Newbie here!

[taterfish]

Hey everyone!

Been a lurker here for awhile with out an account, well in the long run it got me hooked into starting a saltwater tank! So i do have a couple questions on my new tank!

So far my set up is:

1. 29 Gallon Tank
2. Tidal 75 HOB ( running with sponge > filter floss > matrix )
3. Sicce Voyager Nano 2000 Wave Maker (1)
4. 150watt Heater (maintaining 79deg)
5. Growrium Saltwater LED light
6. FritzPRO RPM Salt Blue Box

So i was buying RODI from my LFS so i was using that to fill my tank, i also bought 16LB of live rock from the LFS owner and it came directly from their fish tanks that had coral etc and small growths of coraline algea (i will be purchasing more to increase my rockscape) the owner advised me to pick a fish to feed the bacteria, so i picked out a Royal Gramma and shes adapted perfectly has a designated cave and has been happy and healthy eating mysis shrimp and sera marine granules with no issues with appetite.

I have been testing water parameters daily and recording them in my book, i know i know people hate this brand but i was on a budget when purchasing so i went with an API Saltwater Master kit from amazon with a good 2028 expiration date ( i do plan on buying the Salifert kits ) So, so far ive been recording DAILY Salinity 1.025 - 1.026, PH 8, AMMONIA 0, Nitrite 0, Nitrate 0 and it has been this way since i started the tank which was 1/10/26 so the tank is new! The fish has been in the tank since day 2 of adding the living pre cycled rock, i also recently added 4 astraea snails, because i have noticed slight diatoms occuring on the sand bed and rocks, they cleaned the rocks up excellent, and have added a good amount of poo that is also showing on my sand bed !

I have not done a water change yet on the tank because i havent had any spikes in anything ( and maybe thats normal? Should i be doing atleast a 10% water change or no? )

So i measured my LFS RODI water and it was at 155PPM on my TDS meter like what the heck? And thats what i filled my tank up with! So the past week ive been buying distilled water instead that tests at 0 PPM witch im happy with! I do have to buy a RODI filteration eventually. So i manual top off of the tank which has been with distilled water that has been floated in the tank to increase them temp so it didnt introduce any temperature shock to the fish.

My questions are:
- Should i be doing a water change yet?
- Should i just keep to the distilled water from Kroger tell i can get an RODI unit?
- My light schedule is dust to dawn ramps up and down, starting at 8 am and ends at 9pm, very low percentage on the light like 10% is all i have been using. Is this effecting the diatoms, and will it stress my fish if i need to change it to less?
- Should i add hermit crabs and or a brittle star to clean up snail poop / diatoms etc?
- Is it still early for my parameters to be showing anything?
- I do want to do a soft coral tank, when would be appropriate time to add any?


Thank you all for any information! I greatly appreciate it, im very happy and excited with my new adventure in the salt water life world!

 

[Fish Fan]

Welcome to Reef2Reef!

#WelcometoR2R

Congrats on getting your tank, and I think your equipment looks good, especially the real live rock. I'll try to address some of your questions, and I'm sure others will have more to offer as well

My questions are:
- Should i be doing a water change yet?

With just the one fish and no corals, I wouldn't do a water change until you start to see some nitrate building up, which should happen soon. Personally, I think API test kits are not the best, but they are not as bad as many will tell you.

- Should i just keep to the distilled water from Kroger tell i can get an RODI unit?

The distilled water is fine to use, RODI will be cheaper in the long run, but distilled is fine.

My light schedule is dust to dawn ramps up and down, starting at 8 am and ends at 9pm, very low percentage on the light like 10% is all i have been using. Is this effecting the diatoms, and will it stress my fish if i need to change it to less?

Your fish won't be bothered at all. Diatoms are just a normal phase in a new tank, and should run their course soon.

- Should i add hermit crabs and or a brittle star to clean up snail poop / diatoms etc?

I might wait until there's a little more for them to eat, or you can feed them directly if there's not enough to scavenge.

- Is it still early for my parameters to be showing anything?

I'm not sure what you are questioning here. You're not seeing any ammonia because the rock is already cycled and processing it. You *should* be seeing some nitrate, I'm surprised you're not already seeing nitrate, but that's what would be expected next.

- I do want to do a soft coral tank, when would be appropriate time to add any?

I think since you're using that live rock, you could add some hardy softies whenever you're ready

I hope that helps and good luck!!

 

[taterfish]

Welcome to Reef2Reef!

