New Tank - New user

boxrrt · 03/30/2006, 08:11 PM

Hello everyone. I am a recent convert to the marine aquarium. I have had fresh water tanks for years, and used to raise oscars. I have always been fascinated with salt water and reefs in particular.

I purchased a new AquaPod 24G bow front aquarium along with a 70W 14K Metal Haliade light as shown here:

Here's a picture from the top: IMG]http://boxster.smugmug.com/photos/61689575-S.jpg[/IMG]

I had a lot of help setting this tank up. Draven, a RC forum member also , provided me some live rock, live sand, and the water to get the tank initially set up. It was a long light, but we managed to go from nothing to a fully functional tank in about 12 hours (including all the DC Area crappy traffic!!!).

Here we are laying out the sand that Draven provided from his tank, new sand, and a little from the LFS. We added about 2 to 2 1/2 inches as a base.

Draven had an excellent idea to reduce the amount of sand getting into the water. The tank was still a little cloudy but better than I expected.

Here's a shot of the tank after we added the live rock and have placed the fish in the water.

Really there are some fish in there!

We tested the water levels before calling it a night and they were spot on!

The next morning, the tank had cleared and this is what it looked like:

boxrrt · 03/30/2006, 08:13 PM

I have a lawnmower blenny

Lemon peel angel

2 False Perc Clowns and a firefish goby

Now I also added a blood red fire shrimp, but he didn't make it past the third day for some reason. The night he died, I topped off the tank with new freshly made water (distilled water and instant ocean mix). I'm sure that I did something that I should not have, but I can't figure out what that was. I also added about 10 snails and about 10 hermit crabs as well as a emerald crab.

I also added a six line wrasse and this anemone:

Draven and I are still not sure what the anemone is. The chick at the LFS said that it was a Haitian, but were not sure. Here is another picture of it. Any ideas?

I look forward to using this forum for help and ideas. I will leave with one more shot of the tank.

HippieFish · 03/30/2006, 08:16 PM

I would make sure you stay on top of water testing and water changes, even though the sand and rock (from my understanding) came from an est. tank. There is a good chance that will get, at least, a mini cycle.

boxrrt · 03/30/2006, 08:17 PM

I have been checking the levels about every day. I did see a little spike in the ammonia after the shrimp died.

angelsj247 · 03/30/2006, 08:24 PM

well i think you added way to many fish at one time.. you added everything at the same time am i correct?? you are supposed to wait til you go through you cycle which takes a couple of weeks.. ull see an ammonia spike.. then it goes down.. then the nitrites go up.. then they go down.. then the nitrates go up and then you do a water change.. then and a fish or two and a clean up crew.. then you can add a fish a week or two after that.. than another after another week or two.. o and when you top off your water you only use freshwater.. no salt added.. bc when water evaporates it doesnt evaporate the salt.

angelsj247 · 03/30/2006, 08:28 PM

what are all of your specific levels right now.salinity, temp, nitrites, nitrates?. ammonia should always be 0..

deadxero · 03/30/2006, 08:31 PM

Tanks looks great. A bit of a risk, but with with enough rock and sand from a solid tank... and good readings for the first few days... looks like you're on the right track to me. Good luck and nice work

Draven · 03/31/2006, 07:52 AM

Angelsj247,

There is no need to wait for a cycle when you build a system like we did. He got rock, sand, and water from my very large and established system. All the levels were perfect before we added fish and remain that way today.

kau_cinta_ku · 03/31/2006, 09:39 AM

tank looks good. alot of fish for that size tank IMO but if you keep up on maintnance you should be ok for a while.

Quote:

The night he died, I topped off the tank with new freshly made water (distilled water and instant ocean mix).

and i hope your not always topping off evaporated water with saltwater as the salt don't evaporate only water does so only add fresh water for your topoff

WaterKeeper · 03/31/2006, 09:41 AM

I'm not too worried about the fish using that set-up but might have waited awhile before adding the anemone. They get real touchy about water quality and a little more aging might have been in order.

