My first saltwater aquarium

[Urka]

That artwork above the tank really compliments your tank!

thanks Bailey

 

[TX_REEF]

Welcome and enjoy the ride! Fishless cycle sounds great, but I do recommend you research the benefits of adding some ocean live rock or rock from another mature system for baxterial biodiversity.

 

[Urka]

A Newbie question... I called my LFS to find out at what salinity they keep their fish and they said 23ppt. I am just wondering, since I will have fish only tank for at least first 6 months, should I have my DT at 23 ppt salinity as well? Thanks in advance

 

[TX_REEF]

if you intend to keep corals in the future, just start off at the intended salinity, generally, 1.025 or 1.026. Stability is key for a successful system.

 

[Urka]

if you intend to keep corals in the future, just start off at the intended salinity, generally, 1.025 or 1.026. Stability is key for a successful system.

Thanks, I will slowly raise the salinity to 35 ppt at 78°F once I get the fish. Appreciate your quick response

 

[Urka]

Please meet my new family members!

 

[Urka]

We named the fire fish Fiona and the clown pair Hansel and Gretel. You will never guess the theme

 

[Urka]

Just a quick update, I've had Fiona, Hansel and Gretel for a little over a week now. They seem pretty happy. I feed them frozen food, flakes and pellets, although the pellets are too big for Fiona. I check water parameters every day, ammonia 0.05-0.06; Nitrite between 10 and 20, Nitrate between 10 and 12, and phosphate literally off the charts . I am going to wait for the Nitrite and phosphate to come way down before adding another fish.

 

[Luckki]

I like the set up. I just got my set up going a little a bit ago too, looking good so far! Phosphates might be over feeding the tank, if they are not going down you might consider adjusting the amount of food you introduce to the tank.

 

[Urka]

I have been running a UV light in my outdoor goldfish/koi pond for over 5 years now and it definitely helps with algae control. So I just installed titan 850 uv sterilizer to my setup. Hopefully this is the last piece of equipment I will be adding for a while...... probably not

 

[Urka]

So a couple of days after I installed the UV sterilizer my ammonia and Nitrite went up, Nitrate much more than Ammonia. I noticed that the water flow went significantly down when I installed the UV. I turned off the sterilizer but kept it connected to my system. The numbers went back sown within 2 days. I will probably turn the UV on again in a couple of months to see what happens. On the bright side I just set up my 10 gallon observation tank and since my clowns and firefish seem happy I am going to pick up another fish tomorrow, can't wait

 

[Urka]

I brought a royal gramma from the LFS today, acclimated it to the temperature and then drip acclimated it to my qt water. Once I put it into my qt tank it swam to the corner and has been laying there for the past 45 min. Not sure if I should do something or see if it gets better on it's own? Mixed rodi with salt this morning. 77°F and 1.025 salinity

 

[Urka]

Well, I am happy to report that Camilla, our royal gramma, is doing well after one week in the observation tank. I was freaking out the first couple of days, but she bounced back. Here is a pic

 

[Urka]

After seeing some algae growth on the sand bed, I decided to get some CUC. Thinking I was being conservative, I brought home yesterday 3 blue legged hermit crabs, 3 red legged hermit crabs, and 3 nassarius snails (one of them ended up being astrea, should have paid more attention at the lfs). The crabs went through the whole sand bed and ate all the algae. I don't se any at all. I am wondering if there is enough food for them. I turned the lights to 100%, they were at 50% before. On the bright side, all the critters survived the acclimation process and are very active.

 

[Cdavis66]

After seeing some algae growth on the sand bed, I decided to get some CUC. Thinking I was being conservative, I brought home yesterday 3 blue legged hermit crabs, 3 red legged hermit crabs, and 3 nassarius snails (one of them ended up being astrea, should have paid more attention at the lfs). The crabs went through the whole sand bed and ate all the algae. I don't se any at all. I am wondering if there is enough food for them. I turned the lights to 100%, they were at 50% before. On the bright side, all the critters survived the acclimation process and are very active.

why did you turn your lights all the way up? wouldn't this affect the corals?

 

[Urka]

why did you turn your lights all the way up? wouldn't this affect the corals?

I don't have any coral in my tank yet, just 2 clowns, a fire fish and some hermit crabs and snails. I wasn't sure if the crabs had enough algae to eat, since they took care of anything visible the first day I put them in the tank. Right now I have everything at 100% except the whites. Whites are at 20%

 

[crabgrass]

Following along.. Very smart decision by starting with a 75. I think a lot of us have a 20g as a first tank because we think it will be easier and maybe cheaper. But the work to maintain a stable system is pretty tough.

Yeah, Grammas are weird and can be a little sensitive. Mine hides a lot, and in the past has observed similar behavior. They are beautiful fish though.

IMO, your CuC (snails) is on the light side. You may not need it now, but at some point the uglies will probably really kick in and want more. In my 100g display, I have 100 different assorted snails + handful of crabs and a conch. I do feed pretty heavy. You don't need to go there right now, but may want to scale your snail population as demand increases.

 

[Urka]

Following along.. Very smart decision by starting with a 75. I think a lot of us have a 20g as a first tank because we think it will be easier and maybe cheaper. But the work to maintain a stable system is pretty tough.

Yeah, Grammas are weird and can be a little sensitive. Mine hides a lot, and in the past has observed similar behavior. They are beautiful fish though.

IMO, your CuC (snails) is on the light side. You may not need it now, but at some point the uglies will probably really kick in and want more. In my 100g display, I have 100 different assorted snails + handful of crabs and a conch. I do feed pretty heavy. You don't need to go there right now, but may want to scale your snail population as demand increases.

Thanks, and I agree what cuc i added so far is quite light. Not knowing how much I actually need I figured it's better to add too little rather too much. My tank hasn't started the ugly stages I have read about. Looking forward to adding more variety of critters as well. I really enjoyed watching the two nassarius snails come out last night and move around on the sand

 

[Cdavis66]

I don't have any coral in my tank yet, just 2 clowns, a fire fish and some hermit crabs and snails. I wasn't sure if the crabs had enough algae to eat, since they took care of anything visible the first day I put them in the tank. Right now I have everything at 100% except the whites. Whites are at 20%

Oh My! I had you confused with another thread I have been following as well and they have corals. Oops LOL. I just bought a blood red fire shrimp yesterday and it is awesome to watch! Inverts are fascinating. I have a few nassarius snails as well.

 

[crabgrass]

Thanks, and I agree what cuc i added so far is quite light. Not knowing how much I actually need I figured it's better to add too little rather too much. My tank hasn't started the ugly stages I have read about. Looking forward to adding more variety of critters as well. I really enjoyed watching the two nassarius snails come out last night and move around on the sand

Yeah, maybe just add as you need. But a fine line between them help you manage algae vs throwing them in after a big problem va having too much and dieing off.

As someone else said, they are a fun part of the tank. My wife likes the CuC more than a fish’s. Urchin and a cleaner shrimp are quite entertaining imo.