First SW tank.. tons of dumb questions! Help a newb get started? :)

[NC2WA]

Id wait 10days between adding anything livestock wise

personally, I wait 2-4 wks to make sure fish are acclimate and NO new parasites are not present..10 days is not enough time to determine if parasites will be present.

 

[janky]

Right on, thanks for the words of encouragement guys.

My candy cane is not really opening up. It's still insanely bright colored and not droopy or sad looking or anything, but it just won't open... even when I spot feed it mysis.
I'm going to try topping off and raising the salinity a bit... any other suggestions?

 

[NC2WA]

so what are the water parameters? and how long has it been since the calcium cloud has dissipated?

IMO, I would not ANY additives, etc? just do weekly water changes until things settle.

 

[janky]

I tested it like 2 days ago.. still at zeros, 8.2 pH. SG was a whopping 1.022 though :/
Made some top off water w reef salt and it went up to 1.024. I've got a bucket aerating over night for a 15% WC tomorrow.

Annnnnnnnnd I feel stupid lol.. I read the back of the reef salt package and it clearly says the amount I'm using is for 1.021 to 1.023 sg. It says add about 2 tbsp to get in the 1.024-1.026 range.
durrrr

sooo this bucket I mixed correctly and we'll see if it helps.
The cloud was gone the next day.

 

[NC2WA]

1.022 is low for corals...fish OK, but corals no....pump it up to 1.025/6

 

[janky]

Got it up to 1.025. I'll give it a couple days and see if the corals seem to respond better.

I saw on facebook that BRA has a Meteor shower cyphastrea... insane looking coral!!! I am pretty sure its sps/mh-only/out of my league for now lol
but if anyone's going out there for their weekend sale definitely check that one out!

 

[janky]

So my sg is up to slightly over 1.025! I don't feel like the candy canes are "open" necessarily, but my gf seems to think they seem more open and responsive during the light-on periods.

I noticed in some LFS they keep the candy canes higher up on shelves that are basically right underneath the light.
Since my tank has a pretty tall footprint, should I move this little guy up closer? I have the favia frag the highest right now, but I dunno if it necessarily needs to be up that high.

What do you guys think?

 

[Skimmy]

ok so...
slow the fux down mango.... lulz

first off, doesnt sound like you rinsed the sand enough when you put it in, fyi.
and (not that it matters now)did you follow the instructions i posted for adding the sand and caring for the fish during the transfer??
dont mess with sensitive gobies, 2 spots almost always nearly die, especially in a newer tank,
and clown gobies will perch on and kill sps corals.

you need bullet proof starter fish...
get damsels, clowns or chromis to start.
there are several damsel species that are cool looking and mellow.
choose 1 or 2 fish, AND THEN DONT ADD ANYTHING FOR AT LEAST 1
month!! or in your case EVER AGAIN!! less is more,
and dont over crowd that tiny tank where fish cant swim very much because of the crappy footprint.
then as folks have said, focus on SOFT CORALS FIRST...
leave the lps and sps till you figured out how to not kill stuff.
so , favias, acans, chalices, candy canes, hammers, and any sps, all of it should wait until
you can efficently test your tank and dose your tank all by yourself.
so yeah, zoanthids, mushrooms, kenya tree coral, are all perfect.

also, i cant believe you havent been running your powerhead.... ITS NOT TOO MUCH FLOW!!!!
think about the fore reef in the ocean, if you had any idea how turbulent it was, you wouldnt be saying that.
that flow is vital to the health of your reef, that is how nutrients and wastes are processed by bacteria colonies in your live rock,
who cares if your sand is pushed out of the way.. reposition the powerhead.

