I've just bought my first tank!

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JustinTanks

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Never such a thing as too many questions!

That's exactly what I did! Used the stuff that came with the tank, and now I'm just experimenting with things that I find/research. I have my own little thread that I've been updating too!

So with the rock... I have a 30 gallon Innovative Marine that's been up for about four years. When I started that tank, I put in some live rock from my local fish store mixed with some old rock from a broken down tank. And when I say the diatoms (that brown, ugly algae) were TERRIBLE, I almost considered tearing it all down and starting over. But I gave it time and it eventually went away.

And on top of that, my very first tank ever was a Fluval 5 gallon. I did the man-made rock and when I say my tank thrived, it THRIVED. It was beautiful. Hardly any diatoms, a short cycle, coral did amazing - I wish we never moved so I wouldn't have broken it down.

So I have five Acans. I put them all together in a little garden area in the corner of the tank. They seem to love a medium flow/light combo.

green hammer coral that loves the flow as well.

green star poylp.

'darth maul' favia. (HOW COULD I NOT WHEN IT'S NAMED THAT, RIGHT?!) and a 'graffiti' favia

leather coral

carpet anemone

ragin cajun echinata (geaux cajuns)

some ricordea mushrooms

:p
Oh wow! I'd love to have a 30g tank, not sure my partner would be thrilled but I imagine it takes up a decent amount of space, haha. I wrote down Life Rock on my shopping list, which I'm guessing is the CaribSea brand so I'll have to pick that up when I get everything else. How many lbs of rock did you use for your 13.5? I heard it's between 1-2lbs per gallon of water. And I'm hoping that I can have something thrive as well, I'm just in that preparatory nervous stage! How long did you have to cycle your tank before you began adding the clownfish to it? I've heard people mentioned one week to six weeks so maybe it just comes down to when your parameters are ready to sustain some life.

I'm sooo happy you mentioned a larger variety because I really wanted a fairly colorful tank, and now I'm definitely going to have to find some darth maul favia!! I'll have to go check out your thread so I can take more notes!
 
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You're welcome! I got the ReefBreeders Prism Nano ATO and am VERY happy with it. I think it's one of the least expensive at around $60, is small and easy to use. Zero problems!

Are you talking about those little stick-on alert thingys for ammonia? From what I understand they're not great indicators, and I would probably skip them. Just test for them. Ammonia and nitrite test are really only done for the cycle. If you're cycled, ammonia and nitrite will always (or quickly be) zero. Your fish become the ammonia source, so the bacteria colonies will continue to grow with the changing levels. So, really your regular tests become salinity, PH, dKH, and nitrates and phosphates. It's likely you'll find as you test that as long as you're not changing or adding livestock, and you're mixing your saltwater right, that these numbers will stay consistent. So, while you will probably test more to start, once you get the feel of things you might even test bi-weekly for nutrients. With few corals and regular water changes, you might never feel like testing for calcium or magnesium. Anyways, that's partly why I'd recommend Salifert now. Low cost entry tests, when you're done with them you may upgrade to a Hanna or something.

And yeah 10% or 20% biweekly, is mostly a preference. Your main goal with it is nutrient management, so if at 2 weeks it's higher than your target, you might want to go weekly. On a 13 gallon (even less water volume with all the rock in there) a 10% is like a gallon, that's a snap. I like to roll that into "maintenance time" weekly with the tank. I though water changes were going to be a major obstacle for me, but I find I enjoy doing them!
Yes it was those stick on things, I ended up canceling that order because after a little bit of thought, why buy a monitor for parameters that I'll be testing for anyway, haha.
Just wrote down the Reefbreeders ATO on my shopping list! I think once I get established and watch how fast the evaporation happens, then I'll invest but I'm watching the cash flying out of my wallet as we speak, haha. I also want to make sure once I have the whole area I plan on putting the tank plus the reinforced cabinet its sitting on, I'd like to figure a way of storing the ATO water underneath without the whole area looking like a mess. Do you store large quantities of water around for when its time for the water change or do you go and mix it on the day of? I was hoping I could have a 5gal bucket of just RO/DI water for topping off and then a 5gal bucket of premixed salt water for water changes so maybe I could go close to a month on one bucket. I'm not too certain if the water would stay good or not?

