New Tank

[paulsmilk]

I keep reading all these horror stories about people on here starting up there saltwater tanks...

i recently started my own (570L, 2x canasters)

I started adding corals, live rock and fish within 4weeks.. after 6weeks i added a zebra eel. 2weeks later i added a marine betta. i now currently have 1 tang, 2 demsels, 1 betta, 1 zebra moray, 6 hermit crabs, 2 star fish, 2 snails, about 25kgs of live rock and 6 types of corals..

yes i am impatiant, and i know you have to be patiant when it comes to saltwater.

its now been running for about 10weeks and everything seems to be sweet. i test it every week, my nitrite was a little high but that was it..

iv now ordered a snow flake eel.

should i be concerned that i could have one of these horror stories happen to me??

 

[Fastfossil]

Sorry I can not help but wanted to ask if you could post us some pictures of your set up it sound fabulous and interesting and the fact that you made it 10 weeks ia a show of patients.

 

[cmor1701d]

Impatience, overcrowding and lask of maintenance will always bite you at some point. Why type of tang do you have? Most require a much larger (6' long) tank.
Are you doing 20% weekly PWC's?
How high did yor nitrates get, and where are they now?

 

[paulsmilk]

ok, fastfossil, i add a few pics up on my profile..

cmor, i just did a water test and the results were ok..
ammonia was 0 - 0.1
nitrate was 0.1

 

[paulsmilk]

oh sorry i forgot to say that im not quite sure what kind of tang it is but it has a long snout... and the tank is 5ft

 

[Fastfossil]

Stunning set up bud. Looks like you been around a bit longer than a Newbie.

 

[paulsmilk]

cheers mate, i hope all keeps well in there..

 

[austinsdad]

I'm concerned that you say you've got nitrItes, not nitrAtes. Sounds to me like trouble on the way. Either that, or your test kit is bad.

You know nitrites are an effect of cycling and ammonia presence. They kill things. Hopefully, you'll be alright, but I'll stick my neck out and bet things won't be "sweet" for long. So, yes, you should be worried IMO. That stocking was REAL fast.

 

[cmor1701d]

As Ray said, those water paramerters are NOT om. Any trace of Ammonia or nitrIte is a sign of a problem. Both need to be reading 0.

"Slightly elevated ammonia levels falling within the acceptable range may adversely impact aquatic life. Fish may experience a reduction in hatching success; reduction in growth rate and morphological development; and injury to gill tissue (i.e., hyperplasia), liver, and kidneys. Hyperplasia-the gill filaments are swollen and clumped together, reducing the fish's ability to 'breath'."

 

[mr_X]

you are going to want to get rid of the airstones. purchase a couple/few power heads to move the water around. corals need flow, and it will simply keep your tank healthier, by keeping uneaten food and fish poop suspended in the water column until your filter can remove it.
i would wash out the cannister filters weekly.