What should i do?

[keu131]

hi there!
i am starting out with my first every aquarium.. salt water!
so far my aquarium has its first lot of live rock in there creating the eco system for me. once all of my chemical levels are even i want to start adding corals plants anemones more rocks etc....
should i do this one piece at a time or is to ok to put several pieces in at once?
what species do u recommend?

thanks for your time! cant wait to hear from u all!
xx

 

[Mitchell0605]

Ok first, welomce.
Now we need to know how big your tank is and how your cycling it? What are your current test kit readings? Ammonia? Nitrite? Nitrate? Once you've got your rock how you like it you don't need ore unless you dont have enough. 1.5-2lbs per gallon is enough rock.
What kind of lights do you have? You can't keep some corals unless you have good lights. Also please don't buy an anenome. They are very delicate and often perish in captivity. If you absolutely have to have one, wait for a year so your tank is mature and sudden swings in nitrate, pH etc don't happen anymore. Clowns don't need an anenome either if you want to get clown fish. Plants that you add are Macro Algaes, they absorb excess nutrients. You put these in a refugium that is a seperate tank plumbed to your main tank. As for species, are you talking fish, coral or macro algae? Also we can't give you an answer until we know your tank size and lighting.

Also, where abouts are you in Australia?

 

[keu131]

hey thanks for your reply!!
my tank is a Jebo R390
The Jebo R390 includes triple fluorescent lights, top power filter and filter media.
200 litre capacity.
Dimensions (LxWxH): 920 x 498 x 540 mm


i am using just the filtration system built into the tank i am going to manually change the water when needed... old school style.


i have i think 5-6 kg of rocks in there at the moment... 2 large pieces..


my levels have not yet flattened out because the live rock has only been in there for 3 weeks and is still doin its thing!! i am juts wanting to get lots of research into my next step before it arrives... basically i am a true beginner never been here before and am taking things very very slowly... i really want to build up what i call the "reef" of my tank ie the rock plant and coral life....

at the moment i do not know what my next step is and i feel at a very dizzy spiral at the start of a very important point of my aquarium....



wow.. mouthful!! haha

 

[Mitchell0605]

Your going to need at least another 40kg's of Live Rock. There isn't enough bacteria unless you have at least that much. Add it now before you get any fish or corals. This will probably makeyour cycle take longer but it's nescessary.
I hate to tell you this but your gonna need to buy a light canopy and take off the aquarium hood if you want corals. I have the same tank, scaled down in the 90L version and that's what I'm going to do. I've got the best lights I can for the hood at the moment and they aren't enough. Checkout this site for lights. (Aquarium Lights & Aquarium Lighting @ Aquathrive Aquarium Lighting Superstore - Aquathrive Online Store) They have some good light canopies that will look good over the aquarium after the hood has been taken off.
Also do you have your own test kits?
BTW Wherre abouts are you in Australia?

 

[keu131]

can i add more rock any time? or do the levels have to be ok?
yeha i have all my own test kits..
is it possible to have fish without corals?
i live in Mildura! not sure if u know where that is or not??
wow sorry about bombarding you with questions!! haha
i really appreciate u talking to me!

 

[keu131]

oh and i was wondering if it would be possible if you could post me some pics of your tank? to see what it looks like n get some ideas of what i need mine to look like? that would be super awesome! only if u can.?.?

 

[thincat]

keu, I posted in your other welcome thread and I'll do it here again. Can you post some water parameters like salinity(SG), ammonia(NH3), nitrite(NO2)and nitrate (NO3), temp.and PH(+time of day...lights on or off too)
thanks

 

[Mitchell0605]

Not a problem. I know where Mildura is, in the NW of Vic. If you go into my Profile by clicking on my name there is an album of my fish tank. The rockwork is the same but the corals are all different.

I would add that extra 45kg you need now. This way even if you have another cycle it won't harm anything. Also after you've got some things like fish or corals in your tank you can't add more rock unless you cycle that piece/s in another tank.
Can you use your test kits and give us the readings of your tank at the moment? The ones Thincat said above would be great.

Hope we aren't overwhelming you, we just need these to tell you how to best go from here.

 

[keu131]

haha no worries!! i did all my tests just tomoro and i am keeping record of them all in a diary/book "me and my aquarium" hahaha i am quite obsessed with my new hobby! it has spent a long time on the back burner and even longer in my dreams to start a salt water aquarium!

P.H 7.8 ( that is too low i know it needs to be more like 8.4 - 8.6 )
Ammonia 0.0
Nitrate 0.0
other nitrate test 0.0
calcium 460
hydromiter reading 1.021 - 1.022

i will buy some more live rock this weekend!!

 

[keu131]

i was just looking at your fotos of your first aquarium it looks really good!!
lots of different life going on in there!!
is that the one you were saying you had to get a different light set up happening to have all that life thriving?

 

[Mitchell0605]

I've still got to get it! I've got only low-light corals at the moment so I can get away with it. If you look at the two Nitrate tests carefully one should probably say NitrIte. With an 'I'. You want 0 of that and less than 20 of the nitrAte. There's nothing wrong with that pH so long as it's stable. 8.2 is where it's best but that is fine, don't go messing with it. You will want to raise your Salinity (SG) (what your hydrometer measures) to around 1.024-1.026. That's best for corals.

Thanks. I'm hoping to get new lights very soon.

 

[thincat]

haha no worries!! i did all my tests just tomoro and i am keeping record of them all in a diary/book "me and my aquarium" hahaha i am quite obsessed with my new hobby! it has spent a long time on the back burner and even longer in my dreams to start a salt water aquarium!

P.H 7.8 ( that is too low i know it needs to be more like 8.4 - 8.6 )
Ammonia 0.0
Nitrate 0.0
other nitrate test 0.0
calcium 460
hydromiter reading 1.021 - 1.022

i will buy some more live rock this weekend!!

Don't worry to much about the PH. In a new tank it will be all over the place until your tank becomes more stable.
What is your Nitrite reading?
Your SG could be raise each time you do a water change until you get it to ~1.025. I like that SG because it gives you some room for error, 1.024-1.026.
Do you happen to have a magnisium test kit?

 

[melosu58]

I would recommend that once your cycle is over that you start with a small CUC and then with a few fish. I would wait about 6 months before you think about corals. Give your tank time to stabilize.