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Torinado94

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Hi folks!
I'm newish to the hobby. I have a 65 gallon 4ft long 2ft deep tank. It's been up and cycled for 2 months. I used live sand, dry rock and bio-spira. Live stock are turbo snails, 2 clowns, 2 purple fire fish, lawnmower blenny, diamond goby, and a fighting conch. I feed flakes once a day every other day and mysis the other days. Filter is a fluval fx4. 2 ai hydra 32's for lights, and 3 fans for water movement that put out a total of 2700 gph. Already went through the algae on my sand bed phase, i'm not getting any on my glass anymore either. Parameters have been stable for the most part.
Salt= 1.026
Temp= 79 F
Amm= 0
Nitrites= 0
Nitrates= 10ppm
Phosphates= range from on 4/10= 0.05, on 4/17= 0.10, on 4/20= 0.08, on 4/22= 0.10
DKH= 7
pH= bounces between 8.0 and 8.2

Does everything seem okay? I want coral down the road but I know i'm not ready for it. I only want some zoa's, couple hammers, and a nem in like a year or so. Thanks for the help
 

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Hello and welcome to the forum! Glad you're here.

This looks like things are okay. You will really know how well its doing once you start to get some coraline algae growing in there. Can we see some pictures of the tank please? do you have a sump? what's in there if you do. There will likely be some other cycles that come and go before its fully mature though and you seem to understand what it takes. I think you may even be able to put some cheaper mushroom corals in there right now and see how it does. softies will usually survive most anything.
 

dedragon

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everything you said sounds correct, so you seem to be in good shape. Yes, pictures are always the best and help us pinpoint any errors (if there are even any). Just make sure to clean the cannister filter at least 1 time a week, but nutrients are fine in your tank right now so it seems you are on top of it. Are you using rodi water? I would also buy a salifert or red sea pro calcium test kit when you decide you want to try corals as well as a magnesium test kit.
you should also be doing 10% water changes once a week and you should be fine to add a larger fish in there like a wrasse or dwarf angelfish etc. if you want
Welcome to the forum!
 
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Torinado94

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Hello and welcome to the forum! Glad you're here.

This looks like things are okay. You will really know how well its doing once you start to get some coraline algae growing in there. Can we see some pictures of the tank please? do you have a sump? what's in there if you do. There will likely be some other cycles that come and go before its fully mature though and you seem to understand what it takes. I think you may even be able to put some cheaper mushroom corals in there right now and see how it does. softies will usually survive most anything.
no sump just the fluval fx4 canister filter. I have tiny spots of coraline algae so far. These are what pictures i have for right now.
tank2.jpg
tank1.jpg
 
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Torinado94

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everything you said sounds correct, so you seem to be in good shape. Yes, pictures are always the best and help us pinpoint any errors (if there are even any). Just make sure to clean the cannister filter at least 1 time a week, but nutrients are fine in your tank right now so it seems you are on top of it. Are you using rodi water? I would also buy a salifert or red sea pro calcium test kit when you decide you want to try corals as well as a magnesium test kit.
you should also be doing 10% water changes once a week and you should be fine to add a larger fish in there like a wrasse or dwarf angelfish etc. if you want
Welcome to the forum!
awesome i'm getting those test kits today after work already planned on it lol. yes i use rodi and make my own salt water with the blue fritz salt. Right now i'm doing 20-30% water changes every 2 weeks.
 

CMMorgan

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Looks good - Your alk could be a little higher. Most keep it around 8, some bit higher. You haven't any SPS or LPS right now, so it's not going to crash your tank. You are doing well.... keep it up! If you are up to it, try some softies - kenya tree, gsp, shrooms.... one little toe ... baby steps. Great job! Keep up the great work.
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looking good! you can start adding some corals if you want as well, i see no problem. I would start with a little leather frag or zoa so at least you wouldnt need to worry about dosing like you would with sps or lps. I would look into a temperature controller for the heater just in case, i use a cheap inkbird temp controller from amazon and it works fine
 
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Torinado94

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looking good! you can start adding some corals if you want as well, i see no problem. I would start with a little leather frag or zoa so at least you wouldnt need to worry about dosing like you would with sps or lps. I would look into a temperature controller for the heater just in case, i use a cheap inkbird temp controller from amazon and it works fine
great thanks! would i need to dose for a hammer torch and a nem?
 

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Every coral you add even coralline algae soaks up your phos, calcium. and magnesium. The more you add and as they grow the more they consume so you just have to stay on top of what your levels are and as they start to decline you may need to begin dosing.
 

dedragon

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great thanks! would i need to dose for a hammer torch and a nem?
what aldrin said, you will prob need some dosing at some point but the water changes will keep the levels up for now as there isnt much coraline and zero corals rn.
anemone i would wait at least another 9 months before you start looking for one as it needs a biologically stable tank, which develops overtime, no way to rush this process.
 