 

[Derbird]

ok so...
slow the fux down mango.... lulz

first off, doesnt sound like you rinsed the sand enough when you put it in, fyi.
and (not that it matters now)did you follow the instructions i posted for adding the sand and caring for the fish during the transfer??
dont mess with sensitive gobies, 2 spots almost always nearly die, especially in a newer tank,
and clown gobies will perch on and kill sps corals.

you need bullet proof starter fish...
get damsels, clowns or chromis to start.
there are several damsel species that are cool looking and mellow.
choose 1 or 2 fish, AND THEN DONT ADD ANYTHING FOR AT LEAST 1
month!! or in your case EVER AGAIN!! less is more,
and dont over crowd that tiny tank where fish cant swim very much because of the crappy footprint.
then as folks have said, focus on SOFT CORALS FIRST...
leave the lps and sps till you figured out how to not kill stuff.
so , favias, acans, chalices, candy canes, hammers, and any sps, all of it should wait until
you can efficently test your tank and dose your tank all by yourself.
so yeah, zoanthids, mushrooms, kenya tree coral, are all perfect.

also, i cant believe you havent been running your powerhead.... ITS NOT TOO MUCH FLOW!!!!
think about the fore reef in the ocean, if you had any idea how turbulent it was, you wouldnt be saying that.
that flow is vital to the health of your reef, that is how nutrients and wastes are processed by bacteria colonies in your live rock,
who cares if your sand is pushed out of the way.. reposition the powerhead.

Brutal but true. Its hard not to go out and buy every stunning coral you see but that will come in time. My 125 is 10 months old and I'm still not ready for many corals and fish. I'm just now venturing in to SPS. I have a few more months until I want to add some more sensitive fish.

Slow down, stabilize your water parameters, and enjoy the process. You might be suprized by how much you enjoy it

 

[janky]

I have been running my powerhead and I followed exactly what you said for transferring the rock and fish while changing out the sand. Unless there was a part where you said "leave them in the bucket for 2-3 days while the sand settles" and I missed that part...?
Also, we rinsed the sand quite a bit - and the bag even said not to rinse it AT ALL... I've seen many people say that rinsing it can flush the necessary bacteria in it, which defeats the point, but even so - we did rinse it.

Either way, what's done is done.
My shrimp and crab survived, so I'm not adding anything in the way of livestock for a long time.

Also, what do you mean by stabilize my water parameters?
I check them all the time and they aren't changing. My ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates are at zero. My pH is not fluctuating...stable at 8.2. My sg is now up to 1.025.
Is there something I'm missing?

And I'm sorry skimmy, but there is no way I'm putting a clown in a 12 hex. That tank is waaaay too small for that fish. Chromis would be cool except for the fact that they're schoolers, so what would be the point of just one? A damsel is probably the most feasible.
Although, I'll be honest with you, I don't see a point in buying fish I don't want just to see if they'll live in my tank. That seems cruel, inefficient, and wasteful. I'd just end up rehoming them a couple months down the road and getting something else.

The 2 spot did great until the sand change, which admittedly, was a terrible idea to do with livestock. Had the tank been set up properly with the correct sand INITIALLY, he'd be alive and fine.

I'm asking questions so I can learn about the things I want to keep in my reef. I don't think buying fish that are too big for my tank or 'bulletproof' corals/fish is necessary. From my understanding, candy canes and favias aren't incredibly difficult to keep. Am I wrong? I didn't think I was jumping into any difficult corals.
I did plan on getting zoas and mushrooms, but I didn't see any that I wanted and I got the two that I got for about the same price.

I appreciate your help, but I am already following everything you said bro (short of livestock choices). I'm not adding anything until I know my tank is ready.

 

[janky]

sorry if I sound pissy man, I just want to be clear ... its not like I found an empty pickle jar, filled it with tap water, and started tossing triggerfish into it or something lol
I'm doing my research and asking questions here. I understand patience and not rushing - I didn't feel that I was rushing.
I let the tank cycle for a month and checked the params religiously. Still do.
I didn't know about the sand, so my bad there.. and I lost a couple of very unhardy fish due to poor choices and having to change it.
I left my CUC in there for a few weeks to make sure the tank was live-able/bioload wasn't spiking before I even considered fish.
I re-configured the powerhead so that it's not creating sand tornados, and have looked into a smaller one.
I purchased two lps corals that I was under the assumption were pretty hardy/easy - that cost the same as the shrooms/zoas would've.

