We all start somewhere... right?

[LeadFootedRacer]

I was instructed to start a new thread, in hopes to get more information, so here it is.

My setup:
90g drilled with beananimal and dual returns
Coralife T5HO 4 bulb
Hydor Koralia SmartWave with 2 600 pumps
Supreme Aqua-Mag MD-12
2 300w Hydor heaters
29g sump with 2 partitions
100 lbs of dry rock
70lbs of dry sand
8lbs of live rock (split between sump and display)


Filled the tank on 8/31 and got it running and got the salinity on point.

Purchased a single 1.25" Ocellaris Clown and 5 snails on 9/3. Started the 3 day trearment of Fluval Bio Booster, following the bottle's directions. No water test performed.

Now, the issue:

Today, 9/6, I went to an LFS I've never been to, and intended to pick up a skunk cleaner shrimp and some hermit crabs. Was told not to, because my tank only had the single clown and it wasn't cycled yet. The woman insisted I cycle the tank with 1 fish per 10 gallons, and suggested I purchase 8 Damselfish. I don't want damsels in the tank, they are not on my livestock list, but I did it anyway in hopes they eat eachother and/or are consumed by my next fish. She claims I need to cycle the tank with this many fish to prepare the tank for the larger bio-load of the larger fish I wish to purchase in the future. I bought it, the fish, and switches to frozen brine shrimp per her suggestion as well.

Still to this point, no test on the water has been preformed. The salinity, water level, and temperature have been monitored and kept at appropriate levels. Planning to buy a test kit in the next few days.

 

[stingeragent]

Unless there's something I'm not seeing, your sump doesn't appear to be working right. Water level in your return section should be lower than that middle section. Your baffle appears to higher than the water level. Do you have slots cut in that last baffle or something? If you can I would return all the fish until your cycle is complete. You could keep them in there. By some chance they may all survive, they may all die though which is senseless, compounding that you now have fish you don't want in your tank just to cycle it that you are now gonna have to try and catch to remove them. I'd find a new LFS or order online.

Edit: Ultimately you have to slow down. Nothing happens fast in this hobby except disaster. I'm sure most experienced guys on here will tell you that patience is the key. If you stay in the hobby long enough you may realize it 2 months from now, 6 months, or 2 years, but at some point it will slap you in the face and youll say to yourself "I should have been listening to them all along". You need 3 things. Patience, husbandry, consistency. That's it.

 

[LeadFootedRacer]

Keeping the water at this height helps keep the bubbles down, and keeps the micro bubbles out of the display.



This is my first saltwater setup. I also have a 20g freshwater tank in my sons' room. When I cycled that tank, I used 3 zebra danios, which is 3 fish per 20 gal, or 1.5 fish per 10 gal, which made sense when she told me this today.

 

[alb_56]

So for starters the tank looks great and welcome to the hobby and site. Like the aquascape you went with.

For starters I would reccomend never going back to the fish store that reccomended those fish to you. Your tank has not cycled an the fish should not be in there yet. I usually wait at least 30 days before I add any fish, coral, or livestock at all. Just patiently watch an empty tank and your patience will pay off. Also I would get some test kits, specifically nitrate, nitrite, ammonia and phosphate just to get you off on the right track. Then find a good LFS that has a good reputation and stick with them. A good way to tell would be if they give you the same advice you get on here.

Good luck, and I hope your tank takes off in a month or two.

 

[LeadFootedRacer]

The LFS I really enjoy doesn't stock much saltwater live stock. They do alot of freshwater sales. They stock all the necessities like skimmers, test kits, foods, and those types of things, just not fish. My fiance loves to go for car rides and see new stores, because of the different livestock in stock at these places, so we've been checking them out 1 by 1, staying within an hour of home. I agree, I'd like to see what I'm buying versus order something from say LA and not get what I expected.