Is there a certain light schedule that the tank should stick to? I haven't dove into what the difference of the lights are, I just know that there's white light, blue light and then off. I plan on trying to keep a decent amount of coral and livestock in the tank but I'd love an opinion on what would be considered "too much". Or at least how to balance it out like 3 coral to 3 livestock. Also a recommendation on beginner fish, shrimp, etc whatever would make a good starter. I've already been told putting a tang in a tank this size won't happen so nothing can break me anymore, haha. Thank you for all your advice as well!
 
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Mike from TN

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Well Heck!
I wanna be tank buddies also!
I love my Evo. The sky is the limit with that setup in my opinion.
Check out my build thread for motivation!
 
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Well Heck!
I wanna be tank buddies also!
I love my Evo. The sky is the limit with that setup in my opinion.
Check out my build thread for motivation!
ANOTHER TANK BUDDY!!
I'm about to start reading everything on your thread! I'm sooo happy there's a good amount of y'all that have the same tank, I was really concerned that its one of those fad products sold for cheaper that won't give any good results. Hopefully you won't mind if I message you once in a while for advice as I get going, especially on recommendations!
 

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ANOTHER TANK BUDDY!!
I'm about to start reading everything on your thread! I'm sooo happy there's a good amount of y'all that have the same tank, I was really concerned that its one of those fad products sold for cheaper that won't give any good results. Hopefully you won't mind if I message you once in a while for advice as I get going, especially on recommendations!
Message me any time Justin. I’d be glad to help you out!
 

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Oh wow! I'd love to have a 30g tank, not sure my partner would be thrilled but I imagine it takes up a decent amount of space, haha. I wrote down Life Rock on my shopping list, which I'm guessing is the CaribSea brand so I'll have to pick that up when I get everything else. How many lbs of rock did you use for your 13.5? I heard it's between 1-2lbs per gallon of water. And I'm hoping that I can have something thrive as well, I'm just in that preparatory nervous stage! How long did you have to cycle your tank before you began adding the clownfish to it? I've heard people mentioned one week to six weeks so maybe it just comes down to when your parameters are ready to sustain some life.

I'm sooo happy you mentioned a larger variety because I really wanted a fairly colorful tank, and now I'm definitely going to have to find some darth maul favia!! I'll have to go check out your thread so I can take more notes!
I just have the one rock for now, but I’ve thought about adding another for some landscaping options! I think it took about a week or two before I added my first clown. And I dumped a whole bottle of dr tims in the tank when I did it. I’ve always done a fish cycle. I’m sure some people would come at me and tell me it’s cruel, but my clown was happy and active and swimming all around with no issues.

when you’re ready for some coral, motor city coral, corals anonymous, and world wide coral have some awesome stuff!
 
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I just have the one rock for now, but I’ve thought about adding another for some landscaping options! I think it took about a week or two before I added my first clown. And I dumped a whole bottle of dr tims in the tank when I did it. I’ve always done a fish cycle. I’m sure some people would come at me and tell me it’s cruel, but my clown was happy and active and swimming all around with no issues.

when you’re ready for some coral, motor city coral, corals anonymous, and world wide coral have some awesome stuff!
I think I might grab a 20lb thing of LifeRock and maybe that'll be overkill but if I have extra, maybe that'll entice me to get a bigger tank, haha. What is Dr Tims? I looked it up real quick and they have a bunch of products. Are you referring to their One and Only Nitrifying Bacteria? I'm getting more and more excited for this process to begin, unfortunately everything is taking forever to get here so I think it'll be a week or so until I have everything to begin :(.
I'll have to check out all those sites, and I'm hoping I can find some decent LFS near me with good livestock and such, I've only been to one and they were a bit sketchy, haha.
 

