My Tanks Progress (more pics added) 2/22/11

First topic message reminder :

So i decided to try sw for myself. First let me say i have never done any water tests on my two fw tanks or have i ever done tests in general. So with that in mind this is a whole new ball game for me. To start i purchased a 30 gallon long tank( its about 3 feet wide) I added sand on Dec 13th( about 45 lbs argonite?) and i purchased a whisper ex70 power filter. I have a koralia nano and 1( one on each side of the tank for water movement. The tank has been up and running like that since the 13th. On saturday the 18th i purchased 31 lbs of live rock. It was put in the tank that night. I know everyone says 2 lbs per gallon but the tank would be stuffed if i put 60 lbs of rock in it. It looks good with what is in it. ( I will post pics soon) So tonight leads me to water test number one of a million im sure. Here were my results, I went with the API saltwater master test kit. the scale was a color range so the numbers arent exact. I got my wife to help me determine about what they were.

PH 8.0-8.2
ammonia 0-0.25 ppm
nitrite 0.5 ppm
nitrate 7.0 ppm

I know they need to come down a little but let me know what you think. ALso i picked up some stuff off craigslist the other day. Let me know what i can use these for.

-Kent marine starter kit(comes with essential elements, pro-ammonia detox, and pro buffer dkh)
-Kent super buffer dkh
-kent garlic xtreme
-kordon rid fungus(herbal formula)
I got all of these for 10 bucks. figured i could use them. ALmost all of it is brand new.

So far this sw adventure has been fun. It is different looking at a tank for two weeks with nothing in it really except water. I have been keeping a total so far and with all my purchases i am still under 300 dollars. Thats for everything. And i have a heater on the tank too. Any suggestions please feel free. As i said i will get pics up soon.

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New Pics 12-30-2010..



New pics 1/4/2011




New pics 1/11/11






New Pics 2/22/11 - Making Progress...

For one thing impulse buys are dangerous! where you planning on Damsels? Do you know damsels get very aggressive and will kill other fish. Your tank is not cycled yet if you have ammonia and nitrates And you probably should have waited to add fish. Patience and self restraint is the key to a successful SW tank.

I figure once i go to get clowns i will take this one back to where i got it and turn it in. They adopt fish out for free. They dont try to sell them back. And from what i have read i dont think the levels are so high to where its going to kill him or her. What ever it may be. I know theres people who dont think cycling a tank with fish is right but the tank has been up almost a month. its not like i mixed the water today and threw it in. So we will see. He looks pretty content in there. swimming all over. I guess i will see in the morning.

vixen is right ALTHOU a wrasse woulda been better. they make good starter fish, they help cycle the tank... you wanna add those fish even when it's not ready, they can fight through anything... (someone confirm hahaha I'm might be mixing it up, but pretty sure)

AND personally i would move the rock around... fish wanna hide and like things to do (caves, tunnels, bridges, etc) plus it looks a lot cooler... i'll post a pick of my tank once the water clears, as i just rearranged it and the water is cloudy... ( also not sure if someone already said this, too lazy to look threw 7 pages of huge paragraphs lol)

and add a tad more rock, just a little...

I did buy one rock today. No clue how much it weighs. about the size of a softball. a little bigger and it has some nice purple on it. Thats the coraline algae right? I did move two rocks around and it made it look alot better. After reading just now some things, my ammonia being .25 is the only thing not right to add fish. But is that so terrible. Im not sure just asking. Also my nitrite was 0 today and nitrate was around 5. I like the wrasse but they are a little bit more than a three dollar blue damsel.

Should have gone with the $.99 black molly or the $2 sailfin molly thats how I used to cycle out salt tanks back in the day...drip them for a good long while they actually flourish in salt tanks and provide tasty snacks for later inhabitants

you should post a recent pic...

