29 Gal Biocube, standard at the moment. 2 Weeks into set up.

Jersey1992 · 04/09/2015, 07:37 PM

Hello!

My boyfriend and I have set up our first tank together.

I have set up a 75G with an Aqueon ProFlex 3 refugium for a college I used to attend (you can see it on facebook by searching "Caribbean Reef at Lakeland College") but this is my first personal tank and his first ever marine tank.

We knew we would eventually set up a tank when we got settled in, but I have always wanted another large tank, so living in an apartment meant that we weren't going to set one up anytime soon. We visited a friend that had a 29 gal tank set up in his living room and my boyfriend latched onto it and we decided that we were going to set one up in the car ride home from Indianapolis.

So, we budgeted, did a little research, and are now on week 2 of having our tank set up.

Pictures to follow.

Jersey1992 · 04/09/2015, 07:40 PM

IMG_0871.jpg

IMG_0872.jpg

IMG_0873.jpg

Jersey1992 · 04/09/2015, 08:09 PM

Some pictures of the tank today.

Jersey1992 · 04/09/2015, 08:11 PM

I'm not great at this technology thing. I haven't figured out why my images are sideways or upside down and so small.

Jersey1992 · 04/09/2015, 08:18 PM

We have an Eshopps Nano Skimmer with Sicce Pump, the standard lighting that comes with the biocube, 2 Hydor 240 GPH power heads, and have a carbon and bonded filter pad filter system in place instead of the bio balls. We have about 25 pounds of live rock, 30 pounds of live sand, a Euphelia, yellow colonial polyps colony, 3 cleaner shrimp, 13 blue leg hermits, 13 astrea snails, 1 Da Vinci oscellaris, 1 standard oscellaris, and a bubble tip anemone. We also have about 5 heads of a clove polyp colony that hasn't opened since we put it in the tank 2 days ago.

Jersey1992 · 04/14/2015, 06:31 PM

Updated our lighting system to an LED set up. Having some issues with a light coating of potential diatoms. Anyone have suggestions on how to clear that up, or will it go away on it's own. I've read some other threads but have found conflicting information. Also, one of our cleaner shrimp was murdered or died last night after it shed its exoskeleton. Two shrimp is probably better for our small tank anyway. On a weird note, our standard oscellaris is eating the brownish/red covering off of one of the power heads we have in the system (Which I have, until now, thought was potentially diatoms..

We do have Chemipure Elite in the tank and our tests showed 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, 0 nitrate, 0 phospates, and 400 for calcium. Feed algae pellets once a day to every other day (probably too much at a time, though) and Reef Frenzy (about a pinky nail sized chunk) once a week.

Jrambo88 · 04/14/2015, 07:59 PM

Shouldn't have a BTA anenome in a system that is two weeks old.

homer1475 · 04/15/2015, 05:27 AM

2 weeks in that is a huge bioload for such a small tank. You should really read up on how to cycle a tank. I think you'll find your going to have more stuff die off until the tank cycles.

Everyone's tank cycles differently. My biocube didn't cycle for nearly a month, and my first additions were a couple snails and some hermit crabs. 2 weeks later I added 1 fish. Now nearly 3 months in I still only have 2 fish, some hardy soft corals, and my CUC.

If anything this hobby is a lesson in patience. Nothing in this hobby that ends well is done at a fast pace.

ReefWreak · 04/15/2015, 07:37 AM

I would remove any and all filter pads, and probably even the chemipure for your first month or two while the tank is cycling/settling in, then you can add chemipure back.

Also, clowns aren't herbivores, so I would recommend a more balanced food pellet than algae-specific pellets. My recommendation is Thera+ from New Life Spectrum, and comes from seeing the greats of the hobby feed it to their fishes (as an alternative to fresh or frozen mixed fresh seafood which everyone prefers, but isn't always practical).

And most importantly, I wouldn't add anything for another month or two to your tank. It sounds like you did do good research on equipment, but you're failing at noob step #1, which is to not stock a tank too quickly (#2 is don't overstock).

