Golden head goby
- Thread starter Mello
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ccombs
Valuable Member
Welcome to R2R!
My Goby is super peaceful, curious, and friendly. He has greeted new tank mates so far and gets along well with my cleaner shrimp. He even lets shrimp clean inside of his mouth. What size tank do you have?
My Goby is super peaceful, curious, and friendly. He has greeted new tank mates so far and gets along well with my cleaner shrimp. He even lets shrimp clean inside of his mouth. What size tank do you have?
408Dartfish
Well-Known Member
Welcome to the site. Golden head goby are great I’d make sue you have a lid as mine liked to jump.
ccombs
Valuable Member
Sorry, clean up crew. A clean up crew will eat junk that falls to the bottom of the tank, some even have special skills.
Nassarius Snails sift your sand bed and get junk, but you already have a goby so probably pass.
Cleaner Shrimp are like a medic of sorts. They clean off parasites and dead skin from fish (highly recommend)
Hermit crabs clean up algae and junk on sandbed (You would probably be good with 3 for your tank size)
Peppermint shrimp are great for aptasia and other nuances.
There are tons that you can choose for different purposes. Here is a link to many more.
https://www.reef2reef.com/ams/choosing-cleanup-crew-critters.107/
CUC critters don't add too much to the bioload of the tank, but can do a lot to manage waste, which is hugely important in a smaller tank. They are also a good way to add inhabitants in a smaller tank without cramping the tank or overloading it from a biological standpoint.
At this point in your reef, Ammonia will be your biggest enemy since it is so young. I would highly recommend getting a SeaChem ammonia alert badge for $10 to keep tabs on the tank.
May I ask how you cycled it? Depending on what you did here, there might be some special considerations to make your first few months easier.
OP
OP
Mello
New Member
Live rocks and sand. I am thinking I jumped into adding fish too fast. There is so much I am learning tonight by being on here. I am freaking out a little bit now. I have had a duster worm and an anemone in my tank since I started it. I have fed my anemone and it had ate and seems to be okay.
ccombs
Valuable Member
I do not know how much you know about reefing, but I wanted to take a quick second to further explain some things in my post above. If this is information you already know, please don't be insulted. I just want you to have the best chance of success here since you are new.
When dealing with a new tank and starting fresh, one must understand the nitrogen cycle. Everything in regards to a tank dealing with waste revolves around this cycle. Once established, it will effectively manage uneaten food, dying critters, and fish waste.
Anything organically breaking down in your tank releases ammonia. Ammonia is actually very misunderstood in the hobby because most test kits in the US measure ammonia as total ammonia nitrogen (TAN). This is a combination of ammonia (toxic to fish, seriously) and ammonium (not really a big deal). What we really are worried about is the actual ammonia. The SeaChem badge measures just the ammonia and tells you on the spot if you are safe or not, this is why I highly recommend.
Beneficial bacteria in your tank breaks down the ammonia into nitrites. These are less toxic to fish in the short term, but ideally you will not have them in your system. Finally, your nitrites will be broken down even more into nitrates. At this point nitrates leave the water and the waste has been fully broken down.
In a new tank, your bacteria (which rapidly multiplies) are not fully established, so this process does not happen as efficiently as it needs to. I would recommend adding beneficial bacteria every day for the next 30 days. Dr. Tim's One and Only and Microbacter7 are both good examples. It is even good to mix and match for better diversity.
Just shake the bottle well, dose the recommended amount (you can't really overdose, so don't worry about that) and you will begin to build up the natural system for exporting waste from your tank.
Since you have a lot of inhabitants for the tank and it is still young, please watch for any ammonia spikes. The SeaChem badge is only monitoring what is toxic and is easy to read. Keep an eye on it and you should be good.
One thing to note. There are products that say they 'de-toxify' ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate. These are no substitute for a proper cycle. All these do is bind up whatever they say they 'de-toxify' for about 24 hours so your fish are not in imminent harm and give your tank time to take care of things naturally. These are good to have on hand in a pinch, but know they will never replace a properly cycled tank.
When dealing with a new tank and starting fresh, one must understand the nitrogen cycle. Everything in regards to a tank dealing with waste revolves around this cycle. Once established, it will effectively manage uneaten food, dying critters, and fish waste.
