29 g. start up reef tank

[jwalsh]

so i have recently undergone the task of setting up a saltwater tank. i am new to this so there is a huge learning curve involved. i have been doing my research... alot of research!! lol but anyways my tank has been up for about 5 days and i have been reading a ton about cycling my tank. from what i came up with was to put in some live rock so i went and got 3 lbs and about 6 lbs of base rock per the recomendation of the lfs. she said it will become live rock as the tank matures. and then they told me to put in a table shrimp. is this ok because from what i am reading it pretty much says do one or the other... i have live rock and a shrimp. is this ok or should i take the shrimp out? i just put it in a few hours ago. please help me. im kind of lost on this one. google only took me so far on this one lol.
thanks in advance for your help.
-Josh

[carey]

Here is an excellent article about cycling with shrimp

Cycle your salt tank

[Savoie83]

The shrimp will become waste and start the cycle. Its better than put live fish.

[jwalsh]

ok thanks guys but is it ok that i already have live rock. its not going to hurt the live rock is it?

[carey]

Nope, in fact the presence of the live rock will HELP your cycle as there will be die off from it that will also produce ammonia. I;d put as much rock in the tank now as you can, base or live so that it all can benefit from the cycling. More rock, more bacteria, easier cycling and a good bacteria base as far as bioload.

[jwalsh]

well thanks for the info i will get more tomorrow when i get paid. how much would u put in a 29g tank? im not sure how much to get... i want it to look good but i dont want to much rock... and any idea how many fish i can put in that tank when the time does come?

[carey]

I have about 40lbs total in my biocube and had a bit more when I had my regular rectangular 29. It's about 1.5 -2 lbs per gallon recommended.

I had 4 or 5 fish in my old 29 and have 6 in my cube now which is pushing it a bit.

But the fish in my cube are kinda different, most are sandbed creatures or perchers, only my clowns really swim around.

[jwalsh]

do you have any suggestions what i should put in first and when? i was thinking i could put in some inverts first? maybe in a few weeks? or do i just wait until my cycle is done and add my clowns??

[carey]

You really really should wait for the cycle to complete before putting ANY livestock in. You risk them dying from the ammonia spikes and the nitrite poisoning.

It's your call on what you wanna add first. Some go with their inverts first some go straight for the fish. If you go for fish you should only add one or two tops at first, let your bacteria catch up to the new bioload.

With inverts there is hardly a bioload so you can add multiples. With shrimp though keep in mind they are very sensitive to water parameters so a LONG acclimation is necessary and you should be pretty certain your parameters are stable before adding them.

[jwalsh]

so i went and got 12 lbs of LR 3 days ago and there is all sorts of cool creatures growing out of it. was just wondeing if anyone could help me figure out what they are. one is red with little bubbles on the tips of it. i was thinking maybe a bubble tip? another one just has longer red tenticles, no idea what this one could be. and then there is another one that i couldnt get pictures of because it wasnt out but it just looks like really long thin tenticles coming out of the holes in the LR. it has long thin tenticles with black and grey alternating strips every about 1/8". i have attached pics of the first 2 but like i said the third one was being shy at the moment. any and all help/ideas are appreciated.
thanks
Josh

[jwalsh]

looks like the pictures didnt work lets try this again

[Greenturtle]

Originally Posted by jwalsh

so i went and got 12 lbs of LR 3 days ago and there is all sorts of cool creatures growing out of it. was just wondeing if anyone could help me figure out what they are. one is red with little bubbles on the tips of it. i was thinking maybe a bubble tip? another one just has longer red tenticles, no idea what this one could be. and then there is another one that i couldnt get pictures of because it wasnt out but it just looks like really long thin tenticles coming out of the holes in the LR. it has long thin tenticles with black and grey alternating strips every about 1/8". i have attached pics of the first 2 but like i said the third one was being shy at the moment. any and all help/ideas are appreciated.
thanks
Josh

the one with the black and gray is probably a mini brittlestar. I have a few that come out (they live in my green star polyps) during feeding. They are harmless. and OMG you have the same name as me LOL

[jwalsh]

sorry the pictures didnt work the first time i reuploaded them and they are there now

[jwalsh]

that would be cool if it was a mini brittle star but it would be kind of weird (unless there are multiple stars) because they come out of 4 or 5 different places at one time a few on one side of the rock and a few on the other side but i guess its possible seeing as the rock is about 14" across. and maybe the rock is pretty hollow inside because it was only 7 lbs

[Greenturtle]

Originally Posted by jwalsh

that would be cool if it was a mini brittle star but it would be kind of weird (unless there are multiple stars) because they come out of 4 or 5 different places at one time a few on one side of the rock and a few on the other side but i guess its possible seeing as the rock is about 14" across. and maybe the rock is pretty hollow inside because it was only 7 lbs

The same thing happens wit the rock my GSPs are on. That only means you have a bunch of them.

Image Detail for - http://www.austinreefclub.com/uploads/monthly_03_2010/post-792-12682587757087_thumb.jpg

[jwalsh]

thats exactly what it is... i hope they dont die. im in the middle of cycling my tank so i hope the amonia, nitrite, and nitrate dont kill them. any idea what the other things could be?

[jwalsh]

and does anyone know how big those mini brittle stars get?

[jwalsh]

anyone? anybody have any ideas of what is growing off of my rocks?? please help. my 4 year old son keeps asking me... lol for my mental sanity please help lol
thanks