Just set up first tank

[UCF_BRAVES_FAN]

Hey all,

New to the site and just set up my first tank last night. It's a Nuvo 16g with about 12 lbs of live rock.

I was first looking into something around 40g, but due to space limitations, I went with something smaller. I was told the smaller ones are a little more difficult to maintain, but if I keep up with water changes I will be ok.

Any advice?

I plan to introduce a CUC in about 10 days to 2 weeks, and then start introducing fish in about a month. Maybe a clown pair and a cleaner shrimp and goby.

Thanks!

[SwampyBill]

Get a good quality water testing kit like Salifert & test ammonia, nitrites, & nitrates daily (around same time each day). When ammonia has spiked then dropped to 0, nitrites will rise & dip back to 0 too. Then when nitrates have spiked, do a partial water change & add small CUC. Wait a week or 2, check parameters, do another water change to lower nitrates again & THEN it's safe to add a fish. You can't just decide to put CUC & fish in when you want. Tank has to cycle completely & that can take anywhere from 2--8wks. Read the sticky at top of page about setting up a new tank. Welcome to Reef Central & good luck!

[igot2gats]

You can't just decide to put CUC & fish in when you want. Tank has to cycle completely & that can take anywhere from 2--8wks. Welcome to Reef Central & good luck!

This.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but you seem to be in a rush to do things. You need to go slow. VERY slow.

Please wait until your cycle is complete before you do anything.

Nothing good in this hobby happens fast.

Are you going to quarantine your livestock?

[reepher315]

Yup slow is a good thing. It will give you plenty of time to fine tune your fish selection.

[UCF_BRAVES_FAN]

Not in a hurry at all. I know to wait, wait, wait.

When you say quarantine the livestock, what do you mean? I'm going off of the info provided by the guy at the LFS who seemed very knowledgeable and helpful.

Thanks for all the advice!

[reepher315]

Quarantine new fish to make sure they dont bring disease into your tank. Ich is pretty difficult to clear up once it has a host or two.

[UCF_BRAVES_FAN]

Do you keep them in a separate tank for a bit before introducing? If so, what are my options if I don't have another tank?

Also, as far as cycling, the guy at the store mentioned getting two fish that would be the "guinea pigs" and would help with the cycling process. He mentioned the other option was just using chemicals each day to get through the cycling.

Any thoughts on one vs. the other as to which is better? Only thing I was thinking about the fish was that it's a bit inhumane, but wanted to see what most people thought as I'm not sure if one way is better than the other.

Thanks again!

[reepher315]

Fish will not help cycle the tank. Live rock will. Yuo guinea pig when the tank has cycled and want to make sure it wont kill your fish. LFS usually will tell you what you want to hear just to get you to spend. Patience planning and testing parameters is your best bet for now. Add a small piece of frozen shrimp this can help initiate the ammonia spike.

And yes a separate tank is how you quarantine. Thats really the only way to do it. Some do some dont.

[SwampyBill]

Do NOT cycle your tank w/ fish. It's inhumane & causes fish death by ammonia burning their gills. Just drop a raw peeled shrimp in the tank & monitor ammonia, nitrite & nitrate levels as tank cycles.

[UCF_BRAVES_FAN]

I decided to go against using the fish for that reason. I'm not sure why the owner gave me that advice as he seemed very helpful and knowledgeable. Didn't seem to be the type to just be looking for money but who knows. Anyways, tank is looking good and plan to test the water over the next few weeks and introduce a CUC once the tank is ready for it.

Thanks again! Will post pics shortly.

[SwampyBill]

Cycling w/ a few damsels is old school way about 30 yrs ago, but frowned upon today by most people (except LFS trying to make money on a noobie...) ;)

[UCF_BRAVES_FAN]

Here are a few pics. Tank1 is day one right after initial setup. Tank2 and Tank3 are yesterday, and Tank4 and Tank5 were just taken a few minutes ago.

I did a water test today and here are the results:

pH - Right around 8.0
Ammonia - 0
Nitrite - 0
Nitrate - 0

The guy at the store said most likely the readings will be around zero to begin with but then should spike. I need to wait until that happens and then they return to zero before introducing anything such as a CUC, correct?

I know my questions sound like I'm in a hurry to get all this going, but I'm really not. Just trying to make sure I get everything right. :)

Thanks as always!

[fishhuman]

You are correct you should wait to put in CUC. You should post a livestock stocking list, for a 15 gallon tank you can have at maximum 3 fish. Good fish for your tank are damselfish, gobies, blennies, and possum wrasse. Some fish you should NOT put in your tank are tangs( including blue tangs) triggerfish, or angels. As for your local fish store aka LFS, NEVER EVER trust them. They are out to make money not give the fish to good homes. Some lets say propaganda they may have told is to
. Use the inch per gallon rule. Don't a 6 inch blue tang needs a much larger tank than 6 1 inch neon gobies.
. Fish will not grow to their full size in Smaller tanks, while this may be true with freshwater fish it definintly does not hold true for saltwater because since the ocean is one continuous body of water fish have never been able to adapt to living in small water bodies like aquariums, and if you think about it even my 180 gallon is just a large saltwater puddle, even the tanks we consider huge like 1000 gallons are similar in size to a large tidepool.

Good luck with your first setup, it can be very hard to start out but once you get it up and ready it's the best hobby ever, you can even make money if you get the right coral.

[Mcgeezer]

Definitely do not cycle your tank with fish. Its cruel and you're basically torturing them to death. Use a piece of raw shrimp and let it rot for a few days. Ammonia will spike, then add nitrifying bacteria. Then test consistently for 2-3 weeks. You will see ammonia drop then nitrite rise. Then nitrite drops and nitrate rises. Once ammonia and nitrite are zero...do 50% Water change and test again. If at zero all across, you're cycled. Then add CUC...feed the tank for a week or two so they have food. Then add fish.

Your clown pair should be the only fish in the tank since its 16 gallons

[UCF_BRAVES_FAN]

Yes they said the same regarding tangs to stay away. Would I be ok with a clown pair and maybe a goby and shrimp?

[Mcgeezer]

Two clowns and a shrimp is the max. Your honestly pushing it with two fish in a 16 gal

[whiteshark]

I'd go one Firefish and a goby/pistol shrimp pair. I hate clownfish though, so my opinion is biased.

[UCF_BRAVES_FAN]

Why do you hate them? Just wondering if there was something with the maintenance or you just don't like how they look.

[whiteshark]

Why do you hate them? Just wondering if there was something with the maintenance or you just don't like how they look.

I've just had bad experiences with them :lmao: There is really nothing wrong with them and they are neat looking, but they are so nasty IME. They also are a bit cliche. Everyone has clownfish.

[Matthias7]

Nice looking tank!