Oh and-
Hi Box and Dead

To Reef Central

delor · 03/31/2006, 09:45 AM

Did you say you used saltwater to top off, as in replace evaporated water? Your top off water should be RO/DI (or distilled in your case) only. The salt doesn't evaporate. If you continue to use saltwater to top off, your salinity will go up quickly. If I misunderstood you, my apologies and ignore my post. Looks nice.

sruiz · 03/31/2006, 10:31 AM

Tank looks good. Keep it up.

Draven · 03/31/2006, 10:48 AM

i believe he meant "top-off" as in we didnt fill it with enough water the first time. we think the shrimp died because he may not have mixed the salt well enough.

boxrrt · 03/31/2006, 11:20 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Draven
i believe he meant "top-off" as in we didnt fill it with enough water the first time. we think the shrimp died because he may not have mixed the salt well enough.

Yep, that's exactly what I meant. The tank was app. 1/2 gallon low when we initially set it up. I added 1/2 gallon of water that was made from Instant Ocean and distilled water. After talking with Draven, it appears that I was in too much of a hurry and should have taken more time with mixing the water and salt.

I have also lost a little bit of water due to evaporation and I know to only add distilled or RO/DI water.

boxrrt · 03/31/2006, 11:25 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by WaterKeeper
I'm not too worried about the fish using that set-up but might have waited awhile before adding the anemone. They get real touchy about water quality and a little more aging might have been in order.

Thank you for the welcome.

The anenome seems fine except that it likes to wander a bit. When the main light is off, it tends to hide behind the rock. This morning I couldn't see anythinf but a tiny piece of it's foot. But when the main light comes back on, it comes back out. The clownfish are not interested in it though. They will sometimes get close to it, but that's about it.

delor · 03/31/2006, 01:02 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by boxrrt
Yep, that's exactly what I meant. The tank was app. 1/2 gallon low when we initially set it up. I added 1/2 gallon of water that was made from Instant Ocean and distilled water. After talking with Draven, it appears that I was in too much of a hurry and should have taken more time with mixing the water and salt.

I have also lost a little bit of water due to evaporation and I know to only add distilled or RO/DI water.

Cool then.. Didn't want you to make a newbie mistake.. Keep taking pics. You will be happy later when you have them...

psimitry · 03/31/2006, 01:12 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by boxrrt
Yep, that's exactly what I meant. The tank was app. 1/2 gallon low when we initially set it up. I added 1/2 gallon of water that was made from Instant Ocean and distilled water. After talking with Draven, it appears that I was in too much of a hurry and should have taken more time with mixing the water and salt.

I have also lost a little bit of water due to evaporation and I know to only add distilled or RO/DI water.

I could be wrong in this, but I've always been told to avoid distilled water like the plague. I've been told that because a lot of companies use copper "catch plates" to catch the airborne steam, it can result in copper getting into the tank.

I've always been told that RO/DI is the way to go.

chip721 · 03/31/2006, 01:16 PM

boxrrt. lovely Lemon Peel Angel. Did you purchase them locally and if so where?

boxrrt · 03/31/2006, 02:00 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by chip721
boxrrt. lovely Lemon Peel Angel. Did you purchase them locally and if so where?

Yes I did purchase the Lemon Peel Angel locally. I purchased the fish, tank, light, and rock at Blue Ribbon Koi in Catharpin (just north of the Manassas Battlefield on 234). Here is the linky. Blue Ribbon Koi

chip721 · 03/31/2006, 02:12 PM

Thanks Box

hmott · 03/31/2006, 02:22 PM

Thats the way to do a tank, skip all the cycling crap and get right to the good stuff. I wish I had known someone with a big established tank to start mine with. Tank looks great I hope draven got a few beers and pizza for the effort at least.

