Starting my first tank, any thoughts??

[mjslaugh]

So I have been researching for about a month now and finally decided to go for it. I have gotten the tank setup with RO/DI water mixed it up to 1.023, and got the heater to maintain a constant 79 degrees. I still need to add the sand but I was told to do that after the rock and water. My question is what things should I be watching for that I don't want?? I got some good rock(I think) from a pretty well respected sw lfs, but I just want to make sure I am watching out just in case. So here are a few pics of what I got so far.

 

[mjslaugh]

also on the last pic there are some swirl looking white things on the rock, what are they??

 

[Herefishyfishy]

Welcome to the site!
The white swirl things are worm tubes as in featerdusters.
Bump your salinity up to 1.025-1.026 if you will be having any corals

 

[spongebob lover]

WELCOME TO RF DOOD !!! i hope you like it here .
what kind of corals are you planning on keeping? .
in my own opinion i wouldn't add sand because it's hard to have good flow at the bottom with it.
you're gonna go through a cycle right now, so you're gonna see some brown stuff on yoru rocks ..i believe they're called diatoms, don't worry they'll go away once your tank finish cycling.
just watch your nitrates and nitrites , once you hit 0 you'll know your tank is ready for some live stock .
the swirling thingys look like feather dusters to me ... they're good dood.

 

[Sascha D]

Welcome to RF


It looks like your rock hasn't been in the ocean for awhile so you wont have to worry about too many hitchhikers, like crabs and such. The biggest thing I would watch out for is aiptasia and you dont even have to worry about that until after your cycle is over. By the looks of your rock the cycle is going to be pretty short.

What size tank ya got there, looks like a 30ish cube? I didn't see a skimmer and if you dont have one then you'll have to do daily water changes or the house will stink something foul.

 

[DonW]

I think your going to regret packing the rock so tight in a tank that small. Its going to be very difficult to get nutrients up and out. The pieces look large. I'd probably open up the aquascape to prevent problems.

Don

 

[Herefishyfishy]

Also avoid small polyp stony (SPS) corals (staghorn shapes, etc) and anemones as those two compact florescent lamps will not keep them happy. Mushrooms and Larger polyp corals (LPS) such as mushrooms etc will be fine after the tank fully matures.

 

[mjslaugh]

Wow, Thanks for all the info. The skimmer is on the list. It is a 29g BioCube, althought the amount of water shown came out of 3 6g jugs(I don't know how that works but it seems pretty full for 18g). I am getting the rest of the water and a couple pieces of rock today and then I will re-arrange it. I only set the rock in there to get it covered I didn't arrange it yet. I plan to stack it mostly in the middle with a shelf a couple inches off the sand, I will take pics and put them up once I get it done.

I do have another question if I want to go with a dwarf flame angel with it bother the LPS I want to put into it later??

 

[Scooterman]

Welcome to RF!
At some point you have to jump in, lots of help here & information. Keep on reading & ask questions.
I recently started a new 34g tank, as Don mentioned & Spongebob, It took me a while to get the rocks opened up enough to be able to suck Detritus out easily. Although I have sand, when I do a water change & do siphon detritus directly off it & loose some sand. The benefits is getting out what causes most issues down the road, so I'm not shy to suck out some sand & easily replace some with a good dry sand later if needed. I have a power head blowing low & across the back, along with a 800gph PH on top blowing across the upper region of the little tank, lots of flow. I also use a skimmer that I've made skim very wet It does a very good job in helping the tank look clean.
http://www.reeffrontiers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=36585

Congrats on the new tank!

 

[Sascha D]

I do have another question if I want to go with a dwarf flame angel with it bother the LPS I want to put into it later??

I had a flame angel for 2 years and he never bothered anything besides chasing other fish.

 

[mjslaugh]

Okay so I just got the rest of the water, rock and sand put into the tank, but now the tank is really cloudy(I think mostly from the sand). I don't know if I should worry about this or not?? I am really worried about this one rock that I got, I bought it out of a display tank and the owner of the shop threw in this little one that had a razor clam and a mushroom on it, I really don't want to kill either, so any suggestions??

 

[Sascha D]

I wouldn't worry too much about it. They can survive a couple days without light until the tank clears up. Mine usually took about 24 hours or so.

 

[jeez2474]

Lol I was browsing some forum threads and ran across your name.

This is Kevin from school, i cant figure out how to PM so i figured it say hi through your post.

So when did you get into SW?

 

[mjslaugh]

Lol I was browsing some forum threads and ran across your name.

This is Kevin from school, i cant figure out how to PM so i figured it say hi through your post.

So when did you get into SW?

Hey Kevin just sent you a PM.

 

[Sascha D]

So...Hows the tank comming?

 

[mjslaugh]

So...Hows the tank comming?

I wish it was going better, I am very overwhealmed right now. I can't get a handle on the salinity of my tank, I am using this hydrometer which I have been told is reading 2 roints high, but I don't know I am thinking of just buying a refractometer.

I also have macro algae growing on one of the rocks in my tank, that rock also has a mushroom, mussel, and lots of vermatid snails on it. I am hearing that I should pull out the rock and cook it, but I also have an emerald crab that is eating away at the algae. I can't decide if I want to give up my critters, to possibly save myself from the algae growing wild.

What would you do??

 

[Sascha D]

The trick with a hydrometer is that it only works when there are no bubbles in the tube. I used to fill it and tap it on the counter so the bubbles go to the top. Kinda like a coke can

I would keep the crab. They will help clean up the tank of uneatten foods and keep the algae in check if its growing too wildly. I'm not familiar with those snails but I wouldn't take them out unless they are a danger to the corals you plan on keeping.

The break in process is the most fun part about having a reef. You get to buy all these cool pieces of LR and watch what comes out of them!! Sit back, relax, get the water parameters in check and have some fun before it becomes work!

 

[mjslaugh]

Thanks for the advice, I got so frustrated with that hydrometer yesterday, I got 3 different readings within 5 minutes of each other that I ordered the refractometer, so at least that won't give me an more issues.


I had an idea about that rock, I don't know if it is any good, but let me know. I was thinking of pulling that rock out of the tank into a little bucket of sw pulling off the algae and scrubbing off the spots where it is at rinsing it with sw and then putting it back, that way I can try to remove the algae without killing all the critters that came with it, what do you think.