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Torinado94

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what aldrin said, you will prob need some dosing at some point but the water changes will keep the levels up for now as there isnt much coraline and zero corals rn.
anemone i would wait at least another 9 months before you start looking for one as it needs a biologically stable tank, which develops overtime, no way to rush this process.
perfect thanks so much!
 

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Great job so far! Don't get a hammer or nem yet. Both require more care than you're probably ready for yet and both could be expensive mistakes if things go bad. I'd go with the cheaper, super hardy coral choices suggested by others. In my opinion, you'll be ready to experiment with trickier corals once you overcome some crisis in the next few months (e.g. dinos)---and you'll be a lot less frustrated that you didn't lose anything expensive because of it. Of course, do as I say and not as I do----I'm famously impatient when it comes to adding things to my tank! Looking forward to seeing a bunch of pics!
 
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Torinado94

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Great job so far! Don't get a hammer or nem yet. Both require more care than you're probably ready for yet and both could be expensive mistakes if things go bad. I'd go with the cheaper, super hardy coral choices suggested by others. In my opinion, you'll be ready to experiment with trickier corals once you overcome some crisis in the next few months (e.g. dinos)---and you'll be a lot less frustrated that you didn't lose anything expensive because of it. Of course, do as I say and not as I do----I'm famously impatient when it comes to adding things to my tank! Looking forward to seeing a bunch of pics!
i've had a little bit of dinos already did a water change and added cuc at that point. it was gone in a week! the pics were from the beginning of the month. Since then I have gotten different lights, different fans and took the skimmer out, it died (was never working)
tank3.jpg
tank4.jpg
 

BostonReefer300

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Looking good! I like your aquascape. I also like seeing a grounding probe in there. A lot of people don't realize how big a safety thing that is for you and your livestock. Do you have a new skimmer? If not, you really will need a skimmer. Do you have a sump or are you using a canister filter or something off the back? I can't quite tell from the pictures, but it looks like you'd have room for a sump underneath. A sump makes life a whole lot easier and your system much more stable. It can be as simple as a plain 10 gallon aquarium that has a system pump, a skimmer, and maybe a filter sock catching the water coming from the tank. You can put your heater and thermometer down there too to give the DT a cleaner look. Only other thing: why are your circulating pumps pointed up toward the surface? I'd recommend putting them each centered on your side glass panes and halfway down and pointing directly at each other. You'll get some good turbulent flow that way.
 
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Torinado94

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Looking good! I like your aquascape. I also like seeing a grounding probe in there. A lot of people don't realize how big a safety thing that is for you and your livestock. Do you have a new skimmer? If not, you really will need a skimmer. Do you have a sump or are you using a canister filter or something off the back? I can't quite tell from the pictures, but it looks like you'd have room for a sump underneath. A sump makes life a whole lot easier and your system much more stable. It can be as simple as a plain 10 gallon aquarium that has a system pump, a skimmer, and maybe a filter sock catching the water coming from the tank. You can put your heater and thermometer down there too to give the DT a cleaner look. Only other thing: why are your circulating pumps pointed up toward the surface? I'd recommend putting them each centered on your side glass panes and halfway down and pointing directly at each other. You'll get some good turbulent flow that way.
I have a skimmer in mind that I want ( just waiting on the funds). No sump running a fluval fx4 canister filter. I was trying the pumps back there, ended up not liking it. They are now both on the side glass but one is pointed upward and one straight across. Being that I have glass lids i want the water on the surface moving.
 

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I had issues in the past with glass lids. it's why a lot of us run open tops or some kind of mesh cover on the tank. you'll get a lot better gas exchange with the lid open.
 
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Torinado94

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I had issues in the past with glass lids. it's why a lot of us run open tops or some kind of mesh cover on the tank. you'll get a lot better gas exchange with the lid open.
i've been debating it. the only thing holding me back is the top offs lol. the wife wants me to take a break on the $$ for a bit :rolleyes:
 

BostonReefer300

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You can a DIY screen top kit from BRS cheap. That’s the way I’d go. I’d really recommend putting the circulation pumps as I suggested above. It’s much more important to get good flow through the whole tank than agitating the surface. Given your tank size, you’ll get plenty of gas exchange without worrying about adding surface turbulence.
 
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Torinado94

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You can a DIY screen top kit from BRS cheap. That’s the way I’d go. I’d really recommend putting the circulation pumps as I suggested above. It’s much more important to get good flow through the whole tank than agitating the surface. Given your tank size, you’ll get plenty of gas exchange without worrying about adding surface turbulence.
okay i will do that when i get home.
 
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Torinado94

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You can a DIY screen top kit from BRS cheap. That’s the way I’d go. I’d really recommend putting the circulation pumps as I suggested above. It’s much more important to get good flow through the whole tank than agitating the surface. Given your tank size, you’ll get plenty of gas exchange without worrying about adding surface turbulence.
How is that for pump location? The white one is for behind the rocks or would it be too much since I'm sitting at 2770gph?
16192173042672699321209738223543.jpg
 

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