My new fish tank :]

[Mae17]

I believe it's called nano 16g Nuvo aquarium. It was nice because I have never had one before and it came with the filters and lights so it made it so easy. All I did was add LR and LS and RO. Let it run for a week (which my fish guy told me was ok.. Idk if thats good or not) Then after that week I went back to him and he tested my water

Ph 7.8
Am 0
Ni 0
Na .10 (which I can't tell if it's .10 or 10 his hand writing is bad)
Salt 1.021


So he let me buy two clown fish, 6 snails and 6 hermits


So far so good. He Also gave me iodide, liquid calcium, and strontium & molybdenum to put in 2times a week (very small amounts)

He also told me to do 20% water changes 1 time a month.. Idk if that's ok but he seemed to know what he was talking about. He was the owner of the store too.

P.s. I tried uploading a pic of my tank but it won't work :[

 

[Convict2161]

I believe it's called nano 16g Nuvo aquarium. It was nice because I have never had one before and it came with the filters and lights so it made it so easy. All I did was add LR and LS and RO. Let it run for a week (which my fish guy told me was ok.. Idk if thats good or not) Then after that week I went back to him and he tested my water

Ph 7.8
Am 0
Ni 0
Na .10 (which I can't tell if it's .10 or 10 his hand writing is bad)
Salt 1.021

So he let me buy two clown fish, 6 snails and 6 hermits

So far so good. He Also gave me iodide, liquid calcium, and strontium & molybdenum to put in 2times a week (very small amounts)

He also told me to do 20% water changes 1 time a month.. Idk if that's ok but he seemed to know what he was talking about. He was the owner of the store too.

P.s. I tried uploading a pic of my tank but it won't work :[

Hi!

A few things,

pH is low, 8.0-8.2 I keep mine at 8.2

Salinity is low, 1.024-1.026 I keep mine at 1.026

I would have cycled the tank longer, what did you use for a ammonia source? I think he may have given some poor advice. But your here now so we can help ya!

I wouldn't add any chemicals unless you can test for them. You'll need all sorts of kits if your gonna add all those chemicals. I just do my weekly water changes and now I dose 2 part because of coral growth.

EDIT:

So you didn't add salt at any point? Also in that size tank, I'd definitely do weekly water changes. Your gonna need pre mixed saltwater or make your own am with that comes, a heater, power head, refractometer (to measure salinity) and a 5 gallon bucket. Oh and salt... I use Instant Ocean reef crystals.

My Bio Cube 29



Here's my Nuvo 8g








Check out my album for more pics if ya want.


Also check these out. There good reads.

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/cycle-your-salt-tank/?/3/1/Cycle-your-salt-tank/Page1.html

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f14/stock-list-and-tips-for-maintaining-your-sw-tank-73477.html

 

[Poon]

+1 to Convict. Read up as there is an ocean of information out there (pun intended and not really that good anyway)...Nice profile pic... You should get plenty of responses...lol. Biggest advise is take it as slows you can bear and then add to it... I'll follow along and add in if I can.

 

[Beengirl]

I believe it's called nano 16g Nuvo aquarium. It was nice because I have never had one before and it came with the filters and lights so it made it so easy. All I did was add LR and LS and RO. Let it run for a week (which my fish guy told me was ok.. Idk if thats good or not) Then after that week I went back to him and he tested my water

Ph 7.8
Am 0
Ni 0
Na .10 (which I can't tell if it's .10 or 10 his hand writing is bad)
Salt 1.021

So he let me buy two clown fish, 6 snails and 6 hermits

So far so good. He Also gave me iodide, liquid calcium, and strontium & molybdenum to put in 2times a week (very small amounts)

He also told me to do 20% water changes 1 time a month.. Idk if that's ok but he seemed to know what he was talking about. He was the owner of the store too.

P.s. I tried uploading a pic of my tank but it won't work :[

Hi! Welcome to AA.

