New 20gH Nano Reef

[IronHide1986]

Hello AA!

I am new, though I have been scouring these forums for a few weeks now for advice on a new tank setup.

I have never dealt with saltwater before, so I am going to attempt it. From all the people and friends I have talked to, I am going to try to go as slow as possible.

Here are a few pictures. This is day two of the saltwater.

I am using Texas Holy Rock as a base, as you can see. The LFS said that it should make a great base. He also told me that it will turn into Live Rock itself. After looking into that, I understand and know that it will, however, I am curious as to how long it will take. You can't really tell from the pictures, but there are already particles that have drifted onto the rock. They appear black, brown, and green.

Also, this live rock is uncured and should be cured tomorrow, so says the LFS that I bought it from. I expect that it should be for certain by the end of the week. Which brings me to my next question. How can I tell if it's cured?

The tank doesn't really measure a lot of ammonia yet, so I added some flakes to it. I was originally planning on using a raw shrimp, but I read that you could use fish flakes as well, so I might as well use all the old freshwater food.

New lighting is on the way. Ordered a power compact Coralife Aqualife 2x 65W with 4 lunar lights. Comes with a 10k K bulb and an Actinic bulb. This should be good enough to grow any type of coral, right? It would be about 6.5W a gallon.

I plan on adding a cleaning crew in about a month. Any recommendations as to what? I am interested in a peppermint shrimp.

Later down the road, I would like to get a clown, after the tank cycles, maybe two. The biggest thing I am looking into is making a coral farm. Would be great to eventually make money off it!

If you have any other advice, throw it at me. The more the merrier!

 

[ccCapt]

Welcome to AA!

Also, this live rock is uncured and should be cured tomorrow, so says the LFS that I bought it from. I expect that it should be for certain by the end of the week. Which brings me to my next question. How can I tell if it's cured?

Curing live rock can/will take 4-6 weeks. You will know it's cured when your tank shows 0 ammonia.

The tank doesn't really measure a lot of ammonia yet, so I added some flakes to it. I was originally planning on using a raw shrimp, but I read that you could use fish flakes as well, so I might as well use all the old freshwater food.

A few flakes won't do the trick. You are better off using an uncooked piece of shrimp. If you want to use the flake...use alot, not just few flakes.

New lighting is on the way. Ordered a power compact Coralife Aqualife 2x 65W with 4 lunar lights. Comes with a 10k K bulb and an Actinic bulb. This should be good enough to grow any type of coral, right?

With those light you will be able to keep soft coral and some lower light demanding LPS. They are no where near strong enough for the high light demanding SPS corals.

The biggest thing I am looking into is making a coral farm. Would be great to eventually make money off it!

Don't hold your breath...lol. It takes a coral years to grow out from a frag to a colony big enough to frag and sell.

 

[roka64]

Great advice above.
I just want to add that you want 0 ammonia and nitrItes. After the cycle you will have some nitrAtes and should do a PWC to reduce them.
As for a cleaning crew, add a small amount since there won't be much for them to eat in such a new tank. I like nassarius, cerith and margarita snails.

 

[IronHide1986]

Thanks for the advice. Just curious, why are the lights not strong enough? Do the high light corals need more than 6.5W a gallon? Or is it the type of lighting? I would like to go with Metal Halide eventually, but it seems like I was reading around and found out that it was just a waste of money for such a small tank.

During the cycling process, should I be running my power filter on full blast? Also, will lighting have any effect on what grows from the live rock, such as mushrooms or feather dusters?

Thanks.

Edit: Did some testing today and I am running at 0 Nitrate, 5ppm Nitrite, and .5 ammonia. I am going to give it a few more days to allow the nitrites to be broken down into nitrates. Then should I do a PWC when Nitrite and Ammonia are at 0?

 

[roka64]

The WPG rule kind of went out the door with the different types of lighting. It's all about light and depth penetration.
I have run my filter while doing my cycles. It helps build up more bacteris.
What do you have in the filter?
Lighting can affect what grows on your rock (if you get hitch hiker corals) and macroalgaes. As for the other hitch hikers, it won't matter.
It sounds like you are close to finishing the cycle. Once your ammonia and nitrItes hit 0, check nitrAtes and you will probably need to do a PWC.

 

[IronHide1986]

I bought some more live rock tonight from a different LFS. I also bought a Koralia Nano to put some current in the tank. Everything seems to be going well.

One interesting thing that happened tonight was when I was rearranging the new LR, I noticed something moving. At first I thought it was a piece that broke off and was moving with the current, but a closer look made me think otherwise. It's a baby starfish. It only has three legs, but is cool nonetheless.

What do I need to do to keep this guy alive? Today's readings were 0.5ppm Ammonia, 5ppm Nitrite, 0 Nitrate. I would have to say I have at least a week on the cycling process to go. Will he survive?

 

[IronHide1986]

Like I said, I bought some more live rock today. I rearranged the tank and I think this will be better. What do you all think?

