30 gallon long "FOWR"

[shaun11423]

hello my name is Shaun and im the local area of queeens, NY, i started my new FOWR- fish only with rock tank for about two months now, i go to the LFS which is fish town off of northern, i am new to the hobby and i am doing alot pf research online, videos and books, but i could use some more insight into this hobby.

FOWR- why not FOWLR because the rock i got was once LR but has been kept out of water for a couple of months and now it is dead, i got it for a cheap price and i am on a budget. So i read around that once its dead it will grow back after some long extended time, true or false, not sure my LFS says no i think yes.

Tank is a 30 gallon long with 30 pounds of soon to be LR, a clown, two turbo snails and a fire fish.

i have a 30 gallon canister filter yes 30 gallon canister filter, i dont have the horizontal surface space to keep a sump, but i do have a 20 gallon sump that i have not in use, give me your opinion on that, it has 3 yards of filter media and over 200+ bio balls.

75watt marine-land heater
UV- setup
Amiracle protein skimmer
mag 5 or 7 not sure, got it used with no tag on it
overflow
three aqua clear 301 pwhead
36" T5 Light HO Aquarium Marine Reef Cichlid 156W Lunar

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=290484309470&ssPageName=ADME:X:RTQ:US:1123

diatom filter
http://www.thatpetplace.com/pet/prod/205461/product.web?gdftrk=gdfV2226_a_7c268_a_7c713_a_7c205461

OKay i use the api tap water filter
most of my products are API including the test kits

-Supplements used
kent buffer
purple up
Kent Iodide
kent calcium power


Water and tank parameters
Temp, 78-80, soon it will be constant but my T5 get to hot- putting some fans on
Salinity, 1.020- Brand sea test i know its low soon to be corrected dont kill me on that
All API in red
PH, 8.2
Calcium- 360
Ammonia-0 ppm - .25 hard to tell more to 0 ppm
Nitrite- 0 ppm
Nitrate-0 ppm
Magnesium- i dont have test kit yet
Phosphate- i dont have the test kit yet
Alkalinity- i dont have the test kit yet
and i had all my water spikes so it should be cycled, and all the rock has been in there since day one and all of the equipment has been running since day one.

QUESTIONS
What do you guys think?

NOT IN USE- i dont think i need them
Naturalwave Pump Timer/wave Maker

System 1 Pressure Filter
http://www.aquasythe.com/Products/System-1-Pressure-Filter__FT-DM10001.aspx

fluval 403


Penn Plax DDAF2 Daily Double Automatic Fish Feeder II
http://www.petshopusa.com/ppphm288....-51C5-DF11-907B-002219318F67&mr:referralID=NA

 

[JonnyJ]

Hey, Welcome To MR!!

There is a lot going on in this post so ill comment on some of it. It takes a lot of research and patience to really get an understanding on how to run a tank. your on the right track. You have landed here on manhattan reefs and thats great. A lot of people here have a lot of knowledge. Read read and read, I would take a look at members tank threads and read what most people use/do. You will see a lot of similarities and there is a reason for it.

As we speak your once dried rock is becoming Live. Beneficial bacteria is inhabiting the rock making it "live" so the answer to your question is yes your rock is becoming live.

I would not add any supplements to the tank. The truth is you dont need them at this point. Water changes will replace everything needed for a healthy system. Just remember to match the salinity and temperature when doing water changes.

The best thing for you to do is to figure out a schedule for water changes and too really follow them through. I never really worried about picture perfect levels just wanted them to always be stable..truth is most of those test kits aren't to accurate API being one of the lower grade tests. the same week by week. I always keep double the amount of gallons in live rock. Example: 30gal tank = around 60 lbs rock. Although its not needed it definitely helps maintain a stable system. keeping levels stable is the best advise i could give you.


your salinity is fine where it is at for a fish only tank. A reef tank should be higher. are you going for a reef or a fish only tank?

 

[shaun11423]

Hey, Welcome To MR!!

There is a lot going on in this post so ill comment on some of it. It takes a lot of research and patience to really get an understanding on how to run a tank. your on the right track. You have landed here on manhattan reefs and thats great. A lot of people here have a lot of knowledge. Read read and read, I would take a look at members tank threads and read what most people use/do. You will see a lot of similarities and there is a reason for it.

As we speak your once dried rock is becoming Live. Beneficial bacteria is inhabiting the rock making it "live" so the answer to your question is yes your rock is becoming live.

I would not add any supplements to the tank. The truth is you dont need them at this point. Water changes will replace everything needed for a healthy system. Just remember to match the salinity and temperature when doing water changes.

The best thing for you to do is to figure out a schedule for water changes and too really follow them through. I never really worried about picture perfect levels just wanted them to always be stable..truth is most of those test kits aren't to accurate API being one of the lower grade tests. the same week by week. I always keep double the amount of gallons in live rock. Example: 30gal tank = around 60 lbs rock. Although its not needed it definitely helps maintain a stable system. keeping levels stable is the best advise i could give you.


your salinity is fine where it is at for a fish only tank. A reef tank should be higher. are you going for a reef or a fish only tank?

thank you for the insight, i do plan on doing a reef tank latter on when i think i can handle it and when my tanks is ready for it, i dont want to push it, i have alot to learn as of right now, im coming from a 30 gallon african maui cichlid tank that i had for 3 years now. so i have some experience with the hobby.

