive? Is black or blue the way to go?

 

Thanks for any advice.

[Mariaface]

Is it calcified algae, or hair-like, or what? Because coralline does come in green, too. If you want a specific kind, you'll have to seed it. Maybe ask your LFS for scrapings or something? When I ordered live rock -both times- my rocks came at least half encrusted with purple, pink, and dark red coralline. At this point it spreads to the glass and back wall without my permission. :[ As far as how long it'll take to grow in your tank, that depends on water parameters. There need to be nutrients, though not enough to spike nuisance algae, and you need your calcium and alkalinity parameters in line as well.

 

Hmm. I'd say go with a solid color? I've never had to put a background on a tank before except a freshwater one three years ago, and that experience sucked pretty hard. If you can't decide on a color, I'd say look at others' tanks and use them as examples. I'm a big fan of black matte backgrounds, since things contrast more, but I've also seen tanks use a frosted cover that makes the tank look really elegant. :]

[JaxTank]

Pics attached

[JaxTank]

Pic 2

[Mariaface]

Congrats, that looks like the beginnings of coralline! Unless it comes off easily, in which case it might just be a film algae. Are the turbo and trochus snails eating it, or is it surviving their munching?

 

I wouldn't worry too much about coralline, honestly. It'll come in on something (snail shells, rock/sand, etc) and then you'll be wishing it had never shown up because you need to take a scraper to your glass way too often.

[JaxTank]

A few more.

 

It looks like it's surving the snails' munching. I'll add some more pictures shortly. Maybe you can help identify some other growth. Thanks!

[JaxTank]

Pics

 

Any idea what the pinkish looking stuff on the picture above is?

[1.0reef]

Some very nice sponges! If you want to keep them alive you might want to try spot feeding them.

[Mariaface]

Holy crap, dude, that's an awesome sponge! I'm jealous. I've got a bright orange one; wanna trade? Kidding.

 

Try not to expose the sponge to air (you know, by picking the rock up out of the water or blowing bubbles around it when you baste the rocks). Actually, speaking of basting rocks, that might kick up some food for them as well. I dose some phytoplankton (Seachem's is 1-20µm; I think I picked it because it was a good size for sponges but I can't back that up with a source right now) once in a while to keep the filter feeders happy.

 

I should add that all the purple around it is coralline, so you're good. It'll spread! You can scrape some of it off the rock and let it settle elsewhere in the tank if you want to coax it into spreading faster.

[JaxTank]

Are the dark purple blobs sponges as well?

 

Thank you both for the new info.

 

So, how often do I need to feed the sponges?

[Mariaface]

Yes, they are!

 

Well, they'll mainly feed on bacteria and other stuff in the water column, so by feeding the rest of the tank you'll be feeding them. Some fine foods once a week or so will probably suffice. Maybe just follow the instructions on whatever sponge food you end up getting, then gauge how they're doing. Growing, shrinking, etc. Did you ever add that fish? Because that'll add nutrients to the water, too. :]

[JaxTank]

2 clowns

 

I'm posting photos from my phone, so my posts are a little sloppy.

 

I feed them flakes and frozen mysis shrimp.

[Mariaface]

2 clowns

 

I'm posting photos from my phone, so my posts are a little sloppy.

 

I feed them flakes and frozen mysis shrimp.

 

Yeah, clowns are messy little dudes. And if the sponges showed up even through the trip and the cycling, whatever you're doing is keeping them going! :]

[JaxTank]

Sounds like a plan. I am also wondering what the best use may be for my HOB AquaClear 50. I bought some chemipure blue to add, but haven't yet. The water measurements have been great so far without anything additional. Right now, the AC50 is simply used to create additional water flow. Any suggestions for putting it to better use?