New Newbie

[sanababit]

Hello
First let me say that i`m new to this, no past experience with any fish tanks, one day i woke up and decided to build my first tank, everybody told me to start with a freshwater tank, since its much easier to maintane etc. etc., being a bit courageous i decided (with the okay of my wife of course) on building my fish and reef tank, two books later and a hole in my wallet i now have a 46 gallon bowfront tank going for 14 days, its cycling right now. this is the equipment i have
46 gallon all glass bowfront aquarium
305 fluval canisterfilter
sea clone 100 (i know i know)
200 w water heater
1 maxijet recirc pump
40lbs of live rock 50 pounds of live sand and aragonite
2 96w dual satellite lighting system made by current
anyways these are my questions
1. since i want a fish and reef tank is it ok to start adding purple up?
2 im using the dual satellites lights to grow purple and pink corraline, do i really need to run them to get corraline?
3 my substrate is getting brown, is that normal??
4 does anyone want to trade my seaclone skimmer for yours??? jk
5 running the dual satellites have started to grow green and red algae, on live rock, is this normal???
:rollface:
6 i got rid of about 3 aiptasia anemone, should i nuke the aquarium before adding livestock??
7 i have as of 4/19/07 ammonia 0 nitrite 0 nitrate 0 but ph is high
its like 8.4, having trouble with color comparison, i need to get something more accurate. any advice on whats wrong???
8 im getting sludge out of a tank with the skimmer that has no livestock, where is it coming from???
9 on the seaclone theres a maxijet pump 1200, the suction of the pump has a sponge, i read that the suction of a skimmer should not have any obstructions, so my question is, should i take the sponge off??
10 can you wish me luck??
well these are my questions for now, and please keep in mind that ill be back with more, thanks
sanababit

[Konadog]

sanababit,
<img src="/images/welcome.gif" width="500" height="62"><br><b><i><big><big>To Reef Central</b></i></big></big>

WOW, OK here goes:

1. since i want a fish and reef tank is it ok to start adding purple up?
Don't waste your $$ and let things happen naturally.

2 im using the dual satellites lights to grow purple and pink corraline, do i really need to run them to get corraline?
Some say that very bright light actually inhibit corraline growth. If your Calcium/Alkalinity/Magnesium levels are correct, it will grow.

3 my substrate is getting brown, is that normal??
If your tank is new, yes. Your new tank will go thru different algae blooms as it matures.

4 does anyone want to trade my seaclone skimmer for yours??? jk
No comment :)

5 running the dual satellites have started to grow green and red algae, on live rock, is this normal???
See #3 ;)

6 i got rid of about 3 aiptasia anemone, should i nuke the aquarium before adding livestock??
Nuke them ASAP, it's the ones you don't see that will be the problem.

7 i have as of 4/19/07 ammonia 0 nitrite 0 nitrate 0 but ph is high
its like 8.4, having trouble with color comparison, i need to get something more accurate. any advice on whats wrong???
You can get a PH meeter from Pinpoint Marine, very easy to read. Take your PH reading in the morning and at night, it will fluctuate over the day. Since your tank is still new, I wouldn't worry about it yet.

8 im getting sludge out of a tank with the skimmer that has no livestock, where is it coming from???
Your LR is loaded with stuff! It's normal, don't worry about it.

9 on the seaclone theres a maxijet pump 1200, the suction of the pump has a sponge, i read that the suction of a skimmer should not have any obstructions, so my question is, should i take the sponge off??
I don't know much about the skimmer, but I would take it off. You may need to adjust it after due to the increased flow.

10 can you wish me luck??
Good luck, the fun is just beginning!

[cdangel0]

First and foremost - WELCOME!!!

You may want to consider breaking your quesitons up over a couiple threads as it is alot to take in and try to answer at one time.....BUT...being as I am at work I will see what I can do.


1. No need for purple up, keep your Alk and Cal at the proper levels and coraline will grow. Just make sure you put a piece of live rock that already has coralline on it as it will help seed the tank and sopeed up the process.

2. Corraline will grow with no lighting. So I've heard anyway, never tried to grow it in the dark myself.

3. What kind of water did you use? Brown is generally diatoms, it is normal and will go away, sooner if you're using RO/DI - trust me, I used tap water for a year then switched to RO - you won't believe the difference.

4. No

5. Algae come from nutrient rich water...i.e. tap water w/ phosphates, over feeding, etc.

6. Aiptasia will not generally kill live stock - is just annoying to have taking over your tank. Kill it and remove it as efficiently as you can. If it is on one rock you can try nuking the rock.

7. Have you added anything to begin the cycle? Was your LR cured or un-cured? You should probably try dropping in a raw cocktail shrimp to jump-start your cycle. You should at the very least have nitrates by now.

8. Probably die-off from the LR and crap from the tap water.

9. I would, but then again I use a Super Skimmer so I don't know.

10. Good Luck

:rollface:

[sanababit]

thank u guys,

about 4 days ago i had 20 ppm nitrates and ph was 8.2, but now it went up to probably 8.5 or more, cant tell from the color, and nitrates dropped to 0, anyways, i read fron cdangel0 to throw a shimp in to the tank to cycle it faster???, wont it pollute my water???? will it be faster or should i just wait and get a couple of damsels.

anyone out there using a seaclone skimmer???, please let me know if u are running it with or without the sponge on the suction pump
thanks

mario

[Victor1046]

dead shrimp better than dead damsels or live damsels
don't put the damsels through the cycle it's cruel.......
Good luck

[Lotus99]

Unless you really want damsels in your final tank, there's no reason to get them at all. Your tank will cycle with the live rock, and then be ready for your cleanup crew, and for fish a few weeks later.

[sanababit]

mmmmm, thanks for the advice, ill probably cycle my tank like you guys said.