I agree with Con that you might have been given bad advice. And the fact that the store owner "let" you buy some living things to put in this tank after only a week leads me to believe that he isn't looking out for your or your fish's best interest. Did you ever have an ammonia or nitrite spike? Your tank is likely not cycled after only a week unless you were able to seed it with filter media from an established tank. That means your clowns, snails and hermits might not make it through the cycle they're about to experience. Even if they do live, its going to be very unpleasant for them because ammonia burns their skin and gills and nitrite out-competes oxygen, so they cant breathe well. Air stones generally aren't used in SW, but while the nitrites are high, you might want to drop in an air stone to increase the oxygen in the water to prevent your fish from gasping for air.
You're really gonna need liquid test kits for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate. There's a master test kit you can buy that will also test for pH and alkalinity. If you want your fish to make it through this, and I'm assuming you do, you'll need to test ammonia, nitrite and nitrate every day for a couple of weeks, and if ammonia or nitrite get above 0.25, you'll need to change out some water to lower it to that level. Ammonia and nitrite can and do kill fish. I'm sorry if this is coming across as harsh at all, it's really not intended to be. If you test every day and do the needed water changes to keep ammonia and nitrite below 0.25, your beautiful clowns might make it through the cycle. When ammonia spikes and drops to zero and nitrite spikes and drops to zero, then your tank is cycled. After 2-3 more weeks, you should be cycled and then I would do 10-20% water changes every week, not monthly. After you're cycled, ammonia and nitrite should always be zero, and nitrate should be kept below 40, but closer to zero is always better. Good luck and let us know if you have any questions along the way!!

 

[Mae17]

+1 to Convict. Read up as there is an ocean of information out there (pun intended and not really that good anyway)...Nice profile pic... You should get plenty of responses...lol. Biggest advise is take it as slows you can bear and then add to it... I'll follow along and add in if I can.

Lol thanks ;]

 

[Mae17]

Yeah I asked the guy if I should be testing for anything n he Said no he will do it or me because I will be going once. Month to get a refill on my water ... But I did think that was weird.

http://i1065.photobucket.com/albums...52413ee54c406cf4d18247aa062ae_zps6bff58d6.jpg

See if this link works .. It's my tank

 

[Convict2161]

The link worked.


First lemme say its a nice tank. Did you do the aqua scaping?

Also I wouldn't deal with that guy IMO. What is he testing for? What if you need to test something in an emergency? I think the advice given by this guy is horrible TBO.

I see problems in the future with this tank. What is this guy thinking, once a month water changes? And he told you that you need nothing because he's testing everything for you?

This kinda of thing really burns me up lemme tell ya!!

Probably spent a good penny on the tank, rock, sand etc....

You need a test kit bottom line. Getting water from him is fine some do it, I do it.

But you don't need to be dosing anything unless your testing for it, and you won't know what dose to give without test results. I wouldn't count on this guy. I see him running the basic tests, ammonia, nitrAtes, nitrites and pH.

If you go reef is he testing for alkalinity and calcium? Also magnesium?

Also what about phosphates? Is he testing for this? And salinity? I wouldn't wait a month in between testing salinity especially with a topless tank like you have. Your gonna get evap and need to top off with RO or distilled water therefor keeping an eye on your salinity.

This is just my opinion but this guy doesn't really know what he's talking about.

Seems like he made the sale and wants you coming back for more when things go bad and then will probably have some excuse as to why it did then sell you more chems.

 

[Mae17]

Yes I did the aqua scraping :]

Yeah I think I'll go back to him for the water and ask him all this stuff you are telling me and see what he says.. My friends go to his store that's how I found him and they never had problems and he's a really nice guy.. But if I ask him all these questions and he still says I dont need this stuff I will look for a new store.

Also.. My tank came with day lights and actinics.. But no moon lights.. Do I need them?

 

[Mae17]

*aqua scaping... I got auto corrected.

 

[Mae17]

I figured it out!!

 

[obscurereef]

No you don't need to get moon lights..they are really just for you to view the fish at night and have a more "natural" look during night for the fish (but fish don't care if you have them or not). I go to 5 different lfs almost all really close to each other, and in one, the owner gives awesome info (slightly different that regular techniques), but he talks WAY too much. If I don't stop him he can go on for hours which doesn't help his other customers. Usually you can tell if someone gives good advice by the result they get. So if their tanks/corals/fish look unhealthy and uncared for, you'll know that method isn't the best. Everyone has their way of doing things and some work just fine and keep things alive and others make things thrive. I also don't really agree with that owner's advice, but then again, take in consideration that the economy is bad and they need to make money too somehow :L.

 

[Convict2161]

Yes I did the aqua scraping :]

Yeah I think I'll go back to him for the water and ask him all this stuff you are telling me and see what he says.. My friends go to his store that's how I found him and they never had problems and he's a really nice guy.. But if I ask him all these questions and he still says I dont need this stuff I will look for a new store.

Also.. My tank came with day lights and actinics.. But no moon lights.. Do I need them?

You don't need the moonlights. You have the same lights I have. It's whites and blues right? On different plugs? What I do is I have the lights on timers. Blues first then whites with the blues. And then whites off and blue on until about midnight.

Great job on the tank!!

Now lets hope your little clowns and clean up crew will make it. I'm just baffled really about the whole not testing anything and how the thing came about.

So when you started you didn't add salt? He said just add RO water for a week then add fish and CUC?

