Where can I find a good mentor

[ECLS Reefer]

Hi all! I’m completely new at this saltwater fish keeping challenge and it’s starting to become the kind of personal challenge that I’m gonna worry at until one of us defeats the other. So, I need a good mentor to help guide me thru these initial stages, since my local fish store people are tired of seeing me. I have so many questions, and no one to really bounce them off of. I’m a very type A, fix it now kind of person, and I work in a very very technical area of pediatric healthcare so I ask a looooottttt of questions and am used to tinkering with patients. I’m also used to having my “patients” behave when I try to fix them so this tank NOT correcting itself magically based on my interventions is frustrating the living crap out of me. So I’m asking for some kind soul to take pity on me and my fish and take me under their wing 😖 please!!

[mitten_reef]

1 hour ago, Nursecop818 said:

I’m also used to having my “patients” behave when I try to fix them so this tank NOT correcting itself magically based on my interventions is frustrating the living crap out of me.

One tip: You won’t find a magic fix for anything in this hobby. Even if there is one, it won’t likely have a long lasting results. Bad things always have a root cause that need more than a quick fix. 

It’s better to maintain a healthy system through routine maintenance and being vigilant about pests that require physical removal (bubble algae, aptasia, etc). Don’t knowingly introduce 💩 into your tank is the best first step, imo. 

 

[jbb]

Use this thread to ask your questions. Many brains can often be better than one.

[WV Reefer]

NR is a great resource. Find tanks on here that you like and see what those members are doing and using. 

 

Ask questions.

 

 Enjoy the process. Good or bad. Even scientists can have crappy reefs....... it can be a very humbling hobby.  

 

😊

[Clown79]

This forum is full of mentors, you came to the right place.

 

Ask lots of questions, read through questions others ask because you can learn from it, read peoples tank journals.

 

 

[righttirefire]

This is a good start. I remember a kid, @HarryPotter who started. Asked a million questions, made his own decisions about the advise, made mistakes, learned, tried, and don't him i said it, but he has an awesome reef.

[Coinee]

1 hour ago, Nursecop818 said:

Hi all! I’m completely new at this saltwater fish keeping challenge and it’s starting to become the kind of personal challenge that I’m gonna worry at until one of us defeats the other. So, I need a good mentor to help guide me thru these initial stages, since my local fish store people are tired of seeing me. I have so many questions, and no one to really bounce them off of. I’m a very type A, fix it now kind of person, and I work in a very very technical area of pediatric healthcare so I ask a looooottttt of questions and am used to tinkering with patients. I’m also used to having my “patients” behave when I try to fix them so this tank NOT correcting itself magically based on my interventions is frustrating the living crap out of me. So I’m asking for some kind soul to take pity on me and my fish and take me under their wing 😖 please!!

Ask targetted questions here and people can help you.  I have found a wealth of knowledge and help here from many people since I started my first SW tank a couple months ago. People here are more patient and forgiving than most other reef forums.

[Tamberav]

Another tip: don't have a knee jerk reaction to fix everything. Sometimes when something doesn't look right or people chase numbers too much....they end up overdoing the 'fix' and causing more problems then they had. 

 

This hobby is humbling...don't get frustrated when something dies or an ugly algae shows up to take over. It's almost pretty much a given in this hobby. Even the best of tanks ...if you scroll back in their history you can find problems. Those best of tanks are here because they didn't give up.

[banasophia]

I think it’s a great idea to have a specific mentor, personally... when I was new I found it really overwhelming getting contradictory information from lots of different people. There are so many ways to do things and still have a successful reef. One FB group I’m in has a mentor program where experienced reefers sign up to be mentors, then they get matched with people that request one.

 

I would love to see something like that here in our forum for people who are interested in that kind of thing... I think it would be cool to have a mentor thread where a person willing to mentor someone could post their tank(s), their methods/style, their experience, and maybe a little about their personality... then new reefers could choose someone as their primary mentor, and then of course they could still pose questions and ask for help from the full community as well. Just a thought...