Its a lot of fish for a small tank with no refuge but I'm sure you'll be fine, it should work about about right.. both the fish and you need a bigger tank at about the same time.

jimbo045 · 03/31/2006, 03:30 PM

Tank looks good! Keep an eye on that Lemonpeel, it may not be safe with Inverts.. JD

Draven · 04/03/2006, 12:46 PM

I got a couple beers and some 2 year old candy. I'm really underappreciated.

jjj1100 · 04/03/2006, 06:43 PM

nice tank so far

03/30/2006, 08:11 PM	#1
boxrrt Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Woodbridge, Va Posts: 30	New Tank - New user Hello everyone. I am a recent convert to the marine aquarium. I have had fresh water tanks for years, and used to raise oscars. I have always been fascinated with salt water and reefs in particular. I purchased a new AquaPod 24G bow front aquarium along with a 70W 14K Metal Haliade light as shown here: Here's a picture from the top: IMG]http://boxster.smugmug.com/photos/61689575-S.jpg[/IMG] I had a lot of help setting this tank up. Draven, a RC forum member also , provided me some live rock, live sand, and the water to get the tank initially set up. It was a long light, but we managed to go from nothing to a fully functional tank in about 12 hours (including all the DC Area crappy traffic!!!). Here we are laying out the sand that Draven provided from his tank, new sand, and a little from the LFS. We added about 2 to 2 1/2 inches as a base. Draven had an excellent idea to reduce the amount of sand getting into the water. The tank was still a little cloudy but better than I expected. Here's a shot of the tank after we added the live rock and have placed the fish in the water. Really there are some fish in there! We tested the water levels before calling it a night and they were spot on! The next morning, the tank had cleared and this is what it looked like:

03/30/2006, 08:13 PM	#2
boxrrt Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Woodbridge, Va Posts: 30	New Tank - New User I have a lawnmower blenny Lemon peel angel 2 False Perc Clowns and a firefish goby Now I also added a blood red fire shrimp, but he didn't make it past the third day for some reason. The night he died, I topped off the tank with new freshly made water (distilled water and instant ocean mix). I'm sure that I did something that I should not have, but I can't figure out what that was. I also added about 10 snails and about 10 hermit crabs as well as a emerald crab. I also added a six line wrasse and this anemone: Draven and I are still not sure what the anemone is. The chick at the LFS said that it was a Haitian, but were not sure. Here is another picture of it. Any ideas? I look forward to using this forum for help and ideas. I will leave with one more shot of the tank.

03/30/2006, 08:17 PM	#4
boxrrt Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Woodbridge, Va Posts: 30	Yep I have been checking the levels about every day. I did see a little spike in the ammonia after the shrimp died.

03/30/2006, 08:24 PM	#5
angelsj247 Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Joliet, IL Posts: 866	well i think you added way to many fish at one time.. you added everything at the same time am i correct?? you are supposed to wait til you go through you cycle which takes a couple of weeks.. ull see an ammonia spike.. then it goes down.. then the nitrites go up.. then they go down.. then the nitrates go up and then you do a water change.. then and a fish or two and a clean up crew.. then you can add a fish a week or two after that.. than another after another week or two.. o and when you top off your water you only use freshwater.. no salt added.. bc when water evaporates it doesnt evaporate the salt. __________________ 2 perc clownfish, 2 peppermint shrimp, astrea, turbo, & nassarius snails, 20 lbs Live Rock Current Tank Info: 20gal FOWLR

03/30/2006, 08:28 PM	#6
angelsj247 Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Joliet, IL Posts: 866	what are all of your specific levels right now.salinity, temp, nitrites, nitrates?. ammonia should always be 0.. __________________ 2 perc clownfish, 2 peppermint shrimp, astrea, turbo, & nassarius snails, 20 lbs Live Rock Current Tank Info: 20gal FOWLR

03/30/2006, 08:16 PM	#3
HippieFish Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Posts: 102	I would make sure you stay on top of water testing and water changes, even though the sand and rock (from my understanding) came from an est. tank. There is a good chance that will get, at least, a mini cycle.

