Am I on the right track

[fishfiend505]

Hello everyone,

I am about two and a half weeks into my first saltwater tank and wanted to know if I am on the correct path. I started with my 30 gallon marine land bio wheel tank that I had been using for fresh water at a previous time. The first week I filled the tank with medium grained bagged sand (not live the hard crushed coral looking kind) and let the standard pump run for about a week. I had to wait until that weekend to get live rock (25 pounds) and then revamped my filtration. I cut out a small area on the back for the protein skimmer to hang and am running a supreme classic model 3 350 GPH pump. I also have a Hydor Koralia evolution power head. I am using the long pump that was part of the marineland filter to run water over a filtration pad, but have removed the biowheel and placed a bag to hold carbon in its place so the water runs over the pad and carbon bag and bubbles back into the tank.

The tank then ran for another week and i went in to the lfs for a water test. They said everything looked good and i bought some snails and hermit crabs. 3 days later I changed my lights to blue/blue&white led's and while i was buying the lights the clerk who seemed very knowledgeable and not trying to sell me on anything suggested i get a fish. I was wary but ended up getting a clownfish. The clowns been in the tank for over a day and looks to be doing great. I fed him for the first time today ( i watched him eat at the store, looked very healthy and lively) and he seems to be acclimating nicely.

So my question is am I on the right track. I really do not want to rush anything, but seeing the decent amount of coraline algea on my live rock and the reaction of the inverts and clownfish make me think I am doing the right things. I should also mention that my goal for this 30 gallon is a reef tank with a soft corals maybe a hard coral or two. As far as fish including my clown another black clownfish, flame angel, and flame hawkfish. Some more snails (there are about 8-10 in there now) some more hermits (2-3 in there now) and some cleaner shrimp. Maybe a starfish as well. All of this is to be done over a long period of time but i want to ask:

1. Would that be an overcrowded tank for a 30g
2. Is my filtration method a good one (the skimmer piece that hangs on the back i bought used from a friend and bought a new pump, i think its meant for a 55-75g) plus the powerhead and carbon setup.
3. Did i rush by putting the fish in. He seems to be doing great but its too early to tell.
4. What is the timeline for adding other fish, again i am completely willing to wait as long as necessary.
5. How long until i can begin putting corals in the tank.

Thanks for all of the great info I have gained along the way on these forums, so let me know whats up :fun2:

[PaxRoma]

1. Yes.
2. I highly recommend getting at least 1 piece of live rock. There is an article that show your chance for a successful marine tank increase 5x with the use of live rock. Make sure the rock is cured before adding to your tank or you will risk crashing your cycle.
3. What is done is done
4. With your tank volume, 1 fish every 6 weeks
5. You can add easy corals now, as long as your light is up and running properly.

* hawkfish and cleaner shrimp are not compatible.

[samdaman]

Hello everyone,

I am about two and a half weeks into my first saltwater tank and wanted to know if I am on the correct path. I started with my 30 gallon marine land bio wheel tank that I had been using for fresh water at a previous time. The first week I filled the tank with medium grained bagged sand (not live the hard crushed coral looking kind) and let the standard pump run for about a week. I had to wait until that weekend to get live rock (25 pounds) and then revamped my filtration. I cut out a small area on the back for the protein skimmer to hang and am running a supreme classic model 3 350 GPH pump. I also have a Hydor Koralia evolution power head. I am using the long pump that was part of the marineland filter to run water over a filtration pad, but have removed the biowheel and placed a bag to hold carbon in its place so the water runs over the pad and carbon bag and bubbles back into the tank.

The tank then ran for another week and i went in to the lfs for a water test. They said everything looked good and i bought some snails and hermit crabs. 3 days later I changed my lights to blue/blue&white led's and while i was buying the lights the clerk who seemed very knowledgeable and not trying to sell me on anything suggested i get a fish. I was wary but ended up getting a clownfish. The clowns been in the tank for over a day and looks to be doing great. I fed him for the first time today ( i watched him eat at the store, looked very healthy and lively) and he seems to be acclimating nicely.

So my question is am I on the right track. I really do not want to rush anything, but seeing the decent amount of coraline algea on my live rock and the reaction of the inverts and clownfish make me think I am doing the right things. I should also mention that my goal for this 30 gallon is a reef tank with a soft corals maybe a hard coral or two. As far as fish including my clown another black clownfish, flame angel, and flame hawkfish. Some more snails (there are about 8-10 in there now) some more hermits (2-3 in there now) and some cleaner shrimp. Maybe a starfish as well. All of this is to be done over a long period of time but i want to ask:

1. Would that be an overcrowded tank for a 30g
2. Is my filtration method a good one (the skimmer piece that hangs on the back i bought used from a friend and bought a new pump, i think its meant for a 55-75g) plus the powerhead and carbon setup.
3. Did i rush by putting the fish in. He seems to be doing great but its too early to tell.
4. What is the timeline for adding other fish, again i am completely willing to wait as long as necessary.
5. How long until i can begin putting corals in the tank.