KISS - low bioload, peaceful fishes introduced first, fishes in general slowly introduced, not too many fishes, weekly or bi-weekly waterchanges for ~10-20% total volume changed per month.

Jersey1992 · 04/16/2015, 06:32 AM

Thanks for your input everyone. We added Bactiv8 NPX at the very beginning with our first creatures in the tank and continue to add it daily per the bottle's suggestion. We are still at 0's across the board for am, nitrate, nitrite, and phosphates. We did see a small ammonia spike, then nitrite/nitrate spike at the very beginning, so I think we did cycle somewhat and are stable chemically right now. Don't get me wrong, I do agree with slowly adding everything to the tank. We have been testing parameters daily and it shows that we have cycled (nothing present on tests).

We are feeding the algae pellets for supplementation and after reading your post about the clowns being omnivores, I read the ingredients on our pellets. Fish meal, dried sea weed meal, cornstarch, fish oil, krill, squid, mussel, shrimp, and vitamins are listed. Should we still change to what you suggested?

We are planning on withholding from any more additions for probably the next month until we figure out the best lighting settings for what we have.

soulpatch · 04/16/2015, 07:07 AM

you should hold off longer then a month. You are bound for a serious nitrate spike here shortly as you need to build up the denitrifying bacteria and those bottles do not help with that what so ever. I also hope you are trying a second test or taking some water to the LFS for testing if you have an API test kit as they have a high rate of issues with their tests...

Even if you tank had cycled you are shocking your system with the bioload you have introduced. What LED system did you get? What are you running in the rear chambers? I hope you took those bioballs out of there.

Seriously you should not add anything for another 2-3 months and let this tank finish cycling. You will have algae battles coming as it stabilizes so be prepared. Just do maintenance and they will pass. Look into QT tanks and since you just threw everything in there get the stuff now as you might need it as a hospital tank if things go downhill in your current tank.

I hate to sound like a negative nancy and I hope everything pulls through but rushing these things is a recipe for disaster and why many leave the hobby so fast. Unlike freshwater where you throw a bottle of "bacteria" into the water and then the fish same day, these tanks take a lot longer to mature and when somethign starts to turn the wrong way it goes downhill fast.

So spend some time and read up on QT/Hospital tanks, acclimation, ect. Dont add anything to your tank for a couple months and if you go through a proper QT process you would need at least a month in there anyway...

Jersey1992 · 04/16/2015, 11:35 AM

Soulpatch, I really appreciate the input. We took out the bio balls and we made a tray to hold reef carbon (change ever 3 weeks) and 2 floss filter pads (which we rinse off or change about every 3 days). We have a bag of chemi pure elite as well. The protein skimmer is running and is pulling of skim.

So far we have had a light case of diatoms that looks to be clearing up, but that is it.

No ammonia, nitrite, or nitrates since our first week set up. And yes, we test at home and take a sample to which ever LFS we stop in at. All have read the same as our home test kit.

Jersey1992 · 04/16/2015, 11:37 AM

This is our led system. We bought it Unbranded from our best reef store. It's what they use in house.

Jersey1992 · 04/16/2015, 11:39 AM

The full tank.

Jersey1992 · 04/16/2015, 11:40 AM

Set up with lights.

Jersey1992 · 04/16/2015, 11:41 AM

Jersey1992 · 04/21/2015, 08:57 PM

Month old tank now. Everything is looking good. Diatom levels are slowly going down, all corals are looking great. Pulled a hitch hiking 6 legged starfish out today so it won't munch on our zoanthids. We've had quite a few tiny feather dusters show up in our rocks as well as tiny/baby serpent stars. Our water parameters are still perfect and we have tons of Copepods swimming around and resting on the glass. We're starting to get a little bit of red and green coralline algae growth (and a very small patch of cyano that has been improving since we changed water flow in that area).