I'm not pulling these fish out, unless they are floating. I have minimal patients and want to move on to my livestock list. Hahaha

Thanks for the welcome and props on the aquascape, I laid it out 3 other times before I came up with this one.

 

[alb_56]

Getting a good look at all the stores in the area like that is a really good practice. You should definitely be able to find a good one doing that. Aquascaping is always the hardest thing to get right in my opinion. I tweak mine every once in a while because my opinion changes. Keeping the fish is risky but as long as you keep an eye on your basic levels and do water changes when you get a high reading they should make it. Although mixing more then a couple damsels with a clown in a smaller tank has always lead to dead fish in my experience.

 

[Pmj]

I wouldn't put any more livestock. Shrimp can be very sensitive to water changes and could just be money down the drain. You need to let the tank cycle for sure. Your tank will be getting brown in the next few weeks, having minimal patience won't change anything

You need a test kit asap, at least the API ones are cheap. How are you measuring salinity? Hopefully you got a refractometer, hydrometers are pretty worthless imo. GL but go slow. Research aquascaping while you wait.

 

[LeadFootedRacer]

No refractometer, I'm using a hydrometer for the time being.

The domino damsel is chasing the rest of them all over the place. Like previously mentioned, I will keep the fish and do what it takes to keep the water proper while it cycles. There will be no more live stock till the cycle is complete.

My livestock list includes a shrimp or two, but clearly now isn't the time.

 

[CStrickland]

congrats on filling your tank!
Your plumbing looks nice and tidy :thumbsup: The holes in your last baffle will set the water level, it looks fine to me but it might be a tight squeeze for a decent skimmer. Personally I'd move the rock upstairs unless you have some reason to put it down there. Cluttered sumps can get out of hand quick, a lot of crud is going to settle out of the water when it slows down in that first chamber and it's nice to be able to just suck it out with a piece of hose. Also, Id get at least 3,500 gph combined flow in the tank, it doesn't look like you have enough powerheads and food will land on that flat rock and decay into algae fertilizer if it's not blown around.

When the fish breathe and poop and pee they generate toxic ammonia which the bacteria in the tank consume. There are 3 steps b/c there's 2 diff bacteria: ammonia to nitrite to nitrate. If it's a solid like a dead fish or turd, there's a first process where it decays to make ammonia. The last stage happens where there's little oxygen, either because the bacteria live right underneath the first type so they are sort of "dutch oven"-ed or down in the sand and deep in the rocks. Your bacteria population will expand and contract to match the food available.

Your tank is "cycled" when you have enough of those bacteria to handle the waste (or bioload) of your tank. You can add fish food, a piece of raw sea meat, or straight up ammonia, to do the same thing. Sometimes it takes months, mine took 11 days, it's done when it's done. But that doesn't mean you can crank 12 fish in, you add them one at a time to sort of stair-step the bacteria population up cause each fish is a poop-machine. Even then you don't want to add anything picky about water quality like anemone, or about diet like a mandarin, your tank has a year or so until it's "mature" (imo that has as much to do with all the mistakes we make as it does the tank's age).

Even if you do everything right you will have a bunch of gross algae in the first couple months, yay, but you don't yet so I bet your snails are pretty hungry.

The only way to know if your tank is ready for a fish is to check whether the bacteria are strong enough to handle its waste. You do this by testing the ammonia and nitrite in the water and watching them drop away. Nitrate processing takes a little longer to ramp up, but water changes are usually enough in the beginning when it doesn't need to be perfect. You must not have animals while you still have any ammonia or nitrites in your tank. It does not matter whether you feel like waiting or not, you wait anyway. It's not a matter of keep the water in good shape, and besides that domino is going to kill everybody anyway. If you be stubborn about this it will bite you in the bum later.

Good luck!

Edit: wow, I wrote a lot lol. theres a sticky called "setting up" at the top of the forum that explains stuff better for noobs, it's broken into chapters. you should read that

 

[kmbyrnes]

Congrats on your tank and welcome to Reef Central.

