29G n00b tank train 🚂 [PICTURES COMING SOON] HOW TO START A SALTWATER TANK FOR BEGINNERS

[lauramcraycray]

HOW I STARTED MY FIRST SALTWATER TANK

 

Hello! And welcome to my first ever saltwater tank! I chose a 29G tank because it fit perfectly in my home office. I'll list more information about my tank specs at the bottom on this thread, so feel free to skip ahead if you don't need to learn from my very n00b mistakes 😄

 

TANK AGE: I started my tank Mar 10 2021, and added fish pretty quickly since I used both live rock and water from a local aquarium shop that did my tank installation & setup. Everything on the tests were fine, and correct bacteria dosage was added as a precautionary supplement.

 

Tank status the morning before the first TEV: 2 juvenile Black Snowflake Clowns (was trying to pair, different sizes), 1 Sailfin Tang, 1 Green Polyp XS

TANK TEVS (tank events)

1. The Seaweed Mishap I knew Tangs liked seaweed. I gave my tang Cheese a little too much seaweed. He tore it apart and it got everywhere. I didn't know what to do. I grew up in Monterey, CA. Seaweed is everywhere. Everything seemed fine. But no, this was dried seaweed. And you're not supposed to leave it in for more than 2-3 hours (I think don't trust me on this pls). This messed with my nitrate levels pretty bad. I really wanted to add another coral to my tank. I was TOO EAGER.

2. The Maintenance Day of Doom Oh boy was I so unaware of what was yet to come. I brought water to be tested at my other local fish store so that I knew it was safe to buy a coral. They told me I needed water changes. CHANGES yes, I too almost underestimated how many changes I was going to need. But more on that later, lets first start with my first ever water change. I drained 20% of the water, then added in ROI (is that the acronym? I'm hard of hearing and its so hard to hear the employees at the shop when they speak through their mask) water and  to dilute the salinity and some of the nitrates. I let it run for ~ 1 hour to let all that "good-good" mix around with the water. Then I drained the tank again 50% and added more water. But I was foolish and did it by myself. And didn't use my hand. The water splashed....everywhere...it was so cloudy..

3. Death Roe The unenthusiastic clownfish that was forced to become the male died first. He was weak because they were fighting for their first day (a couple weeks prior). A day later the female clown died. My Tang then came down with really bad ich. He died the next day as well. My Green Polyp was the only guy to survive. 

 

3 water changes and 1 week later, I added 2 blue chromis to get some poop in there... but they died. It is because I bought them at petsmart. It was a bad batch. Don't recommend. 

 

Since then, I upgraded the filter, heater, thermometer, protein skimmer, and light. So it is basically like a brand new tank. Most of the gear is controlled by wifi automatically I love it so much. It is so worth the money if you want a low stress tank. I also got some really healthy live rock teaming with all kinds of healthy organisms from another local aquarium shop. My new fully paired clownfish are also doing very well. I have another cool coral frag that I will share about later. There is a BUNCH of tank drama around this coral at night. It is so fun to watch! Don't worry all this "drama" is literally just an ecosystem with a food chain. In the ocean, each species has its own way of protecting itself, and thats no different in this tank! The fish stay out of it, and the coral benefit from the organisms fighting over the seaweed.

 

TODO: I will get to this things soon! It is night and I do not want to disturb my tank's auto light schedule.

- Add images of tank and equipment setup

- Add images of wildlife in tank

- Add specs of gear

- Add image of completed home office

 

Please tag along for my journey or learn from it so no more fish are lost.