Just started 55 gal salt w, reef tank.help

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emmagrace777

Aquarium Advice Newbie
Joined
Dec 31, 2008
Messages
5
Ever one I call or pet store I go into,, incl youtube advice, is very diff from each other
when to ad live rock
when to ad fish
I am so confused.. :(
I bought a 55 gal, with supposidly live rock and live sand,, NOT
all dead

didnt know till after I set it up and got started-

Tank is running good,

now , can I ad live sand to what is in tank (1" or so in there)
and I have the 11 dead rock pieces,
just bought 7 live ones

tested water , all is great
added ' natural trace Reef suppliment'
as pet store told me to ad it to help rock

everytime I go in there some workers say rock might die in a new tank??

some tell me to ad a dead shrimp to bring up bacteria,,

others say I can get the hardy fish,, chrummies

others say wait 4 wks,,, some say change 25# each wk with new salt water

should I still have pet store test water or should I do it myself?

just any advice from one successful experienced person would really be appreciated

thanks
I can post photo of my tank soon

emma
 
I'll answer a few of your questions. Your rock will not 'die' its great to use for cycling the tank. If its cured, you will need to add one- two grocery store cooked shrimp in order to get the ammonia going. Thats what the good bacteria feed on. Test the water after a few days, you should see the ammonia rise, then nitrite then when those two are at zero and you're getting nitrate readings your cycling is done. do NOT use live fish to cycle!! It typically takes 4 weeks or so to cycle a tank. Dont do a water change until your cycling is done. Then do about a 30% or so change. Recommended normal water changes are about 10-20% every 2-3 weeks roughly, give or take depends on the water quality and bioload.

Theres several good articles on the site with more in depth info. Either look in the article section or do a search on it :)

Once you get fish, add one or two small fish a month in order for the bacteria to grow to compensate for the waste.

I HIGHLY recommend buying your own test kit. You will need ammonia, nitrite and nitrate as well as PH and something to test your salinity with. A refractometer is great, but worse comes to worse, a cheap swing arm will do ok until you can afford a refractometer.

You do not need suppliments, especially if you only have live rock in your tank. Dont waste your money. Use Ro/di water if you can.

RESEARCH!! If you think you want something, go home look it up and see if it will work in your tank before buying it. I would also very highly recommend a simple quarantine tank to put your fish in ( even your first fish) so you dont have to deal with diseases and having your tank fishless for 7+ weeks because pf ich etc. A simple QT tank can be 10-20 gal with a small HOB filter and a peice of PVC pipe or a small pot. It is WELL WORTH the $30-40 to protect your fish.


Please check here for anything you're thinking of buying. Everyone is very helpful and will save you lots of money, as apposed to the LFS which is just trying to make money. Any more ?'s feel free to ask!
 
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/articles/articles/3/1/Cycle-your-salt-tank/Page1.html

The rock it's self isn't really alive. What makes it "live" is the bacteria that lives in and on the rock. That is what you are interested in. As long as the rock was in SW it should have some bacteria living on it thus it is somewhat live.

Some LFSs and pet stores will tell you that you need things you don't always need. Do some research online or ask questions here and take what answers you get and then decide what you need or don't need.

The link I posted above should help you out a lot. Oh and I agree with Catmel, get your own test kits and test your water yourself. The more involved you are with your system the better off you will be. Depending on someone else can cost you lots of $$$.
 
Everyone here are big fans of the "fishless cycling theory", which in my opinion is not the optimal solution. I successfully cycled my tank very humanly with 6 Dammsel fish. Give it a try you will not be dissatisfied.
 
You can certainly cycle with fish as has been proven over the years. There are however other methods that don't cost the lives of fish, or potentially cost the lives of fish. Using the "fishy cycle" can infect a new tank with ich very easily as the fish are stressed. I have seen it more times then I care to count. The fish method and the fishless method are both proven to work in cycling a tank. It is something that you have to decide on your own which works best for you and makes the most sense to you.
 
Please dont give it a try. Adding fish to cycle your tank is inhumane and harmful to fish. Even experts like Dr Fenner have stated that this is not in the best interest of fish. Cycling with Fish is something that was done long ago because the fishes health was not considered. Very few people and no one of expert status recommends it today.
Welcome aboard Emma. Glad to see you starting up a Sw tank. 55 gallons is a great size to start with. Look forward to seeing pics of the progress.
 
Just because the fish lives doesn't mean its respiratory system wasn't severely impacted and in no way is it considered humane if you understand the trauma the internal organs go through. The optimal solution to aquarium keeping is caring for your animals as best we can without disregard for their health.
 
Just because the fish lives doesn't mean its respiratory system wasn't severely impacted and in no way is it considered humane if you understand the trauma the internal organs go through. The optimal solution to aquarium keeping is caring for your animals as best we can without disregard for their health.

Yup it's like smoking 10 packs of cigarette's a day.......... I can't BREATH!!!!!!:(:(
 
Yup it's like smoking 10 packs of cigarette's a day.......... I can't BREATH!!!!!!:(:(

Ya beat me to it! I know plenty of people that appeared healthy as an ox, while smoking a pack a day. Later in life, they ain't so healthy.

Welcome to the site Emma... and unfortunately you've found the most frustrating thing about this hobby: everyone has a different answer to the same question! Good advice, for the most part, given already, but I'll add this: do as much research as you can, both here and in published books. I guarantee that you'll find conflicting advice. But as you collect all the advice in your head, you'll start to remember some consistent things that successful folks do. Don't rely on just us, or just the LFS, or just a friend... take all that info together find some of the common themes and decide for yourself how you want to run your tank, and why you're doing what you're doing. I lurked this site for 3 months before buying a single piece of equipment. Granted... you don't have that opportunity now that you have a tank, but you can still do a lot of research in a short time.

