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Total noob in need of advice


WCO2 Neptune

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I had a 54 corner for a while.  Definitely interesting shape when it comes to rock placement.  The curved glass was not for me in the end.  Distorted the view too much for my liking.  But definitely a good shape if you have a good corner to put it in.  

 

@WCO2 Neptune, did you know it was only 54 gallons......or did the store trick you on that as well?

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So far I like the look and location of tank.. live sand and salt water added today..  got this sky 497 skimmer but cant seem to get it the way I want.. not sure if I should just get a better skimmer. This one has been in my attic 4 years unused..

 

 

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Never used a skimmer so I can't advise on that, other than to make sure you clean it well before use after storing it for so long.  I would, however, recommend finding a new fish store, as the current one seems to be willing to tell you whatever they need to get you to buy something--and if they knew the size of your biocube and still sold you all those fish (did they all come from that store?), they do not have you or your livestock's best interests in mind, no matter how nice they may seem.  I've learned to never trust anything a store says but to always do my own research.

 

And if they sold you that tank as a 75 or whatever and it's a 54?  That's wrong, and shows an appalling lack of ethics.  Taking advantage of people is not cool.

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Day 2 of new set up.... just letting things settle and run for a day before placing new rocks. Then cycling time....  

 

My dog isn't to impressed. Lol

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So had a talk with my local shop, they said a skimmer was a complete requirement and I cant run a tank without it. They tried to sell me a skimmer and a sump system..   can the pros in here chime in ???

 

Btw they also tried to sell me some type of overflow box system said I needed it in case I turned off power to prevent flooding..  

 

I walked out think shit cost more than the tank and stand. Lol

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Don't buy anything other than rock and something for flow for now, given that you already have a heater. 

Read everyone's tank thread here. 

Think, do I need that? Do I just want it? There are pico tanks here with no sump or skimmer. Good husbandry is key.

STOP GOING BACK TO THAT LFS. They only want to sell you, and you seem to want to buy... 

Have a plan of what you want, why you want it, and when you need it. Not everything is required to buy right away, but the lfs sounds like they'll sure take your money.

At some point you may need/want gadgets, but read here why, when, and which to get. 

Stop giving that lfs your money.

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4 hours ago, WCO2 Neptune said:

So had a talk with my local shop, they said a skimmer was a complete requirement and I cant run a tank without it. They tried to sell me a skimmer and a sump system..   can the pros in here chime in ???

Find a new shop. 

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I will say, a lot of bigger tanks do use skimmers but not all. But since this lfs sold you too many fish for the size tank you had, refused to take any back, sold you a 50 something gallon tank while calling it a 70 something gallon tank, and continues to try to sell you all kinds of nonsense, I stand by my statement. Find a new shop. They sound like the kind of shop that give all lfs a bad name. Stop giving them your money before they bleed you dry. 

 

Also, your puppy is super cute. :smilie:

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I put my fish from my bio cube into the tank. Bio Cube is a complete failure... needed to be cleaned out completely and will be restarted as a frag tank....

The tank has premixed saltwater and live sand for about 2-3 days, then filter installed and been running great since monday 6 days ago.. water is crystal clear.. I did a water test and results are amazingly on point.. not one issue.... I even got to use my new protractor to measure salinity and it's at 35% as recommended.  I added some live rocks that wear already cycled, just waiting for them to cycle in my tank before doing anything with corals....  the fish will survive the cycling process and they needed saving from the bio cube..   I will post pics of it tomorrow... i'm watching PPV now 🙂 

 

Here's pic of my dead bio cube tank...

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2 minutes ago, WCO2 Neptune said:

I put my fish from my bio cube into the tank. Bio Cube is a complete failure... needed to be cleaned out completely and will be restarted as a frag tank....

The tank has premixed saltwater and live sand for about 2-3 days, then filter installed and been running great since monday 6 days ago.. water is crystal clear.. I did a water test and results are amazingly on point.. not one issue.... I even got to use my new protractor to measure salinity and it's at 35% as recommended.  I added some live rocks that wear already cycled, just waiting for them to cycle in my tank before doing anything with corals....  the fish will survive the cycling process and they needed saving from the bio cube..   I will post pics of it tomorrow... i'm watching PPV now 🙂 

It's not recommended to cycle with fish. It's stressful and could shorten their lifespan. The bio cube at least was cycled. You need to buy some bottled bacteria like Dr. Tim's, Microbacter7, or Biospira and dose it daily. You should also get some Seachem Prime to help mitigate and neutralize any ammonia till the bacteria get established. If you'd asked us, we would've probably recommended waiting. Maybe the lfs said you could add the fish but they probably recommended cycling with fish anyway. Frankly, it's hard to give advice when you keep listening to the crap the lfs tells you. Rushing anything in this hobby can have bad outcomes which is why we always say nothing good happens fast in this hobby. 

