New to AA and Saltwater! Looking for some advice.

[bawel]

I think you can pick up your first fish today and keep the check the stability of the water for a month. YOu don't have to do the testing every day, but every 2-3 days should be good. If all levels are stable for a month and even after doing PWC and stuff, then your tank is ready to add the new inhabitants.

 

[dan81]

Sounds good! WOOHOO!

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

Just my thoughts, but if you are thinking a reef tank down the road, I'd do some massive water changes to get those nitrates down to nearly zero before adding livestock. Without any livestock in there, you will never find an easier time to do huge water changes and not risk stressing anything out. I mean... doing a 50% water change will immediately knock those nitrates down to 5ppm. Doing a 75% water change will knock it down to 2.5ppm. And with a reef, the lower the better.

10ppm is acceptable, but I guess I'd just try to get them as far down as possible while it's relatively easy.

 

[dan81]

I thought about doing reef but with my hood and light setup I cant. mabey in about 6 months or so after I have had the tank a while and refilled my wallet, I will upgrade my hood and lights to support my reef dreams.

Also about the nitrates, I have the Ocean master test kit and the nitrate chip only goes as low as 10ppm. Now I would say my testing shows very littel color in my test water, the closest comparable reading was 10. I am going to pick up a API test kit today and verify all my numbers before picking up the fish.

 

[dan81]

Just wanted to leave an update.
Ive had a couple clowns for about a week. here are a couple pics. I will wait about 3 more weeks before I get another fish. Probably a Goby.
I saw my ammonia rise slightly to .2 about three days ago and today it is back to Zero.
PH- 8.2
Ammonia- 0
Nitrite-0
Nitrate- 10

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

Just curious... what is on the bottom of your tank? Looks like some type of mat?

 

[dan81]

Argonite....
I guess the pic does make it look like a gym mat.

 

[BEANS]

What kind and how much lighting do you have on your tank? thanks

 

[dan81]

it has 2 T8 - 18 Watt lamps.
I want to upgrade but the hood itself seriously limits my options. im currently researching what I can do.

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

Argonite....
I guess the pic does make it look like a gym mat.

Yeah... it's just so perfectly smooth, and the color threw me off. Thanks!

 

[dan81]

So I got some frozen brine shrimp today and i was wondering about preparing it for my clowns. Do I just break of a chunk and drop it in the tank, or thaw it out and get the excess crap off it first? I figure the second option is better.

 

[sqrle]

I normaly just broke off what I wanted to feed them and put it in a well rinsed cup with a a bit of tank water, let it thaw, then dump it into the tank. If you were still wanting a goby, see if you can get a yellow headed goby. They are the best surface sand sifters ever. They grab a mouthful of sand and swim away filtering out the sand through their gills. It is realy neat to watch, and keeps the sand super clean. It looks like this...

 

[dan81]

Awesome! thanks for the Goby advice. Im probably gonna wait about to more weeks before I get the Goby. Was thinking mabey a cleaner shrimp after that and then consider my tanks stocked! I would love a Dwarf Flame Angel(Mabey to big for tank) or Coral Beauty, but that may be over stocking?

 

[dan81]

Ok so I think I am going to get my next fish at the end of this week!
I am seriously considering th Yellow head goby that was mentioned before. Anybody have other neat options? Also Would the goby be my limit or could I add another fish?

 

[katamoron]

We put a lawnmower blenny (salarias fasciatus) in our 55, and its fun to watch. It sits in a hole in the LR and watches us - looks like its sitting inside a window looking out at us.

 

[dan81]

That is an interesting fish! I will be headed over to my preferred LFS and see what they got. Not planning on buying till Friday tho. May look into some new lighting. My current hood only supports T8 lights up to 18watts. I would LOVE to have some corals so if anyone know of any that will work awesome. Im thinking it is a shot in the dark tho.

Also tested water again today:
PH- 8.2
Ammonia- 0
Nitrite- 0
Nitrate- 5

Everythings looking good.
More photos to come too!

 

[dan81]

So here are a couple pics of my tank so far. I want to add some corals so I think I will be upgrading my lighting some time in the next couple month since my research is telling me that my current T8's wont support coral.

 

[thincat]

Looks good. You might consider a PH to help move some water around.

 

[dan81]

I have 1 marineland PH in already. Are you saying I should add another one?

 

[bawel]

HI Dan81, depending tho, if you filter also generate water flow movement, then you don't need another PH, but if your PH is the only thing that generate the water flow, you probably need 1 more.