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Yes! The bacteria is a good way to get your cycle going! If you end up deciding to do a fish-less cycle, that bacteria with a bottle of the ammonia would be the way to go. The bacteria need a food source (either ammonia from a bottle or from a fish) - I chose to use the fish :p

the worst part is the waiting! We have one LFS that’s pretty good- they always have a good selection and the people that work there are super nice and knowledgeable. But as I type this, I’m driving back from Baton Rouge where my husband and I visited Aqua Hut. AND IT WAS SO LEGIT. I wish I would’ve taken a picture. He had a 3/$100 sale going on, so I snagged some pink Zoas and a sweet mushroom!
 

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Yes it was those stick on things, I ended up canceling that order because after a little bit of thought, why buy a monitor for parameters that I'll be testing for anyway, haha.
Just wrote down the Reefbreeders ATO on my shopping list! I think once I get established and watch how fast the evaporation happens, then I'll invest but I'm watching the cash flying out of my wallet as we speak, haha. I also want to make sure once I have the whole area I plan on putting the tank plus the reinforced cabinet its sitting on, I'd like to figure a way of storing the ATO water underneath without the whole area looking like a mess. Do you store large quantities of water around for when its time for the water change or do you go and mix it on the day of? I was hoping I could have a 5gal bucket of just RO/DI water for topping off and then a 5gal bucket of premixed salt water for water changes so maybe I could go close to a month on one bucket. I'm not too certain if the water would stay good or not?

Is there a certain light schedule that the tank should stick to? I haven't dove into what the difference of the lights are, I just know that there's white light, blue light and then off. I plan on trying to keep a decent amount of coral and livestock in the tank but I'd love an opinion on what would be considered "too much". Or at least how to balance it out like 3 coral to 3 livestock. Also a recommendation on beginner fish, shrimp, etc whatever would make a good starter. I've already been told putting a tang in a tank this size won't happen so nothing can break me anymore, haha. Thank you for all your advice as well!
I’ve got a 20 gallon, so I just mix it up as I need. I’ve got a couple tall 5 gallon buckets. No big spills (yet.) I’m sure you’d be fine with smaller amounts in short-term storage, but the cheaper salts can precipitate so I’d agitate and heat before using (a small power head/pump and heater for mixing is very helpful.) My ATO is just hooked up to a household gallon water jug.

The Fluval Army on here will have better input on stocking. Corals aren’t ammonia producers like fish, there’s not a “cap” on them or invertebrates other than physical territory. Cleaner shrimp are awesome additions, and instantly make your tank a living reef. Most softies, mushrooms and zoanthids are very tolerant of light/flow conditions and would be good starters. They’re also some of the most beautiful corals in the hobby. Probably wouldn’t go for LPS until you upgrade lights and feel good about your parameters.
 
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Yes! The bacteria is a good way to get your cycle going! If you end up deciding to do a fish-less cycle, that bacteria with a bottle of the ammonia would be the way to go. The bacteria need a food source (either ammonia from a bottle or from a fish) - I chose to use the fish :p

the worst part is the waiting! We have one LFS that’s pretty good- they always have a good selection and the people that work there are super nice and knowledgeable. But as I type this, I’m driving back from Baton Rouge where my husband and I visited Aqua Hut. AND IT WAS SO LEGIT. I wish I would’ve taken a picture. He had a 3/$100 sale going on, so I snagged some pink Zoas and a sweet mushroom!
Wow, really good to know! I think I'll probably stick with the more natural way and use the fish as the ammonia then, with that bottle of bacteria, haha. I'm absolutely losing my mind waiting, especially looking at your thread and Mike from TN's thread, I'm just tapping my fingers to be able to begin! PLUS I need to get to Ikea to buy the cabinet I'm going to put it on and add the reinforcements but they're out of stock! :mad:
Since I live in a pretty dense city, there's a lot of different LFS around especially the closer to the beaches so I'll have to take a day to visit a bunch and see which one has a great variety and knowledgable staff.
I'd die to be in LA, I could go for some good creole food right now haha AND the good coral deal! I've made a short list of corals that I want to find near me or purchase online, which the sites you recommended had sooo many varieties I barely had an idea what I was looking at, haha.
 
