My First Saltwater Tank!

[pewpewlazerbeam]

I have been keeping fish for about 12 years now. Up until a month ago it was strictly freshwater. Generally south american chiclids which i LOVE. I have a 100 gallon freshwater chiclid tank and a 55 gal turtle tank.

3 weeks ago i set up my very first salt water tank.

A Biocube 29 HQI.
Added a heater, and a powerhead.
Added 2 x Lunar Link Lights to a custom glass piece i made.
Added a JBJ Refugium light on an opposite timer
Have about 6 lbs of live rock in my refugium and quite a bit of chaeto.
About 12 lbs of live rock in the tank with another 12 lbs of lace.
40 lbs of live sand,( i know its a ton i think i will wind up taking alot out) just got alot because i have a blue spot jawfish that will be making this tank home soon and it is recommended that they have at least 4 " of sand. ( any suggestions here?)

There is one damsel and a cleaner crew helping cycle the tank, ammonia is good, nitrites are good and nitrates are about 10

 

[ac7av]

Sounds like you’re off to a good start and experience with fresh water will also help. I would recommend you look into a skimmer of some kind for that tank. It’s not necessary if you do water changes often but they are very beneficial to have for removing waist from the water and helping in gas exchange and oxygenation.

 

[NC2WA]

also, a net to catch that damsel when the tank is done cycling..they can be mean and will limit the type of fish you add, presuming you do plan on adding additional fish.

 

[Jesse_emel]

agreed

x2 on getting that damsel outa there. you'll regret it when you have to tear the tank apart to get him out later. Welcome to reefing!!

also, a net to catch that damsel when the tank is done cycling..they can be mean and will limit the type of fish you add, presuming you do plan on adding additional fish.

 

[pewpewlazerbeam]

Lol, i have chiclids of course i have a net!
yeah ive noticed. When the bigger damsel killed the smaller one.
The fish i plan to add are a blue dot jawfish and a pair of clowns. The damsel will be given away very soon.

Ac7av, there was an oceanic skimmer that came with the tank but it is a huge piece of crap and i think i need to take a class on how to set it up. Probably something worth credits.

 

[Rothany]

How bout some pics?

 

[tat2z_21]

I hate damsels. So territorial. Even with coral. You put anything inthere and before the glue is set that "DAM"sel is running off with it taking it behind a rock. I strongly dislike my damsel's but could not allow myself to get rid of them when I upgraded. Even though I now regret the decision to allow them back into the tank.

 

[pewpewlazerbeam]

I already planned to take out the damsel. Guess its a good idea thanks guys! Ill submit some pics when its worth looking at!

I hate damsels. So territorial. Even with coral. You put anything inthere and before the glue is set that "DAM"sel is running off with it taking it behind a rock. I strongly dislike my damsel's but could not allow myself to get rid of them when I upgraded. Even though I now regret the decision to allow them back into the tank.

 

[ac7av]

also, a net to catch that damsel when the tank is done cycling..they can be mean and will limit the type of fish you add, presuming you do plan on adding additional fish.

Come on guys, give um a try, you mite like it.

I love my damsels and only one of them has a problem and its only with my angle fish. Those too just don’t get along. The angle likes to zoom all over the rocks and the male 3 line damsel doesn’t like it when the angle goes into his nest. Other then that the rest of them get along just fine. No fighting

 

[pewpewlazerbeam]

I do actually like the damsel, but i fear when i put the jawfish in there the damsel will stress it out. Any thoughts on this?

 

[ac7av]

Ill tell you what. If any of you want to give away your damsel fish I would be happy to give them a home where they will be loved no questions asked. I have even rehabilitated damsels in my tank that use to be diggers and annoying chasers. Just call me the damsel whisperer.

 

[pewpewlazerbeam]

Care to come get one in issaquah here soon? Purple Head yellow Body

 

[Scampy]

Am I the only one who thinks cycling a tank with a fish is cruel. A piece of raw table shrimp for a couple days will do the same thing.

 

[pewpewlazerbeam]

Oh id guarentee your not the only one. But why should a poor shrimp lose its lkife to cycle my tank when a. Nice damsel is happy to do so and live?

 

[Scampy]

The shrimp died to become part of my shrimp salad. I've heard far to many times of fish not making it through the ammonia cycle. I'm not going to bash anyone for their practices but it just doesn't make any sence to me.

 

[pewpewlazerbeam]

scpy if it dies it will be turtle food. Circle of life complete

 

[ac7av]

Care to come get one in issaquah here soon? Purple Head yellow Body

Hay do you know the name of it? I don’t think I’ve seen one like that ever? Issaquah is a little far for me (115 miles) but maybe a tag teem could get it up this way. Unless there are others along the way that want to re home some damsels I could make a day trip and pick damsels all day and put them in a cooler to keep them comfy for the day. I may have someone in Everett that could hold on to it for a day or so if you ever get up that way. Just let me know.

 

[ac7av]

In my opinion putting a dead shrimp is just a stinky idea and doesn’t really cycle the tank. I believe in order to cycle the tank you need to have fish or shrimp or crabs or some living thing. A dead shrimp does not eat, it does not poop, it just rots. Just like if you over feed your tank. it will just rot. Then when you do ad fish your tank will still have to cycle because you have not been giving the tank the adequate regular food source to actually cycle and balance the tank. Nothing worse then someone putting in a bunch of fish because they cycled a tank with a dead shrimp just to have the tank cycle and kill the fish because they believed there tank was ready.

 

[Scampy]

If you add a bunch of fish after a cycle of course you can have an ammonia spike. Thats an overstocking issue not a cycling one. When you cycle and the tests finally get to zero that means that the bacteria can handle the current bio-load. Which is zero. Thats why adding critters slowly is so important. The bacteria need to to catch up to the bio-load. You just said that adding fish after the cycle is worse than adding them from the start. WOW

 

[tat2z_21]

From my understanding, the organic matter is what causes the ammonia spike, in which starts the tumbling dominoes of a cycled tank. So a shrimp would work in this instance, filling the void of organic matter in an empty tank. However the trick is to add your fish slowly, the shrimp will only build the cycle enough to handle that load of organics. If you have a tank with one fish and it is living happily, the tank is mature enough to handle that one fish, now if you take and add 15 fish to that same level, it will throw off the levels and create a new cycle.