24 gallon, advis needed

[groovay]

Just start a 24 gallon, 20.5" long, 18 wide, and 16 high.

Week 1: Added Live rock, Salt and water, Salinity always around 1.022-23ish. Hooked up 802.

Week2: Add more LR(total around 25-30lb) and sand(1" worth, don't really want alot).

Week 3: added 2 damsels.

Currently Week 4: The damsel started fighting but are getting along now, i saw some fin damage so I added Melafix right away. I'm thinking of either adding 2-3 more damsel, worried about the aggression but hopping that with more damsel the aggresion might spread evenly between the school. or I might just add 1 more damsel and 2 true clowns this week.

I've been reading alot, man you guys are crazy with your nanos: MH on a 29 gallon? even a 15 gallon!!??

I only have 2X20wat PC, both 50/50. After looking at this site, I'm very worried about my lighting. I'm gonna add another 2x20 watt 50/50? Not willing to go MH. I'm determined not to go stoney corals or clams, just gonna stcik with mushrooms, buttons/zoos, polyps, leathers, and maybe frog spawn here and there.

I've also been dosing magnesium(Coraline?), Also dosing Calcium after testing that it was below 400 ppm... Anything else I should dose? Once I add coral I'll start dosing Idion.

I work at a LFS, not bad in freshwater, but need more help in the saltwater section .

Will post picture soon.

-Peter

[egdevilboy]

To Reef Central

Dosing isnt necessary if levels are alright (have your work test calcium and alkalinity).

You should just upgrade to a 2x?. Maybe 40w??? Usually you wanna get 4-6w/gal with soft corals.

I went 70w MH with my 15 gallon just cause its better then upgrading in the future. Plus the price wasnt too much of a difference,

[mg426]

sounds like you have 40 watts of pc now and are going to add 40 more. 80 watts total. Geuss you would be ok with some lower light corals. Dont see any test results posted. How are your ammonia, nitrite, nitrate levels. 4 weeks is really not so long after starting a tank up. Might want to slow down a bit. as for dosing you will most kiely need to be keeping an eye on things. What are your alk levels ,ph??? Dont want to sound negative at all but I would not dose any iodine unless i could test for it. Might not even need it with regular water changes.

[groovay]

Thanks for the warm welcome.

I was gonna buy a better light setup but I cant find anything more powerful than 20 watts per bulb and not exceed 18" long. I also live in canada, not alot of stores up here.

Ph:8.2-8.3
Ammonia: 0.6
Nitrite: 0.3
Nitrate: 25 mg/l
Kh: 140

My nitrate wast at 50 mg/l, did a 15% water change it went down to 25 mg/l. Brown algae and some Coraline is starting to appear, very excited

What is the purpose of testing Kh? I know in keepign plants you test for Kh and Gh and match with Ph to calculate C02 in the tank but not sure what Kh does for a reef system?

My tester is telling me Kh is quit high and it should actually be around 105-125 for saltwater..... How do I lowwer it in a safe manner if needed?



I could had 4x 20 watt PC, total= 120 wats? Doesn't more light add to the problem of green water or other algae bloom?


For my Live Stock, I think I'm gonna go with 2 more damsels, adding them close to the same time might be wiser...


Thanks again for all your replies, that was pretty fast.

-Peter

[egdevilboy]

The higher the Kh the more calcium..

Check into Sunpaq Retro 15"s. I Have a 2x32w retro from them and it works great on my 10.

Algae will grow no matter what. Nitrates and phosphates are what algae needs to grow. Make sure you only feed 2-3 times a week and have good filtration.

Not too sure of the proper Kh levels but check the chemistry forums for more info on the relativeness of calcium and alk.

[egdevilboy]

BTW, 70w MH rock hard! Plus decent price ($140 shipped, may be more to canada)

[Bluemorningwind]

Hey Buddy,

You have a goodsom stack of lamps already. You will have no problems keeping the creatures that you mentioned.

Doing 30% partials will help you to dilute pollutants and increase stability.

Ignoring test results and establishing good husbandry practises will allow you to develop a superior sense of what is needed for your livestock to thrive.

Infact, forgetting figures totally will allow you to make better decisions. Only use figures as a very rocky guide and not as a solid foundation when making decisions.

For example, more light may only lead to an outbreak of algae.

More rarely means better.Infact, more normally equals more headaches, IMO.

[Joshthenosh]

you need to slow down, you still got amonia and nitrite readings, ive had my tank 4 weeks, and i wont be adding fish for at least another 2, and thats with amonia and nitrite at 0 for at least a month.

[Bluemorningwind]

Slowing down may lead to an algae outbreak.

As soon as ammonia and nitrite read zero and nitrate is stable, I would add a goodsom CUC. Waiting only allows algae to take root. A system doesn't need an algae bloom. An algae bloom may happen anyway, but if a top notch CUC has been introduced, the bloom will have almost no long term effect.

Forget figures and establish good and sound practises. Most cycles take a month max. Most sooner, so get a CUC in asap. after a week or two would be a good start. Start small and work up to a large CUC.

Good reefing is all about risk and timing. Keeping a reef in your home is tricky and allowing time for nasty things, like algae, to take hold will only make your work much more difficult.

Timing is far more important than patience, but patience is good. Just don't be too patient. Do things as soon as you can. Be aware and opportunistic because all of the nasty reef things surely are just around the corner.

[groovay]

Here my tank at 4 weeks:





Brown algae starting to form a bit, not much but I'm thinking of doing another 20%. I think my cycle is done...... My Ammonia rose at 2 weeks in the setup and nitrite was also high at this point. At week 3 my nitrate was around 50 mg/l.

You guys think 4 yellow tail, 2 true perc is too mcuh load for 24 g?

-Peter

[coralights]

Don't worry about nano's etc or spending any more money on a 24 gallon tank ..... it's like someone buying a used car for $50 and dumping $5,000 to juice it up just because they enjoy it ..... rather than spending half that amount on a used car that will run for the next ten years

first lighting intensity is relative to the height ..... and if you start going crazy with lights ... you have heating problems or you end up spending more money on pendants, chillers etc etc etc ... again dumping a bundle into what amounts to a few gallons of water that will eventually fall apart at some point in time when you don't have time to watch it 7/24 ..... I'm no anti-nano ... but nano's are a fetish for people who like gimmicks orstay small to save money & space .... a much larger aquarium (no smaller than 70 gallons) filled to the brim with live rock and with good water circulation and periodic water changes is the simple, economical and most successful and healthiest approach ... even better if you add a large refugium to take advantage of algae scrubbing and keep nitrate down for the benefit of corals ....

rgds/coral