 

[IronHide1986]

What do you have in the filter?

Sorry...I have the bio filter pack that comes with the AquaClear 50. I would like to eventually get some LR rubble for it, but at the time being, I might as well use this while I have it.

 

[roka64]

Sounds like you have an asternia star. Generally harmless, unless you get the rare types that munch corals. It may make it through the cycle. If it made it through the ammonia you are probably good.
Here is a site with some common hitch hikers:
Xtalreef

 

[IronHide1986]

Updates!

Have tested and I am now at 0 ammonia and 0 nitrite.

Here are some pictures. I have added two Percs, 3 Peppermint shrimp, 3 Mexican turbo snails, and an emerald crab. Shrimp and crab were tucked beneath the rocks. What party poopers!

Does anyone know what kind of coral that is in the center of picture 3? Roommate said it looks like a star polyp. Not quite sure if you can tell from the picture though.

Thanks for the help, hope you enjoyed the pics. More to come later!

 

[fijiwigi]

Your tank looks great however I am concerned that you may have jumped the gun and added corals too fast. Were those hitchikers or did you purchase them?? I have a few questions

1. Do you use Ro/DI water and mix your saltwater for 24 hours tested with a refractometer

2. Did you test for a cylce this usually takes 4-6 weeks was there the usual ammonia spike/ Nitrite spike/ Nitrate spike

3. What does your substrate consist of

4. are you using a protein skimmer and what kind of filtration and water flow do you currently have?

5. What are you planning to add livestock wise for your tank long-term.

 

[clearerphish]

Coral in the third pic looks like Xenia.

 

[IronHide1986]

@fijiwigi - The hard coral on the right of picture 3 and the Xenia in picture 4 is what I added. Everything else is hitch hiker. The LFS said that those are both hardy and will be a good test to see if the tank is truly cycled, and if it can support coral life. Only paid $5 a piece for the small frags.

1) I am using RO water. I do mix my saltwater before hand, and though I do not use a refractometer, I took my glass hydrometer into the LFS, they calibrated it and I have a mark where it should be. The glass hydrometers are very consistent, so know that it is calibrated, it should do fine. I understand that a refractometer is still the best, but this is my first tank, so I don't want to dump too much into it just yet.

2) On the third day of the tank, I got a huge ammonia spike. In fact, the LFS thought I would start killing off the bacteria on the LR. They suggested I get fully cured, aged LR to help. You can tell from the pictures which of these are that. They helped quite a bit. Then my nitrites spiked a couple days after that. All should be well. I am now at 0 on both. Also, I was using Stability, which is live bacteria out of a bottle. That helped a lot as well.

3) My substrate is found here: Marine Reef Aquarium Substrates: Arag-Alive It has stuff that is supposed to help with New Tank Syndrome too.

4) From the pictures, you can see that I have a protein skimmer. It is the Oceanic BioCube skimmer. Rated for up to a 29g. Again, not the best, but it does what it was designed to do.

5) For the moment, I am pretty much stocked, except I want one more fish. Thought about a goby, but don't want to run into issues with the Emerald crab eating it. Again, I have 3 Mexican turbo snails, 3 peppermint shrimp, 1 emerald crab, and 2 percula clowns. I did jump the gun by adding everyone so fast, but so far ammonia and nitrites are 0. We shall see. (One of the reason why I tried to go as hardy as possible).

@clearerphish - Xenia is the forth picture, unless there are two different species of xenia.

 

[clearerphish]

Oh, my bad. 3rd pic looks like a pocillopora, which is an SPS coral and will need high lighting. It will probably not make it in your tank, but to greaten the chance of it surviving, move it as far up on the rocks as possible.

 

[melosu58]

Nice looking tank. It looks as Scott said you have an asternia star. They will reproduce like crazy in the future. I have hundreds of them now.

 

[IronHide1986]

I haven't seen the asternia star in about a week. I am assuming I may have accidentally crushed him while moving rocks. Stupid me.

Thanks for the compliment. I have much to learn. Right now I am testing the limits to gain knowledge. Is that not how we learn? Haha.

 

[MrMalta]

Hey nice tank. I also have a 20H, check out the link in my signature.

Curious - how's the oceanic skimmer working for you? I may have to invest in one.

Once again, very nice setup.

 

[Ziggy953]

I agree they are star polyps. As a word of caution keeping the SG constant in the tank is very important. I see that the water level is about an inch from the trim. Make sure that you are keeping your water topped off with FW. (salt does not evaporate just water) As the water evaporates your SG will go up. You will want to do daily top offs on your tank.

Just a side note...you may want to slow down a touch. Getting a SW tank balanced and stable takes time. If you rush things you will end up with dead critters. Since you are right out of your cycle it is important for you to test your parameters regularly. Now that you have 2 fish in the tank your ammonia source is going to go up again. Make sure to do regular PWCs. I would suggest once per week or once every other week at a minimum.

 

[Ziggy953]

The fourth pic is Xenia