Hello everyone! My new 55g tank!

[Boret]

This is my first marine tank ever. I have had and maintained 20, 30 and 40g freshwater tanks. Fish have thrived and I have been patient for the last 3 years until I was ready for saltwater. I feel I am ready to delve into the marine/reef category. (Which has always been my goal).

I received as a present a 55g tank, with a coralife Aqualight T5 (48w) and a CPR Aquatic BAKPAK Protein Skimmer and Biological Filter.

I bought 60lb of sand and about 50lb of rock, salt and media for a Cascade 700 canister filter.

I also went online and found great deals on Craigslist and acquired 20lb of live sand, 70lb of LR, 2 1200 MaxiJet Pumps, an Orbit 48" 4X65W (1024) - C light (brighter than the Aqualite) with Moon Lights.

I placed the tank in the desired spot, placed the canister filter and setup the intake of water from the tank to the filter in the bottom/back/left corner and the output of filtered water on the very top, in a rail with holes that measures about 30". (the tank is 48").

I rinsed the dead sand, cleaned the dead rock and placed it in the tank. I added the water (treating it with anticlorihde and adding the proper amount of salt) with the help of a 5g bucket.

The next day I purchased the Live Rock and Live Sand. The man had a big house and about 30 tanks in the basement, amazing!!! All the livestock looked healthy and I was able to choose the LS and LR. He even recommended some things and seemed really into the hobby, so I trust I purchased "healthy" LR and LS.

I placed the L Sand (which produced quite a bit of cloudiness) and the Live Rock. I measured all the levels about 10 hours later, these were the results: Ammo= 0.5ppm , (NO2)Nitrite= 0ppm and (NO3)Nitrate= 10ppm.

So far so good. I feel bad for some of the live stock that came with the LR, as it might die. Other than that seems to be running smooth.

I am only running the filter and skimmer till the water clears, then I will turn on the jets/pumps.

2 days later the water is perfectly clear, Ammo is 0, NO2 = 0 and NO3= 5-10 pH is 8.0 and the temp is at 84f. Density 1.022.

On the 6th day I added 1 fish (Domino Damselfish) a Xenia and a white Anemone with purple tips. Everything is doing great but the Xenia. Somehow it seems to not have acclimated yet. I am enclosing a pic of the Xenia, maybe you guys can advise.... all I am doing is waiting to see if it will recover on its own.

I have a few snails that came with the LR and about 6 Hermit crabs.

Here are some pix.

The pictures don't show any of the livestock because I cannot find the darn battery charger for the camera!! and I only have good pictures of the second day. The xenia pic was taken with a very crappy camera a few mins ago.

I don't have a sump or anything besides what can be seen in the picture. The canister filter is rated for a 70g. So far is keeping the water pretty clean. The skimmer is supposed to be a good one.

I know that I have to take it slow but I am itching to add some more livestock to get it to look more colorful.

Any advice is appreciated.

Regards,

Boret

 

[Kerchakone]

I am pretty sure you added the anemone way too early.

I'd also ditch the canister filter and up the light power if you plan on coral and anemones.

 

[Boret]

Thanks for the prompt reply.

The anemone is doing great... is the Xenia that is suffering (The Xenia is an anemone too isn't it?). I forgot to add the pic. Here it is.

As far as lights, I have:
* 1 Coralife T-5 Series with a 48" 28watt 10,000k and a 48" 28 True Actinic T5.
* 1 Current Orbit 48" with 4x65W (2 white 2 blue) and moonlight.

Do I still need more?

As far as Canister filter.... I am limited on the space available. I cannot put anything underneath the tank (I am using an IKEA shelve on its side, its pretty strong, and matches the basement furniture). I have some space on the on the side. I could use the 20g tank and make it into a sump (if that is what I need for filtration). After a few days reading I am still not sure what the purpose of the sump is. lol

I have also read in here that many do without the filtration altogether, as long as they use a good protein skimmer. I believe the one I have is a good one... (newbie belief...) it cost $200.

I need to find the darn charger for the camera so that I can show some more pix of the setup.

 

[Boret]

By the way, I didn't have the Current Orbit Light when I took those pictures.
Ok, off to turn my house upside down till I find the charger for the camera

 

[Boret]

Hi Kerchakone,

I was able to get 2 more pix out of the battery. You can see the Domino and the new light fixture as well as the White with purple tips anemone on a piece of LR I placed across to make a bridge and provide another hide place for future fish.

I upped a bit the brightness on the picture that show the furniture on top of which the tank rests.

Both pix with no flash.

 

[Ef3s]

I'd say lights are completely ok if it's actually 4 seperate 65 watt lights as you say!!


I'm kinda surprised to see you have nitrate without ammonia/nitrite...did you use tap water? Otherwise I like the set up!

Fits nice in that corner...!!!

