saying hi and new to saltwater

[triphop631]

Hi all.

 

So I had African Cichlids for some time and got out of the hobby. Well with my son(3 years old) seeing Finding Nemo and Finding Dory he wanted a tank.So I went out and got a Coralife 14g Biocube and started my research.

 

So I set the tank up 11 days ago with 10 lbs of live sand and about 16 lbs of live rock. I have been doing water test every 2 days and I have not seen the ammonia spike like I have read about. 1 day I saw it was about .2 ppm and then the next 2 days it was at 0.

 

The latest test is as follows:

Nitrate: 0

Ammonia: 0

Nitrite: 0

HR PH: 8.0

 

I know I need to be patient as I have read about.

 

I have not put any source of ammonia in the tank as I would like for the rock and sand to do the work.

 

is there anything else I should be doing?

 

Thanks

 

-Mike

[Mariaface]

Sure - dosing ammonia, unless you have inhabitants you want to keep The rock can't show you that it's doing the work until it has a bioload to process, and you can mimic that by dosing ammonia and testing daily to watch it be processed. If your tank can bring 1-2ppm of ammonia down to 0 after 24 hours, you should be set.

 

If, on the other hand, you have discovered there are critters or hitchhikers in the tank that you'd like to keep, you may be better off doing a 'soft cycle', where you slowly ramp up the bioload and dose something like seachem prime to detoxify ammonia while the bacterial populations grow.

[Clown79]

It depends on the liverock you purchased. If it was cured, there wouldn't be much die off to create much of a spike.

 

Livesand alone won't cause a cycle.

 

All the liverock I have used caused a spike in ammonia with a cycle done in 10days. But I did see a significant spike in ammonia process into nitrite, and then nitrates.

 

If its dry rock, you need to dose ammonia to cause a cycle to start.

 

Or the options Mariaface provided.

 

You won't be able to put a tang(dory) in a 14g biocube.

[dandelion]

I was gonna say no dory! You can have a nemo and a marlin though.

 

It depends on the liverock you purchased. If it was cured, there wouldn't be much die off to create much of a spike.

 

Livesand alone won't cause a cycle.

 

All the liverock I have used caused a spike in ammonia with a cycle done in 10days. But I did see a significant spike in ammonia process into nitrite, and then nitrates.

 

If its dry rock, you need to dose ammonia to cause a cycle to start.

 

Or the options Mariaface provided.

 

You won't be able to put a tang(dory) in a 14g biocube.

[triphop631]

Thank you all. The live rock was from tanks that have been running for years now.

 

I only really wanted a clown fish and some coral.

[dandelion]

Then the live rocks are already "live." You can probably add livestock now. If you want to be sure, do what Maria suggested and dose ammonia to 2-3 ppm and once it reduces to 0 in 24 hours, do a large water change and you'll be good.

 

 

Thank you all. The live rock was from tanks that have been running for years now.

I only really wanted a clown fish and some coral.

[triphop631]

Could I start with a hermit and some snails?

[dandelion]

Sure. But I would forego the hermit because they created more problems than they're useful for me.

 

 

Could I start with a hermit and some snails?

[triphop631]

Sure. But I would forego the hermit because they created more problems than they're useful for me.

 

 

Ok, thanks.

[Clown79]

Ya, you can do hermits and snails to start.

 

Scarlet and halloween hermits are fairly docile. Halloween don't seem to go after snails.

 

Keep empty shells in the tank to avoid hermits going after snails.

 

Only do a few snails in the beginning.

 

Trochus are great and hermits seem to never bother them. They love cerith snails because they like the shells.

 

If you used established liverock that explains the very minimal cycle. You should be safe to do a waterchange, then retest. If no spikes occur you can add the hermits and snails.

 

Get a bottle of seachem prime in the event there is a spike in ammonia, you can add some each day to bind the ammonia while it processes. This will protect your livestock from the effects of ammonia.

[triphop631]

great!! so about 3 gallons on the water change?

[Clown79]

15% a week is good.

