5 day old tank ??? Am I pushing too fast ..

[ninjatech]

Hi All,

New to the Hobby, I have recently setup a Red Sea 130C, My tank is basically 5 days old. I have an old 25 gallon tank that didn't do me any justice. I have 3 fishes and live rock on my old tank that I transferred out into the new tank a few hours after we have finished the setup.

Here is what I did to get my tank going. I feel pretty good with my new LFS. No pressure at all and I told him what I wanted and basically GOT IT.

**MY LFS helped me setup my tank
**Brought water from them from their establish tank (Which looks super clean at least in my eyes) and RODI water for top off
**New live sand, My live rocks from old tank was transferred to the new tank

So far I am happy !! I started putting corals in there the very next day nothing expensive .My fishes and coral looks healthy , they are all open up, Am I pushing this too fast ..Will I still be going to a tank cycle . Like I did with my old tank. I'm planning on getting a colony of zoa next week ..Please help . I need advice not just from MY LFS, I'm sure he is happy I'm spending money on his shop.

 

[gone fishin]

I would not have used another person's or LFS tank water, but that is just me I don't like the chance of illness getting in the tank.

I personally believe your moving a bit fast. Give the new tank time to catch up.

whether you have a cycle depends on a few factors.
Did you add more rock other than the transferred rock?
If so what kind?

If you overwhelm the bacteria on the transferred rock with to much bioload then Yes you will have a cycle.

Just a couple thoughts of the top of my head. good luck

 

[ninjatech]

No i didn't add any more rocks.

One of the many reasons I chose to go this route (LFS TANK WATER) is I can never keep any coral alive on the old tank. I can never get my mixes right. However with my old 25 gallon tanks , I was just pretty much winging everything. I don't even test. (I can never keep a coral they dies within a week)

Now that I have purchased a beautiful tank in my opinion . I figured I need to learn how to test . My LFS delivered and setup my Red Sea 130C for $100 (Which I thought was a good deal). I bought everything from him . The tank cost me $850. Plus sand. He showed me how to use the test kits from API both for saltwater and reef . Finally understood how the damn thing works.

He left me a 5 gallon salt water and another 5 gallons off RODI water for top off. My plan is just to keep getting my water from him.
Which he told me to just come to his shop If I needed water. To me I found somebody willing to help me out.

 

[gone fishin]

I had to look up how big the tank was. Is it 34g?

How much rock do you have now?

Regardless I would not add anything for a few weeks to let the tank stabilize a bit.

BTW have you checked out the "setting up" sticky at the top of the forum. It is full of good info.

 

[Deftones2015]

A big issue I have with lfs water is the ones around here keep their salinity pretty low for their fish. Do you know the salinity/gravity of their saltwater?
It's cool you found somebody to help you out but as you grow in the bobby you will want to get your own rodi unit and a refractometer to measure the salinity.

I agree with not putting anything else in your tank for a while to let everything stabilize. If you're adding fish and corals right off and at a fast pace, that may be why you e had so many issues before.

 

[ninjatech]

Yes. It is the 34g. I think I have 70lbs of live rock..
At Deftones..I actually took it slow on my old tank . But like I said I winged everything.

With the new tank I have someone to guide and helped me..I feel good about it ..Testing everyday ..so far everything looks good. Salinity is 1025.

 

[ninjatech]

Here is a closer shot of what I have now

 

[ninjatech]

Thanks guys..for your inputs and I hope to learn more from everyone here..Opps I guess I cant post pics here.

 

[gone fishin]

Most folks use something like a photobucket account then paste the into the yellow icon with a mountain.

 

[reefbroao]

Id say that is a little fast. especially with corals. Part of being new to the hobby is the time spend researching and learning. I learned that quickly. An early tank can go from ok, to a nightmare in a day or two. I also agree that using water from their tanks as clean as they may be is a bit risky. They could have disease and the LFS should know that which makes me question them a little bit. That is why we buy the RODI water, pre-mixed, or a reverse osmosis system.

 

[ninjatech]

ill try to attach the pics instead.

 

[ninjatech]

Attached are pics...

Attached are pics...

Is that enough live rocks?? it is a 34 gallon tank. That is what I have in my tank now its 5 days old. everything is new with the exception of the live rocks.

 

[reefer1970]

good things come to those who wait. You should watch your parameters daily to monitor the cycle before adding anything else

 

[Aframomum]

Do you test your tank for salinity?

You really should slow down. Sure your earlier coral deaths were from moving too fast and not knowing any of your water parameters.

Rock looks fine.

Advice? Stop adding living creatures to your tank for now and go through the stickys at the top of the forum for the next few weeks. Only when you get a good handle on the functions of your tank and learn to not 'wing it' will you start to be able to keep things alive.

 

[rfurst]

Ya,your going to have a hard time keeping coral alive with no testing and winging it...no surprise there.

I would say you are going too fast simply because from the questions you are asking and things you are doing it sounds like you would be well server to spend time learning a bit more about reef keeping before spending any more money.

your rationale for using LFS water is a bit concerning... that you can't get your mix right. mixing up saltwater is a really basic easy thing to do right so if you have problems with that... really slow down.

You've already added fish and you are asking if you will experience new cycle? That's a question you'd want to know the answer to before adding livestock.

You are just starting to learn how to test which is something you should be reasonably proficient at (along with knowing what the parameters mean and how to change them) before starting to add coral.

It's good that you found someone to help you... and he should be telling you to slow down and learn a bit more.

I mean no disrespect and we all know the feeling of wanting to go faster but if you have to ask, then you are probably going to fast.

 

[RxReefer]

Great looking setup! I have been buying my equipment for we'll over a year now and can't wait to finally get it rolling in the next month or so. The only good thing about having taken so long to buy everything (because I'm poor lol) is that I feel that I'll have less variables to guess what I'm doing wrong because I've spent way too much time reading forums and reviews and timing good sales. I've learned that me switching from FW to a Reef tank takes much more planning than I expected but well worth it. I admire you trying to get it set up ASAP though. Good luck!

 

[shifty51008]

Am i seeing that correct you have a hippo tang which needs a min of 180 gal tank. And 3 clownfish which will become 2 once matured.

Not trying to be a downer but please take the tang and 1 clown back to the lfs or your gonna have issues in the long run, i would rather see you succeed in this hobby.

 

[OrQidz]

Slow down a bit and let things settle. Keep testing your water and research basic tank setup and care. And certainly no more fish until you take back the tang which is going to greatly outgrow your tank. Glad you are learning more, keep it up and it will be worth it!

 

[Nina51]

Not trying to be a downer but please take the tang and 1 clown back to the lfs or your gonna have issues in the long run, i would rather see you succeed in this hobby.

that was my first thought. OP, not to disrespect your lfs guy but if he told you 3 clowns and a hippo would be ok for your tank, he is way off base. more research on your part would be beneficial instead of taking his word for everything. good luck!

 

[Taahirs]

Am i seeing that correct you have a hippo tang which needs a min of 180 gal tank. And 3 clownfish which will become 2 once matured.

Not trying to be a downer but please take the tang and 1 clown back to the lfs or your gonna have issues in the long run, i would rather see you succeed in this hobby.

+1

Did you just trust the lfs guy or did you research before you put the Hippo and 3rd clown in?

Maybe do some more research on your livestock choices?