Advice anyone?

[ViK]

Can anyone lend me some advice. I am starting a new 18 g. reef tank. It has been up for about a week. I have about 20 lbs. of LR in it that I took out of my 55 g. tank. The lighting on the 18g. tank is a coralife 10,000k. The only filtration is a Topfin 20 backfilter, and an undergravel filter. The undergravel filter does not have powerheads on either side. It is only air-fed. The fish I currently have in the 18 g. tank are:
1 peppermint shrimp
1 lawnmower blenny
1 pearly jawfish
3 trubo snails
4 blue reef hermit crabs
So what I am wondering is, am I over stocking this tank? And, I know that I am going to need better lighting, and better filtration in order to make this a serious reef tank. But can anyone lend me advice as to which I should put priority on. Do I want to invest in the powerheads next? Or a protien skimmer? Or better lighting?
Also, When I set this tank up, I was changing it from freshwater to saltwater. I also changed all of the gravel, because the color sucked. From what I have read, the biofilter that is created when you cycle a tank resides on the gravel. So I am going to need to cycle this tank? And if this tank is uncycled, then I have it overstocked. That is no problem, I have a 55 g. FO tank that I can transplant some fish into. Can anyone offer me some advice?

 

[Anonymous]

Honestly, your BEST money is going to be spent on some good books. Biological filtration is all performed by benthic bacteria, they reside on all surfaces. In a fish only system, an undergravel filter is fine, for reef, it's going to cause you headaches (especially if you're so new to the whole thing). If you've got cured live rock, then you've got seedstock (the two species of bacteria that perform nitrification, as well as bacteria--anaerobic--that perform denitrification) for cycling. If it's uncured it needs to first be cured.

Have you considered setting up a refugium with a DSB for primary filtration instead? I don't think you'll be overstocked, but the u/g will be ill-advised in a reef system. If you're not going with a 'fuge then definitely skimming is a must. Your lighting will depend in large part upon what you wish to keep, yes?

If you're worried about cycling, then toss in a small bit of fresh shrimp, let it spoil and start a cycle for you. Then you'll be sure. Just keep testing for ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate. The pattern you want to see is spike in ammonia first, then in nitrite with drop in ammonia, then spike in nitrate with drop in nitrite. Once you have readings of zero ammonia and nitrite, you know you've cultured the nitrifying bacteria.

You can set up a pretty good 'fuge on the cheap with a decent pump, small shoplights, and a ten gallon tank. Then your next biggest problem will be lighting the main, yeah? I think you need to first figure out what you want to keep, then go from there.

But honestly, I think you really need the books, too. That's the best money you'll spend by far.

 

[cdeakle]

Unless you want to do a FW tank sometime take that Undergravel filter, rip it out, gather it all up, get it together, shine it up real nice, and drop kick it out of your window, go down and get it, and repeat this cycle untill nothing is left!

:lol: :lol: 8)

A bunch of live rock(LR) and a really good protein skimmer and your good to go!

Listen to seamaiden! Can't go wrong bro!

-puff

 

[Anonymous]

I think the tank is already cycled, as he used 20lbs of LR from his 55 gal. That means the LR is surely already cured and goot to go.

I also think that he already has those fish in the tank....not that that is his plan....so, unless the ammonia is spiking right now, the tank is cycled.

I don't think the tank is overstocked with only two fish in it, but you should stop right there to keep a healthy reef.

I agree with potpuffer420 8) about the under-gravel filter, but I would prefer to see it go through a trash compactor and have the little plastic cube burned :twisted: . No gravel either man. Get a nice little sand bed going....that will help keep that small tank chemically stable.

Sea-Mom, I don't think a fuge is practical for this guy, only because he is trying to turn an 18 gallon tank into a reef...if he had the space for a ten gallon fuge, he would probably be talking about a larger tank to begin with....besides, where do you hide a fuge for an 18 gallon tank? He would have to build a little cabinet to house it. Hell, I'm having trouble finding the space for a fuge for my 75!

And listen to SM when she says a skimmer is more important than lighting. You can get away with poor lighting and only have low light corals, but without a skimmer and with bright light, you'll just be starting an 18 gallon algae farm. :wink:

Good Luck!

 

[Anonymous]

I think the tank is already cycled, as he used 20lbs of LR from his 55 gal. That means the LR is surely already cured and goot to go.

