Beginner Needs Help

[AshenEmberose]

Intro to my Setup
So I’ve been researching this hobby for months, and I’ve decided to start cycling my quarantine tank first as a mini test before I fill up my 100 gallon aquarium. It’s a 10 gallon tank with a hang on the back filter that came with a piece of a black sponge type sheet that I’ve seen be used in sumps before. I also have a sponge filter on the opposite side to get extra flow. I’ve started my nitrogen cycle by ghost feeding freeze dried brine shrimp and in the filter I added a partially used carbon filter from my 20 gallon freshwater tank which has a perfect cycle. Its levels stayed stable even when I had a fish pass away due to old age. I saw some detritus worms but I’ve done research and I think they are very helpful for my setup so I’m keeping them in the new one as well. I’m waiting for my salt to arrive on Wednesday, but since the bacteria for fresh and saltwater seem to be pretty much the same, I have a headstart on the water cycling. I’m adding in my white (not live) rocks and decor to the tank now so they can cycle and I plan to add live sand in shortly before adding the fish. I also intend to add chaeto to make a mini refugium. My 100gal will have Instant Ocean Reef Crystals Reef Salt.

FISH PLANS
I’ll be starting with 2 clownfish and I’m considering a blue damsel or purple firefish, then I really love gobies so a watchman goby would be really cool potentially in the future. My cleanup crew would consist of emerald crabs if I notice algae and I’ve always wanted Squat/anemone Shrimp.

CORAL PLANS
For the 10gal, I’ll probably only have 1-3 corals in this tank later down the line, but I want to start a fish only setup first. I don’t want any zoas. My overall coral plans for the 100gal are GSPs, pulsing xenia, fox coral, bubble coral, favia, sarcophyton, blastomussa, discosoma, trachyphyllia, pink tipped plate coral, and chalice coral. I probably wont get all of these, but a girl can dream lol.

QUESTIONS
Is it bad to add sand after filling the tank? (Is it more cloudy?)
For a fish only tank, do you still have to dose specific nutrients? If so, what kinds?
Best clownfish food?
What nutrients do you have to dose in for corals and how often?
(I already know the lighting requirements, flow, and foods that specific corals need)
What are the perfect pH, Calcium, Alkalinity, and Magnesium levels?
Which corals should I start off with first?
Thanks in advance for the help!

 

[Flippers4pups]

Intro to my Setup
So I’ve been researching this hobby for months, and I’ve decided to start cycling my quarantine tank first as a mini test before I fill up my 100 gallon aquarium. It’s a 10 gallon tank with a hang on the back filter that came with a piece of a black sponge type sheet that I’ve seen be used in sumps before. I also have a sponge filter on the opposite side to get extra flow. I’ve started my nitrogen cycle by ghost feeding freeze dried brine shrimp and in the filter I added a partially used carbon filter from my 20 gallon freshwater tank which has a perfect cycle. Its levels stayed stable even when I had a fish pass away due to old age. I saw some detritus worms but I’ve done research and I think they are very helpful for my setup so I’m keeping them in the new one as well. I’m waiting for my salt to arrive on Wednesday, but since the bacteria for fresh and saltwater seem to be pretty much the same, I have a headstart on the water cycling. I’m adding in my white (not live) rocks and decor to the tank now so they can cycle and I plan to add live sand in shortly before adding the fish. I also intend to add chaeto to make a mini refugium. My 100gal will have Instant Ocean Reef Crystals Reef Salt.

FISH PLANS
I’ll be starting with 2 clownfish and I’m considering a blue damsel or purple firefish, then I really love gobies so a watchman goby would be really cool potentially in the future. My cleanup crew would consist of emerald crabs if I notice algae and I’ve always wanted Squat/anemone Shrimp.

CORAL PLANS
For the 10gal, I’ll probably only have 1-3 corals in this tank later down the line, but I want to start a fish only setup first. I don’t want any zoas. My overall coral plans for the 100gal are GSPs, pulsing xenia, fox coral, bubble coral, favia, sarcophyton, blastomussa, discosoma, trachyphyllia, pink tipped plate coral, and chalice coral. I probably wont get all of these, but a girl can dream lol.

QUESTIONS
Is it bad to add sand after filling the tank? (Is it more cloudy?)
For a fish only tank, do you still have to dose specific nutrients? If so, what kinds?
Best clownfish food?
What nutrients do you have to dose in for corals and how often?
(I already know the lighting requirements, flow, and foods that specific corals need)
What are the perfect pH, Calcium, Alkalinity, and Magnesium levels?
Which corals should I start off with first?
Thanks in advance for the help!

Glad you joined us!

You can add sand after water and rocks. I suggest if doing it this way to take a piece of PVC pipe, 1"+ in diameter the the height of the tank and dumping in a small amount through the pipe to the bottom of the tank. There will be some cloudiness, but not nearly as bad as just dumping it in.

Ideally you would add sand after rock before water.

For FOWLR, Basic water parameters needed.

Clown fish food - meaty frozen.

Most corals only need fish poop, but will take up Nitrate and Phosphates.

Water parameters : http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-05/rhf/ I will say that you can easily keep a healthy reef tank with elevated Nitrates and a trace of phosphate, as opposed to what Randy wrote. Don't chase PH. no one does.

Let your tank mature and become stable before adding corals. 3 months at least. Stability is key in keeping corals.

Using RO/DI water is a must and a good quality ATO is needed.

 

[AshenEmberose]

Glad you joined us!

You can add sand after water and rocks. I suggest if doing it this way to take a piece of PVC pipe, 1"+ in diameter the the height of the tank and dumping in a small amount through the pipe to the bottom of the tank. There will be some cloudiness, but not nearly as bad as just dumping it in.

Ideally you would add sand after rock before water.

For FOWLR, Basic water parameters needed.

Clown fish food - meaty frozen.

Most corals only need fish poop, but will take up Nitrate and Phosphates.

Water parameters : http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-05/rhf/ I will say that you can easily keep a healthy reef tank with elevated Nitrates and a trace of phosphate, as opposed to what Randy wrote. Don't chase PH. no one does.

Let your tank mature and become stable before adding corals. 3 months at least. Stability is key in keeping corals.

Using RO/DI water is a must and a good quality ATO is needed.

Thank you so much! PVC is a great idea. I’ll definitely get that. Any water test kit recommendations? I heard some are better than others.

 

[Flippers4pups]

Thank you so much! PVC is a great idea. I’ll definitely get that. Any water test kit recommendations? I heard some are better than others.

I personally like salifert for alkalinity and magnesium, Hannah for P04 and API for calcium and N03. API is close enough for those.

For cycling, API is good enough.