04/16/2015, 07:07 AM	#11
soulpatch Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2014 Location: Downingtown, PA Posts: 4,017	you should hold off longer then a month. You are bound for a serious nitrate spike here shortly as you need to build up the denitrifying bacteria and those bottles do not help with that what so ever. I also hope you are trying a second test or taking some water to the LFS for testing if you have an API test kit as they have a high rate of issues with their tests... Even if you tank had cycled you are shocking your system with the bioload you have introduced. What LED system did you get? What are you running in the rear chambers? I hope you took those bioballs out of there. Seriously you should not add anything for another 2-3 months and let this tank finish cycling. You will have algae battles coming as it stabilizes so be prepared. Just do maintenance and they will pass. Look into QT tanks and since you just threw everything in there get the stuff now as you might need it as a hospital tank if things go downhill in your current tank. I hate to sound like a negative nancy and I hope everything pulls through but rushing these things is a recipe for disaster and why many leave the hobby so fast. Unlike freshwater where you throw a bottle of "bacteria" into the water and then the fish same day, these tanks take a lot longer to mature and when somethign starts to turn the wrong way it goes downhill fast. So spend some time and read up on QT/Hospital tanks, acclimation, ect. Dont add anything to your tank for a couple months and if you go through a proper QT process you would need at least a month in there anyway... __________________ 150 SC tank build: http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2550948 Some have bar tabs. I have a coral tab at my LFS. Life goals.

04/09/2015, 07:37 PM	#1
Jersey1992 Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2015 Posts: 19	29 Gal Biocube, standard at the moment. 2 Weeks into set up. Hello! My boyfriend and I have set up our first tank together. I have set up a 75G with an Aqueon ProFlex 3 refugium for a college I used to attend (you can see it on facebook by searching "Caribbean Reef at Lakeland College") but this is my first personal tank and his first ever marine tank. We knew we would eventually set up a tank when we got settled in, but I have always wanted another large tank, so living in an apartment meant that we weren't going to set one up anytime soon. We visited a friend that had a 29 gal tank set up in his living room and my boyfriend latched onto it and we decided that we were going to set one up in the car ride home from Indianapolis. So, we budgeted, did a little research, and are now on week 2 of having our tank set up. Pictures to follow.

04/09/2015, 07:40 PM	#2
Jersey1992 Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2015 Posts: 19	Initial gathering of supplies IMG_0871.jpg IMG_0872.jpg IMG_0873.jpg

04/09/2015, 08:18 PM	#5
Jersey1992 Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2015 Posts: 19	We have an Eshopps Nano Skimmer with Sicce Pump, the standard lighting that comes with the biocube, 2 Hydor 240 GPH power heads, and have a carbon and bonded filter pad filter system in place instead of the bio balls. We have about 25 pounds of live rock, 30 pounds of live sand, a Euphelia, yellow colonial polyps colony, 3 cleaner shrimp, 13 blue leg hermits, 13 astrea snails, 1 Da Vinci oscellaris, 1 standard oscellaris, and a bubble tip anemone. We also have about 5 heads of a clove polyp colony that hasn't opened since we put it in the tank 2 days ago.

04/14/2015, 06:31 PM	#6
Jersey1992 Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2015 Posts: 19	Updated our lighting system to an LED set up. Having some issues with a light coating of potential diatoms. Anyone have suggestions on how to clear that up, or will it go away on it's own. I've read some other threads but have found conflicting information. Also, one of our cleaner shrimp was murdered or died last night after it shed its exoskeleton. Two shrimp is probably better for our small tank anyway. On a weird note, our standard oscellaris is eating the brownish/red covering off of one of the power heads we have in the system (Which I have, until now, thought was potentially diatoms.. We do have Chemipure Elite in the tank and our tests showed 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, 0 nitrate, 0 phospates, and 400 for calcium. Feed algae pellets once a day to every other day (probably too much at a time, though) and Reef Frenzy (about a pinky nail sized chunk) once a week.

04/14/2015, 07:59 PM	#7
Jrambo88 Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2014 Location: Murcia' Posts: 465	Shouldn't have a BTA anenome in a system that is two weeks old.