 

[Boret]

Yes, I used tap water that I treated with "WON No Ammonia" anticlorine and added salt.
I added the Live Rock and the Live Sand 24hrs after filling up the tank.
I have been testing the water every day and I have 1.022 density, 0 ammo and 0 nitrite. I believe the 5-10 Nitrate is from the life sand and rock. The ammo was slightly higher the first 2 days. Now is down to zero. I just tested it again 2 mins ago.

Either I am in great shape or this thing is going to spike like crazy at some point!!

I have had the tank now for 8 days. I put the fish, Anemone and Xenia yesterday night.

 

[Boret]

This is a link to the light I am using:

http://www.aquariumguys.com/48orbitsunpaq.html

I also have this one:

https://www82.safesecureweb.com/webaqua ... _Code=CLT5

Should I use both?

 

[Kerchakone]

no, you have fine lighting. I just can't read.

 

[Kerchakone]

http://www.peteducation.com:80/article. ... cleid=2377

 

[mr_X]

i believe that orbit fixture is compact flourescent, not t-5. and yes, the anemone, xenia, and the damsel was placed way too early.
if you can, try not to add anything else until the tank is completely cycled, and also, slowly raise your specific gravity to .025.

 

[cindre2000]

Xenia's can take a while to get happy- and no they are not anemonies, they are octocorals (aka soft coral).

As for lighting, I would set the coralife fixture to be straight up actinic and have the orbic fixuture half 10k and half 10k/actinic. Then you can have the coralife come on earlier and cut off later for a sunset/sunrise affect. The Coralife fixuture is not HO so it does not actually produce a whole lot of light, at least not compared to the orbic fixture.

I would say that you should slow down a bit not that you jumped in.

Wait at least 2 weeks to see if the tank spikes or not. In that time do research into what you want to keep, there are a lot of options out there. Then, reaquascape (personal preference), remove the damsel, and do a water change.

I say remove the damsel, because if you want to keep any other fish that are not very aggressive that damsel will kill them. He went in first and is now in dominance mode, that means he is very aggresive and he gets quite big (for a damsel). It won't be long before he starts to attack your hand when you put it in the tank.


Oh, yeah, how much of the rock is live again?

 

[Boret]

Thank you for the replies guys!!

I did jump in a little bit. I got the tank as a present from my sister and her husband whom are visiting for a few weeks. They are leaving soon, so I felt bad that they wouldn't get a chance to see any live stuff in the tank.... they didn't know it would take that long to be ready.

The anemone and xenia came on the second batch of Live Rock, which I purchased for $3,5 a lb. The guy was nice enough not to charge extra for either one, so you could say that both Hitchjacked into my tank. I bought the damsel ($5) so that they (my sis & husband) would have a chance to see a fish in the tank. I really felt I owed them after they spent about $400 in the present.

But enough excuses. I will follow the proper timings from now on. No more livestock.

So far everything seems to be thriving in there. The live rock is still "alive" with tons of little crits. The hermit's are all over the place, the damsel has definitely taken over and the anemone is looking great. The Xenia probably won't recover from the way to early introduction into the tank.

A few questions if I may.

For how long should I keep both lights on while I am waiting for the tank to cycle? 10 hrs, 12, 20?

In order to increase the density.... how do I go about it? Just add a bit of salt directly in the tank?? Or maybe take some of the current water out in a bucket, add the salt there and then return the water into the tank? Should I increase the density before or after I do a water change?

As far as the damsel. I can either turn him in at the LPS for a 20% off on a new fish, or probably return it to the guy I bought from and maybe replace him with something else. I was also looking into building a refugium while the main tank cycles and that might be a good place to put the damsel.

Cindre2000, what do you mean by reaquascape? Did I place the rocks too tight together? Should I take some out?

As far as water change.... should I do water change regardless of the ammo, NO2, NO3, etc... readings? I mean, if in 1 more week the numbers are still good... should I do a water change. Guessing that the answer is going to be a resounding YES.... how much, 10, 20, 30% of the tank.

During a water change... how long do you keep the body of water that you plan to add outside of the main tank. I mean, I am sure I will need to make certain that I have eliminated the chlorine, and that I have added the proper amount of salt. I definitely don't want to do that in the 5g bucket and then add to the main tank to realized I messed up. I bought a big rubbermade BRUTE plastic bin (44g) which I want to use to condition water before I add it to the tank. Should I keep the water in there for 24 hrs? I am guessing I should get it to the same temp as the tank and make sure it has the proper density.

Someone mentioned to me that I could use distilled water instead of conditioned tap water.... is that right? Is it recommended?

I can't afford right now a RO thing to get pure water off the tap. Eventually I want to get a used one.

BTW, the skimmer collected foam the first 2 days after I added the live sand and live rock. Nothing for the last 6-7 days. Is that normal?