Thanks for all of the great info I have gained along the way on these forums, so let me know whats up :fun2:

Hawkfish will eat snails and hermits

[nd31male]

allways check compatability before purchasing livestock itll save ya money and headachs i

[lordofthereef]

3. What is done is done


Not really. He can always take it back or give it away...

[Reverend Reefer]

i guess what is done is done. i would have said its a bit early to add fish but whatever. best thing you can do now is get some test kits. main ones at this point are to check for ammonia, nitrates and nitrites, ph and salinity. if your ammonia spikes your fish might not make it. if your parameters are off, i would consider bringing the fish back to LFS for a lil holiday while you get your params in check.

[scubasteve06]

Sounds like so far you have done the correct things. On the topic of the stocking though I'd say no more than 2 clownfish in that tank and a small goby/pistol shrimp pair would be the limit. The Hawkfish will get to big and need at least a 55g tank. The Flame Angel would not be ok in that tank as they need some swimming room at least a
40g breeder or 55g would be ideal for just one by himself.

Now the cleaner shrimp would be fine to add at a later date, as would the starfish and some hermits. See if you actually need more snails before getting them. As in if your algae starts to get out of control or more than you'd like to clean everyday then buy 5-10 more. I'd say no more than 20 snails in a 30g tank.

As far as hawkfish eating/killing snails and crabs and cleaner shrimp, I have a Lyretail Hawkfish in my 125g mixed reef and he has never bothered a snail, crab, or shrimp. He gets regular cleanings by my cleaner because his 'perch' is right above the cleaner's station. Some people may call me crazy for even keeping a snowflake eel in the same tank with snails, crabs, and shrimp but I feed mine at least once every 2 days and it has never touched a snail, crab or either of my shrimp. He even allows the cleaner shrimp to climb into his mouth to be cleaned. The first time this happened I kept thinking here goes 20 bucks but it was amazing to see how the eel kept opening wider and wider to allow the cleaner full access to his mouth. He will gently nudge the cleaner when he wants his body cleaned or mouth. I don't know how long this will last and I don't recommend anyone else going out to try this, but for the past 3 months it has been going great.

[fishfiend505]

Thanks for all the help guys,

Paxroma- I have about 7 pieces of live rock in their that adds up to a little over 25 pounds. When i bought it apparently it was pretty fresh and had a great deal of coraline algae on it and is very beautiful. The algae somewhat receded in the first week it was in but now seems to be growing back. I have read this is part of the cycle process. I would love to add corals now but after adding the clown i think that would be rushing it. If the clown shows any signs of trouble i think i will take him back the lfs. He is becoming more acclimated to the tank though swimming and playing in new parts of the tank. When I first put him in he had a static swimming motion but now seems to like to explore :hmm5:

Reverend Reefer- Thanks man. I was actually about to make another post about what i should be testing for. This week or next week i will go buy those kits, but i will have the lfs test it for 2 bucks this weekend.

Scuba Steve 06- Man i was really hoping to get the flame angel. If the hawkfish is not compatible do you have any colorful gobies to recommend. Also are there any other "show fish" to put in there. Im kinda bummed the flame was the one that I really wanted to get.

Any other recommendations for where I should go from here.

Thanks for all the help.

-Matt

[fishfiend505]

A little update,

So i have been thinking about it the last few days, and I am contemplating returning the clownfish. He is doing pretty good, but the more research I do the more I think it is too early. I have wanted a saltwater tank all of my life so I think that now that I have it, my natural instinct is to rush when I need to let nature take its course. My water test came back with amonia and nitrate levels which I believe are supposed to be 0? I am going to get a test kit in the next 1-2 weeks but have been getting them at the lfs. I doubt the lfs has any problem letting me either keep the fish their for a little bit or giving me store credit. With 1 week running with just sand and 2 weeks with proper filtration and live rock I just feel there is no way this thing is finished cycling and its not fare to do that to the fish.

[jeff@zina.com]

Water parameters? Only testing will tell you if it's okay for the fish. Or more precisely, what you need to do to accommodate the fish.