I also think that he already has those fish in the tank....not that that is his plan....so, unless the ammonia is spiking right now, the tank is cycled.

I don't think the tank is overstocked with only two fish in it, but you should stop right there to keep a healthy reef.

I agree with potpuffer420 8) about the under-gravel filter, but I would prefer to see it go through a trash compactor and have the little plastic cube burned :twisted: . No gravel either man. Get a nice little sand bed going....that will help keep that small tank chemically stable.

Sea-Mom, I don't think a fuge is practical for this guy, only because he is trying to turn an 18 gallon tank into a reef...if he had the space for a ten gallon fuge, he would probably be talking about a larger tank to begin with....besides, where do you hide a fuge for an 18 gallon tank? He would have to build a little cabinet to house it. Hell, I'm having trouble finding the space for a fuge for my 75!

And listen to SM when she says a skimmer is more important than lighting. You can get away with poor lighting and only have low light corals, but without a skimmer and with bright light, you'll just be starting an 18 gallon algae farm. :wink:

Good Luck!

 

[Anonymous]

I think the tank is already cycled, as he used 20lbs of LR from his 55 gal. That means the LR is surely already cured and goot to go.

I also think that he already has those fish in the tank....not that that is his plan....so, unless the ammonia is spiking right now, the tank is cycled.

I don't think the tank is overstocked with only two fish in it, but you should stop right there to keep a healthy reef.

I agree with potpuffer420 8) about the under-gravel filter, but I would prefer to see it go through a trash compactor and have the little plastic cube burned :twisted: . No gravel either man. Get a nice little sand bed going....that will help keep that small tank chemically stable.

Sea-Mom, I don't think a fuge is practical for this guy, only because he is trying to turn an 18 gallon tank into a reef...if he had the space for a ten gallon fuge, he would probably be talking about a larger tank to begin with....besides, where do you hide a fuge for an 18 gallon tank? He would have to build a little cabinet to house it. Hell, I'm having trouble finding the space for a fuge for my 75!

And listen to SM when she says a skimmer is more important than lighting. You can get away with poor lighting and only have low light corals, but without a skimmer and with bright light, you'll just be starting an 18 gallon algae farm. :wink:

Good Luck!

 

[Anonymous]

Remove the undergravel filter and keep asking questions here before you put anything else in that tank. I agree with Seamaiden that you should purchase some books next. I suggest the Marine Reef Aquarium Handbook by Dr. Robert J Goldstein.Good luck with the Lawnmower Blenny.

 

[ViK]

Thanks to all who lended advice. I re-tested the water this morning. Ammonia and nitries are both coming down. Ammonia spiked about 6 or 7 days ago. Nitrites spiked 2 days ago. Nitrates are still very low, I haven't seen them climb at all. Both fish seem healthy, along with the brittle star, crabs, and snails. I already ordered some books of the internet. I'm still debating between a fuge and a skimmer though. I have space for a 10 gallon fuge under the 18 gallon tank. I'm just trying to figure out which one is going to be lower maintenence and less expensive. Thanx again all. I'll let you know how it goes.

 

[Anonymous]

Those aren't the only considerations, ViK. Functionality is going to be your biggest concern here. I would wager that I could put together a ten gallon 'fuge for less than half the price of a decent skimmer, but that doesn't mean it should be discounted. Does that make sense?

With the 'fuge, if you go with macros for nutrient export (my own recommendation) you will need to harvest on a regular basis, especially if you go with a Caulerpa species. Many have had terrible luck with this macroalgae, I kept it for years right in my reef (under normal output fluoros, which is also how I grew my T. derasa and many softies and LPS corals) but harvested whole fronds (turns out that what I did intuitively is actually key to helping ensure no crashes) on a weekly basis. Had no skimmer on the system, either.

If you spend the money on the books, you'll be able to sort much of this out and create a setup that best suits you.

 

[fishfanatic2]

Books=knowledge

Dump the undergravel into an incinerator and spread the ashes over a landfill :twisted: :twisted: :twisted: . What you really need is a nice sandbed and a skimmer. As for skimmer vs. refuge, the best is both, but on the case if I had to pick one, I 'd say skimmer for your size tank.

Read the books first before you do anything I just said!