 

[shaun11423]

umm where did my original post go:lol:

 

[rkaragozler]

yeah, i thought jonny was just going crazy

 

[shaun11423]

anyways since my original post got lost, my setup is 30g long and a 30g canister filter, with a
amricale protein skimmer
uv setup.
diatom filter,
quad HO T5 light two 12K and two atinic with three moon leds.
Mag 5 pump
One inch of crushed coral and live sand mixed.

all my water is good,
pH 8.2
nitrate, nitrite, ammonia all 0
calcium 360
SG- 1.0195
and that's all the test i have for now

30 pounds of dead rock soon to be LR
i did the fishless cycle im proud of my self for that lol, and i have one clown, fire fish and two turbo snails

Question
I was told to keep my UV off in order for my Coraline algae to grow true or false?
i use purple up with my snails as a Coraline algae seed good or bad?

Question
Should i let my turbo snails eat my algae or diatoms right now since my tanks needs them to create beneficial algae?

 

[shaun11423]

update-
LTA- doing good but dose not like water flow
frogspawn
mushrooms
palys
green star polyps

 

[fallenlordz]

Hi there

Fish town - I go there to heheh. I am like 4-5 minutes away by car.

But the best place for your fish and coral goods will soon be Manhattan Reefs. (People here have the cheapest prices on corals) (and Preorder fish from vendors here, like Will is so much easier:bablefish)

Congrats on getting your saltwater tank running. Its going to take over your life LOL

 

[Imbarrie]

Yea, words of caution about Fishtown. They have some good prices, but sometimes their selection is not healthy. You wont know until you get it home.

Also, your rock will get more cool things growing on it if you seed it with a piece of rock from an established tank. Seriously get one and watch your rock explode with stuff.

 

[aznt1217]

Do not listen to the guys at Fishtown. The majority have absolutely no idea what they are talking about. I only go there to see stuff and once in a while I'll buy a fish that looks good that they misprice =D.

Anyway, a lot going on in the post like Jonny said.

- Your liverock sounds like it is cycled which is good.
- Your LTA will move so no worries
- Get rid of that Tap Water filter whenever you have the money to and get an RODI filter
- You do not need that UV Sterilizer (I may get flamed for this but that's fine)
- Not sure how you are using the Mag 5 in the sumpless set up (please elaborate)
- No need for the diatom filter after everything settles so you can take that off
- Your Diatom bloom will disappear after the first few water changes and if you cut your lighting cycle. It's just a natural process.
- The UV filter has nothing to do with your Coralline algae development, it has more to do with your Ca/Alk balance which should be fine with your salt and it will develop as well.
- Now that you did your initial tests don't go too crazy with testing like a scientist. Know the ebbs and flows of your tank. I also would advise on getting like a Koralia or something for a nice spread of flow.

-Feel free to PM or contact me if you need more info/input. I am pretty close to fishtown as well.

 

[shaun11423]

i take all your suggestions into consideration, Fishtown is close to me and i just go there because of that reason only, i go to MHR once and a while when im in the area but its too far. But i also have a 5 gallon QT tank so i always quarantine my items first.

Im getting alot of green algea on my rocks, i guess thats good and the rocks seem to be at a standstill with little on no growth of much of anything and i seeded the tank with two LR

 

[shaun11423]

"- Not sure how you are using the Mag 5 in the sumpless set up (please elaborate)"

i have a 32 gallon garbage pale with three yards of filter media in it with bio balls and my heater and uv in there, also my skimmer. So my 3/4 inch over flow tube goes into the bottom and gravity forces the water up through the filter media and bio balls and then the mag 5 pump sends it back.

i have a amircale sump but i have no surface area to put it.

 

[shaun11423]

good news i have alot of white bugs on my glass,(pods) and my rock is turning green and pink, so its coming alive!

 

[THEDLO]

lol

 

[shaun11423]

the lta died caused a anomia spike i guess and my snowflake eel escaped and died and my firefish is mia, total lost $50

 

[THEDLO]

it was too soon for those guys. sorry for ur loss.

 

[shaun11423]

it was too soon for those guys. sorry for ur loss.

it was to soon but more about bad selection of animals i put in the tank, i wanted a LTA because i wanted the clown fish to host it but never did, he never was happy in the tank and kept on moving but settled down after a while and the firefish was really healthy he was always eating and eats everything but the snowflake eel messed up everything because the eel bite the LTA and the LTA died after that and then the firefish disappeared. Im not to sure why but i think because he is a bottom dweller the SFE ate him for a snack and then made a dash out of the tank. In end it was a disaster and i learned but now my clown is scared and is hiding in the back and doesn't really want to eat like before.:givebeer:

 

[THEDLO]

Wc?

 

[shaun11423]

Wc?

Temp, 80
Salinity, 1.026
All API in red
PH, 7.8
Calcium- 420
Ammonia-0 ppm
Nitrite- 0 ppm
Nitrate-0 ppm

 

[shaun11423]

heres some cool pics