Ok i will try to do that tomorrow. My wife wont show me how to upload the pics from our camera to the computer. So i will get her to do it for me. She said if she shows me everything i wont need her. I have a question for anyone. As you can see in my pics above my rock is pretty white, not alot of color. The piece i got today looks nice. Purple spots on it, it looks aged. How long is it going to take all the rest to turn. I am sure that will take a while, just wondering. Also i dont know if it matters or if it will put anyone at ease but the little damsel is eating. So im not trying to punish it or anything.

bad news! #1 on the Damsels:( just because your ammonia tests at .25 doesnt mean it wont spike thats whats gonna kill these poor fish.

Quote: I added sand on Dec 13th( about 45 lbs argonite?) and i purchased a whisper ex70 power filter. I have a koralia nano and 1( one on each side of the tank for water movement. The tank has been up and running like that since the 13th. On saturday the 18th i purchased 31 lbs of live rock. It was put in the tank that night.

thats nowhere near a month up and running.

I understand your concern and i dont want to be that person who says its just a 3 dollar fish but i see what you are saying. I will test the water when i get home today to see where it stands. He seems to be doing ok for now. Swimming all around and eating fine. What would something to look for in his behavior to indicate a ammonia creep?

yeah ok......... I have seen this many times and people ask advise then when its given they ignore it so maybe they shouldn't ask to begin with. sadly you are going way too fast and it will catch up to you its only a matter of time...good bye and good luck.

Well before you call the fish police on me. I would like to ask you one last question. You suggested to me last week to start using that seachem product then you said at the end of the 7 days to go buy a few chromis to throw in. I just want to know why its so terrible if i throw one fish in three days earlier then you told me to throw a few in? If i am suppose to wait til this is completly cycled then why would you tell me to put them in 3 days later than what i did yesterday. I ask questions to get advice. There are people who do this to help the tank cycle all the time im sure. ALot from what i have read. I did not throw this fish in from the beginning like alot of people just to let it die and start the cycle. I am not that wicked. I put this fish in here with hopes of if living and eating and using the bathroom to help. There is no reason for you to get all up in arms. Youre telling me that everyone is perfect when doing this and im doomed? Thanks Cindy.

everyone including me have told you to take it slow!!! reread your own thread I said test on the 7th day if the ammonia is 0 and the other params check out then add chromis NOT damsels. I really don't care how you do it there is a right and a wrong way I was trying to help you do it the right way but I see now that you will be the type to rush into something you obviously no nothing about then 6weeks-6months down the road come whinning why is my tank crashing???
like I said good luck!

Alright Cindy. No reason to get angry. It is just a 3 dollar fish. If the tank crashes down the road so be it. Last time I checked it is my money paying for this. If I loose a couple bucks oh well. Like I said it's my money. But still I don't see why to are so mad. You've never done something on impulse? If I couldn't afford to loose a few bucks on my errors or impatience I wouldn't have gotten into this. I would appreciate you not be so negative.

its not negaitivty its a fact. my anger comes from the stress on these poor 3 dollar fish as you call them plus the numerous pms to me wanting help then you do the exact opposite. you wasted my time. I will unsubscribe for this thread now because I am not going to argue with you. do as you please like you said its your dollar and innocent fish who will pay the price.

Cindy and everyone else. Thanks for all of your suggestions and feedback. I will update everything this eve. Have a great day

08can-am Do not give up hope. There is not one way to start a tank but many. Just because someone does not follow your advice does not mean they don't care. Be accepting of others as we ALL have made mistakes and impulse buying and sometimes it works out.

I agree with you FishVixon. Sometimes we all have to 'respectfully disagree' with each other. Sometimes what works for one person - doesn't for another. Sometimes another person will remind you that a plant is a bog plant - not an aquatic plant - then you've got to either trade it in, or restructure your hardscape for it.... But there's no reason for either party to get angry.

I have ALWAYS thrown in a few guppies/minnows for a couple of weeks in order to cycle my freshwater tanks. Sometimes (like tomorrow) I don't have that time and must freshstart a tank 'cold'. But I always do that with some Clarity bacteria, some water from another good tank, and only a handful of fish that can handle a spike if necessary.