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No skimmers and sumps aren't a must.

 

Larger tanks often use skimmers and sumps but on a 54g, it's not a must if you don't over stock on fish, maintain the tank, and don't over feed.

 

Get a good size hang on filter, even 2. 1 with media the other with chaeto.

 

I would not rely on advice/education from a store. It is a store. 

 

 

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Skimmer and sump are not required, thats a really old way of thinking. Some really amazing SPS tanks don't even use a skimmer. Use what your tank needs.

 

Right now your tank just needs time and patience. If you rush, you will end up back where you started with just a bigger box of algae.

 

Please keep an eye on ammonia, the live rock might not cause a spike but just in case. You can dose prime to help if you detect any. 

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So I put in doses of api quick start.. today is dose 5. Which is another reason fishes are in tank.  I al see o have a canister filter sun sun 704b. It is stacked with bio media and filters.. it's really an awesome filter... might be overboard for a 54gal tank cause it pumps 525gal per hour. It really does a great job keeping the water nice and crystal clear. 

 

Right now just giving the tank time to cycle. Will update on water test but so far all previous testing have been perfect. Levels haven't changed at all... wondering if my canister filter is working to good during the cycling and its keeping all levels good..

 

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On 11/3/2018 at 4:01 PM, WCO2 Neptune said:

So had a talk with my local shop, they said a skimmer was a complete requirement and I cant run a tank without it. They tried to sell me a skimmer and a sump system..   can the pros in here chime in ???

 

Btw they also tried to sell me some type of overflow box system said I needed it in case I turned off power to prevent flooding..  

 

I walked out think shit cost more than the tank and stand. Lol

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The overflow box system is because your tank isn't drilled for a sump. That's why you'd need that. That tank isn't drilled and it's the only way to sump it other than draining it and then drilling it. 

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10 hours ago, WCO2 Neptune said:

So I put in doses of api quick start.. today is dose 5. Which is another reason fishes are in tank.  I al see o have a canister filter sun sun 704b. It is stacked with bio media and filters.. it's really an awesome filter... might be overboard for a 54gal tank cause it pumps 525gal per hour. It really does a great job keeping the water nice and crystal clear. 

 

Right now just giving the tank time to cycle. Will update on water test but so far all previous testing have been perfect. Levels haven't changed at all... wondering if my canister filter is working to good during the cycling and its keeping all levels good..

 

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No matter what the bottle claims, new tanks are not considered safe for livestock till they've been tested for days or weeks and proven to maintain ammonia and nitrites at 0. The products I mentioned will help minimize stress on your poor fish. 

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The fish would have died in biocube. At least here they have a chance. 

 

I am cycling the tank. Fish in it had no place to go other than to survive the cycling process. Like I said they wouldn't have made it in the biocube.

 

Water test today hasn't changed, everything running without issue. Waiting for ammonia to spike and nitraite levels to change a little but still nothing...  

 

 

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DSFIRSTSLTWATER
36 minutes ago, WCO2 Neptune said:

Waiting for ammonia to spike

Oh dear god...please take that poor fish back or at least have bottles of prime on hand.

Sorry if that came off as harsh but you don't want an ammonia spike with living animals in there.... It would be like sticking you in a room with mustard gas and someone saying "well I hope he survives".

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What's done is done. The fish are in the tank with no where else to go. Stay on top of water testing, every day at a MINIMUM. Do water changes and dose Prime as needed. From here take it slow and ask questions here before making any changes or purchases for the tank. Here is a short list of the next steps I recommend you take:

 

1 - GET PRIME and be ready to dose it. YOU WILL NEED IT!!!