Jeff

[PaxRoma]

what exactly is your ammonia level? 0.25 - 0.5 or 1ppm?

[fishfiend505]

Hey Guys,

So this morning the clownfish was just hanging out at the top of the tank by the powerhead not looking too good so I took him back to lfs. He put up quite a fight when I was trying to catch him and I traded him in plus some cash for a test kit that has PH Ammonia Nitrate and Nitrite. I also have a hydrometer for salinity( but from what I have read it looks like i need refractometer for accuracty aswell?) So here are the tanks parameters:

PH - 8.2
Ammonia - 0 ppm
Nitrite - 0 ppm
Nitrate - 5.0 ppm
Salinity - 1.24

So this brings a few questions to mind.

* If the person who tested the water on Saturday on 10/23 said there was Ammonia and Nitrate (I think he said nitrate but it could have been nitrite) is it possible for the ammonia to be gone that quickly and why did they recommend I get the fish?

* One of my hermit crabs has died, I can see his body floating on the bottom. If an invert died, I cant image thats a good thing. However I have moved the live rock around quite a bit so a small hermit getting crushed seems like no suprise.

* What I also wonder is my tank has a great deal of water turnover which is what I thought was very good. When I first fed the clownfish, watching the mysis shrimp spin around suprised me. Last night and this morning he was hanging around the powerhead, could he have just been tired? Also will that be an issue in the future for the fish to swim and enjoy themselves. A reminder I am running

Anyway I still think I made the right decision. I am happy to see my water parameters are pretty close, and I would prefer to get a pair of clowns anyway. The last questions I swear ;) are

* I cant tell if my skimmer is working right. I have and hob (cant name the brand bought used from a friend) with a supreme classic model 3 350 GPH pump. It is very large pump hanging in the tank along with the powerhead and tube that runs water over the carbon bag. The chamber in the back is filled with foam in the middle and is running water back into the tank, but there is almost nothing in the spillover cup. I really hate the way the skimmer looks and would almost be willing to buy a better skimmer to ensure it works correctly and looks better. Is it because the tank is so young there isnt enough bioload to clean?

* I want to get a black background but everyone says just paint the back. I know i could always use paint thinner or whatever, but that seems pretty final.

I am contet with letting this tank mature the natural way and get it dialed in on filtration, parameters, and set up so I can really hit the ground running with livestock. I really want to thank everybody for helping me out. It is pretty awesome that this community of aquarium enthusiasts is so open to share their knowledge.

[PaxRoma]

if there is no spillover in the cup, you may need to adjust the air intake to get it there.

[fishfiend505]

I dont see any where to adjust the air intake I am going to take out the main component of the pump,it is called an impeller, to see if it is working properly. All of my parameters are good and I am starting to grow algea in the tank so I think it is working properly but there is not enough bio load in the tank. There are bubbles being held in the HOB chamber but not enough to go into the spill over cup. The only thing I am worried about now is that my temperature fluctuates from 76 to 72 degrees (I live in San Diego) and it looks like for a reef tank it needs to be around 78-80 correct? I have so much equipment in the tank already Im worried its too much stuff in the water. Either way im stoked that the algea is growing and there are these cool tube like organisms on my LR that look almost like corals. Any recomendation for starter corals?

[Ethan_W]

I dont see any where to adjust the air intake I am going to take out the main component of the pump,it is called an impeller, to see if it is working properly. All of my parameters are good and I am starting to grow algea in the tank so I think it is working properly but there is not enough bio load in the tank. There are bubbles being held in the HOB chamber but not enough to go into the spill over cup. The only thing I am worried about now is that my temperature fluctuates from 76 to 72 degrees (I live in San Diego) and it looks like for a reef tank it needs to be around 78-80 correct? I have so much equipment in the tank already Im worried its too much stuff in the water. Either way im stoked that the algea is growing and there are these cool tube like organisms on my LR that look almost like corals. Any recomendation for starter corals?

your temperature should always be as stable as possible. anywhere from 76-80 imo. your cycle has finished so you can slowly add fish. a clownfish or a pair of clownfish right now. and it's a good idea to spread out fish purchases at least 2 weeks in newer tanks. at least do a few water changes and keep testing your water and watching it before adding more. as far as corals you can add as many easier corals as you want right now. they dont add to your bioload.

green star polyp is a fast growing easy coral to care for, zoas and palys, mushrooms, and a lot more. just research things before you purchase and make sure your system and water parameters will be able to support it.

personally i think it's ok to keep up to 4-5 fish in a 30g as long as they dont get very large