So you got a new fish tank Newbie

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Hello Waterkeeper,
Iââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢ve just ended the first part of the cycle the ammonia has dropped to 0 and the nitrite has peaked and is now dropping a little
My tank was so clear yesterday
And today ... I have brown algae every where im mean on the rock the sand bed the glass and my around the back of my manifold

Iââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢ve been changing about 5gallons/20 liters of seawater every 2-3 days which I know is not much in my 200 gal tank im intending to improve this as soon as i can afford a few more containers to carry the water in
(Of course this is totally dependent on how energetic im feeling on the day LOL)


My question is this... You say to use a polishing filter to help
i donââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢t have one ...

"BUT"

in the stand pipe's exit in my sump i do have a power head connected to a canister full of activated carbon which then exits to a UV sterilizer and back to the return end of the sump
The UV is nothing special its only an 8 watt unit the canister of carbon is quite a good size its bigger than most polishing filters
i also have my skimmer working flat out .. The skimmate is a little wet so to say

so now you know the rig kind of here is a couple of Questions

Will this kind of rig I have work in place of a polishing filter?

Should I move the rig to the top of the tank will there be any benefit of it working in the tank opposed to the sump

How long should do you think i should run the UV each day...

The guy at the LFS told me to try and get the algae into the water Column "by Stirring up the sand dusting off the rocks and scrapping the glass" and let the UV blast (my initial thought was never trust the live fish shop, bluerings 6 month old high heels for that matter)
 
:lol: Hi Down Under Woman,

A LFS employee that has good advice? Here he/she is probably right. Removing as many of the diatoms, and that is what you are seeing at this stage, is a form of nutrient export. They all contain some of that icky stuff that entered the water column during the cycle. Removing them gets it out of your tank.

The brown will soon give way to green and, if you thought the brown was bad, just wait. The green algae will enter the scene with a vengeance. Again, if you remove it from the tank you have removed some of the materials that started the outbreak in the first place. The cycle takes some time but you are over about 75% of it at this stage. Let nature take her course and in another month or so you should be ready to show the in-laws, and other Aborigines, ;) your beautiful creation.

Hey, I never found out the final fate of your homemade rock. Did it ever drop in pH?
 
Hi Waterkeeper --

THanks for helping us newbies out. One question I have is how do you acclimate a fish to the tank? I hear its a lot more time consuming and painstaking then freshwater, but I haven't really heard specifics. Can you help me out?
 
Hey Waterkeeper!

Thanks for the link to that article, which has invaluable photo IDs of pests that I wasn't even aware of. I actually already have a little quarantine tank (aren't I a good little wolf) but what I meant was.... I'm pretty sure the technique for SW creatures is more complicated then "float bag for 15 minutes, then gradually add water for another 15 minutes, yadda yadda" Or am I just making it more complicated?
 
Well, I have a new tank. I would like to start adding misc. corals and fish, and I know, from the articles I've read, that you should go slow and stocking early is not a good thing. However, I'm also told by a few that with my set up, I'm ready. I certianly don't want to kill off expensive livestock.

Here are my water parameters and history.......My equipment is listed below also, of course.

Added RO water, with oceanic salt, on Sept. 12th.

Added live sand in the tank, and a mix of live sand and Figi Mud in the in sump refugium, on Sept 23rd.

On Oct. 6th, I added 90lbs of Tonga Kalini live rock from Pacific Aquaculture, partially cured. At this time, these were my parameters:
PH 8.0, SG 1.025, Alkalinity 2.52meq/ 7dkh, Cal 600ppm, amonia/ Nitrite/ Nitrate were all untracable.
I also added 2 coctail shrimp.

On Oct. 7th, amonia was at .2 with Nitrate & Nitites untracable.

My protien skimmer has been running non stop since the live rock was added---doing an excellent job I might add.

on Oct 15th, I changed 5 gallons of water. I also will add, I am losing about 1 gallon of water per day, due to evaporation. I am replenishing with Pure RO water. The live rock seems to have adapted quite well, with things starting to grow already on it. I'll also add that I have (2) 1200 powerheads in the tank, creating alot of circulation.

Last night my Parameters were:
PH 8.2
SG 1.024
Alkalinity 2.74meq/7.6dkh
Calcium 540ppm
Amonia/ Nitrate/ Nitrite's were untracable

So with that, I have not seen any huge amoinia spikes, like I was expecting, but I'm told that's because my system is doing what it's supposed to. Looking for other opinions. Thanks in advance!!

P.S. Sorry for the long message...wanted to get all the details in.
 
If you want blessings K9 then go to church next Sunday!!! :D

No, it looks like your in pretty good shape. I'd add a fish, with the emphasis on a and see how things go. If that first Great White seems OK then you can add more at your leisure. ;)
 
Thanks Waterkeeper

I think I'm going to get a clown fish, some snails, and maybe a couple cleaner fish.......sound okay?

I noticed today I'm getting a little bit of green algea growing on my rocks. It looks like grass, about 1/2" tall in a patch the size of a nickle. I see a couple other "hairs" in misc other areas.

Recomendation??

My friend, whom i'm borrowing a light from, a 175W MH, 6500K pendant, tells me that the bulb should be replaced bacause it is old and out of it's color spectrum. He seems to think that is why the algea is growing and recommended that I not use it till I get a new bulb.