My advice?

*Stop adding anything to your tank. It doesn't need it yet.

*Don't assume the rock is "live", so add a single cocktail shrimp from the fish counter at your grocery store and watch it dissolve over the next few weeks. Yeah... you can cycle with fish too, but why? You get the same result by using a dead shrimp and don't have to worry about stressing out or killing innocent fish, or trying to get the buggers out of your tank afterward! All you're looking for to cycle a tank is a source of ammonia - and that easily comes from the decomposing flesh of Mr. Cocktail Shrimp.

*Get an ammonia/nitrite/nitrate test kit, read up on the nitrogen cycle, and chart your ammonia/nitrite/nitrate levels over the next 4-6 weeks.

*When your ammonia and nitrites have risen and then dropped to zero, and your nitrate levels are measurable (probably 10-20ppm or so) then your cycle is complete. Do water changes until your nitrates are undetectable, then you're good to add livestock.

*Only add one fish per month, and only after it's been in a separate quarantine tank for at least 4 weeks.

*Get your own test kits and don't rely on your LFS. Until you understand enough to know when a store is a good one, and when they're just trying to sell you stuff... assume they're just trying to sell you stuff. (Don't get me wrong - there are great LFSs out there. It's just that there are some stinkers, too.)

*Do 10% water changes weekly for the first year. Religiously.

*Keep reading, researching, and learning. Just with any hobby, the minute you think you know everything and get complacent ... something will happen to remind you that you really don't know everything.

*Oh... and keep asking questions. There are no dumb ones. Well... there actually are, but we'll just assume you won't ask those.
 
Wow,, I am thrilled with all the replies,, and help :)

I will get my own test kit
hope I didnt mess up my tank, as I put a raw ( not cooked :( shrimp in a few days ago... guess I will take it out (turned pink right away,, looks like cooked, maybe because temp is 80%??
will ad 2 cooked ones now

will be patient and just test water and let it cycle for the 4 wks

question does live rock bring up PH?

question; when i used a flash light at night I found 2 diff types of bugs,, well what ever you call a water/tank bug,,,one was like tiny centepeeds,, saw at least 5 of them,, and the others were a tiny bug,, dont know how to describe, assume they were living in the wholes of the live rock

are they dangerous to my tank/ future fish???

oh I also have 2 diff tiny stem plant/flower things that are stuck on the rocks :)

thanks again for all your help!!

so excited
-- looking fwd to watching all the diff forms of nature working together in this tank in my living room!!
 
During the cycle dont worry about the PH. It will bounce all around as your ammonia and nitrites rise and fall. After your cycle is over and you do a PWC then we`ll worry about the PH. Right now Ammonia, Nitrites and nitrates are all we have to worry about.
 
Your Shrimp is suppose to be Raw. If you have one in there now let it be. Also try to keep you water temp around 74-78 degress. Good luck with your cycle hopefully will get some pics of your Tank. (y)
 
my temp is 78

the shrimp is raw

I had the water tested again==

8.2 PH
Ammonia .25
Nitrite .25
nitrate 5.0

the pet store said leave the tank to cycle

and dont do any water changes at all or otherwise the tank will have to cycle again

again,, very confused

who do I listen to??

looking for good book to read on the subject of starting and maintaining salt water tank
for purpose of Coral reef/fish

thanks
 
If you haven't already, read the articles in my sig for the nitrogen cycle and fishless cycling, this will explain it all to you.

Since you have no inhabitants yet, they're right - just leave the tank to cycle now, continue to monitor your ammonia and nitrIte levels until your tank finishes cycling.
 
I Agree with Neilan. Read through the article section, that will answer a lot of your questions. After the tank has gone through the cycle; Ammonia spike decline, NitrIte spike decline, and finally NitrAte spike, this is when you will do your water change. At that point your cycle should be complete but you will still need to check your water parameters regularly at least through the first 6 months or so.
 
Nielanh-- I read 2 of your articles; nitrogen and fish cycling
wow,, I am slowly understanding the Whys---
i just wish i could read the bacteria level, but i guess the other levels will tell me when its ready=
I have had the shrimp in a wk now
so wont use the amonia way

will raise the temp up-- keep lights off more

I dont know why they sold me ph to ad, I had no ph reading then they told me to ad it , now its 8.2
your thinking 7 is good
bought test kits and will watch the ph and others and post what they are to make sure cycling is going as its supposed to

I plan on some how sucking out those centeped critters some eve- so I can be rid of them b-4 I get my coral

when my tank is ready and i can put fish in
when do i ad the clean up crew,,
and how about time - signs for adding coral??

thanks for all your help and articles to ALL who have written to me

I dont want to be impatient or discouraged and quit nor do I want to kill anything
 
Great, glad those articles were helpful! Basically the monitoring of your ammonia and nitrIte will tell you when the bacteria are built up enough, so just like you said, you'll know.

I'm a little confused about your comments about the pH. For SW tanks, 8.3 is pretty much where you want to be once your salt is mixed in well. You're pretty much right on the mark, but the pH tends to swing around while your cycling, as the ammonia and nitrIte will affect the pH test. But no worries, just don't bother with worrying about your pH right now until after your cycle is complete and you're able to get a worthwhile test reading.

Usually a small clean up crew is a good idea after your cycle is complete. Many places will recommend a large or a complete clean up crew for your size tank, but your tank needs time to build up the stuff the CUC needs, so don't put in a full recommended crew right away. A few snails, craps and/or shrimp, but not many, or they'll starve to death.

Fish can go in anytime after your cycle is complete too. Just don't put in a lot of fish at once, you'll want to wait several weeks in between each purchase to allow the bacteria and your tank to get used to the new inhabitant.
 
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