I know that small tanks are hard. I know that I need to be researching. I understand there will be a learning curve, and I may lose a fish or coral due to trial and error.

I really do appreciate the input and advice, I just hope you understand that I'm not just throwing random stuff in a cube and hoping it magically lives
I'm willing to do the extra research, ask 20 ?s, and put in the extra work to have nice things.

 

[Skimmy]

np mang, seriously..
sorry for being a little harsh,
but hey, i tell it like it is.

so, i wouldnt worry about putting a clown in a 12g...
at least a single small ocellaris or percula, obviously not a tomato or clarki.
but, hats off to you for thinking of the fish...

well if you like gobies, maybe a yasha white ray goby with symbiotic pistol shrimp...
they are easy to keep, small, and very colorful.
theres a bunch of trimma and eviota gobies that would be good too. look em up.
the mexican red headed goby, and the pink bar, are also pretty sturdy.

as far as corals and maintaining your levles, were not talking about ammonia, trites, and trates for you to be monitoring,
although those all need to be in check, obviously...
you need to be testing and buffing up your mag, alk/ph, cal, iodine,
and testing for phosphates to keep in control before you do lps.

you could do most of the dosing with a single 2 part product like this:
Brightwell Aquatics Reef Code A - Balanced Calcium & Alkalinity System - Part A (Calc.)
Brightwell Aquatics Reef Code B - Balanced Calcium & Alkalinity System - Part B (Alk.)

then add iodine seperately
Brightwell Aquatics Iodion - Liquid Iodine Supplement - Long Acting 500ml / 17oz

then you need a ph/alk buffer to treat all the freshwater topoff you put into your aquarium:
Brightwell Aquatics Alkalin8.3-P - Dry pH Buffer & Alkalinity(KH)-Builder 500g / 1.1 lbs.

 

[1guydude]

u got any books man? U should get some books on sw aquariums and even some coral ones if its wat u wanna get into. We can only tell u so much, u gots to learn for urself too.I remember buying my 1st corals...i was so nervous. I even went home and tested my water and went back the next day.I got some mushrooms LOL. Now id throw those in the sump and see if they live w/o light.

 

[NC2WA]

janky,

this book I recommend to all novices in the hobby...

The Conscientious Marine Aquarist: A Commonsense Handbook for Successful Saltwater Hobbyists, (1890087998), Robert M. Fenner, Textbooks - Barnes & Noble

Read all the way through AND then read it again.

most of your questions will be answered by reading this book.
I own it and refer to it from time to time.

 

[janky]

Thanks for the heads up! Yeah, I don't know much about dosing the water... so I will definitely read up more on that, and I will look into the book linked as well.

 

[janky]

Just an update; everything in this tank is actually going great! I'm researching on testing/dosing for calcium and phosphates and I even ordered the book NC2WA recommended for a reference/summer reading material.

The corals look incredibly colorful and are opening up quite a bit, despite one chewed up/dead polyp on the candy cane.
It's really cool at night when their little feeder tentacles come out haha ... I am geekin out on feeding them, its so cool to watch

I'm just leaving these two corals and CUC in there for now... I do want a catalina goby (nano fish) or two, and a small rock with some mushrooms, but I'm staying patient and waiting to see how everything else is doing before I rush in. Plus I'd like to learn more about the dosing and have the book on hand for reference first.

Here's a couple pics of the corals

^ Can see the busted/eaten polyp here...

 

[user 26995]

Do some more research on the catalina goby. They are a cold water fish. Well 65-70 degree water. They dont tolerate the higher temps that we run our reef tanks at.

 

[janky]

^ Yeah I just saw that after I posted it and was looking at them. I guess those are out!

 

[NC2WA]

Glad to see u purchased the book I recommended
For fish u want use this book to research them

 

[Derbird]

If your looking for a red goby down the road the firefish goby's are very nice looking and are pretty hardy. A much better choice then the catalina. But the world of gobys is semmingly endless. So many great cratures, just be sure to reaserch (as always )

I'm glad to see your corals are responding to your efforts. Its very rewarding to see them thrive!