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I’ve got a 20 gallon, so I just mix it up as I need. I’ve got a couple tall 5 gallon buckets. No big spills (yet.) I’m sure you’d be fine with smaller amounts in short-term storage, but the cheaper salts can precipitate so I’d agitate and heat before using (a small power head/pump and heater for mixing is very helpful.) My ATO is just hooked up to a household gallon water jug.

The Fluval Army on here will have better input on stocking. Corals aren’t ammonia producers like fish, there’s not a “cap” on them or invertebrates other than physical territory. Cleaner shrimp are awesome additions, and instantly make your tank a living reef. Most softies, mushrooms and zoanthids are very tolerant of light/flow conditions and would be good starters. They’re also some of the most beautiful corals in the hobby. Probably wouldn’t go for LPS until you upgrade lights and feel good about your parameters.
Since mine will be 13.5 which is smaller than yours, I probably will just mix it when needed. Do you know if you can store RODI water for a decent amount of time like without the salt in it? I also got myself a TDS meter thing to make sure I have it at 0.
I'll have to talk to other fluval tank buddies about stock because that's one of the things I'm a bit worried about doing. I hope to keep a decent amount of corals without making it overflowing and crowded, especially since I'll have to research how big they'll get. Same with the fish I guess, haha. Do you have a recommendation on like shrimp or snails that you've had good luck with? I think I'm going to stick with a lot of easy/beginner fish, corals, critters, etc until I understand how it all functions better.
 
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Update: still no tank! I’m dying over here, haha. It was on back order and now it’s been delayed in shipment. Also still waiting on an out of stock item for it to sit on from IKEA. Everything else has come in though, so just waiting on the final most important stuff!
Quick question though: how long after adding the sand, rock, water and the one and only nitrifying bacteria until I can start introducing the fish? I’m not sure what would be a good time frame for allowing the tank to cycle. I know I’ll need to be testing every day though.
Also, since this tank light will need to be turned on and off by myself for the beginning, what would be a good schedule to do with the white led to blue led and finally off?
 

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Update: still no tank! I’m dying over here, haha. It was on back order and now it’s been delayed in shipment. Also still waiting on an out of stock item for it to sit on from IKEA. Everything else has come in though, so just waiting on the final most important stuff!
Quick question though: how long after adding the sand, rock, water and the one and only nitrifying bacteria until I can start introducing the fish? I’m not sure what would be a good time frame for allowing the tank to cycle. I know I’ll need to be testing every day though.
Also, since this tank light will need to be turned on and off by myself for the beginning, what would be a good schedule to do with the white led to blue led and finally off?
Yay! Almost ready to join the fun! I put in the sand, the rock, and water first, let the tank sit for about a week. I kept the white light on for a very short period of time. Maybe like a couple of hours a day.
I added the Dr. Tim’s the day before I put my fish in. The whole bottle. And then I have a bottle of Stable from Seachem that I put a capful of every day for 7 days after that. I would maybe turn off your protein skimmer for those seven days, too!
 
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Yay! Almost ready to join the fun! I put in the sand, the rock, and water first, let the tank sit for about a week. I kept the white light on for a very short period of time. Maybe like a couple of hours a day.
I added the Dr. Tim’s the day before I put my fish in. The whole bottle. And then I have a bottle of Stable from Seachem that I put a capful of every day for 7 days after that. I would maybe turn off your protein skimmer for those seven days, too!
So you just put all the basics in and let it run for a week? How long do you keep the light on now?
 

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So you just put all the basics in and let it run for a week? How long do you keep the light on now?
Now that my tank is established, I run the blue light in the early morning... from like 8-10am, then switch to the white light, and then around 6pm, I switch to the blue light again until about 9pm. Then off completely!
 

