New to saltwater 28g nano cf need advice

[sean57]

Hello to all, I'm here to learn. I bought a 28g nano cf quad a week and a half ago. I mixed my r/o water and salt, added 40lbs live sand,15lbs live rock,and a bateria additive. Running on stealth heater (marine land). I got frustated with the filtration of the nano after the adding of the live sand so when to lfs and bought a marine land 350 magnum filter/polisher on sale for 99$ now we are crystal clear. bought a master test kit and every thing looks good. Tested salt daily stable. Looking for advice of where to go from here(kinda at a stand still). I know I would like to have two clowns and as many corals as I can keep with the cf lighting(may upgrade to hqi later but when have money for chiller as well).I welcome snails and such butdont know what kind of bio load i can put on this tank. I would be greatful for any help and advice given....

 

[tyspot1000]

Most of the Bacterial additives that are added to any aquarium needs to be added with fish. The bottled bacteria will slowly die off within 2-3 days because of the lack of food (ammonia).

Also, by adding the Live rock, the tank would cycle faster even without the Bacterial additive. The flow going throw the live rock acts as an filter, collecting beneficial bacteria, and making the cycle faster.

As far as the rest, wait for more input

 

[ezy33]

IMO you need to cycle your system. You can start your cycle 2 ways, 1. toss in a raw shrimp for 2 or 3 weeks and watch the ammonia peak. after that your nitrites and nitrates will rise and fall. Then you can fish 1 or 2 at a time. Old school is use hardy live fish like damsel's. The live fish will have to go through a extremely tough time and you will loose a few.

You state you used "live" sand if it was in a bag or a bottle "live" is questionable. Also is you are going to use live rock now is the time or you will have another cycle when you add it.

If you do a search on this site you should find a better explanation on how to cycle a system.

 

[sean57]

I have !5 lbsof live rock in there now do I need more? The live sand I bought was wet in the bag. Two 20lb bags. Thanks guys I'll wait to here more

 

[Conneralbrecht]

With my tank i put 3 damsels in there and tested water everyday. Then about 2 weeks later everything was fine so i went crazy on it.

 

[sean57]

15 lbs of live rock.

 

[sean57]

I was going to buy two damsels this weekend but second guessed it and waited hence I'm now here. Just didnt want to move to fast I hear that is the biggest mistake people make.

 

[Gti_Leo]

or not acclimating the fish or inverts, i had two hermit crabs die out of 3 that i bought, a few days after i put them in. water peramiters were 8.1 ph nitrite and ammonia at close to 0 and nitrate was at 10ppm SG was at 1.025 so i would guess they died of shock because all i did was sit the bag in the tank for 30 minutes and then put them in

 

[atte]

Welcome to AA!

Read this Cycle your salt tank for info on how to cycle your tank. Avoid unnecessarily subjecting fish to a cruel cycle as the ammonia can burn and kill them.

You could do with slightly more live rock and it will be easier to add it now than when your tank is established. Generally you want to aim for around 1lb/gallon but you can get away with less. You can opt to add base rock if you are looking to save on costs. Your equipment and stocking plan (2 clowns) looks OK to me.

 

[Turbosnail]

Welcome to AA!

Read this Cycle your salt tank for info on how to cycle your tank. Avoid unnecessarily subjecting fish to a cruel cycle as the ammonia can burn and kill them.

You could do with slightly more live rock and it will be easier to add it now than when your tank is established. Generally you want to aim for around 1lb/gallon but you can get away with less. You can opt to add base rock if you are looking to save on costs. Your equipment and stocking plan (2 clowns) looks OK to me.

+ 1

Absolutely look at the fishless cycling link. I would aim for 1# per gallon at the very least.

 

[sean57]

Thanks guys, I will go get some more live rock today after work.
I'll be back on later to update, I think I'll do the shrimp thing too.

 

[Turbosnail]

Thank you, if your fish could thank you they would.

 

[pat8you]

I like my tanks to be a little more open and that end up being around 1 pound of rock per gallon of display. some people go as high a 2 per gallon and some go lower.

 

[sean57]

Ok guy's, I need some more help, I have been driving 2 hours to get my live rock and this just isnt going to work with my work life so.... I'm not buying it from my true lfs because every thing they have in there looks like tank problems just waiting to happen so where do you buy online? I looked at some florida live rock that says comes with all kinds of life but will my tank support that life right now? It dos'nt do any good to pay 10$ a pound for rock with coral and plant life growing on it if it dies the same week or day you put it in your tank does it? please help looking for right thing to do................also had a little golden colored growth around the edges of the tank on the sand when I came home today, also had like tiny air pockets forming under the sand against the glass, what is this?

 

[Turbosnail]

I would say that the golden growth would be diatoms, they are normal and should disappear in a few weeks.

The air pockets sound like nitrogen bubbles, it means that the bacteria is doing its job.

Your tank is not good for life until it cycles, also the shipping can have its toll on the live rock, so anything on the rock may or may not survive.

The rock that looks like problems waiting to happen very well could be. Hitchhikers can be good or bad depending on what they are.

You can find deals online for live rock, the downfall is you don't get to pick your pieces. You could try to find some dry reef safe rock it will take a little longer to cycle but is alot cheaper. Also it doesn't have any hitchhikers good or bad. You may be able to find it at your lfs, Although that won't save you the drive.

I have not purchased live rock online so I can't really recommend any site in particular.

 

[sean57]

The drive is to a reputable store my local is less than what i would call reputable.....

 

[atte]

I personally have not bought rock online, but I would suggest going with a mix of base rock and live rock. You could buy a small amount of live rock either from the LFS that's a bit far away or online and use it to seed the base rock. This is how I started my tank. I've heard good things about MarcoRocks.com and reefcleaners.org for buying base rock.

 

[Turbosnail]

+ 1