In head first

[thabo]

new to the hobby - haven't even had goldfish in the house, but I have had a successful aquaponics setup in the backyard for a couple years with some rather delicious hybrid striped bass (that tastes like tomatoes, and tomatoes that tastes like bass) so not a complete newby to the science.

I have wanted to keep fish ever since I visited the New York aquarium as a 10 year old - that was when I decided I would become a marine biologist.
Long story short... I became an aeronautics engineer and now make big metal birds all shiny again.

Our middle kid needs some extra attention and alone-time from his father and a hobby that his siblings are not interested in, so... saltwater aquarium here we come.

I am probably going about this all wrong but after properly pricing a 75 gallon tank for myself about a year ago, all I could convince the boss would be a good idea was a small second hand 10 gallon setup.

the tank has a built in sump in the rear and came with a pump, a 25w heater that doesn't work (at least it's stuck off and not struck on), a 2w light that burnt out within a day, and a bubble magnus qq of questionable integrity.
it also came with a couple pounds of rock which were still damp and no doubt host some STDs (second-hand transmitable diseases).


I have dumped the rock on a bucket of bleach, but will in all likelihood throw them away, and bought some dry rock from a reliable store.
Also bought a new pump, light and heater.

My son is bilingual and can read English but only as a second language and is much more comfortable in Hebrew.
There are only 4 books on aquariums available in Hebrew including one which is badly translated from French and is about 200 years old.
The only decent book I could find is a translation of Dick Mill's "you and your aquarium" so that'll have to do as an introduction for him.

We have now filled the aquarium and placed in rock and sand and started cycling.
Currently we are watching ammonia rise and will wait as long as a 11 year old can before adding a fish

Happy to hear advice from you all

 

[thabo]

As bought - with lights on

With new rock and water - with lights off

 

[X-37B]

 

[thabo]

Took a close look at the 2nd hand rock that came with the aquarium and am quite glad I decided not to use it

I assume these are tube worms.

Have also had to replace the pump as a got a bit of a shock when taking water for a test while barefoot (usually wear safely boots all day long)

 

[sp1187]

welcome to the show.

nice start.

 

[thabo]

A couple updates...

Have been using an out of date API kit to monitor water while cycling and have watched ammonia rise and fall while nitrates rose (have seeded with bacteria).

Have been ignoring the numbers but following the trend.

After reading some of the threads on here decided to go with a new salifert kit and was able to confirm that ammonia it's below 0.15 and nitrite is very low while nitrate is at about 30.

As it was my son's birthday on Friday and we are facing an imminent total shutdown I decided to get some fish already.

Called around the 4 reputable shops in the area and only one had small clowns, and only chocolate flavored... All out of vanilla here in Israel.
I forgot to ask what they were called - if the shop is still open tomorrow I'll ask then.
In the meantime anyone able to ID them?

This morning I noticed that they had swam into a corner of the tank opposite the nozzle where the flow rate seems to be quite high as the water passes around the rocks and they were struggling against the current.
Have since shifted the rocks a bit to make more space and turned the pump down some... They look happier now

 

[thabo]

A couple updates...

Have been using an out of date API kit to monitor water while cycling and have watched ammonia rise and fall while nitrates rose (have seeded with bacteria).

Have been ignoring the numbers but following the trend.

After reading some of the threads on here decided to go with a new salifert kit and was able to confirm that ammonia it's below 0.15 and nitrite is very low while nitrate is at about 30.

As it was my son's birthday on Friday and we are facing an imminent total shutdown I decided to get some fish already.

Called around the 4 reputable shops in the area and only one had small clowns, and only chocolate flavored... All out of vanilla here in Israel.
I forgot to ask what they were called - if the shop is still open tomorrow I'll ask then.
In the meantime anyone able to ID them?

This morning I noticed that they had swam into a corner of the tank opposite the nozzle where the flow rate seems to be quite high as the water passes around the rocks and they were struggling against the current.
Have since shifted the rocks a bit to make more space and turned the pump down some... They look happier now

 

[thabo]

So, we are on quite severe lock-down and I can't get any supplies.
My new 10gal tank looks great with 2 (I assume) Darwin clownfish in it but my nitrates are climbing.

I have a bubble magnus qq skimmer running
my ammonia is less than 0.15, nitrite is close to zero but nitrate is climbing steadily.

With the lock-down in effect I am running out of salt to enable me to do water changes and I can't get more supplies

What can I do to keep my nitrates down?

Should I start vodka dosing as an emergency solution?

 

[vetteguy53081]

Too soon for vodka dosing . Use chemipure blue.

 

[thabo]

All

Too soon for vodka dosing . Use chemipure blue.

Unfortunately all shops except for food and medicines are closed so I can get vodka but not much else

 

[vetteguy53081]

All

Unfortunately all shops except for food and medicines are closed so I can get vodka but not much else

BRS, Marine depot, aquarium specialties and Aquacave are all shipping and they all ship quickly

 

[thabo]

BRS, Marine depot, aquarium specialties and Aquacave are all shipping and they all ship quickly

Thanks

I'm in Israel so impossible to get those companies to ship here now.
All pet shops locally are shut but maybe I can find someone in my village or at work with spare - I'm in the aviation industry and we are still working, although on seriously reduced shifts.

 

[thabo]

BRS, Marine depot, aquarium specialties and Aquacave are all shipping and they all ship quickly

Thanks

I'm in Israel so impossible to get those companies to ship here now.
All pet shops locally are shut but maybe I can find someone in my village or at work with spare - I'm in the aviation industry and we are still working, although on seriously reduced shifts.

 

[thabo]

Want to update on my progress...

Because we are running a FOWLR system and it's really small (it'll take some time to get the boss-lady to see things from my point of view) I haven't put in a RO system and am just using declorinator in tap water.

Well, it turns out my tap water has high nitrates (around 20) which would explain why previous water changes weren't as effective as I'd hoped they'd be.
Those numbers are a bit high for drinking water so we will probably get a RO system for the house soonish.

I was able to get hold of some nitraphos minus and have been dosing daily which has brought my nitrates down to 20 from a high of 75-100.

The clowns are growing and seem healthy

Recently was able to get to a pet shop and buy salt so can now do water changes as and when required.

Have turned on my led lights for a couple hours each day now.

Any suggestions on how to proceed?

 

[thabo]

have started doing 10% water changes once a week.

have been topping up manually daily instead of waiting a few days or topping up when doing changes as the changing water level was causing havoc with the skimmer. it was over-skimming when the water was too high and then not skimming enough as the level dropped.
it was a pain in the butt to keep adjusting the water inlet on the BM QQ skimmer.

parameters seem good:
ph -8.5
nh3 - 0.1 or lower
no2 - 0.0
no3 - 20

dosing daily with nitrophos minus and feeding sparingly

no signs of algae in the tank

have now had the fish (2 small darwin clowns) for 8 weeks and would like to add another fish.

what would you recommend?

 

[thabo]

Forgot to add that I only turned on lights about 2.5 weeks ago and have slowly increased the period they are on for.
Now on about 10 hours each day.

What fish should I go for now?
It's a really small tank so need something suitable but am willing to swap them out once they get too big.

 

[thabo]

Have just noticed this growing on my rock.
Any idea what it could be?

 

[thabo]

Brown algae has now covered upper surface of all rocks.
Patches of green algae starting to grow on slowly.
Recently noticed a couple small tiny spots which are white with a purple tinge and a dark centre.
Any idea what this may be?