New Tank Setup Questions!

[jacobreynolds6883]

So I am fairly new to saltwater aquarium. Some information about my setup before questions sorry it’s alittle lengthy. I received a 36 gallon bowfront with rock unknown pounds but four pieces and several snails/crabs last summer from a friend that only had from online purchase for 6 weeks. After setting up with his material and his water, I bought and added Reef Octopus 100-HOB protein skimmer (was not one), canister filter (replace hob filters no room in stand for sump), 2x Hydor Koralia Nano 565 powerheads? After running successful for 2 weeks added two clownfish. They received ich several days afterwards after dip and drip acclimation process. Week later both had died (come to find out friends fish died of ich before he gave the system to me and he was not uneducated plus had no idea it would continue to live in water for 4 weeks). So I decided to overhaul tank and removed crushed shells (ugly presentation) for Caribbean-Sea Arag-Alive Hawaiian Black substrate. During the turnover/cycle it killed my few snails/crabs. Being discouraged I took several months and let the tank run with monthly 5g water change. After reading a lot I bought the 30+ cleaner pack invertebrates this week on saltwaterfish.com (3 days and they are still alive). Water was great until I really started messing with the system mainly house cleaning (using turkey blaster, scrubbed walls, clean filters) to now I have low ammonia .25 and nitrates 80ppm, nitrites 2ppm yesterday but 0 today. What I have done is treated with Seachem Prime, ammonia lock, cleaned canister filter 2x, and 2x20% water change to 40% water change today.

Ok onto the questions; why did my numbers come up, did I cycle to long and didn’t fantom feed often enough? Cleaning in depth of tank? Live rock is not live? What can I do to help reduce these numbers faster or let them run the course, and how often can I dose Seachem Prime? Suggestions on media for 3 tray canister filter or lose all together (is it a nitrite factory?)? Could it be my rock is not live and I need to buy a live piece and place in with them? Should I use a starter bacteria product?

Now for future if numbers get under control how long before I introduce 1-2 fish? Is Kent’s Purple Tech ok to use to accomplish purple tint rock and how often? RO/DI suggestions, stage 4, save money go with just RO and negatives to that decision? Finally do I have too much flow in the tank with 2x565g power heads and 450g hr canister filter?

I know this is a lot of information but I have no LFS that I can pick a brain and I am second guessing my knowledge I’ve learnt from 2 books I’ve read (saltwater aquarium for dummies & The New Marine Aquarium). Thanks for your time and any suggestions are greatly appreciated.

 

[Jay Z]

I can't answer all of it.

But what you did clean ended up stuck in the filter and is now breaking down.

I made this mistake too when I used a fx4 for my main return pump. I ended up emptying all the filter media out of it and replaced with ceramic balls from brs.

So now I run a pair of filter socks before the fx4 gets a hold of the water, leveled everything out for my set up.

 

[jacobreynolds6883]

So I cleaned the filter out, I wish I had room for a sump in my cabinet but do not. Any suggestions on media/material to run in this canister filter?

 

[lapin]

Water was great until I really started messing with the system mainly house cleaning (using turkey blaster, scrubbed walls, clean filters)

Now I have;
low ammonia .25 (This is not so low)
nitrates 80ppm, (pretty high big water change is needed)
nitrites 2ppm yesterday but 0 today. (this is good)
What I have done is treated with Seachem Prime, ammonia lock,(in 48 hours it will unlock and be released back into the system) You need bacteria to process the ammonia not chemical additives.

Cleaned canister filter 2x, ( this might have got rid of some of your bacteria filtration causing the ammonia spike)
2x20% water change to 40% water change today. (This is good)

Ok onto the questions; why did my numbers come up? Cleaning might have released stuff into the water causing the ammonia spike.
did I cycle to long and didn’t fantom feed often enough? 3 months is long enough and you had plenty of food in the tank for the bacteria to grow
Cleaning in depth of tank? This was good sounds like the sand needed to be cleaned anyway.
Live rock is not live? Unless you bleached it it was still live
What can I do to help reduce these numbers faster or let them run the course? Let them run the course. You could use Turbo Start 900 if you want to do something
how often can I dose Seachem Prime? Dont use it for too long. You need to redose every 48 hours. It is only for emergencies, if you have livestock and high ammonia
Suggestions on media for 3 tray canister filter or lose all together (is it a nitrite factory?)?It will not cause nitrate. Nitrate is all ready in the system. It can filter it out until it gets full and no long is effective.
Could it be my rock is not live and I need to buy a live piece and place in with them? Your rock is still alive unless you bleached it
Should I use a starter bacteria product? You can if you want.

