First Saltwater Tank - 12 gal Fluval Edge

[letsgettropical]

Whats up fellow reefers. I've been a huge fan of all things fish since a very young age and have always wanted to start my own saltwater aquarium. Now that I've graduated college and have a stable income and more permanent living situation, I've decided to finally get into the hobby. I've done a couple months of research and would like to think that I'm prepared for what I'm about to get myself into, but I know that's just not true. So why not post my adventure online? The purpose of this thread is for my own interest, your entertainment, and so I can take advantage of the help that can only come from a group of strangers on the internet who have collectively faced any problem or awesome moment that I could possibly come across. So lets go.

 

The Equipment:

Tank: 12 gal Fluval Edge

Lights: Broken stock 42-LED fixture AI Nano with Controller (on the way)

Filter: Stock AquaClear 20

Heater: Cobalt Aquatics Neo-Therm 50W

Pump: Koralia Nano 240
RO/DI: Not sure what kind... came with tank

 

Other:

Refractometer

Big bucket of aquarium salt

Chemi Pure Blue Nano (on the way)

Poly Filter Floss (on the way)

AcquGadget AccuDrip Acclimator (on the way)

API Saltwater Master Test Kit

 

My ultimate plan is a mixed reef with all types of corals (need to do more research when the time comes) and a few standard nano fish.

 

First tank shots:

 

Here's where I'm at. I started cycling my tank on 4/3. The live rock situation goes as follows:

I don't know how much (in lbs) I have in my tank. I purchased the tank and live rock off of Craigslist, then had to travel for 3 days before I could set up the tank. The rock was purchased alive as far as I know, but for 3 days after I bought it it sat in a wet closed container (my effort to keep it alive). It was still mostly damp when I got back and set up the tank (using RO water) but I don't know how much would have survived. This is all the purple rock you see in the pictures. The one piece of whiter rock, and live sand, was purchased (from my LFS) upon my return in effort to seed the tank with bacteria I know is alive.

 

So I've been cycling for 13 days now and my tank looks like this:

 

The temp has been steady at 78-80 deg F.

pH steady around 8.1-8.2

Salinity steady around 1.025

 

Couple things before the next update:

 

- Right now I have no media in my filter. Should I add the Chemi Pure Blue Nano when I get it? Or wait for some living creatures?

 

- Should I be adding ammonia or some other substances to the water to get the bacteria reproducing and tank cycling? My Ammonia and Nitrites have read 0 ppm every time I've checked params (4/10, 4/13, and 4/15). My Nitrates have ranged from 20-30 ppm.

 

These hairlike things have been growing on my single LFS piece of live rock:

 

Is this a good thing?

[fishfreak0114]

I'm not sure if you're tank has cycled or not, but if not, you can cause an ammonia spike by putting a raw shrimp or similar in the tank to decay. I'm a newb, so don't put too much stock into my advice. I couldn't tell from the Picture what it was but if it was green and stringy it's probably hair algae. Nothing a little CUC and trimming (if it's long) won't fix when the time comes. Don't let it get out of control though. I did, and just won my battle with it recently. Good luck!?

[sedatedlabmonkey]

Hi! Welcome to nano-reef. It looks like you are off to a great start! I love Fluval tanks, I started a little Spec V mixed reef in early February and its thriving very well with pretty minimal effort. Check out my build thread if you'd like! http://www.nano-reef.com/topic/359080-sedatedlabmonkeys-spec-v-marine-orbit-led/

If you are still showing 0 ammonia and 0 nitrites, i would perform a large (50-60%) water change to bring down your nitrates a bit. I think you should be OK to add a few members of a clean up crew after the water change. The stringy stuff on the rocks does appear to be some type of algae.

[letsgettropical]

Thanks for the suggestion sedatedlabmoney. I'll do that when I get home today. You're tank is awesome btw