03/30/2006, 08:31 PM	#7
deadxero Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Posts: 23	Tanks looks great. A bit of a risk, but with with enough rock and sand from a solid tank... and good readings for the first few days... looks like you're on the right track to me. Good luck and nice work

03/31/2006, 07:52 AM	#8
Draven Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: His Majesty Lord Fairfax, Va Posts: 218	Angelsj247, There is no need to wait for a cycle when you build a system like we did. He got rock, sand, and water from my very large and established system. All the levels were perfect before we added fish and remain that way today. __________________ -------Evidently madamme, you and I differ GREATLY in our conception of beauty.------ DELTEC rules, end of sermon. Blue Ribbon Koi rocks for all my reef needs ----------- blueribbonkoi.com Current Tank Info: glasscages 180T. DELTEC AP600 skimmer doin its thing like it was paid to.

03/31/2006, 09:41 AM	#10
WaterKeeper Bogus Information Expert Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: SW Ohio Posts: 16,147	I'm not too worried about the fish using that set-up but might have waited awhile before adding the anemone. They get real touchy about water quality and a little more aging might have been in order. Oh and- Hi Box and Dead *To Reef Central* __________________ "Leading the information hungry reefer down the road to starvation" Tom Current Tank Info: 130 Now out of service and a 29

03/31/2006, 09:45 AM	#11
delor Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Evansville, IN Posts: 1,124	Did you say you used saltwater to top off, as in replace evaporated water? Your top off water should be RO/DI (or distilled in your case) only. The salt doesn't evaporate. If you continue to use saltwater to top off, your salinity will go up quickly. If I misunderstood you, my apologies and ignore my post. Looks nice. __________________ Surviving is different than thriving! Current Tank Info: Current: 90 gal RR reef tank, LED. Old:55gal RR, 440W VHO, 80# LR, LS, 20gal sump, SCWD. 5 gallon nano, 75 gal FOWLR

03/31/2006, 10:31 AM	#12
sruiz Reef'R Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Searching... Posts: 1,381	Tank looks good. Keep it up. __________________ Don't forget your water change.

03/31/2006, 10:48 AM	#13
Draven Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: His Majesty Lord Fairfax, Va Posts: 218	i believe he meant "top-off" as in we didnt fill it with enough water the first time. we think the shrimp died because he may not have mixed the salt well enough. __________________ -------Evidently madamme, you and I differ GREATLY in our conception of beauty.------ DELTEC rules, end of sermon. Blue Ribbon Koi rocks for all my reef needs ----------- blueribbonkoi.com Current Tank Info: glasscages 180T. DELTEC AP600 skimmer doin its thing like it was paid to.

03/31/2006, 01:16 PM	#18
chip721 Premium Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Alexandria, Virginia Posts: 1,260	boxrrt. lovely Lemon Peel Angel. Did you purchase them locally and if so where?

03/31/2006, 02:12 PM	#20
chip721 Premium Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Alexandria, Virginia Posts: 1,260	Thanks Box

03/31/2006, 02:22 PM	#21
hmott Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Belpre Ohio Posts: 470	Thats the way to do a tank, skip all the cycling crap and get right to the good stuff. I wish I had known someone with a big established tank to start mine with. Tank looks great I hope draven got a few beers and pizza for the effort at least. Its a lot of fish for a small tank with no refuge but I'm sure you'll be fine, it should work about about right.. both the fish and you need a bigger tank at about the same time.

03/31/2006, 03:30 PM	#22
jimbo045 Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Aiea, HI. Posts: 1,788	Tank looks good! Keep an eye on that Lemonpeel, it may not be safe with Inverts.. JD

04/03/2006, 12:46 PM	#23
Draven Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: His Majesty Lord Fairfax, Va Posts: 218	I got a couple beers and some 2 year old candy. I'm really underappreciated. __________________ -------Evidently madamme, you and I differ GREATLY in our conception of beauty.------ DELTEC rules, end of sermon. Blue Ribbon Koi rocks for all my reef needs ----------- blueribbonkoi.com Current Tank Info: glasscages 180T. DELTEC AP600 skimmer doin its thing like it was paid to.

04/03/2006, 06:43 PM	#24
jjj1100 Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Posts: 482	nice tank so far