[ajmckay]

Sounds like you have a good start. Try to keep it fairly simple for your first tank, and as you say do your research! There are a lot of interactions/compatibilities that happen in a reef environment so it's important to get the facts before coming home with a new animal and realizing it won't work out very well...

 

Fortunately there is a ton of information ready to be found.

 

Welcome and good luck.

[triphop631]

performed a water change last week, have been testing daily. all good on the parameters.

 

started the light cycle and boom, diatom outbreak. went to the LFS and picked up some nassarius and cerith snails.

 

I have to do another water change this Friday to stay on schedule, would it be good to do more then 15% to try and get rid of the outbreak?

[Clown79]

Diatoms get exhausted when their food source is gone which is silicates. They go away with time.

[triphop631]

Diatoms get exhausted when their food source is gone which is silicates. They go away with time.

they finally went away after I put in the cleanup crew. everything looks great and I noticed the copepods have grown in the tank. I also had a couple aipstia, got a peppermint shrimp and he went to town on them. I think it is time to get A clown. what is the better species of clown to get?

[aquarium]

Personally I prefer the look of a percula. However the differences in appearance and care are very small, so it really doesn't matter. Whichever species you like better is the one to get.

[triphop631]

So I went ahead and got a little ocellaris clown. he was swimming around after i got him acclimated into the tank and then this morning he is hiding under a rock. I know the fish may be shy in the beginning but is this something that is normal. I get worried about livestock. hopefully he is OK when I get home.

 

all water is good, tonight is my weekly water change day so I will check after I do the change.

[aquarium]

I'd just give the clown a little time. Moving into a new tank can be very stressful for a fish, so I wouldn't expect him to be super outgoing immediately. The water change is also likely to freak him out, so I'd wait a while after the water change to see if he is comes out.

[triphop631]

thanks, i'll keep an eye on him as he is so tiny.

[burtbollinger]

research and completely understand and test alkalinity.

[Clown79]

Ya, fish tend to act skittish when added to their new home. Its pretty stressful getting netted, bagged, acclimated, and then a whole new environment.

 

The waterchange will also make him a bit more leery, give him time, he should be fine.

[triphop631]

So far so good. water good, I don't see the clown eating but there are a ton of copepods in the tank so not sure if he/she is snacking on them.

 

thanks for the help and guidance.

 

I was at Petco and saw an "assorted coral" for 10 and couldn't resist. well after some online searching I believe I ended up with a flowerpot coral (Goniopora sp.). i heard they are hard to take care of but I am going to give it a shot.

 

if any of you have dealt with this type please let me know any tips you would have.

 

here is a pic.

[burtbollinger]

So far so good. water good, I don't see the clown eating but there are a ton of copepods in the tank so not sure if he/she is snacking on them.

 

thanks for the help and guidance.

 

I was at Petco and saw an "assorted coral" for 10 and couldn't resist. well after some online searching I believe I ended up with a flowerpot coral (Goniopora sp.). i heard they are hard to take care of but I am going to give it a shot.

 

if any of you have dealt with this type please let me know any tips you would have.

 

here is a pic.

 

tip: when it dies, dont let that leave a nasty impression on the hobby. It gets better. I would never, ever consider putting one on my tank. very literally one of the last coral I would ever attempt, you've chosen first...from petco.

 

bonus tip: please, no more corals from petco. youre begging for trouble. Hope you dipped it.

 

in case I'm not being clear enough, you bought an unknown coral from petco for 10 dollars and put it in your tank which is about one month old, then later you have it half-figured out what it was...and have no idea how to care for it. This is very high on the list of things you should not be doing.

 

I'm sure some friendly folk will be along shortly with some helpful tips...

[Lawnman]

So far so good. water good, I don't see the clown eating but there are a ton of copepods in the tank so not sure if he/she is snacking on them.

 

thanks for the help and guidance.

 

I was at Petco and saw an "assorted coral" for 10 and couldn't resist. well after some online searching I believe I ended up with a flowerpot coral (Goniopora sp.). i heard they are hard to take care of but I am going to give it a shot.

 

if any of you have dealt with this type please let me know any tips you would have.

 

here is a pic.

Goniopora has gotten easier to keep!