#WelcometoR2R

Congrats on getting your tank, and I think your equipment looks good, especially the real live rock. I'll try to address some of your questions, and I'm sure others will have more to offer as well

With just the one fish and no corals, I wouldn't do a water change until you start to see some nitrate building up, which should happen soon. Personally, I think API test kits are not the best, but they are not as bad as many will tell you.


The distilled water is fine to use, RODI will be cheaper in the long run, but distilled is fine.


Your fish won't be bothered at all. Diatoms are just a normal phase in a new tank, and should run their course soon.


I might wait until there's a little more for them to eat, or you can feed them directly if there's not enough to scavenge.


I'm not sure what you are questioning here. You're not seeing any ammonia because the rock is already cycled and processing it. You *should* be seeing some nitrate, I'm surprised you're not already seeing nitrate, but that's what would be expected next.


I think since you're using that live rock, you could add some hardy softies whenever you're ready

I hope that helps and good luck!!

Thank you greatly appreciate it! Very happy to be apart of an amazing website filled with so many resources!

Yes the API test i plan to upgrade very soon, i was building this tank basically on a budget to start with so it was the cheapest option to get me up and going :) from amazon, my LFS does offer free testing so i may just stop by with a sample to see what they say as well to compare my readings with API, until i can purchase the other test.

Basically with my parameters i was wondering if its normal to not be seeing much going on at the moment, i figured i would have at least had in increase in nitrate with the fish / snails. I appreciate your response.

Looking forward to add some softy corals pretty soon, really have been wanting a pistol shrimp / goby combo! I dont plan on stocking to many fish in this tank, really just want the fish i get to have a peaceful life w/ some basic softy corals to start off with and enjoy the tank.

All the info your relayed has helped and i greatly appreciate it, thank you!

 

[Fish Fan]

Thank you greatly appreciate it! Very happy to be apart of an amazing website filled with so many resources!

Yes the API test i plan to upgrade very soon, i was building this tank basically on a budget to start with so it was the cheapest option to get me up and going :) from amazon, my LFS does offer free testing so i may just stop by with a sample to see what they say as well to compare my readings with API, until i can purchase the other test.

Basically with my parameters i was wondering if its normal to not be seeing much going on at the moment, i figured i would have at least had in increase in nitrate with the fish / snails. I appreciate your response.

Looking forward to add some softy corals pretty soon, really have been wanting a pistol shrimp / goby combo! I dont plan on stocking to many fish in this tank, really just want the fish i get to have a peaceful life w/ some basic softy corals to start off with and enjoy the tank.

All the info your relayed has helped and i greatly appreciate it, thank you!

I'm not surprised that your ammonia is zero, I am a little surprised that you're not recording nitrate yet, but you should start to see that very soon, the tank is still quite new.

I personally don't hate on the API test kits, but if your LFS can double check your results, that's a great idea. Just make sure they don't use API

 

[fishface NJ]

Welcome to R2R!

 

[TheNative192]

Thank you greatly appreciate it! Very happy to be apart of an amazing website filled with so many resources!

Yes the API test i plan to upgrade very soon, i was building this tank basically on a budget to start with so it was the cheapest option to get me up and going :) from amazon, my LFS does offer free testing so i may just stop by with a sample to see what they say as well to compare my readings with API, until i can purchase the other test.

Basically with my parameters i was wondering if its normal to not be seeing much going on at the moment, i figured i would have at least had in increase in nitrate with the fish / snails. I appreciate your response.

Looking forward to add some softy corals pretty soon, really have been wanting a pistol shrimp / goby combo! I dont plan on stocking to many fish in this tank, really just want the fish i get to have a peaceful life w/ some basic softy corals to start off with and enjoy the tank.

All the info your relayed has helped and i greatly appreciate it, thank you!

Welcome! Hope you are doing well.

 

[taterfish]

Welcome! Hope you are doing well.

Thank you!!

I am doing great but did get some news i wasnt wanting to hear today!

So i had a couple bubbles show up in my silicone in my 29 gallon aqueon tank so i decided to reach out to their customer service today and i talked with guy, sent him the pictures and he said yes he would recommend that i get a replacement tank and they will send me a check for warranty reimbursement. So i am bummed about that but very happy it happened early on and not down the road when i have more in the tank.

So my only question with swapping tanks, can i save a cup of my aragonite sand and just rinse the remainder with RODI, or what is the best method to do in this case? Im hoping it wont start a cycle all over again but it just may and ill have to just deal with it :P