[Oldsalt01]

All great suggestions. I have one more potential mentor source: your local reefing society. Mine has always been a great source of info, along with NR, of course. Welcome to the obsession!

[Tamberav]

Pretty much anything Clown79 says is good advise.😛

 

[Clown79]

3 minutes ago, Tamberav said:

Pretty much anything Clown79 says is good advise.😛

 

 

Your advice is always good too

[banasophia]

5 minutes ago, Tamberav said:

Pretty much anything Clown79 says is good advise.😛

 

 

 

3 minutes ago, Clown79 said:

Your advice is always good too

 

Agree 100%!!! You guys are awesome and totally helped me when I was brand new! 💛🤗

[ECLS Reefer]

Thank y’all! I’ll shoot from the hip then. I keep having unacceptable nitrate levels of 20-40ppm. I change the water every three days just about. Have had only one week so far where everything was perfect. When I test the parameters everything is 0 but the nitrates. It’s a Fluval Evo 13.5. Started it Jan 21st this year. Took the top off, have an orbit light running it’s typical daily program. Have one wave pump in the bottom right corner to push flow back up towards the Skimmer. Have an in tank chamber 1 basket with floss/Fluval clearmax/100gm carbon/bio rings. Chamber 2 has the PS2 Skimmer, then have the stock pump running chamber 3 with the heater at 79. I feed pellets once a day, just a few to the clowns and to the scarlet. Swish some frozen cyclops shrimp at night. 

 

Livestock: 

black oscellaris

Percula 

blue spotted goby

scarlet shrimp

candy cane snapping shrimp

4 trochus snails

10 dwarf red top hermits

zoa

2 palys 

3 star polyps

2 hairy mushrooms

 

Feed the corals MicroVert every Monday and Thursday. So. What am I doing wrong? My LFS told me don’t use purigen or algae because she’s never had to on her tank, and she only has to do water changes every month. I feel like I need to own my own stock in saltwater at this point with the amount I’ve had to use. 🙇🏻‍♀️🙇🏻‍♀️🙇🏻‍♀️ Please help me figure out how to win this battle of the nitrates and actually make it to once a week water changes. I’d take once a week. I think her once a month is showing off. 

[ECLS Reefer]

36 minutes ago, Tamberav said:

Another tip: don't have a knee jerk reaction to fix everything. Sometimes when something doesn't look right or people chase numbers too much....they end up overdoing the 'fix' and causing more problems then they had. 

 

This hobby is humbling...don't get frustrated when something dies or an ugly algae shows up to take over. It's almost pretty much a given in this hobby. Even the best of tanks ...if you scroll back in their history you can find problems. Those best of tanks are here because they didn't give up.

So far all that hasn’t worked is the nitrate. The ammonia and nitrites came down to 0 the first week but the nitrates go up, go down, go back up. Not one thing has died yet. The corals open, close, eat and poop. The animals eat and poop and swim and stare back at me. The shrimp tried to chase me out of the tank last night for messing with stuff. My husband told me I deserved it. I can’t help a lot if it, I’m a pedi CV nurse, medic and ECMO specialist. I fuss over babies on life support for a living so I can’t help fussing over this tank. And numbers. It’s an obsession thing. If I can but know WHY it’s acting like this, I can back off. But I need to have the knowledge. 

[banasophia]

16 minutes ago, Nursecop818 said:

Thank y’all! I’ll shoot from the hip then. I keep having unacceptable nitrate levels of 20-40ppm. I change the water every three days just about. Have had only one week so far where everything was perfect. When I test the parameters everything is 0 but the nitrates. It’s a Fluval Evo 13.5. Started it Jan 21st this year. Took the top off, have an orbit light running it’s typical daily program. Have one wave pump in the bottom right corner to push flow back up towards the Skimmer. Have an in tank chamber 1 basket with floss/Fluval clearmax/100gm carbon/bio rings. Chamber 2 has the PS2 Skimmer, then have the stock pump running chamber 3 with the heater at 79. I feed pellets once a day, just a few to the clowns and to the scarlet. Swish some frozen cyclops shrimp at night. 