I wish you all the luck in the world an were all here to help if ya need us.

 

[Convict2161]

Oh and on a side note. You can point one outtake upward and on an angle to agitate the surface. It's always a good idea

 

[Keithhjs]

Tank looks nice! I too agree the LFS guy didn't give good advice. Like everyone else said get a test kit & check yourself. You should think about making your own saltwater too eventually cuz then you know what quality it is. If the LFS guy said you only need to test once a month and he'll do it for you , IMHO that's another bad sign. Sounds like he just wants to get you into that store as much as possible. So many of us have learned the hard way impulse buying something before researching or knowing about it, just because it caught our eye & looked neat. My guess is he hopes you do the same. Best place to learn is here on this forum (alongside reputable books, websites, friends, etc) and not the LFS guy as he is in business to make money and the people here are in it for the love of the hobby and only want you to be successful. Good luck & keep updating pics and info!

 

[obscurereef]

I remember years ago, when I was a beginner with a 10 gallon FW tank I'd go to Petsmart every so often and get what was appealing. Well several times I got agressive fish that weren't fit to be in the tank. However, once I bought this "bumble bee fish" I called it. Over time it grew to a massive size, and I thought it was peaceful (I didn't do any research on this fish). So when my fish started disappearing I blamed it on this smaller territorial fish. One day I found a dead fish in the bumble bee fish's mouth and I knew I had to get rid of him for that and also he was getting over 5 inches! I donated it to PETCO b/c nowhere else "adopted" fish and afterwards I found out that it was actually called a banded leporinus which can grow up to a foot and need 70 gallons min ! Worst mistake I made, I take full responsibility for my mistake, but goes to show that some stores will still sell you whatever to get money. Just a small story to show the importance of research. To this day I research everything before I put it in my tank and it has saved me lots of money, time, and headache!

 

[Mae17]

No you don't need to get moon lights..they are really just for you to view the fish at night and have a more "natural" look during night for the fish (but fish don't care if you have them or not). I go to 5 different lfs almost all really close to each other, and in one, the owner gives awesome info (slightly different that regular techniques), but he talks WAY too much. If I don't stop him he can go on for hours which doesn't help his other customers. Usually you can tell if someone gives good advice by the result they get. So if their tanks/corals/fish look unhealthy and uncared for, you'll know that method isn't the best. Everyone has their way of doing things and some work just fine and keep things alive and others make things thrive. I also don't really agree with that owner's advice, but then again, take in consideration that the economy is bad and they need to make money too somehow :L.

See that's the thing.. His store is amazing and everything is in good condition.l but I prob should get second and third opinions elsewhere.

 

[Mae17]

You don't need the moonlights. You have the same lights I have. It's whites and blues right? On different plugs? What I do is I have the lights on timers. Blues first then whites with the blues. And then whites off and blue on until about midnight.

Great job on the tank!!

Now lets hope your little clowns and clean up crew will make it. I'm just baffled really about the whole not testing anything and how the thing came about.

So when you started you didn't add salt? He said just add RO water for a week then add fish and CUC?

I wish you all the luck in the world an were all here to help if ya need us.

No I didn't add salt just the ocean water.. He told me to run I for a week then he would test it for me.. I mean he seemed very knowledgable .. But what do I know lol.

And also the time I bought doesn't fit all 4 plugs for the lights.. Which one do you use?

 

[Convict2161]

No I didn't add salt just the ocean water.. He told me to run I for a week then he would test it for me.. I mean he seemed very knowledgable .. But what do I know lol.

And also the time I bought doesn't fit all 4 plugs for the lights.. Which one do you use?

Your tank isn't cycled then, one week is too short to get any peaks and you didn't use any ammonia source. Not your fault though....

I used a 3 plug adaptor and plugged that into the timer and then plugged the timer into a surge protector. Did the same with the whites.

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Axis-45091-3-Outlet-Heavy-Duty-Grounding-Adapter/21054208

 

[danbstrong]

Your tank isn't cycled then, one week is too short to get any peaks and you didn't use any ammonia source. Not your fault though....

I used a 3 plug adaptor and plugged that into the timer and then plugged the timer into a surge protector. Did the same with the whites.

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Axis-45091-3-Outlet-Heavy-Duty-Grounding-Adapter/21054208

Isnt nitrate the end result of a cycle?? Taking timeframe out wouldnt 0 ammo 0 nitrite and 10 nitrate mean there was a cycle and that bb is present?

 

[danbstrong]

Isnt nitrate the end result of a cycle?? Taking timeframe out wouldnt 0 ammo 0 nitrite and 10 nitrate mean there was a cycle and that bb is present?

Or did i read those numbers wrong?