My Noob questions topic

[Difrano]

Hi all, My name is Armando, I am new to saltwater but not new to aquariums.

 

This forum have been very informative and the community is awesome, thank you.

 

I started my 29 Biocube today and I'm filled with questions, and pretty sure new ones will pop every day. so I started this topic to consolidate all the questing in only one place, as new questions pop i will place them here. I will do my best to search and find answers myself, but sometimes I cant find the answers or there are opposite point of views of the same topic so ill bring them here.

 

Thanks,

 

Armando

[Difrano]

Ok First batch of questions:

 

Tank Day 1:

• My tank is clearing out after the initial dust storm, i'm noticing that a fine layer of dust have settled on top of the Rock, Can i use the powerhead to clean them up?
• My house is at 76 F all year round, i had the buckets of water from the LFS sitting all day inside the house but the water in the tank is at 80F after a few hours of the tank setup, i had not turned the lights on so far. Do the circulation pump transfer heat to the water in the Biocube?
• I want to try with a refuge with macro and some live rock on the middle chamber. Do i have to wait for the cycle to finish or can i set it up right now?
• This might be a stupid one, do the tank generate corrosion on other things around it? I have it in a corner on the living room.

Thanks

 

Armando

[Hig789]

1 - yes

 

2 - yes any electrical equipment is going to generate some heat while running. My house is 74 year round and my heater never kicks on and my tank stays pretty consistent at 79-80.

 

3 - fuge that small won't really do anything but be a trap for waste.

 

4 - I think it might if you where running without a hood and had a lot of surface agitation. But it would have to be really close to something else though.

[fishfreak0114]

1. Yes, a turkey baster works well too.

2. Yes, the lights add a fair amount of heat as well. Mine runs around 82 and the heater does no work at all.

3. I tank makes a fuge basket and it works well. You can grow macro in it to export nutrients. Rock rubble would probably just trap debris though.

4. What Hig789 said ?

[Difrano]

Ok now some cycle questions, today i got my first Nitrate reading:

 

PH: 7.9

Ammonia: .25

Nittrite: 0.25

Nitrate: 10

• The tank have been running only for 5 days, it is too fast? I used live sand and live rock.
• It is possible the have Nitrates with no diatom bloom?

Thanks

[seabass]

Looks good. Dead organics get broken down into ammonia, ammonia into nitrite, and nitrite into nitrate. You generally see diatoms when you have a new sand bed. They tend to appear as the cycle is becoming established, but are not directly linked to the nitrogen cycle (as they are fueled by silica).

[CronicReefer]

If you started with live rock and sand you will see the cycle progress very quickly compared to dry rock and sand. Just be sure to add your clean up crew first after the cycle is complete to start taking care of algae that will begin popping up. Good luck with you tank .

[Difrano]

Looks good. Dead organics get broken down into ammonia, ammonia into nitrite, and nitrite into nitrate. You generally see diatoms when you have a new sand bed. They tend to appear as the cycle is becoming established, but are not directly linked to the nitrogen cycle (as they are fueled by silica).

Thank you.

[HarryPotter]

Thank you.

I recommend upgrading the pump. A higher quality pump will put out more flow and less heat

[Difrano]

Today I came from work to find what look like my hitchhiker crab dead. Since my tank is cycling should I leave the carcass in there to boost ammonia or remove him?

 

Thanks

[seabass]

No wrong answer, but I'd remove it.

[Difrano]

Thank you all that collaborate with this topic.

 

Today I added 2 cleaner shrimp to the tank and they where blown all over until they hide under a rock for several hours, and everytime they where trying to get out was like they were about to be blown up. So I turned off one of the Koralia and the shrimp where so happy exploring the whole tank, Did I had too much flow? how do I know if there is too much flow in the tank?

 

Thanks

​

[fishfreak0114]

I don't think two 425's is too much flow. I'm pretty sure I have more flow than that (wp25 on else mode and stock return pump) and my cleaner shrimp has no problems. Maybe they are still just adjusting to the tank? I would give it a few hours with it off so the can get used to the tank and then try to turn it back on and see how they fare.

[seabass]

It looks like you have two Koralia 425s. That's 450gph plus maybe another 100gph from your return pump. Also, let's figure the display section is closer to 20 gallons. That's 950 / 20 = 47.5 times turnover with two pumps. With one pump your tank's turnover rate would be 26.25.

 

You'd probably want both pumps for a SPS tank. However, one pump would be more suitable for a typical reef tank with LPS and soft coral. You can use the other for a quarantine tank or mixing saltwater (and a backup if ever needed).

[Difrano]

Ok is that time!

 

I feel I'm ready to take some fish for the tank. Sorry for the dumb questions but I'm a real noob in saltwater. Just to refresh my tank is a 29G biocube.

 

First my family wants a Clown, so I'm thinking about adding a couple of juvenile Oscellaris one smaller than the other and try to pair them.

 

I will love to have at least 3 damsels (they remember me when scuba diving you can see them by thousands), but have read everywhere that its going to be a battle to death with the clowns, so they are a no go.

 

I was researching about the Blue Chromis, but look like they need to be in schools and a 29G is maybe too small

 

I'm thinking about a watchman goby, maybe a yellow one or a orange spotted.

 

So what do you recomend:

 

2 clowns, 2 Chromis?

 

2 Clowns, 1 goby?

 

2 clowns, 2 Chromis and 1 goby?

 

Any other fish recommendations?

 

Thanks

[seabass]

Clowns, Chromis, and Damsels are all related and make them poor tank mates in small tanks. Therefore, I'd stick with the Clowns and a Goby. You could even add another fish (like a Royal Gramma, Yellowstriped Cardinalfish, or Tanaka's Pygmy Wrasse).