Starting 29 gallon reef tank

[Readingexcalibur]

Keep going, 0 is you're goal. I wouldn't add a fire fish until you're at least 5 or below.

Filters have a tendency to cause issues. Have you considered a sump or getting an aquaclear filter and doing a refug mod for macro algae like cheato?

 

[Khij159753]

Not really. I'm hoping to get by with the live rock and live sand. Maybe a penguin filter and a skimmer. For now. I don't have too much space right now. Gotta wait till I move out. Then I'll upgrade and use this as a refugium. But for now sense I'll only have like 4 fish max and I'll keep up with the water changes, should that work for probably a couple years till I move out?

 

[Khij159753]

So my nitrates are down to 20. I keep lookin at my tank and thinking if my urchin is doin completely fine why couldn't a firefish? Would it really hurt to add a fire fish right now if I did 20% water changes every week to keep bringing down the nitrates wouldn't everything work fine? Does anyone see any problems with this? I've been reading online about lots of fish who live perfectly content in an aquarium with constant 20ppm of nitrate. If no one mentions anything soon I might just get it. I can't see how a firefish could be more sensitive to nitrates then my Halloween urchin.

 

[Khij159753]

By the way all parameters are
Ammonia-0
Nitrite-0
Nitrate-20
PH-8.2
Salinity-1.024
So I'd say that's pretty dang good except the nitrates still need to go down a bit which they will, but can I add a fish and still gradually bring them down?

 

[Jlsardina]

So my nitrates are down to 20. I keep lookin at my tank and thinking if my urchin is doin completely fine why couldn't a firefish? Would it really hurt to add a fire fish right now if I did 20% water changes every week to keep bringing down the nitrates wouldn't everything work fine? Does anyone see any problems with this? I've been reading online about lots of fish who live perfectly content in an aquarium with constant 20ppm of nitrate. If no one mentions anything soon I might just get it. I can't see how a firefish could be more sensitive to nitrates then my Halloween urchin.

Those fish are slowly acclimated to those parameters. The nitrate levels could shock a fish to death within a day or so if it came from cleaner water ( most fish do - the ocean).

 

[rupp3322]

For that size tank, i would say no more than about 6 small saltwater fish. Rule of thumb for marine is about 8 gal per 1 inch of fish, but if youre diligent about water testing and changes, you can get away with more.

 

[Khij159753]

I'm planning to add about 4 small fish over time. And I would drip acclimate very slowly over a couple hours. So think I could get 1 now and keep up with WC an be fine?

 

[Jlsardina]

I'm planning to add about 4 small fish over time. And I would drip acclimate very slowly over a couple hours. So think I could get 1 now and keep up with WC an be fine?

It will just prolong getting the nitrates out. Why not furring the next week do two 50% water changes? One on Monday and one on Thursday or Friday that way your nitrates will only be at 5ppm and you could consider adding a fish next weekend

 

[Khij159753]

Okay. I know I should do that. I think it's just my family how they keep sayin you keep changing all this water and you don't even have any fish in your tank. It makes me want to just get at least 1 fish so I can see the improvement and activity and color lol

 

[Khij159753]

I'm going to attemp doing a 50+% WC. That should bring my nitrates down below 10 and good enough to get a fish right? Only thing leavin me questionable is my urchin. Will he be okay feeling so low in the water for a while? Should I take him out and put him in the old water then reaclimate him? Will he be fine? I'm hoping to get all this done and if my thoughts are correct, get a fish later tonight.

 

[Joe5688]

Don't rush fish. The only things that happen bad in a sw tank are bad things. Until u get your levels under control I wouldwait on the fish. Or you could just be dumping money into the toilet.

 

[Mrc8858]

Don't rush fish. The only things that happen bad in a sw tank are bad things. Until u get your levels under control I wouldwait on the fish. Or you could just be dumping money into the toilet.

You mean fast?

 

[Joe5688]

Yes lol. I was lucky my tank fully cycled in 10 days but u still waited another week before I added a fish. Just picked up my first 2fish yesterday

 

[Khij159753]

Well all my levels are stable. They're all 0 except nitrates which very very slowly go down by themselves. My tanks been cycled for quite some time the nitrates just haven't gotten taken care of quite yet because I've been doing small WC. So I figure if I drop my nitrates to 5-10 and they stay stable I can get my first fish finally.

 

[Joe5688]

Bring a water sample with u and have the lfs say yes or no lol

 

[Mrc8858]

Bring a water sample with u and have the lfs say yes or no lol

Then it'll always be a yes haha

 

[Khij159753]

Yeah. My LFS always says buy more.

 

[Joe5688]

Lol my at mine if u bring a water sample u get a 7 day warranty. Other wise its 24 hours

 

[Khij159753]

Mine doesn't give a warranty at all because their water levels absolutely suck except for the couple long term display tanks they have. I can take in water and they'll test it and show me results but they'll say oh your fine o get a fish no matter what.

 

[Khij159753]

So I did a 16 gallon WC today. That should've dropped my trates plenty. Tomorrow I'll check them and post parameters. I had my brother test them and he said the trates were between 0 and 5. I'm gonna double check but hopefully he's correct and I'll be gettin my first fish tomorrow.