Now for future if numbers get under control how long before I introduce 1-2 fish? under control is the key. If the tank has been fallow (no fish) for 76 days your ich should be gone. New fish can bring ich back in so at least do the TTM QT
Is Kent’s Purple Tech ok to use to accomplish purple tint rock and how often? It will not dye your rock. Coraline will take months to toa year grow with or without purple tech. If you want to add it it wont hurt.
RO/DI suggestions, stage 4, save money go with just RO and negatives to that decision? Ro/di is best. I think you know that
Finally do I have too much flow in the tank with 2x565g power heads and 450g hr canister filter?If your sand is blowing all over and the fish are pinned to the sides you have to much flow

I need a coctail

 

[Frtdrmrose7]

So I cleaned the filter out, I wish I had room for a sump in my cabinet but do not. Any suggestions on media/material to run in this canister filter?

I used the FX5 on 65G reef and I put ceramic media bags in two of the trays and just the black “course” filter to catch large particles. I never had a problem and changed the filter every 4 mos or so.

 

[jacobreynolds6883]

Thanks for going into detail, I know it was a lot. There is so much to a saltwater tank and so many opinions out there. Hopefully this round will not be a disaster. I am currently setting up a QT tank, for future fish. 10g tank, sponge filter, and heater. Any suggestions to that setup and how long do you suggest to keep in QT before introduced to display tank?

 

[jacobreynolds6883]

How did you setup filter socks before the fx4, was it feed by a overflow?

 

[lapin]

Thanks for going into detail, I know it was a lot. There is so much to a saltwater tank and so many opinions out there. Hopefully this round will not be a disaster. I am currently setting up a QT tank, for future fish. 10g tank, sponge filter, and heater. Any suggestions to that setup and how long do you suggest to keep in QT before introduced to display tank?

Here is what I do. It works for me. May or may not work for you. (disclaimer)
Match the salinity of my QT tank to the water the fish came in. I use my display tank water and rodi water. Ask when buying and test bag when you get the fish. Float the bag in the QT to match temp. If you bought online when you open the bag add a few drops of prime. Keep fish in dark or dim lit room when opening the box, so they are not freaked and have a heart attack by a blast of light. I add some QT tank water to the bag every 5 min for about 15 min. I dump most of the water out of the bag and place fish in QT.
Tank has pvc fittings and stuff for fish to hide in. If I am getting wrasses or other things that need sand, I have tanks that have a small section with a short partition. Holds a few inches of sand for them. I run an air stone in the tank with a heater and a screen cover. No filter.
I feed live fresh hatched brine shrimp, live black worms and white worms. Also a bit of frozen to see what they will eat.
I do the TTM method
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/tank-transfer-method.192655/
On day 6 in the AM I dose PraziPro. The fish sit in that for 6 hours or more. Then they go to the next tank scheduled. Then if they are eating after the Prazi, (it can suppress appetite) I start feeding MetroPlex with Focus when I give them frozen food. On day 13 or 14 they get another dose of Prazi for a few hours before going into the display tank.
If they have some other disease I treat that if needed.

There are threads here on how to QT fish. Lots of good advice. and a lot of ways. what is right for you is your choice.
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/my-current-qt-process.483371/
https://www.reef2reef.com/ams/the-other-way-to-run-a-reef-tank-no-quarantine.573/

 

[Frtdrmrose7]