04/15/2015, 05:27 AM	#8
homer1475 Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2015 Location: Upstate NY Posts: 5,313	2 weeks in that is a huge bioload for such a small tank. You should really read up on how to cycle a tank. I think you'll find your going to have more stuff die off until the tank cycles. Everyone's tank cycles differently. My biocube didn't cycle for nearly a month, and my first additions were a couple snails and some hermit crabs. 2 weeks later I added 1 fish. Now nearly 3 months in I still only have 2 fish, some hardy soft corals, and my CUC. If anything this hobby is a lesson in patience. Nothing in this hobby that ends well is done at a fast pace.

04/15/2015, 07:37 AM	#9
ReefWreak Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Astoria, NYC Posts: 10,159	I would remove any and all filter pads, and probably even the chemipure for your first month or two while the tank is cycling/settling in, then you can add chemipure back. Also, clowns aren't herbivores, so I would recommend a more balanced food pellet than algae-specific pellets. My recommendation is Thera+ from New Life Spectrum, and comes from seeing the greats of the hobby feed it to their fishes (as an alternative to fresh or frozen mixed fresh seafood which everyone prefers, but isn't always practical). And most importantly, I wouldn't add anything for another month or two to your tank. It sounds like you did do good research on equipment, but you're failing at noob step #1, which is to not stock a tank too quickly (#2 is don't overstock). KISS - low bioload, peaceful fishes introduced first, fishes in general slowly introduced, not too many fishes, weekly or bi-weekly waterchanges for ~10-20% total volume changed per month.

04/16/2015, 06:32 AM	#10
Jersey1992 Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2015 Posts: 19	Thanks for your input everyone. We added Bactiv8 NPX at the very beginning with our first creatures in the tank and continue to add it daily per the bottle's suggestion. We are still at 0's across the board for am, nitrate, nitrite, and phosphates. We did see a small ammonia spike, then nitrite/nitrate spike at the very beginning, so I think we did cycle somewhat and are stable chemically right now. Don't get me wrong, I do agree with slowly adding everything to the tank. We have been testing parameters daily and it shows that we have cycled (nothing present on tests). We are feeding the algae pellets for supplementation and after reading your post about the clowns being omnivores, I read the ingredients on our pellets. Fish meal, dried sea weed meal, cornstarch, fish oil, krill, squid, mussel, shrimp, and vitamins are listed. Should we still change to what you suggested? We are planning on withholding from any more additions for probably the next month until we figure out the best lighting settings for what we have.

04/16/2015, 11:35 AM	#12
Jersey1992 Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2015 Posts: 19	Soulpatch, I really appreciate the input. We took out the bio balls and we made a tray to hold reef carbon (change ever 3 weeks) and 2 floss filter pads (which we rinse off or change about every 3 days). We have a bag of chemi pure elite as well. The protein skimmer is running and is pulling of skim. So far we have had a light case of diatoms that looks to be clearing up, but that is it. No ammonia, nitrite, or nitrates since our first week set up. And yes, we test at home and take a sample to which ever LFS we stop in at. All have read the same as our home test kit.

04/16/2015, 11:37 AM	#13
Jersey1992 Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2015 Posts: 19	This is our led system. We bought it Unbranded from our best reef store. It's what they use in house.

04/16/2015, 11:39 AM	#14
Jersey1992 Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2015 Posts: 19	The full tank.

04/16/2015, 11:40 AM	#15
Jersey1992 Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2015 Posts: 19	Set up with lights.

04/16/2015, 11:41 AM	#16
Jersey1992 Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2015 Posts: 19

04/21/2015, 08:57 PM	#17
Jersey1992 Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2015 Posts: 19	Month old tank now. Everything is looking good. Diatom levels are slowly going down, all corals are looking great. Pulled a hitch hiking 6 legged starfish out today so it won't munch on our zoanthids. We've had quite a few tiny feather dusters show up in our rocks as well as tiny/baby serpent stars. Our water parameters are still perfect and we have tons of Copepods swimming around and resting on the glass. We're starting to get a little bit of red and green coralline algae growth (and a very small patch of cyano that has been improving since we changed water flow in that area).