Now, I've never had luck with true saltwater... So don't take what I said as the 'holy grail' of saltwater - it's not. But many times the general cycles are very similar in both salt and fresh.

Thanks 2sci and fishvixen. If this doesnt work i appologize to the fish gods for sacrificing a fish for my impatience. But ive read alot where this is done quiet often. I will let everyone know later how things are. Thanks for everyones interest. Cindy... friends still?

please keep this thread going as it's really got my interest in SW going.

Ethical cycling, unethical cycling... I'm indifferent on using fish to cycle with. What you especially need to do is this; never buy a fish on impulse to put in your tank! You may apply the rule evenly to snails, crabs, and coral. ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS research what you're going to buy. Also, never listen to the guy at the lfs who will almost always assure you that the fish you're looking at is the greatest thing ever. 9 times out of 10 what you wanted will still be at the fish store after you've run to the house or pulled it up on your smart phone. Damsels get big, and they can really wreak havoc on a reef.

An example using the bowtie damsel ...

Awww he's so cute, and only a couple bucks..

adult @ 7 inches, completely black, and has aggressive tendencies toward other fish, your rock formations, and your substrate.



It is FAR easier to control what you put into the tank, than trying to net stuff around your rock work to get it out. The exception being when you wind up with predatory inverts (gorilla crabs, mantis shrimp etc.) as hitchhikers on live rock.

One more thing then i'll shut up.
Learn the importance of a quarantine tank. This isn't the FW world where you have to go out of your way to get F0 livestock. It's absolutely the opposite! Learn when your lfs gets their fish shipments in. Go see what they got in that day, and track how long it sits in the store. I won't buy a fish that hasn't been sitting in a store for at least 3 weeks and I SEE it eat. It's the cheap QT method.

Thanks. The reason I say impulse is bc I bought it to speed the cycle process. I plan to take it back to the store and give it back like I said before. The do fish adoptions for free. Once I start putting what I want to keep I will look at what I'm mixing and ask people who don't mind helping. Yes call me inhumane if you please. I bought a three dollar fish to cycle then get rid of. I do not plan on flushing it.

That one way to do it. I wouldn't say that was an impulse buy then but part of your cycling process. Hey when I started fish cycling was the only way to go if you knew of cycling that is. I'm sure most of us have cycled with fish FW or SW. I know I have and haven't lost 1 fish that I cycled with during the process since 1966.

popebosephus wrote:

Awww he's so cute, and only a couple bucks..

adult @ 7 inches, completely black, and has aggressive tendencies toward other fish, your rock formations, and your substrate.



It is FAR easier to control what you put into the tank, than trying to net stuff around your rock work to get it out. The exception being when you wind up with predatory inverts (gorilla crabs, mantis shrimp etc.) as hitchhikers on live rock.

One more thing then i'll shut up.
Learn the importance of a quarantine tank. This isn't the FW world where you have to go out of your way to get F0 livestock. It's absolutely the opposite! Learn when your lfs gets their fish shipments in. Go see what they got in that day, and track how long it sits in the store. I won't buy a fish that hasn't been sitting in a store for at least 3 weeks and I SEE it eat. It's the cheap QT method.

LOL

seriously though, not here to judge.. but saltwater is NOT for the impulsive and Impatient... so remember even when it's itching like CRAZY, not scratch it lol

I under stand that. And i did not buy a fish to keep on impulse. The impulse was to get a fish to help cycle the tank and try to speed things up.

ALright took a water sample to a sw shop tonight. They said it looks ok just a hint of ammonia. So there is still a little of that. I did get three small pieces of live rock from there to help my tank along. He said there was just barely enough ammonia to turn the waters color on the test so its coming along. Cindy, if youre out there reading this still. No more impulse buys from here on out. I want to be able to ask everyone questions and them believe im listening. The little blue damel is still doing ok if you are wondering. He is exploring all his new alley ways and caves i made for him. It looks alot better than the pics above. I will try to get new ones up tomorrow. Thanks again everyone for all the advice