Here is what I do. It works for me. May or may not work for you. (disclaimer)
Match the salinity of my QT tank to the water the fish came in. I use my display tank water and rodi water. Ask when buying and test bag when you get the fish. Float the bag in the QT to match temp. If you bought online when you open the bag add a few drops of prime. Keep fish in dark or dim lit room when opening the box, so they are not freaked and have a heart attack by a blast of light. I add some QT tank water to the bag every 5 min for about 15 min. I dump most of the water out of the bag and place fish in QT.
Tank has pvc fittings and stuff for fish to hide in. If I am getting wrasses or other things that need sand, I have tanks that have a small section with a short partition. Holds a few inches of sand for them. I run an air stone in the tank with a heater and a screen cover. No filter.
I feed live fresh hatched brine shrimp, live black worms and white worms. Also a bit of frozen to see what they will eat.
I do the TTM method
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/tank-transfer-method.192655/
On day 6 in the AM I dose PraziPro. The fish sit in that for 6 hours or more. Then they go to the next tank scheduled. If they are eating after the Prazi, it can suppress appetite) I start feeding MetroPlex with Focus when I give them frozen food. On day 13 or 14 they get another dose of Prazi for a few hours before going into the display tank.
If they have some other disease I treat that if needed.

There are threads here on how to QT fish. Lots of good advice. and a lot of ways. what is right for you is your choice.
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/my-current-qt-process.483371/
https://www.reef2reef.com/ams/the-other-way-to-run-a-reef-tank-no-quarantine.573/

Man, that’s a lot of typing! You get a cocktail yet?!?!?!?

 

[lapin]

Man, that’s a lot of typing! You get a cocktail yet?!?!?!?

Im toast and my 2 fingers are worn out

 

[jacobreynolds6883]

New question, I'm 10 days in and still having issues with water. I have kept the Nitrites down to 0 except one day it hit .25 however Nitrates have jumped around from 40-160 and ammonia from 0-.50. I have cleaned canister filter 3 times, and did 2 water changes (15% & 45%). Unfortunately I have lost several inverts I just introduced which is very discouraging, any helpful suggestions? Could this tank be recycling since I waited 6 months to do anything? Also I got my RO/DI in and currently making clean water for the future. Using a Brute canister to store clean water, any suggestions for salt mixing container to minimize space and easy ability to do water changes? Also what should I use to clean these containers prior to using them? Thanks in advance

 

[Mjrenz]

What kind of test kit are you using? If it's an api I would recommend a better kit, I've gotten inaccurate readings many times from them before. If your nitrates are high you really should be reading 0 for ammonia and nitrites. Is your tank currently filled with tap water? If so, that could be a major source of nitrates and all kinds of stuff you don't want in there and you should replace it all with rodi. As far as mixing, to save space you could simply mix and store water in 5 gallon buckets, otherwise a second brute trash can would work well and you can add a drain valve or just use a pump to get the water out into smaller containers when you need it. Whenever I get a new container I just rinse it out or use salt as an abrasive and a scrub brush that's never been used with chemicals before

 

[jacobreynolds6883]

What kind of test kit are you using? If it's an api I would recommend a better kit, I've gotten inaccurate readings many times from them before. If your nitrates are high you really should be reading 0 for ammonia and nitrites. Is your tank currently filled with tap water? If so, that could be a major source of nitrates and all kinds of stuff you don't want in there and you should replace it all with rodi. As far as mixing, to save space you could simply mix and store water in 5 gallon buckets, otherwise a second brute trash can would work well and you can add a drain valve or just use a pump to get the water out into smaller containers when you need it. Whenever I get a new container I just rinse it out or use salt as an abrasive and a scrub brush that's never been used with chemicals before

Yes it is a API master test kit, any suggestions on a kit that would give more accurate results. My water was all tap but I have done 2 water changes with RO/DI water (35% & 15%) since my previous post. Numbers are still hanging in the same area, could I attempt vinegar or vodka dosing? How long can you keep premix saltwater in a bucket w/lid before introducing; that is if I would make a bulk amount?

 

[Mjrenz]

Yes it is a API master test kit, any suggestions on a kit that would give more accurate results. My water was all tap but I have done 2 water changes with RO/DI water (35% & 15%) since my previous post. Numbers are still hanging in the same area, could I attempt vinegar or vodka dosing? How long can you keep premix saltwater in a bucket w/lid before introducing; that is if I would make a bulk amount?

I thought it may be an api with the readings you had, I like the salifert kits myself. I would hold off on carbon dosing and continue doing water changes. I don't do carbon dosing and try to keep my parameters in check with more natural export methods like macro algae and a deep sand bed, the nitrate absorbing pads help also. It's going to take a while to get your parameters in check so be patient and don't do anything too drastic. Salt water can usually be stored for a while I believe brs recently did a video about it