I've been putting it on @10am-6PM. I've also been using the 5100K flood from Home Depot that I put on when I wake up in the morning and leave on till about 8pm, then put it on my refugium overnight. I'm was going this route till I can get a nice hood with (2) 250W MH, 13K w/ 2 140WVHO Actinics. Was hoping to do this in a month.

Any Recomendations----Anyone?
 
Just Another Newbie

Just Another Newbie

Hi Waterkeeper,
I finally have rock in my tank.55g w/30g sump/fuge.
Should I be concerned about any other water parameters other than ammonia,nitrite,nitrate,PH,and s.g. at this time?I know its going to take a bit of time to completely cycle.Also should I do any water changes during this cycle period?
Thanks for your help and all the great reading.
Jim
 
Hi Tim

Adding some new lights can help as not only does the spectrum shift but the intensity drops over time. For fish this is not important but it will be when you add corals. There is an ongoing debate on the effect of lighting on algae growth but hair algae occurs in any tank after the initial cycle, light type not withstanding. Here is a thread on controlling it- Hair Algae.

Hi Jim,

Once ammonia and nitrite have reached zero the next great battle is over alkalinity and pH. During the height of the cycle it is fairly useless to try to correct them until the cycle is complete. Once you reach the algae stage, like Tim, then you want to try to bring them to normal levels. Water changes, both during and after the main cycle, will certainly help. Doc Randy has all sorts of info on how to adjust both and info on other parameters in these Chemistry Threads.
 
Thanks Waterkeeper,
I'm getting ready to add water due to evaperation.I don't know if I should drip Kalk at this time or should I just add purified water.
Thanks again for all the great advice that you offer.
Jim
 
Jim,

Have you tested for calcium? If you need to raise it and alkalinity at the same time then adding KW to your topoff is fine. If your calcium levels are in the range of 400-450 ppm then other means of adjusting pH and alkalinity are probably a better option.
 
my amonia / nitrate / nitrite all came back to 0 about 2 1/2 weeks ago i had a little algae for a week ..
where is the green algae ?
ive had no signs of it

my rock is looking good just like barbie gone crazy with pink paint there pink n purple evey where on my rocks .. the token coral is growing so is the green plant ( unknown what it is )

am i going to miss out on the green algae stage ?

ive added a few things to the tank
few hermits
trochus snails
cerith sp snails
couple of stars
all are doing fine there has been no deaths other than what i thought was crabs dieing .. they turned out to be the hermits molting

is it safe to add fish and how many fish can i add now ?
im planning on adding

3 tangs
a tomato clown
6 green cromis
a regal angel
a Euxiphipops navarchus angel
elegance coral
a PBTA
and an ity bitty Lion fish

does it matter what order i add them ?
 
Jim

I wouldn't get too concerned about calcium levels until your ready for some corals. While it is true that coralline requires calcium there should be enough to sustain it until there are higher calcium demanding organisms in your tank. Regular water changes should supply all that you need at this point.

Marinegirl

No Green Algae!!!. You'ld better get with the program or you'll be repeating boot camp Marine!!! :D

I would say that rock you had was pretty well cured when you put it in your tank. That would mean that a whole load of nutrients never were introduced into you display tank. The good growth of coralline your seeing is out competing the nasty green stuff which is GREAT.

Now about those fish. Angelfish are notorious coral nippers.Most people don't consider them "reef safe". If you are mainly bent on coral, especially LPS, in your tank then I'd stay away form them. On the other hand if your leaning toward mainly fish you can give it a shot and hope they leave your corals alone--some do. Problem two is that the Majestic and Regal may not get along in such close proximity. They are both territorial and may not co-exist in the confines of a 200 gal. tank.

Overall that is quite a lot of fish for a tank your size. Three tangs would be considered a bit too much my most fish experts. Two's company-three' a crowd. :D Unless the lionfish stays ittsy he may chow down on a chromis or clown. Make sure it is a dwarf.
 
well thats a win the fact its starting to look like barbies play house
and dont you mean 2 is company 3 is a party waterkeeper?

how many approx fish inches for a 200gal ill have to rethink my angels then ( at this rate the white pointer is going to starve)?

thanks for the advise :)

and now for my evil side ... ( chromis are cheap hehehe)

did i say that....
 
marinegirl said:
well thats a win the fact its starting to look like barbies play house
Click to expand...

:lol: Lots of shocking pink? Actually coralline comes in a number of shades. Purple and pink predominate but there are yellow and green forms too. You see more colored varieties in outdoor tanks where they get more sunlight so I imagine it is a question of spectral wavelength that determines what colors you get.

Don't be mean to the chromis but they are good first fish for the tank. I'd add those first and wait a month or two before adding other fish. I really think two large angels in the tank would be too much. I'd choose either the Regal or the Majestic, remembering that either may pick on corals when you add them. Both angels are sometimes fussy eaters so be sure that they are eating when you purchase one. Remember to always quarantine new arrivals before placing them in the display. If you plan on larger fish and not juvi's you'll need a fairly large Q-tank probably at least 30 gallons.

If all goes well in around February you can look around for your next addition. One other word about lionfish; they can be a sticky problem, literally, when arranging and cleaning a newly set-up tank.
 
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