Thank you again for all the help guys!!

I apologize for rushing a bit into it (this is just too cool to help it sometimes), I should know better, if I have been patient with the freshwater I should be as well with the marine tank.

Regards,

Boret

 

[Kerchakone]

Turn the lights off when cycling.

Change salinity SLOWLY. However you can do that while at the same time raising it quickly. 1.023-1.025 for coral.

If you pull the damsel, rearrange (aquascape) the damsel won't be so aggresive... but if you still don't add other fish before it it'll do the same thing. Keeping it in the refuge would probably be good until you add some more fish and let them get accustomed.

10-20% water change, and I'd do it regardless of water conditions.

A lot of people keep the water in there for 24 hours and make sure the water is VERY close to the tank water. temp/pH everything.

Distilled water or reverse osmosis water gets everything bad out of the water. So it's very good for aquariums. BUT it also gets rid of everything good in the water. (calcium, trace elements) So using that you'd need to add those back in.

If you go that route just get some big jugs and go to a water store or a water machine that vends distilled or RO water and fill it up.

It costs me $1.25 at the most per water change... of course I only have a 12 gallon tank.

Skimmer I can't help you with, as I don't have one on my tank.

 

[mr_X]

he can't turn the lights off when cycling. he has an anemone, and xenia.
and no, you don't need to do a waterchange if all readings are good, unless you have corals present that need the important trace elements that are in your salt mix, which get depleted over time.

to raise salinity, i would add salt mixed top-off water. with evaporation, you'll lose water, but the salt will stay. adding salted water will raise the salinity slowly enough.

i don't think it's worth it to get a used RODI. you'll be getting used filter cartriges with the unit, which will have to be changed. it seems that everyone who sells anything used, only used it for a short time :?
save your money and get a new one, that way there is no guessing about it.
meanwhile, i'd use the distilled water instead of the tap water or buy some RODI water from your local store.

yes, keep the salt mixed water in your rubbermaid bin for 24 hours and make sure the temp and salinity is the same as your tank. it's suggested to use an airstone in the water as well, to aerate it to produce the proper ph.

 

[cindre2000]

You can ignore my aquascaping comment, I am a bit of a perfectionist sometimes. It was just my way of saying that your aquascaping could use a little work to maximize its potential, but then I have no idea how long you worked on it. The most important thing with aquascaping is to build stable structures, reduce dead spots, leave room to allow for easy cleaning, and too look nice. Sometimes it can take a couple of tries to get it looking really nice.

You should do a water change 1/month and usually people let their salt mix, heat, and aerate for about 24hrs before adding it to the tank.

Also, depending on how "fresh" the live rock is there may be little or no nitrate cycle- just the algae cycle.

 

[Ef3s]

I think he was saying take the rocks on the sand in front and pile them on top in the middle/back as to create more tunnels and cover more of the back wall!!!


REALLY YOUR preference though since you stare at it all day!!

 

[Ef3s]

I think he was saying take the rocks on the sand in front and pile them on top in the middle/back as to create more tunnels and cover more of the back wall!!!


REALLY YOUR preference though since you stare at it all day!!

 

[SnowManSnow]

make haste ... slowly!!!

 

[Boret]

All of the advice is well taken so no worries!!

I probably should work a bit on the aquascaping. I tried to leave enough space everywhere. I did cramp things a little bit on the right side. At this point I am so afraid of touching it... I really don't want to mess it up.

I built a bridge in the middle. The Damsel Domino loves it, he sleeps underneath it at night and hides when someone approaches the tank. Somehow he doesn't hide when I approach, either he knows me already (wishful thinking) or he just plain doesn't see me! Its a great hide spot cause I can totally see him but he feels protected.

After seeing Mr_X's tank birth and development I can see how I could improve in the location of the rocks, the location of the tank, the equipment, etc... I might do that next when I do a large water change.

The Xantia died
The Anemone is doing great, but I probably have too much light cause some green hair algae is developing. I have a bit of red algae too.
The guy I bought the LR and LS from recommended to lower the light time to about 6 hours a days. So I am doing that now.

The fact that I added a bunch of live sand and live rock probably helped reduce the "cycle" time.... again probably wishful thinking. I just don't get ammo or nitrite, and 5 to 10 nitrate. The pH increased a little bit and the temp is stable now at 79. It has been 11 days since I got started and no spikes! Kind of worried.... I might be going thru the algae cycle like Cindre2000 mentioned.

I still can't find the damn charger for the digital cam batteries. I will post more pix as soon as I get that camera running.

In the meantime, keep the info coming.Today I added 5 more hermit crabs.

I don't have Alkalinity, phosphate and calcium tests... how important are those tests? Where can I find the cheapest test kits for those?

Thanks again to everyone for your help.

I will slow down SnowManSnow!!