New to Saltwater looking for advice

[Rugger]

I have just started a Biocube 14gallon saltwater. I have 2 green chromis and a blue reef chromis, also a chocolate chip starfish( 8 year old daughter on this argument with me) I purchased this all at petco. I have also bought 7-8lbs of fiji live rock( in a established tank 11 years) a protien skimmer and a biocube circulation reef pump. Also had bought a anemone same time as starfish from petco but starfish ate it. I now have some green algae looking stuff on the sand that was not there lastnight. Any and all advice on what I am doing thats right or wrong or what I should look at doing next will be appreciated very much.

[carey]

Hi. Welcome to the forum.

There's so many questions i have such as how long has the tank been set up? Did you cycle it before adding fish? Do you have a water test kit? By the way that starfish is not reef safe and will eat all corals too. :-(

[Rugger]

Have had tank 3 weeks, bought the water from petco where they test the water for me. Is the starfish bad for the live rock then??

[PrettyFishies]

The chocolate star has to go if you want corals.

Do you test the water yourself? How long are lights on? What kind do you have?

You may have a nitrate issue.

[Rugger]

Oceanic Systems » BioCube Aquariums | Products I have the 14 gallon system it comes with lights. I will grab a test tomorrow to keep track of it all myself. So the chocolate star is bad then. It ate my sea Anemone that petco sold me the same day and said they would be fine together. Starting small with 14 gallons to see if I can get this down before going to a bigger tank.

[Rugger]

This is a quick picture of it. Is there a starfish that is okay with corals or no??

[Patrick93]

Y keep fake plants in the tank? I would keep it all natural and add a little more rock replace the fake stuff with living corals after you get rid of the cc star, having corals compared to the starfish well if it was me the star would be on the way bak to the store

[kelly0707]

I have a sandsifting starfish that I was told is reef safe but it might get to big for your tank. I was also going to get the chocolate chip starfish until I was told is was not reef safe.

Good Luck I would take it back and tell them to give you a credit for something new because they gave you the wrong info. You tank might not have cycled yet so be careful you still might lose things

[Rutrag]

Originally Posted by Rugger

This is a quick picture of it. Is there a starfish that is okay with corals or no??

Linkia stars are considered reef safe as well as most brittle or serpent stars. Avoid the common green serpent stars as they sometimes eat sleeping fish.

Be aware that the linkias although beautiful, have a reputation for withering away in all but the most established of tanks.

[carey]

If you must have a starfish get a serpent star. Reef safe, they can take food from you and are relatively easy to keep. Most other star fish, including the sand sifter do not do well in home aquaria for the most part.

[spoonman]

Have the fish been in the tank since day 1?

[Tmyboy]

I think you're in going way too fast brother.

You put in too much too fast. (fish, star, anemone). I highly doubt the anemome would have survived even if the starfish didn't eat him.

Putting that starfish and the anemone in a freshly started tank is a bad idea in my opinion and that guy at the pet shop should be smacked in his **** head for selling you that live stock. Not to mention that fool sells you all that without informing you that ammonia, nitrate and nitrite kits are a necessity for a new tank

Bring the star back and get more live rock if you can...at least the chromis have a chance to survive so give that a shot.

Good luck and find a new lfs if you can.

Regards.

[Rugger]

They had me wait 4 days bring in a sample of the water which they tested and then they said it was okay to start adding live fish. How much live rock should I put in the tank? Already ordered a API master test kit. And now I need to tell Petco their employes are idiots,lol.

[mr_X]

A pound per gallon at least. Make sure it's the most porous rock you can find. Don't choose boulder type pieces.
An average cycle lasts a couple weeks to a month.

[Tmyboy]

Originally Posted by Rugger

They had me wait 4 days bring in a sample of the water which they tested and then they said it was okay to start adding live fish. How much live rock should I put in the tank? Already ordered a API master test kit. And now I need to tell Petco their employes are idiots,lol.

As Mr.x states, 4 days is not nearly enough time to Start adding live stock. Especially a fairly sensitive creature like a star. Not your fault they misled you, but just saying.

I'm very glad you've ordered the test kits! You'll use them, that's for sure. Wait at least 2-3 weeks before adding anything else to see where your bioload is at.

Get 1.5lbs per gallon if you have the financial means but 1lb per will do.

Good luck and please post any questions you have as you go through the learning curve. It's a big one and I'm still going through it! This board is an unbelievable tool in that regards!!

Keep us updated.

Regards;

T

[carey]

You can get a mixture of live rock and base rock which is alot cheaper and will become live after a short time anyways. Adding base rock will also mean no ammonia spike as you might have with live rock.

Good luck

[NyteGTI]

Originally Posted by carey

You can get a mixture of live rock and base rock which is alot cheaper and will become live after a short time anyways. Adding base rock will also mean no ammonia spike as you might have with live rock.

Good luck

Just scrub it off really well or else you could cause an ammonia spike(depending on the rock & where it came from)

[Rugger]

Well argued with Petco Corporate about their manager selling me a anemone that was without light for 24 hours at same time as a cc starfish and was told that the manager says it was healthy so it must have been. But hey they offered me 20 bucks in savings in a book of coupons and 20% of my next fish I buy,lol. So I guess I will be doing all my buying online. Any ideas of a good trust worthy store??

[Ibrahim]

Originally Posted by Rugger

Well argued with Petco Corporate about their manager selling me a anemone that was without light for 24 hours at same time as a cc starfish and was told that the manager says it was healthy so it must have been. But hey they offered me 20 bucks in savings in a book of coupons and 20% of my next fish I buy,lol. So I guess I will be doing all my buying online. Any ideas of a good trust worthy store??

Bluezooaquatics and Live Aquaria. Also it seems like they sold you a yellow tailed damsel as well instead of chromis. The other fish is a green/blue chromis though.

[MacDracor]

Petco, like all chain pet stores, is hit or miss. My petco is awesome and the aquatics people are super knowledgeable. But others... well, you know.
I would argue that a 14 gallon tank is too small for any starfish to survive long term. Linkia stars feed off of microscopic stuff on surfaces and in the water column and will clean out their food source pretty quickly. Fromia stars feed off microscopic bacterial film on rock and tank sides as well. Sand sifting stars are really only appropriate for larger tanks, and as stated, some brittle stars will eat fish.
But without a starfish or anemone, there are still some beautiful corals you can put in there, and some really cool little inverts as well.