New to AA and Saltwater! Looking for some advice.

[dan81]

HAHA! im an idiot. I just remembered that I have a penguin 550 in my 29g tank. It is a powerhead, and shouldn't hurt you right now.

 

[seldomri]

its all good. i appriciate all the help

 

[Gomer4378]

You almost cant have to much flow.
The multiple ph's just end up looking ugly in the tank but its each persons preference. I have 4 ph's in my 120 and they total up to around 4000 gph, and I have 1200 gph coming from my sump.

You'll want around 1.5 lbs of lr per gallon for a good filtration.

The bubble wand wont hurt anything, most people prefer not (again, cosmetics) but a friend of mine kept one in his tank and his clown loved to play in it.

 

[dan81]

see I knew we would get some expert advice soon enough!

 

[dan81]

Ok so I did another water test today and im a little confused.
PH- 8.2
Ammonia- .2
Nitrite- .4
Nitrate- 10
Alk- 5

So my question is. Is it normal for my ammonia to drop from .8 back down to .2 in one day and for my Nitrite to stay unchanged?

I thought the ammonia would drop slowly and nitrite should rise a bit at least.

Any input or advise would be awesome!

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

Looks OK to me. Where the numbers should go really depend on how much, and what type of bacteria are present in the tank.

Just for review...

Bacteria "A"s job is to convert ammonia to nitrItes.
Bacteria "B"s job is to convert nitrItes to nitrAtes.

By your numbers, looks like you have both "A" and "B" type present in your tank. Your ammonia numbers are dropping telling you that you've got a good population of "A". The "A" bacteria is turning that ammonia into nitrites, so your nitrItes *should* be going up. BUT... you've also got those "B" bacteria in there working away, turning the nitrItes into nitrAtes. If your nitrites aren't increasing, that means your population of "B" bacteria is just enough to keep up with Mr. A bacteria. Eventually, your nitrites will decrease as either the ammonia source is depleted and the "B" bacteria catch up, or you build up enough "B" bacteria to take care of the excess.

Hopefully that helps things, and doesn't confuse the issue more! Sounds like you're close to having a cycled tank!

 

[dan81]

you should title that "cycling for Dummines"! I totally get it now. I thought I was on the right track but wanted to make sure.
So now its time to start considering my CUC. I was thinking I would wait till cycle is complete (obviously) and add about half of the CUC, Couple hermits, and some snails. any suggestions on what and how many I should get?

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

Glad the explanation helped. Since it didn't confuse you, I'll add just a little more! Because those "A" and "B" bacteria are constantly looking for food to eat (ammonia and nitrites), this is why it's important to keep "feeding" the tank after the cycle is complete. If you finish your cycle, and wait a month to put fish in, the bacteria populations aren't going to have anything to eat during that time, and will most likely die. So when you put your fish in a month later... BAM... you start another cycle. So moral is... if you plan on keeping a tank with no fish for a while after the tank cycles, don't forget to put a pinch of fish food in there every few days to give the bacteria something to eat!

Regarding your CUC, for a 29g with 30lb of LR, I wouldn't think you'd need more than 6-8 astrea or trochus snails for the rock/glass and maybe 10-20 of the little nassarius snails for the sand bed. I'm not really good at guesstimating cleanup crews, so maybe someone else will jump in with some ideas. I wouldn't overdo it though... you can always add more later. Regarding crabs... one or two would probably be just fine. Once you start adding corals (if you're going reef), the clumsy hermits dragging their shells around, or falling off rocks, can cause havoc with the corals. Or at least they did in my tank.

 

[dan81]

Im thinking I will add my CUC (3 Torchus, 10 Nassarius, and a Hermit Crab). Then monitor the water levels for about a week and if all is well, I will add my first fish!

 

[dan81]

Update

Checked levels again today:
PH- 8.2
Amm- 0
Nitrite- .2
Nitrate- 10

Thing are looking good. May even be able to go pick up my CUC this weekend!
Just gotta wait out that late bit of Nitrite.

 

[dan81]

Came home today and saw some hitch hikers! Please check out my thread in the identification section and help me out!
Thanks!

 

[thincat]

dan81, one more thing to do before you add the CUC...when your ammonia and nitrite go to "0" do a good water change ~20%...this will bring your nitrates down and give your CUC an easier time getting use to your tank water. after a week add no more then 1 fish, 2 if very small......Remember... have patience, the only thing that happens fast in a reef tank is failure...Go slow and you will be rewarded....
Happy reefing!!!

 

[dan81]

yup I will do a PWC once my numbers hit Zero. Then its: add CUC, wait at least a week then I can start with the fish. I figure I will have four fish, And I will add Two Clowns to start then wait at least 2 months before adding anything else. The third and fourth fish will be at least a month apart.

 

[dan81]

Looks like a got a couple aiptasia in my tank. Now my tank is pretty close to being cycled. Should I wait to finish the cycle before I start treating the aiptasia issue, or go ahead is start treating it now!?

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

Can't really tell by the picture, but if it's aiptasia, I'd deal with it NOW. No reason to wait.

Just a comment about your stocking plans... I'm probably one of the more conservative ones around here when it comes to stocking, but four fish in a 29g seems pretty full. I suppose though it all depends on what those other two fish are besides the clowns, but make sure you research your choices before going down that road.

 

[dan81]

I wasent sure if four was my limit or too much. the third fish was probably going to be a goby.
I will be heading to the store to find something to remedy the aiptasia issue.

 

[dan81]

Just checked and I am at Zero!
Amm- 0
Nitrite-0
Nitrate- 10

I am going to treat my aiptasia issue today and do my PWC tomorrow!
I will add my CUC shortly there after.

 

[dan81]

Did my PWC this morning and added a few snails and a couple hermit crabs.
Just checked my numbers and:
PH- 8.0
Ammonia- 0
Nitrite- 0
Nitrate- 10


Everything looks good!
Figure I will get my first fish in about a week.

 

[thincat]

Great...good to go!

 

[dan81]

So I checked my schedule and my LFS hours and the only day I can go pick up my first fish is today. I was going to go on Friday but my weekend just got filled with helping my mother move on Friday and a friend move on Saturday so I wont have the time.
After adding a small CUC a couple days ago my numbers are still good.
PH- 8.0
Ammonia-0
Nitrite-0
Nitrate-10

So can I go pick up a fish today? or should I wait till next week?