Live Sand

[crashoverride]

Hello, I have a 24G nano cube that has been running for 2months now and cycle is almost complete. Ammonia-0,Nitrite-0,Nitrate-between-0& .20(almost gone), Alkalinity-180, SG-1.025, Temp.80F
I do 5g water changes every week. For some reason this Red Stuff is growing on the LS, on one side of the tank. What is this? Is this natural? How do I get rid of it? There is also some brown stuff on the LS. I have taken some pictures. Please check them out and let me know.

 

[scowiii]

Its just your tank cycling. Time to order that cleanup crew.

 

[sir_dudeguy]

2months now and cycle is almost complete.

your cycle is done...amonia and nitrite are 0...you're good to go. Nitrates are the end product but may go down on their own in time because live rock can also grow the bacteria to break them down further.

The red is cyano, aka red slime.
The brown is either dieing cyano, or just diatoms.

Both are very common in new tanks. Keep in mind that for the first year you can have a number of normal alga outbreaks. Diatoms and cyano tend to just go away on their own as long as you have adequate flow, and low/no nitrates and/or phosphates.

 

[crashoverride]

Thanks, I do have a clean up crew, 3 red leg scarlet hermit crabs, 2 astrea snails, 2 Cernith snails, 2 Nassarius snails. Does this mean I can add fish now? what about corals? What are some good corals for beginners?
I was planing to start of with 2 black/white clown fish, 1 purple fire fish, and a blenny.
How do I acclimate them? what is the process? should I get fish first and then corals or the other way around?

 

[kool-cat]

Natural during the cycling process. I started with that red slime too. Make sure your using ro/di water to do topp offs and water changes. The red slime should go away. Use a turkey baster to remove the red slime.

 

[sir_dudeguy]

Ya, if you have 0 amonia and 0 nitrite, you are done w/the cycle. I usually add corals first, just because i have spares of those "laying around" in my other tanks, and i usually dont have any money to go out and purchase a new fish lol.

But IMO, you could do it either way you wanted...but you say you have nitrates up to 20...you might wanna test again to make sure what they are exactly...if they're too high, dont add corals just yet, because they can harm corals, but not fish.

For those fish, i think that you have a good stock list (assuming the blenny is a smaller one)

I would add the firefish first, and depending on what type of blenny, him next, and the clowns last.

To acclimate them, I just drip acclimate them with an airline...get a small siphon going from your tank, tie an knot so that it slows the water siphon to just a drip...put the drip in the container w/the new fish and let it sit for an hour or so...then maybe float the fish bag in your tank to get it used to the temp.

Or you could just pour like a shotglass of your water into the fish's bag every 5 minutes for an hour or whatever...then float him to get him used to the temp. Then release him

 

[crashoverride]

When I do water changes, I usually purchase the water from my LFS (premix saltwater). I have also purchase the RO/DI water from them and do topp offs with that. It is easier for me to purchase it than to make it my self, or should I premix the saltwater my self? and buy an RO/DI Unit? I have a dip test and the Nitrates are closer to zero than it is to 20.
Why should I add the fishes in that order? Does it make a difference if I add the clownfishes first and then the Purple firefish and last blenny? Just curious....

 

[Illuminati]

I personally would add the clowns first, they are a much hardier fish than the firefish.
What kind of Blenny? I have heard the bicolor blenny is a good choice.

When I acclimate fish I pour the water it came in with the fish into a container. Empty half of the water, replace that half with my tank water, repeat every 5 minutes for a half an hour. After you acclimate the fish you don't need to float it in a bag to get the temps right, the fish will basically be swimming in your tank water after acclimation, just put him right in the tank.

 

[sir_dudeguy]

I have a dip test and the Nitrates are closer to zero than it is to 20.

You should just go ahead and toss those tests...dip tests arent accurate at all (i think you're talking about those little test strips?)

As for the water...it will be a lot cheaper in the longrun if you just buy your own RO/DI unit and salt, and just mix it yourself. The cheapest i've seen RO water for at any stores is 25 cents per gallon. RO water from a unit at your house would be like 10 cents a gallon tops.

And when you buy premixed saltwater...thats even more expensive. Best to just buy a big bucket of salt and mix it yourself. From drsfostersmith.com you can get a 160g worth bucket of Reef Crystals salt for 44 bucks shipped. I like this salt more than any others that i've tried (Oceanic, Instant Ocean....oh, and Reef Crystals is actually made by Instant Ocean...just higher levels of all the calcium and whatnot in it).

That would last you a very long time. I've got a 40 and 29 and another tank system that is about 30 gallons and i'm not even halfway through this bucket and its been like 4 months. For your tank, the bucket would last a longer time yet.

For the order of fish...i still say firefish first. While clownfish are a very hardy fish, its not like the firefish is a weak one (health wise). Once you add those clowns, they'll prolly think they're boss of the tank (and they will be...i've got a pair of the black and white ocellaris that you want to get...my female bites me every time i put my hand in the tank. Sometimes she'll bite BEFORE i even get in the tank lol). So thats why i say it would be better to put in the weaker fish first. That being said, i've always added the clowns first (i've had 3 pairs now), which is why i suggest putting the smaller/weaker fish first.

