N00B of the week!

[Cookies N Punch]

Hey guys, as you can see I am new. So heres a little intro.. After my girlfriend and I went on a trip to the keys in Florida we got bit by the owning a SW aquarium bug by looking at some seahorses and actually searched and found a tank on craigslist and picked it up on the way home the next day. We got a 14G hexagon tall tank with a light and a filter. This is the light that came with it Amazon.com: Penn-Plax - Aquarium- FL8 8Watt 12 Aquarilux Flurbul: Kitchen & Dining I purchased a light timer and have it set 1/2 light for 3 hours, on for 10, 1/2 for 3 hours, and off for 8. I also purchased a heater and thermometer. So I went to my LFS and talked to the guy there and I told him I was just starting out and what I needed to get. He gave me some salt, a bag of LS, some LR (6lbs), a salinity guage, a bottle of Live nitrifying bacteria for SW, and a bottle that removes nitrate, nitrite, ammonia, chlorine and chloramines. He told me to mix the salt and water (1/2 cup per gallon obv.), test the salinity and start the filter. Then he said add the LR, but not the LS. Then add the additives I noted. Let it cycle for 3 days and then add the LS. So today is day 4, and I added the LS yesterday. I also bought a test kit but its the strips, which I found out are frowned upon for being not so accurate after I bought them, which was awesome. I will test everything tomorrow and post them. So for now Im just letting it cycle. Heres a pic of it today.

BTW my goals are to get a protein skimmer and have a FOWLR tank with mostly inverts and some hardy fish. Eventually down the road I want to get seahorses, which I know are very sensitive and very hard to take care of, but I think my tank should be okay, I just need to build my knowledge.

So heres my questions..
How much longer do you think it should cycle?
When should I add a CUC? How many of what?
Am I doing anything wrong?
Any suggestions on helping my setup without changing the tank size?
Is my lighting okay for what I want?

Thanks in advance!

 

[atte]

Welcome to AA! I got into aquariums because of seahorses too, and look forward to the day I finally get them

Cycling could take anywhere from a week more to a month more, it really varies from tank to tank. The live rock should help reduce the time a bit (my tank cycled in 2 weeks using only live rock). As for the bottles of bacteria and removers, I don't think they will be very beneficial but let someone else comment on that first.

Wait until all your parameters are good and your tank has cycled to add a CUC. Cmor has a great list of snails that you could buy -- check this thread. Nassarius snails are good for the sandbed and astrea/turbo snails are common for diatoms, hair algae, etc. You could also look into getting some crabs.

Since you are going with a FOWLR, the current lighting will be fine. If you decide to get corals/go reef later on, you will need to upgrade.

You seem to be right on track with everything, let us know what kind of fish you are interested in and feel free to ask more questions if you are confused about something.

 

[dkpate]

Welcome to AA!

 

[ampa one]

welcome to AA

 

[Cookies N Punch]

I posted the test and started a new thread in the getting started section

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f14/so-im-new-127499.html

 

[melosu58]

I was just getting ready to say that you need to post your questions in the SW forums. More people will see it there. Welcome to AA.

 

[discus_lover]

hello and welcome to our forum..