new nano-reefer

[ajmckay]

Just did my first water test. My ph is at 8. Ammonia is at 0 Nitrate is at 0 and Nitrite is also at 0. Big Al's does free water testing so my parents are going to take me next week and see how the cycle is going. I got the Hydor Koralia 425 that Tristan suggested and a Eheim Jager 100 W heater (I was going to get the Neo Therm that was suggested but they did not have any. They were out of aqua pro and the girl at Big Al's said she uses Eheim and loves them. (She has a 130 Gallon reef) The flow has gotten WAY better with the Hydor Koralia 425 and the temp is already up to 25. Just trying to watch youtube and read books to get as much info as possible. Thank you to all of you for all your great ideas and help.

 

Hi there,

 

While I'm stopping in the best advices I can offer are the following:

 

1) Focus on the biological processes at work - learn them and understand them. Knowing how the processes work will allow you to manipulate variables in your tank which will result in healthier inhabitants.

 

2) Reef tanks and aquariums in general are not "natural", yes we get small glimpses of natural processes and interactions but without your care the tank cannot survive on it's own. So with that in mind be prepared for possible issues. It's important to have basic test kits, basic medications, extra salt mix, dechlorinator, and a selection of maintenance supplies (nets, algae scrapers, brushes, 5g buckets, extra pumps & heater, tubing, etc...). Especially since you can't drive I would encourage you to have a bag of salt mix around in-case you need to do an emergency water change. It's also helpful to have plenty of 5g buckets around.

 

3) Feel free to read a lot and watch a lot of you-tube videos, but don't believe everything you read/hear. People on the forums and in-general are very willing to share their experiences and opinions with you because we're all excited about the hobby. But there are sooooo many variables that no two reef tanks are the same. Nobody can tell you how long it will take your tank to cycle because we don't know the exact conditions of the tank! In an effort to make setting up a tank easier for a beginner there are all these "rules of thumb" floating around such as 1 cleaner per gallon. In reality there are more variables - I would base my clean up crew (CUC) on how much rock / glass I have, the type of sand I have, what corals or plants I plan to keep, the types of algae I'm having issues with, as well as the interactions between inverts. For example hermit crabs like to kill snails and try on their shells.

 

Other "rules" are things like "watts of light per gallon", "lbs of rock per gallon", or "inches of fish per gallon". They are only attempts at giving beginner hobbyists help, and in some cases they're horribly wrong or not appliccable anymore (or ever). It's much better to find solutions specific to your tank. Once you have a stocking list made post it for suggestions for example.

 

4) My livestock suggestions are ocellaris/percula clownfish (huge "personality" and they don't need tons of space), any of the smaller damselfish (yellowtail blue, talbots, etc... Avoid the larger ones), gobies in general, basslets, a cardinalfish would be okay for a while but eventually would probably outgrow a 20, etc... I would try to plan out what you want early. You really don't want to overstock your first tank, which will lead to aggression issues and nusiance algae. Some people get away with putting lots of fish into a smaller tank - but they usually have a much more robust maintenance routine, and in most cases other tanks that fish can be moved to if (when) things don't work out as planned. Or a bunch of the fish disappear from their tanks - but they may not make a post so don't assume it worked out or will work out.

 

On that same topic though, remember that unless another reason is given they're telling you what worked for them. For example if you create a post asking if you should quarantine your fish you bought today some will say "Always QT". Those people most likely have had their tank partially or completely wiped out by an infected fish. Others will say "I never QT and I haven't had any issues". While it may be true that they haven't had any problems that doesn't mean that you will have the same result. A better way to read these types of responses is "I never QT and I haven't had any issues YET". Same with a number of topics such as using RO vs tap water, dwarf angelfish nipping corals, hermits and snails, etc...

 

5) Cycle. This is a simple concept yet causes the most confusion in the beginner forum. If you purchased decent quality cured live rock and live sand your tank is already cycled! Obviously the key here is "decent quality", but I can tell with high confidence that your tank contains all the necessary bacteria. If you want to test it (you'll need test kits), add 2.5ml of pure ammonia to the tank. If you tested the water you should read 3-4ppm of ammonia. Test again in 24 hours and if you read the same 3-4ppm the tank is not cycled. If you read less ammonia and you read more nitrite and eventually nitrate then that means the cycle is working. If your tank can detoxify 3ppm of ammonia in 24 hours you're essentially to the point where you can safely add fish. If you wanted to add fish now you can use the colony marine per the instructions. The product basically adds the bacteria you need immediately vs. waiting for the bacteria to populate on their own. The bottle is definitely easier - but it's a good learning experience to cycle a tank using live rock also. However, unless you have test kits the learning potential may not be as good. Note that while it's true that you need patience in this hobby don't make the mistake that "just waiting it out" will fix anything. When someone tells you that a cycle takes 6 weeks either they don't understand what cycles a tank or they don't understand the conditions of the persons tank (with the exception of a tank started purely with dry base rock).

 

6) I run a skimmer, but plenty of people don't. All a skimmer does is remove dissolved organics from the water. It isn't a substitute for water changes on our scale of equipment and a water change will accomplish the same thing (removing waste). The penguin filter is okay, though a bit redundant. I've only had these on FW but I can imagine that the salt creep would be insane. Your live rock is your primary biological filtration. The filter is good for mechanical filtration though as long as you clean/change the filter pad frequently.

 

Okay I'm rambling... Some supplemental research topics in addition to the nitrogen cycle are bacterial reproduction (cell division), and bacteria from the family nitrobacter.

[Fish lover]

is this cycling well? water conditions are good ammonia 0 ppm nitrate 0 ppm nitrite 0 ppm ph 8.1

[righttirefire]

.I'm no expert, but 3 days you had 0 ammonoa/trite&trate. I'd assume your cycle hadn't started. You'll see ammonia first

[Jellyingabout]

Firstly in response to the above, you'll see ammonia go up, then nitrite will go up, then nitrate will go up as the other two go down. Be patient with the cycle.

 

I'd also say as someone who had a marine tank during their degree if marine biology really is where you want to go in your education then a marine tank is such a massive help. Show your parents this post, let them know that their support of your hobby is a brilliant investment for your future.

 

I encourage you to stock the tank with the rare and the wonderful, if you want to learn about marine biology try to keep animals from as many taxa as you can e.g. some stony coral, some soft coral, some anemones, some snails, some starfish, some sea cumbers, some sponges, some fan worm etc keep anything quirky you can. It will help you discover what about the oceans fascinates you the most plus help broaden your understanding of the marine world. I can honestly say my marine tanks were one of the main things that got me my 1st, because I was so used to the latin names of many corals/invertebrates, the nutrient cycles and taxonomy etc, I was able to sail through many parts of my degree which let me focus on the other harder parts. Its was such a worthwhile investment. Plus most marine biology courses do not include much live sample handling due to impracticability, something invaluable to any student.

 

To get a taste for marine biology as best you can

 

1) keep a detailed log of everything in your tank.

Record the latin name, from kingdom right down to species.

e.g. a fireshrimp is:

Animalia (Kingdom)

Arthropoda (Phylum)

Crustacea (Subphylum)

Malacostraca (Class)

Decapoda (Order)

Hippolytidae (Family)

Lysmata (Genus)

Lysmata debelius (Species)

record its natural habitat, diet and anything of note.

 

2) Keep a log of all your measurements.

 

3) Read read read, then read some more