2 - Get more live rock and remove the ship if needed to fit it all in the tank. The ship may "look cool" but it does nothing to aid the health of your system. You should have 1-2 pounds of QUALITY live rock per gallon of water. This is your filter, the bacteria and life on the rock with breakdown the ammonia in the water and make it safe for fish and corals. Without the rock you are doomed to fail. WE do not all have a lot of rock because we think it looks nice, we have it because it is nearly impossible to be successful without it. Systems with sumps may be able to use less, but that is usually because they have  some sort of media/live rock in the sump instead of in the display.

3 - Wait to add ANYTHING more to your tank. Once you have added more LIVE rock and have witnessed the ammonia and nitrite spike (usually in 1-3 weeks) you should do a water change to remove the nitrates.

4 - WAIT even longer. Do not rush to add anymore life to the tank. Make sure that the tank is handling ammonia from the fish waste (feed the tank extra and check the following day to see if there is any ammonia in the system) there should only be a rise in nitrates.

5 - SLOWLY begin adding more livestock, but please research and ask questions here before making any fish purchase.

 

Somewhere in this process PLEASE get rid of the SunSun canister filter. I know you think it is a "great" filter, but having a lot of experience with them, I can tell you they are not. If you were to check the actual output of the canister, you will find that it is NOWHERE near the reported gph. Also, they allow A LOT of bypass, the media baskets do not seal properly and therefor allow a lot of water to bypass the baskets completely, meaning they are very inefficient. Also, unless you are VERY dedicated to cleaning the canister at least once a week, you will have issues with nitrates. Canisters are a good option if you are willing to, and actually stay on top of weekly maintenance. HOB power filters like the Aquaclear filters are a much better option. As clown79 recommended place media (like carbon and/or GFO) in one and Chaeto in the other.

 

I know this can be frustrating, but we are all trying to help you out. There have been a lot of good recommendation in this thread, if you follow them, you will be successful. Continue rushing things and ignoring the advice given here, and it is much more likely that you fail and/or waste a lot of money listening to bad advice elsewhere.

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1 hour ago, WCO2 Neptune said:

The fish would have died in biocube. 

 

 

Had you listened to our advice. Your biocube would have been thriving. All you had to do was remove 1-2 fish. And cut down on feedings. 

 

 

But what do i know.  I only have 20 years of aquarium experience

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1 hour ago, JBM said:

 

 

Had you listened to our advice. Your biocube would have been thriving. All you had to do was remove 1-2 fish. And cut down on feedings. 

 

 

But what do i know.  I only have 20 years of aquarium experience

Had you read the previous postings, the biocube with current load wasn't going to improve. The fish i had, i was stuck with, shop wouldn't take back and i couldn't find a place to rehome them... So instead I gave them a chance to survive in bigger tank.   congrats on your 20 years of experience, might want to include some time in reading to gain the full background before posting some smart arse response that lends to nothing of worth.

 

 

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1 minute ago, WCO2 Neptune said:

Had you read the previous postings, the biocube with current load wasn't going to improve. The fish i had, i was stuck with, shop wouldn't take back and i couldn't find a place to rehome them... So instead I gave them a chance to survive in bigger tank.   congrats on your 20 years of experience, might want to include some time in reading to gain the full background before posting some smart arse response that lends to nothing of worth.

 

 

Where are the other fish? Your pic only shows that there are clowns in the new tank. Did EVERYTHING get moved over? 

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Please note this is not a push back to comments. I just want to provide update on my tank....  

biocube was doing ok, but as stated in previous post, the bioload from fish was too much for the tank.

I decided best to just increase tank size after failing to rehome fish or flush them.

 

I am cycling my tank, no new purchases to tank other than ornaments.   The live rocks were cycled in a seperate tank. I have more rocks in a bucket cycling. I only included a few rocks in the tank and will add more rocks once they cycling in bucket. << this was advise from someone on here.. So yes i am listening to what people are saying...

 

Here is what i have inside of filter:

1, Mixed color Material: 6 species filter material in one pack Biological ball Glass ceramic ring Infrared respiratory ring Infrared bacteria house Infrared bacteria ball Nano bacteria house Package included: 1 Pack Filter Material(500 g)

2. filter floss

3. 15 OZ BIOHOME ULTIMATE MARINE FILTER MEDIA ~MEDIUM RED~

 

Tomorrow I will do a partial water change and add more API liquid.....  Note: I do have a large bottle of Prime standing by for whenever their is a spike in levels.

I hope this explains the current system....... 

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