Newbie looking for advice

[kelly0707]

Hi everyone,

I have a 55 gallon saltwater set up for about 7 weeks.

When can I start adding corals, mushrooms etc to make my rock look more colorful and what would be some god ones to get started?

I have 25 pounds of live rock and will be getting more I am running 4 bulb T5 aquatic life lights.

I have 2 percula clowns
1 spotted blenny
1 yellow goby
1 firefish
1 sandsifting starfish
3 hermit crabs
1 peppermint shrimp
1 cleaner shrimp

Any advice on some other fish to get down the line?

Thanks for your help!

 

[AquaRick]

Hi there and welcome to AA!

Have you finished cycling your tank? At 7 weeks, i would think so; but just want to make sure you understand the salt water nitrogen cycle.
See here for a great explanation:
The (almost) Complete Guide and FAQ to Fishless Cycling

If you've tested your tank and it can turn your ammonia to nitrates within 24 hours, then your tank is cycled.

Also, I noticed you're using 25 lbs of rock. I'd heavily consider using more. Most SW tanks have between 1-1.5lbs of rock per gallon. Live rock is the best filtration for salt water tanks. How have your water parameters been with the bioload you have?

TBH i'd think about getting more rock before adding more fish.

 

[scottayy]

For corals, from what I have, for coverage and movement..

I'd recommend
Green Star Polyps
Leathers
Anthelias or Xenia
Duncan
Frogspawn

 

[Mrc8858]

As Rick said up your rock..I'd say take it to right around 65 lbs..if you do it with lace/base rock then there will be no spikes or mini cycles and if your parameters all check out then you could add some shrooms whenever you feel comfortable doing so.

 

[Mrc8858]

For corals, from what I have, for coverage and movement..

I'd recommend
Green Star Polyps
Leathers
Anthelias or Xenia
Duncan
Frogspawn

Id strongly recomend a type of pulsing xenia if you can find it ...its amazing to watch a colony open and close so quickly. I can't think of any other coral that moves as much or as fast..best purchase I made for my reef

 

[kelly0707]

I thought my tank was cycled i checked today and my ammonia is 1.0 what do I do?? I did a 10 percent water change with ro water from the pet store

 

[Mrc8858]

I thought my tank was cycled i checked today and my ammonia is 1.0 what do I do?? I did a 10 percent water change with ro water from the pet store

10% is not enough if you wanna keep eveything alive..that only takes you to .9 ammo and have you tested nitrites or nitrates? Nitrites can be much more problematic then ammo

 

[AquaRick]

I'd really add more rock. Also you need to do water changes with SALT water. RO water is used to topoff your tank. Do a large water change ASAP with fresh salt water.

 

[kelly0707]

I ran to the pet store and tat is what they told me to do they said I could have stirred stuff up the other day when I added more rock and cleaned sand they aid everything else was fine i just had high ammonia

 

[kelly0707]

Sorry I did use saltater with ro water they have pre mixed....will more live rock help bringit down?everyone kept telling me I could add more over time..thank for your help

 

[kelly0707]

I was going to buy more cured live rock but they said to wait so I didnt stir it up more. Should I wait??

 

[AquaRick]

Oh good to know you used Salt water. More live rock will help bring it down in time. It really is the best filtration SW has.

How's your feeding schedule? If you're feeding ok, then it seems the culprit is the bioload\filtration which more rock will help with.

 

[AquaRick]

No, i wouldn't wait. Putting in more rock shouldn't stir up the sand. A mini cycle may be caused by adding more rock...but without additional rock I don't see how you could support your current bioload. You can try returning some fish to the store until your tank is fully cycled with your new rock.

 

[Mrc8858]

To keep it simple until you have your own testing kit this is gonna be a headache.. if your gonna keep a SW tank you will need to be able to check and fix parameters on the fly sometimes. And on another note I can't say they are right or wrong but i do know that many lfs will hide the truth from you or just don't know so that they can make more sales

 

[kelly0707]

I do have my own test kit nutrafin mini master kit but its a little confusing sometimes my colors are not even on the chart

 

[Mrc8858]

Then dilute the test by using twice the water and double what ever your readings are..if your colors aren't on the chart that is very very bad for livestock

 

[kelly0707]

I feed once a day I wa doing twice. My color for ammonia is inbetween yellow and green but it goes from yellow to orange their is no green. Is their a better test kit? I am sorry for al the questions

 

[kelly0707]

How long should I be leaving my lights on everyday? I have 2 blue 2 white and 4 of the neon ones for at night?

 

[Sniperhank]

The moon leds dont do anything other than look nice for you. I never turn mine off TBH. I have my actinics come on at 8 and turn off at 6. My 10ks 10-4.

I wouldn't worry about that until you are fully cycled. Keeping the lights off will reduce algae growth during this time.

 

[kelly0707]

Ok thanks so how much of a water change should I do?