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Update: still no tank! I’m dying over here, haha. It was on back order and now it’s been delayed in shipment. Also still waiting on an out of stock item for it to sit on from IKEA. Everything else has come in though, so just waiting on the final most important stuff!
Quick question though: how long after adding the sand, rock, water and the one and only nitrifying bacteria until I can start introducing the fish? I’m not sure what would be a good time frame for allowing the tank to cycle. I know I’ll need to be testing every day though.
Also, since this tank light will need to be turned on and off by myself for the beginning, what would be a good schedule to do with the white led to blue led and finally off?
How long depends. If you’re using Dr. Tim’s I strongly recommend dosing ammonia along with it. By dosing the ammonia source yourself (as opposed to using a dead shrimp or just chucking a fish in there) you control the cycling process and will know what your test result mean. For instance, when you dose 2ppm ammonia you know your bacteria is working when that number drops. When your tank can process 2ppm in 24 hrs and your nitrite is zero you know you’re cycled. This may take a couple weeks, just takes patience. There’s plenty of ways to skin this cat, but I don’t see the advantage of not dosing.

Adding fish as part of the cycling process is kind of the old way of doing things. Nowadays, bottled bacteria shortens the cycle to render this unnecessary and frankly it’s a little cruel to the fish. Ammonia is poison, and while they will likely survive you’re definitely subjecting them to an unhealthy level. Reefing is all about patience. Be patient and fully cycle before you add livestock.

On lights, I’m of the opinion that you should leave them off as long as possible until you add coral. Your fish won’t care, and really lights will just accelerate algae growth while your tank is still balancing out.
 
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How long depends. If you’re using Dr. Tim’s I strongly recommend dosing ammonia along with it. By dosing the ammonia source yourself (as opposed to using a dead shrimp or just chucking a fish in there) you control the cycling process and will know what your test result mean. For instance, when you dose 2ppm ammonia you know your bacteria is working when that number drops. When your tank can process 2ppm in 24 hrs and your nitrite is zero you know you’re cycled. This may take a couple weeks, just takes patience. There’s plenty of ways to skin this cat, but I don’t see the advantage of not dosing.

Adding fish as part of the cycling process is kind of the old way of doing things. Nowadays, bottled bacteria shortens the cycle to render this unnecessary and frankly it’s a little cruel to the fish. Ammonia is poison, and while they will likely survive you’re definitely subjecting them to an unhealthy level. Reefing is all about patience. Be patient and fully cycle before you add livestock.

On lights, I’m of the opinion that you should leave them off as long as possible until you add coral. Your fish won’t care, and really lights will just accelerate algae growth while your tank is still balancing out.
I think I'll probably do a fish-less cycle because I'm not too keen on adding livestock to a possibly toxic environment especially since I spent hard earned coin on them, haha. So you're saying to just set up the tank and start with the Dr Tims and ammonia from the beginning to get this cycle started. And for the light, I was going to keep it off until cycling was done but you think I can keep it off once the livestock go in too? How long after adding livestock is a good idea to begin introducing coral? Or can I add coral before the livestock?
 
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UPDATE!:
SOO, everything came in after like 20 separate deliveries and the Ikea cabinet was purchased, reinforced and installed! The tank has been put in its position, CaribSea Live Fiji Pink sand has been added and a couple pieces of CaribSea LifeRock Shapes! (I purchased the liferock on amazon, one piece came broken so I contacted them about it and they refunded me the whole amount :p ). I just now put the water in, already purified with the RO/DI buddy, tested the TDS to be 0, then the salinity with Instant Ocean sat at exactly 1.025. I have the water sitting about 1/4in above the water line, any more and it seemed like water was somehow coming out above the protein skimmer piece (not the cup). I think I'm struggling to fine tune the protein skimmer but I'm going to let all these micro bubbles that have accumulated all over the cup to die down then look at it again in the morning. I'm thinking to let this tank run for one week, watch the parameters then start with the Dr Tims and ammonia. I'll update with pictures once some of the fogginess in the water goes away.
 
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I need some advice! I'm letting the tank just acclimate to its surroundings and yesterday was its first day. I decided to turn the protein skimmer on just to make sure it actually works and the cup filled up with a ton of micro bubbles, and the cup was full with water in just under an hour. Not sure how to tune this thing so I've turned it back off. Any tips on how to figure this thing out? Also how long should I wait until I start using the protein skimmer full time?
 

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