New to group could use some knowledge

[tackett91]

Hey guys and gals I have a quick question and hopefully I'm in the right forum. If not I'm sorry. Just started a tank 4 days ago. 75 gal running two aqueon 75 HOB filters (being that I didn't want to buy a skimmer right away) a hydro 850 Gph pump, with 25 lbs of live sand, 75 lbs of crushed corral and 75 lbs of live rock. PH- 7.9,ammonia 0-.1 (depending on test time) NO2-0, NO3- 2-4(depending on time). I currently have 2 chromis, a cardinal, a chocolate chip starfish and 3 emerald crab ( happened to come in my live rock). I am receiving tomorrow: a puffer, two butterflies ( both easy maintenance) a dotty and a kole yellowtang. I understand this could be too much possibly at once but I'm very impatient and my fish are doing great.

So now to my question lol. Is there anything I can do to prepare for them? And what's the likely hood of all of them making it? Can send a picture of the tank if that helps. Thank you for your time and advice in advance.

[Sniperhank]

You will need to be keeping a VERY close eye on your system. If you did not properly cycle the tank, you will easily overwhelm any beneficial bacteria in the system. A massive ammonia spike will burn the gills of your fish and kill them quickly. Those that don't succumb to ammonia and nitrite poisoning can to the diseases like ich that comes from their heightened stress levels. This is not a hobby that you can rush. Plain and simple. If you can't manage the patience, then you need to practice or try something else.

[cgthebeast]

^^^bingo, not to mention that puffer is probably gonna have lunch out of any inverts, and what type of butterfly? Most are hard to feed. Also tangs stress easy and since your adding them to a cycling tank, your prob gonna have Ich pop up since a cycle is gonna stress anything out

[tackett91]

Soooo I'm kind of screwed and made a poor decision is what you guys are telling me. Any chance I can pull through this? Probably a very stupid question but if I have great growth on my live rock and my levels are good. What is there to cycle? Where am I going to see my spikes? And can I contain them with appropriate chemicals.

[cgthebeast]

You can try to add liquid bacteria or "auto-cycle" meant for saltwater, that might help a bit. But yeah you should be seeing spikes in the next day at least, prob right after all those new fish have been added in. I would have a lot of water on hand for water changes for sure, and there is no chemical that can help with a cycle really, it's more of a biological thing, not a chemistry (coming from a chem major ) it's how a bacteria breaks down the waste into something a lot less dangerous then ammonia or nitrite, and by growth of live rock, do you mean algae?

[tackett91]

Again may be a stupid comment. But they have so many products that fix spikes pretty rapidly from what I was seeing. I know I don't know much but can't those help?

[cgthebeast]

Not a cure all, all that is, is snake oil for the most part. You need bacteria to fix this problem in the long run. The only real cure for spikes are if water changes, which get tricky cause you want to try and balance parms in saltwater

[cgthebeast]

Two most important rules of saltwater
1. Have patience, don't rush.
2. Research, research, research, information is key for fish keeping in general really.

[tackett91]

Thanks I appreciate it everything. Hopefully I can keep them together. I happen to have the next 10 days off and have been monitoring everything like blood pressure on a heart patient. I ran 2 auto cycles for the first two days before putting anything in. Then some fish and contained to use sea chem prime as well as a few other products to keep my stats low. Although I am impatient. I bought the good stuff to help keep me protected. I know this isn't a hobby that you can just throw money at and make everything better but I'm hoping I can pull through here. I don't plan on putting anything else in anytime soon. Just want to make it through the cycle I guess.

[tackett91]

Right now I'm that guy that uses a master test every 4 hours.

[tackett91]

Probably a dumb question but being that the ocean changes frequently why are home fish so hard to manage?

[cgthebeast]

Good! Do you keep a journal or a note book around? I have a little book that I write all my parms for my 75g in. I test mine weekly though. Writing yours down should let you be able to track just how drastically your parms are swinging. If they get to high (espically ammonia, like any above .5) time to do a water change

[cgthebeast]

https://www.chewy.com/dr-tims-aquati...g&gclsrc=aw.ds

This is the liquid bacteria was talking about, it's a "live" culture and might be able to help you out with the swings

[tackett91]

Thank you. I started a drip about 18 hours ago to have about 10 gal on standby incase I need to give one of these guys some TLC. I started 3 5 gallon bucks as soon as I read your post. So by tomorrow I should be able to change fairly quickly ICE. Can you overdose on declor? Obviously I won't over due it. But maybe some prep work?

[bribo12]

Originally Posted by tackett91

Probably a dumb question but being that the ocean changes frequently why are home fish so hard to manage?

The ocean is huge, our tanks are not. Parameters In the ocean barely fluctuate since it's such a huge volume of water. 100 gallons is like a water droplet compared to that.

[tackett91]

Also I have the supplies to do a continuous change. Would you suggest doing a 5 gal swap every 3-4 hours. Keep in mind it takes about 2 hours to do.

[cgthebeast]

Not really, or at least I think. i really don't use the declor for saltwater, I have a ro unit, but back when I did use it, i don't think you could. I usally try to follow the dosing instructions religiously though, don't want to crash my tank with to many additives

[tackett91]

Awesome!! I i used one of those as well as a similar brand my first two days. I will get another in the morning before the fish arrive. Luckily I have 2 pet shops within a mile (:

[tackett91]

Great point on the ocean. I guess I just hear temps changing on surf reports and relate it to tank. I guess when they are under stress they can just swim somewhere else.

Would you suggest putting more live rock in as numbers spike? I have a lb per gallon right now. But if more will save my fish I'll do it.

No one tells you that it would cost 500 just for some rocks to start up. Smh. Put about 1300 down in only 5 days....

[cgthebeast]

Originally Posted by tackett91

Also I have the supplies to do a continuous change. Would you suggest doing a 5 gal swap every 3-4 hours. Keep in mind it takes about 2 hours to do.

I would just watch it steadily and if ammonia rose, I would do a water change. But if it's still 0 and nitrites and low, I would wait.