SW Newbie, advice and help please!

[aircrowley]

Hi all,

I'm new to the site and new to saltwater aquariums. I've had African Cichlid tanks for years, wanted to try something new. I just purchased a 14 gallon Oceanic BioCube Aquarium. Also, purchased, the chiller/heater and a bigger pump, which was suggested since I want to have coral. I have the live sand and have added live rock. I've done all my water tests, everything looks good. I recently added a Clownfish and a Blue Tang. A few questions from a beginner, any help would be a appreciated.

1. Is this the maximum fish I can add?

2. I need suggestions for my coral reef, with these fish. I have nothing right now and not sure what would go with these fish.

3. Can I add a starfish, seahorse, or crabs?

4. Do I need a protein skimmer?

5. It was suggested that I add the fish and then wait a week before adding coral.

6. If I get saltwater from a store, how long is it good for, when sitting inside containers.

7. Should water changes be done once a week, or every other week?

8. I tested for salinity, nitrates, ammonia and ph. All came back good, according to the test kit. What is the idea range for these test. I know sometimes what paperwork says can be off somewhat.

Any suggestions and help , would be greatly appreciated. Anything thing else that I may need for this quarium would be appreciated as well.

Thanks,

Aaron
A Saltwater Newbie

 

[melosu58]

Welcome to AA. I`m going top go ahead and move your thread to the Getting started forum since you have all those questions. Usually we like you to say hello in this forum but like I said I`ll move so others will see your questions.

 

[aircrowley]

Thanks

 

[bawel]

Blue tang in a 14gallon? I think you might want to bring that back into your LFS. Please check at liveaquaria.com to see what are the requirements for the fishes you have in mind.

 

[aircrowley]

Yes I took the tang back today already. Thanks

 

[bawel]

1. Is this the maximum fish I can add? - depending on the size of fishes, if you check at liveaquaria.com, you can have selections of what you have, but since you have 14gallon, I think the max you can have is about 2 fishes, unless they are tiny like gobies, you can have 3, but that's pushing it.

2. I need suggestions for my coral reef, with these fish. I have nothing right now and not sure what would go with these fish - that site I said on #1 will help you determine if the fishes are reef safe, clown fish pretty much is safe and if you want me to suggest what other fishes to get, maybe like a firefish goby or royal gramma.

3. Can I add a starfish, seahorse, or crabs? - starfish usually added when your tank has matured or established. Seahorse is doable, but only the dwarf ones since your tank is small, u have a chiller so this should be okay. Crabs, there are many kinds, depend on what you have in mind.

4. Do I need a protein skimmer? - since your tank is small, I think doing partial water change (PWC) weekly should be enough, but if you want protein skimmer, I think they make a special one for those biocube.

5. It was suggested that I add the fish and then wait a week before adding coral - Between one fish and the new one, should be about a month, plus minus. Corals I think it's safe to be added if your tank has been stable and you don't have to wait between a week, I might be wrong.

6. If I get saltwater from a store, how long is it good for, when sitting inside containers - I don't know how long is it good for, coz I usually heat it up first and then pour it in on the same day.

7. Should water changes be done once a week, or every other week? - depending on your nitrate waste, if you keep checking your level, you want to keep as minimal number possible, if your bioload waste is a lot, it's good to do it weekly, but if not, every 10 days for 20% should be fine.

8. I tested for salinity, nitrates, ammonia and ph. All came back good, according to the test kit. What is the idea range for these test. I know sometimes what paperwork says can be off somewhat. - what kind of test kit that you have? Also, you mentioned only nitrates, did you check nitrites? You always should try to maintain Ammonia and Nitrite at 0, salinity for coral tank is 1.025-1.026 but if you have lower now like 1.020-1.023 I think it's okay. Ph should be between 7.8-8.4 but ideally it should be between 8.0-8.2, but I might be wrong, I let the experts help me on this one. Nitrate always fluctuate, but always keep it at the low like between 5-20 at most.

I hope that helps you a bit there.

PS: Thanks for taking the tang back

 

[aircrowley]

Thanks for the information. I believe I'm going to go with the clownfish, a firefish, and yellow goby. Any recommendations you have on the coral reef would be good, I believe I have 15 pounds of live rock in there now.

 

[melosu58]

I would start off with some good starter corals like Mushrooms, Button polyps and maybe some yellow polyps. I would of course let your tank mature a couple more months first.