Anything organically breaking down in your tank releases ammonia. Ammonia is actually very misunderstood in the hobby because most test kits in the US measure ammonia as total ammonia nitrogen (TAN). This is a combination of ammonia (toxic to fish, seriously) and ammonium (not really a big deal). What we really are worried about is the actual ammonia. The SeaChem badge measures just the ammonia and tells you on the spot if you are safe or not, this is why I highly recommend.
Beneficial bacteria in your tank breaks down the ammonia into nitrites. These are less toxic to fish in the short term, but ideally you will not have them in your system. Finally, your nitrites will be broken down even more into nitrates. At this point nitrates leave the water and the waste has been fully broken down.
In a new tank, your bacteria (which rapidly multiplies) are not fully established, so this process does not happen as efficiently as it needs to. I would recommend adding beneficial bacteria every day for the next 30 days. Dr. Tim's One and Only and Microbacter7 are both good examples. It is even good to mix and match for better diversity.
Just shake the bottle well, dose the recommended amount (you can't really overdose, so don't worry about that) and you will begin to build up the natural system for exporting waste from your tank.
Since you have a lot of inhabitants for the tank and it is still young, please watch for any ammonia spikes. The SeaChem badge is only monitoring what is toxic and is easy to read. Keep an eye on it and you should be good.
One thing to note. There are products that say they 'de-toxify' ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate. These are no substitute for a proper cycle. All these do is bind up whatever they say they 'de-toxify' for about 24 hours so your fish are not in imminent harm and give your tank time to take care of things naturally. These are good to have on hand in a pinch, but know they will never replace a properly cycled tank.
ccombs
Valuable Member
You will want to do a few things.
(1) Do a water change. Your water change % will exactly correspond to how much you need to drop something. If ammonia is 1ppm in your tank, a 50% water change will bring it down to .5ppm. Avoid huge water changes, these will disrupt a maturing tank. Anything over 50% is reserved for emergencies.
When doing a water change (WC) be sure to match temperature and salinity. In the newer tank, add some beneficial bacteria as described above to the new water as well.
(2) API Ammo-Lock. This should be available at Petsmart or Petco. This is the emergency binding agent I was talking about earlier. This is not a fix, it is just a bandaid on a bigger problem. I recommend SeaChem Prime (most local fish stores have it) but the API product is more readily available.
(3) Continue to monitor daily, add the beneficial bacteria. Since you got started fast you will probably be catching up with several large water changes early on, just keep an eye on that ammonia more than anything right now.
You might be best off getting 'Dr. Tim's One and Only' and dumping the whole bottle in. This product is readily available and is advertised for it's ability to instantly get you going. I do not think it is the best method, but since we are looking for solutions here, it might be a good route.
Hemmdog
10K Club member
It should always be zero, if it’s detectabke it’s not good. Over .5 ppm I believe is lethal. Maybe a little higher.
ccombs
Valuable Member
Depends on if you are looking at ammonia, ammonium or TAN. Hence why I recommended the SeaChem badge.
Also, I take no credit for this knowledge, this is all Lasse taught.
ccombs
Valuable Member
Since it is late, your best bet will be the WC, then run out when the stores open and pick up the products I mentioned. I tried to give you the options that are easy to find.
Edit- I have actually seen a lot of API products at Wal-Mart. They had a surprisingly stocked fish section here locally. You might have luck if you want to get this stuff now.
ccombs
Valuable Member
A couple of other things I want to mention.
1) If you find the SeaChem prime, it smells like sulfur, this is normal lol.
2) Where are you getting your water from? Store bought, faucet, RODI, etc. ?
3) Stay calm and approach things methodically. We will get you through this, just be ready to put in some work. Just imagine how much you will enjoy your tank in a few months when it is stable and beautiful and happy.
1) If you find the SeaChem prime, it smells like sulfur, this is normal lol.
2) Where are you getting your water from? Store bought, faucet, RODI, etc. ?
3) Stay calm and approach things methodically. We will get you through this, just be ready to put in some work. Just imagine how much you will enjoy your tank in a few months when it is stable and beautiful and happy.