 

Livestock: 

black oscellaris

Percula 

blue spotted goby

scarlet shrimp

candy cane snapping shrimp

4 trochus snails

10 dwarf red top hermits

zoa

2 palys 

3 star polyps

2 hairy mushrooms

 

Feed the corals MicroVert every Monday and Thursday. So. What am I doing wrong? My LFS told me don’t use purigen or algae because she’s never had to on her tank, and she only has to do water changes every month. I feel like I need to own my own stock in saltwater at this point with the amount I’ve had to use. 🙇🏻‍♀️🙇🏻‍♀️🙇🏻‍♀️ Please help me figure out how to win this battle of the nitrates and actually make it to once a week water changes. I’d take once a week. I think her once a month is showing off. 

How much water are you changing out during your water changes? Want to post a pic of your tank?

 

Also, are you a nurse and a cop? 

[WV Reefer]

18 minutes ago, Nursecop818 said:

Thank y’all! I’ll shoot from the hip then. I keep having unacceptable nitrate levels of 20-40ppm. I change the water every three days just about. Have had only one week so far where everything was perfect. When I test the parameters everything is 0 but the nitrates. It’s a Fluval Evo 13.5. Started it Jan 21st this year. Took the top off, have an orbit light running it’s typical daily program. Have one wave pump in the bottom right corner to push flow back up towards the Skimmer. Have an in tank chamber 1 basket with floss/Fluval clearmax/100gm carbon/bio rings. Chamber 2 has the PS2 Skimmer, then have the stock pump running chamber 3 with the heater at 79. I feed pellets once a day, just a few to the clowns and to the scarlet. Swish some frozen cyclops shrimp at night. 

 

Livestock: 

black oscellaris

Percula 

blue spotted goby

scarlet shrimp

candy cane snapping shrimp

4 trochus snails

10 dwarf red top hermits

zoa

2 palys 

3 star polyps

2 hairy mushrooms

 

Feed the corals MicroVert every Monday and Thursday. So. What am I doing wrong? My LFS told me don’t use purigen or algae because she’s never had to on her tank, and she only has to do water changes every month. I feel like I need to own my own stock in saltwater at this point with the amount I’ve had to use. 🙇🏻‍♀️🙇🏻‍♀️🙇🏻‍♀️ Please help me figure out how to win this battle of the nitrates and actually make it to once a week water changes. I’d take once a week. I think her once a month is showing off. 

 

So everything in the tank is fine but the nitrates are high?

 

 Then who cares. 🤷🏻‍♀️ Don’t get caught in the chasing a perfect number game. If everything is happy, relax a bit. 

[jbb]

Tank is still very young so low / consistent numbers aren't going to be the easiest thing to come by.

 

Which test kit are you using ? 

[Tamberav]

If you are looking to bring Nitrates under control so you don't have to do a water change every three days, I would start by stopping micro-vert for now. The directions say it may spike Nitrites, well nitrites turn into Nitrates. Main idea of stopping is to see if this is contributing. You can always start back up again. 

 

Are you feeding something specific with the frozen cyclops at night?

 

I would also slowly remove the biorings, I like everything in my back chambers to be pretty much disposable. These can actually sometimes contribute to Nitrates. 

 

I will be honest, that is A LOT of stock for a tank that isn't even a month old. Putting so much in there so fast is likely compounding the issue. A tank may be done cycling but really takes a year to start 'calming' down and maturing. It may make for a lot more work no matter what until the tank really matures. 

 

As far as what the LFS does for there tank, your tank isn't there tank. The biological processes going on in your tank doesn't match theirs. 

