first saltwater tank

[hackteck]

looks like coraline covered it

 

[carey]

I like it.

I'm also a big fan of purple and pink so there ya go lol

 

[tnice17]

Looks good! What did you use for substrate? It looks purpleish.

Well it was white when I got it, it has turned purple over the course of
Time that my tank has been set up for. Roughly 5 months

 

[tnice17]

I picked up 20lbs Fiji Pink live sand from my lfs today

Also going to purchase a stand because I need to move the tank this coming weekend. I have 3 5gal water jugs, I will do a 20% wc as well, maybe 25% if you count the canister filter.

My lfs has a Blue Mandarin, they are beautiful!! I was reading that they are hard to take care if because of the feeding but other people/reviews say they are easy to take of. I think have plenty of liverock for them. Can anyone share their experience or knowledge here? Could I get one?

 

[mr_X]

no way can you keep a mandarin in a 20 gallon tank. they need about 75-100 pounds of live rock to graze on. it will definitely starve to death over a period of about a month.

 

[tnice17]

^^ why does liveaquaria, which is a pretty reputable site, suggest 30 gal min?

 

[carey]

Thats based on the size of the fish. The feeding requirements are really really hard though. Most of them die of stravation which is a rotten way to go

 

[austinsdad]

I'd go with the recommendations of many who've owned or tried to own one that don't eat prepared foods. Without a lot of rock and thriving pods, they do starve. They'll wipe out a pod population in a 30g which in no way will have enuf rockwork.

 

[tnice17]

Ok I see now, thanks for the info everyone! I'll take some pics when I move the tank this weekend for everyone.

 

[mr_X]

^^ why does liveaquaria, which is a pretty reputable site, suggest 30 gal min?

there are multiple mistakes on their website. many sites on the net have done a lot of copy and paste when it comes to content. it's a death sentence for an average mandarin, putting it in a small tank. you can't even supplement their diet with pods because an average dragonet will eat a bottle of pods a day.
to answer your question, you'll need to contact fosters and smith.

 

[tnice17]

Update everyone:

I picked up a duel t5HO light fixture, glass top and tank stand.

I tried to upload pics but the app on my iPhone wouldn't let me :/

 

[thincat]

I would not use a glass top for a reef tank. It prevents CO2 gas exchange with the water surface.

 

[tnice17]

I would not use a glass top for a reef tank. It prevents CO2 gas exchange with the water surface.

Could I leave the back 2" plastic strip off? I understand the concept of what your saying but I think there is a point at which the gas exchange will be enough with out the top vs with half a top. I have two powerheads on the surface so my water agitation is high I would say.

And I'm not going crazy reef, just some mushrooms, polyp and maybe an anemone.


--

You guys may or may not agree with the decision I made a few weeks ago, I added my first fish to the tank. An adult clown.

A co-worker had him in his 8 year old fish only 175 gal tank and he wanted to go aggressive and was afraid he would not do well so I took the fish off his hands.

I got water samples from 3 lfs in my area that deal with saltwater, I tested there water with my kit and what do you know... The readings where the same expect for nitrate, mine was a little higher (5-10). My next test kit will be API for sure because I dont think my redsea is accurate.

The fish looks very happy and swims in this nice section of current . I have been doing pwc weekly to keep nitrate down.

I changed the carbon in my csnister for the first time since I got it :/ and I plan on getting SearchEm de-nitrate this week.

Since I put the sand in when I moved my tank the full flow of the 305 Fluval was moving the sand too much, the flow is low now and I will keep it that was so the de-nitrate will work as it should around 50gph.

 

[Kelso]

De-nitrate does need a very slow flow to work. I had a separate DIY PVC canister with a slow pump, one that toped out at 60 gph. It worked well, but over time I took it off and my nitrates haven't changed.

I would recommend SeaChem Matrix. You could put it right in your canister, its made for a higher flow. I run it on my tanks now keeps the levels right where I need. That and carbon are all I use.

 

[Smitty]

I didn't really think that 5-10 nitrAtes was bad. You can do 20% water changes weekly (which is good anyway) and it should bring it down over the next couple months (not a quick process).

 

[thincat]

I agree with what everyone has said, CO2 thens to bring your PH down and that could be a problem. If you do the water changes that Smitty has said you should be Okay.

 

[tnice17]

I'll be sure to keep a closer eye on my pH levels

Today pH is at 8.2ish
Nitrate is at 10. Im going on vacation on Thursday so I was planning on doing a 20% pwc.

Correct me if I am wrong but if I continue to do pwc till nitrate is at 0, will the tank maintain a lower nitrate around 0? Than do pwc every 2 weeks to lower nitrates again of course

 

[Smitty]

I don't know that it is possible to have a tank with 0 nitrate unless you have an external source using it up (a lot of macro algae or a bit reactor of some kind). It takes a lot of pwcs to get it down that little and to keep it down that low, I don't know that one ever 2 weeks will do it.

 

[carey]

I've been keeping my trates at 0 with a weekly pwc of about 15%. it did take forever to get to the 0 I must admit. lol

 

[hackteck]

my trates are 0 i just recently started changing 10G out of the 55G a week so that probably has alot to do with it, its alot of work but its worth it lol