As stated above, you need a new LFS. Hope you find one that suits your needs and personality.

Please read stickies on tank setup and ask questions.
You can get a lot of great advice here from folks who really want to see you succeed.
These forums represent the combined knowledge and experience of reefers the world over. Check the advice you receive from an LFS here before you follow it.

 

[ryeguyy84]

The LFS I really enjoy doesn't stock much saltwater live stock. They do alot of freshwater sales. They stock all the necessities like skimmers, test kits, foods, and those types of things, just not fish. My fiance loves to go for car rides and see new stores, because of the different livestock in stock at these places, so we've been checking them out 1 by 1, staying within an hour of home. I agree, I'd like to see what I'm buying versus order something from say LA and not get what I expected.

I'm not pulling these fish out, unless they are floating. I have minimal patients and want to move on to my livestock list. Hahaha

Thanks for the welcome and props on the aquascape, I laid it out 3 other times before I came up with this one.

I agree with what everyone on here is telling you. Hit the brakes your moving way to fast.

And I should add that saltwater fish don't float. A dead saltwater fish will sink to the bottom or die in the rocks.

 

[snorvich]

So for starters the tank looks great and welcome to the hobby and site. Like the aquascape you went with.

For starters I would reccomend never going back to the fish store that reccomended those fish to you. Your tank has not cycled an the fish should not be in there yet. I usually wait at least 30 days before I add any fish, coral, or livestock at all. Just patiently watch an empty tank and your patience will pay off. Also I would get some test kits, specifically nitrate, nitrite, ammonia and phosphate just to get you off on the right track. Then find a good LFS that has a good reputation and stick with them. A good way to tell would be if they give you the same advice you get on here.

Good luck, and I hope your tank takes off in a month or two.

I agree with all and bolded one recommendation as well.

 

[snorvich]

I have minimal patients and want to move on to my livestock list. Hahaha

Not a good attribute for success in this hobby. :sad2:

 

[gone fishin]

Since your not going to remove the fish then you should be diligent about testing for ammonia and doing water changes. If you see a dead fish pull it out, leaving it there could cause an ammonia spike creating a domino effect of dead fish. I would think your also going to get a significant algae bloom.

I would urge you to reconsider keeping the fish in there if they do survive then the ammonia will do permanent damage to the fish. If you want to be successful at saltwater slow down, heed the advice given and have patience.

 

[joshkirkland83]

How do you or your lfs know if your tank is done cycling without test kits. You should have gotten that before you got water. Nobody on the planet is going to know when it's done if you can't test the water. And you got to have patience. This is nothing like freshwater. You will have lots of dead sea life, disease, and unwanted things in your tank without patience. Good luck!

 

[Sk8r]

Never take advice that says 'use a fish to cycle'. Many fish are more delicate than many corals in that regard. What the LFS MAY have been trying to tell you, is start with a few snails AFTER you think you have cycled, and if they live, add more. Allow a crew of snails and crabs to work for about four weeks to prepare the sandbed with bacteria beyond cycle, before adding a single fish which you have protected in a bare glass tank for 72 days. THAT is how you do it safely.

 

[LeadFootedRacer]

Picked up a test kit. This is where it is at.

I see:
pH of 8.0
Ammonia .25
Nitrite 5.0+
Nitrate 10ppm

I am partially color blind, so does everyone agree?

 

[chueu]

There is still ammonia [emoji33] and nitrite

Cycle still a ways to go

 

[LeadFootedRacer]

That much I can see. Looks to be around the half way point with the ammonia on the down swing and the nitrites going up.

 

[LeadFootedRacer]

Lost 2 of the yellow tails this evening, but also noticed to water temp was up around 85. An AC has been moved into that room to help remedy the water temp issue.

Also in an effort to get the fish out of the water, I had to remove a ton of the rock. The tank is now sporting a new aquascape layout that I'm not sure I like or hate. LoL