 

Nitrates are not bad, its always good to have some, especially with softies but I wouldn't want to do water changes every 3 days either, so I get that. Weekly water change is pretty average on these small tanks. On softy only tank, 20ppm nitrate wouldn't bother me if everything looks happy if you can keep it there with just a weekly change. 

[ECLS Reefer]

I’ve been changing out about 20% each time unless the result is 40ppm and then it’s been closer to 50%. I use API tests for saltwater- the saltwater master kit and then also have phosphates, calcium and will start doing KH. I’m kind of building the kit as a I go and figure out what I need. 

 

I am a nurse, paramedic and ECLS specialist. My husband is a cop. Its an old email we used to share. 

[Coinee]

I'm not sure if I read how much you feed but if you feed too much or too often, that can be a source of high nitrates. Some people feed every other day. And when you feed, make sure it is being eaten. But I assume your tank is new so your numbers won't balance easily yet (nor should you attempt to balance them at this point with any products). Just keep an eye on things and if fish start looking sick or the tank looks unhealthy THEN worry. Don't chase numbers, it's not a game and test kits are not totally accurate anyway. 

 

It'll take time for your tank to handle the nitrate well since it is new anyway.

[Tamberav]

6 minutes ago, Nursecop818 said:

I’ve been changing out about 20% each time unless the result is 40ppm and then it’s been closer to 50%. I use API tests for saltwater- the saltwater master kit and then also have phosphates, calcium and will start doing KH. I’m kind of building the kit as a I go and figure out what I need. 

 

I am a nurse, paramedic and ECLS specialist. My husband is a cop. Its an old email we used to share. 

FYI You don't dose Alk unless water changes can't keep up. Nothing you have should be using it up at any alarming rate except maybe coralline algae if it is growing fast. 

 

Also never chase pH, just saying that now as that is a common misunderstanding when first entering this hobby.

[banasophia]

14 minutes ago, Tamberav said:

If you are looking to bring Nitrates under control so you don't have to do a water change every three days, I would start by stopping micro-vert for now. The directions say it may spike Nitrites, well nitrites turn into Nitrates. 

 

I would also slowly remove the biorings, I like everything in my back chambers to be pretty much disposable. These can actually sometimes contribute to Nitrates. 

 

I will be honest, that is A LOT of stock for a tank that isn't even a month old. Putting so much in there so fast is likely compounding the issue. A tank may be done cycling but really takes a year to start 'calming' down and maturing. It may make for a lot more work no matter what until the tank really matures. 

 

As far as what the LFS does for there tank, your tank isn't there tank. The biological processes going on in your tank doesn't match theirs. 

I noticed your comment about the biorings, and wondering if you were thinking of bioballs... I know bioballs have a reputation for leading to increased nitrates, but I thought those fluval biorings were like matrix media and provide a good porous substrate for the beneficial bacteria... my daughter has them, plus matrix media, in her fluval freshwater tank and her tank seems to be running well, though it’s only been running for a bit over a year... let me know your thoughts. 🙂

[vegasgundog]

Patience is the key here and as someone pointed out this hobby can be humbling. Just when I think I have stuff figured out, I mess up. Nothing should go fast in this hobby. My fish are fat and sassy .....and they love Rods frozen food. Between that and messing with my light and the frozen food spiking nitrates embarrassingly high, I lost all my sps. So when fish beg for food don't give in!

[Tamberav]

12 minutes ago, banasophia said:

I noticed your comment about the biorings, and wondering if you were thinking of bioballs... I know bioballs have a reputation for leading to increased nitrates, but I thought those fluval biorings were like matrix media and provide a good porous substrate for the beneficial bacteria... my daughter has them, plus matrix media, in her fluval freshwater tank and her tank seems to be running well, though it’s only been running for a bit over a year... let me know your thoughts. 🙂

Ya was thinking of bioballs cuz I saw bio. 😛

 

Although I still don't use anything like that in my chambers because I have live rock anyways. What magic am I missing out on? Seems like something extra I would have to clean