For the blenny....i agree that a bicolor blenny would be a good choice. I've had one in my 40 and it was very cool to watch hop around the tank and perch on top of the highest thing it could find. Mine always went perched on top of my seio. Never bothered any other fish really...every now and then him and my clowns would squabble over food, but thats about it. But he did seem to like my sps corals, so if you plan on getting sps corals...beware...mine killed off 2 of my digitata corals.

 

[crashoverride]

What kind of food do you guys recommend? How many times should I feed the fishes? I have also read that when you acclimate fish, the light should be turned off? is that true? it stresses out the fish?

 

[crashoverride]

Another question I forgot to ask was, If I do the water change early in the morning Saturday, can I add the fishes later on that same day? or should I do the water change on Saturday and add the fishes on Sunday?

 

[sir_dudeguy]

What kind of food do you guys recommend?

a variety. I like frozen foods. Stuff like frozen mysis shrimp, plankton. I dont like brine shrimp and many people say not to use bloodworms in saltwater tanks. I also sometimes feed flake...i think the brand is prime reef or something like that.

How many times should I feed the fishes?

I feed once daily. Feed just enough to where they eat it all in a few minutes and theres very little/none of the food settling on the bottom/rocks (which if it does, then you probably dont have that good of flow but thats a different topic )

I have also read that when you acclimate fish, the light should be turned off? is that true? it stresses out the fish?

eh...might be a good idea, but honestly, i've never really done that and it always seems fine for me. Actually i guess i do sort of turn off the lights...i just leave the actinics running and then about a half hour/hour later i turn the daylights back on.

Another question I forgot to ask was, If I do the water change early in the morning Saturday, can I add the fishes later on that same day? or should I do the water change on Saturday and add the fishes on Sunday?

IMO you could do the water change, then a few hours later add the fish. Its not like its gonna make any difference to them...your water will still be new to them, so its not like it would be any worse than normal, you know what i mean? Also tho, by reading that, i took it that you were planning to add more than one fish at the same time? The only time i'd do that is if you're adding the clown pair, but other than that, its best to add only one fish at a time so as to allow the bacteria to bounce back from the new heavier bioload. Wait about 3 weeks in between each fish

 

[crashoverride]

Thanks for all the info Sir_dudeguy, I did mean the pair of clown fishes to add this weekend.
I still have more questions, I hope you don't mind
When feeding the fish, should it be at the same time everyday?
When I add the clown fishes this weekend, can I add some corals the following weekend, the same day? or how long should I wait before I can add my first coral?
I am going to wait about 3-4 weeks before I can add my next fish and the same process for the last one.

 

[sir_dudeguy]

When feeding the fish, should it be at the same time everyday?

its best if it is IMO but if you think about it...out in the wild it probably isnt a specific time every day...just whenever food happens to come by. So I dont think it really matters.

When I add the clown fishes this weekend, can I add some corals the following weekend, the same day? or how long should I wait before I can add my first coral?

yep, you could add some corals at the same time provided all your levels are correct (and make sure your nitrates are down to around at least 10...but dont trust those test strips...they're not correct).

And Kudo's to you for asking about the stuff BEFORE buying it Many people buy first, ask last...but the way you're doing it is the best way

 

[crashoverride]

Thanks a lot, I will keep you posted. What kind of corals should I start off first with? Which one's do you recommend and are easy to take care of?

 

[sir_dudeguy]

as for what corals to start with...what lighting do you have? I know that its pc's, but how many watts?

I'd say that the easiest ones to start with would be kenya tree, xenia, zoos, green star polyps, etc....lots of soft corals are easy to keep under PC's.

 

[crashoverride]

I have the stock PC that came with the JBJ 24G DX nano. PC are 36W/110V - 10,000K (the 2 inner tubes are blue- I don't know if that helps)

 

[sir_dudeguy]

Ya so its 2x36w? I think thats how the DX version is. Either way, with those you could keep any softy you want (well there are a few softies that are difficult, but not because of light i dont think...like sun polyps i think are pretty hard to keep). You could also keep some LPS like hammers and torches probably. I just visited a guy who has the same tank as you and he's got a few sps corals up higher as well. The ones that are doing the best for him tho are digitata corals (as far as SPS goes). A couple of his others werent doing as good as they could under better light.

 

[crashoverride]

So, If I were to add the 2 clown fishes on Saturday, Can I add 1-2 corals on Sunday? Would there be a bio overload? Is it safe to add them on Sunday? and if so, how do you acclimate the corals?

 

[sir_dudeguy]

you can add corals at whatever time you like, just as long as your params are all good (like SG, temp, pH...but those are all the same for what the fish need too...except nitrates..those have to be lower for corals. They dont harm fish though).

And corals dont add to the bioload. Not in the sense of creating amonia like fish do anyways. They use up trace elements, but its only the corals that use those and weekly or every other week water changes will replace all that is used up by corals.