IM20 - retuning to hobby, starting from ground 0

[Drewerd7]

Another recommendation:
"Seed" your tank with as much of a variety of micro-fauna as possible.

This can be done by adding reef rubble and live rock pieces from mature systems, adding copepods and dosing phytoplankton, adding some snail shells full of coraline algae, etc.

 

[hahahohol]

Week #3 update:
Bad news. You can call me a fish murderer. Yes, I killed a fish
After the ammonia dropped to zero & nitrites were still lingering around .25, I risked and added a black molly.

It seemed to be doing ok after acclimation. Even eating the food that I was dropping. But I did notice that it looked like it was fighting the flow (although the return pump is set to lowest setting). …and then I found it dead in the morning.

My ammonia is still at zero. Maybe I didn’t acclimated it long enough? Or maybe it didn’t like the flow? Or maybe something else?

Question…
Should I let the tank cycle for another couple of weeks before trying another molly? Or get Dr.Tims and then introduce another hardy fish? Thoughts?

More updates coming soon…

 

[Drewerd7]

Week #3 update:
Bad news. You can call me a fish murderer. Yes, I killed a fish
After the ammonia dropped to zero & nitrites were still lingering around .25, I risked and added a black molly.

It seemed to be doing ok after acclimation. Even eating the food that I was dropping. But I did notice that it looked like it was fighting the flow (although the return pump is set to lowest setting). …and then I found it dead in the morning.

My ammonia is still at zero. Maybe I didn’t acclimated it long enough? Or maybe it didn’t like the flow? Or maybe something else?

Question…
Should I let the tank cycle for another couple of weeks before trying another molly? Or get Dr.Tims and then introduce another hardy fish? Thoughts?

More updates coming soon…

I don't want to state the obvious... but just in case:
This fish WAS already acclimated to saltwater right?
You didn't dump a freshwater molly into your tank, did you?! lol

 

[hahahohol]

I don't want to state the obvious... but just in case:
This fish WAS already acclimated to saltwater right?
You didn't dump a freshwater molly into your tank, did you?! lol

 

[Drewerd7]

OH NOOOOOO!
Your sand bed isn't deep enough to bury that head! lol
HAHA... you might need to come up with a better explanation for your wife.

 

[Drewerd7]

Brother, you put a FRESHWATER FISH in a SALTWATER TANK!
You might as well toss a frog in there and see if it makes it! lol

..sorry, you gave me a good laugh. Also, great GIF. Says it all.

 

[MoshJosh]

Also, are we sure that is not a platy? Only kinda kidding.

Other than the molly fiasco I will say the tank is looking goo so far!

 

[hahahohol]

Week #4 update:

I bought another FW molly 3 days ago. Got the biggest fish I could find. This time I acclimated it for 3+ hours – slowly raising salinity using turkey baster. Also, before acclimation I lowered the salinity of the tank to 1.021 (per Dr.Tim’s lecture, the nitrifying bacteria grows faster under lower salinity – not sure if 1.025/1.021 makes a huge difference, but I figured it will be easier for molly).
The fish is doing so-so. Very shy – always hiding behind the rocks during the day. It’s not eating - at least when I’m watching. Also it had a white stringy poop the next morning after acclimation. Based on my research, white stringy excrement is usually a sign of some sort of a parasite… but in some cases can be result of stress or diet change. I am feeding him Omega One Marine Flakes. I also tried giving him nori, but he seems to ignore it (compared to my previous “deceased” fish that would eat everything it could find).

I hope this molly recovers and starts eating. Maybe the dude is lonely and scared?

Question…
What else can I feed the molly? The rocks are still bare-clean.
And when can I add a pair of clowns? Hermit crabs? Both the Ammonia & Nitrites are at 0.

PS: Confession regarding the first black molly… no, I didn’t acclimate it “properly”. I only took 40 min to temperature acclimate and then just dumped FW fish into 1.025 SW tank. However, I did read a lot of posts where people had a high success rate doing the same, so I risked it. Yes, I make dumb decisions, but this one I made with confidence lol. …I’m sad for fish, tho
… and if this molly doesn’t recover, then I’d have an equal “success rate” :-/

More updates coming soon…

 

[hahahohol]

1 month update:

Today is one month anniversary since the cycle had started. The Molly is more confident, not hiding as often. I also started feeding him New Life Spectum which I think he likes more than Marine Flakes.

Also, I have new tenants! One tiny ocellaris clownfish and a medium size snowflake clown… and it seems that they had “paired” within a day. But the time will tell.

Question…
When can I start adding soft corals? Ammonia, Nitrites, & Nitrates are zero.

More updates coming soon…

 

[Gumbies R Us]

1 month update:

Today is one month anniversary since the cycle had started. The Molly is more confident, not hiding as often. I also started feeding him New Life Spectum which I think he likes more than Marine Flakes.

Also, I have new tenants! One tiny ocellaris clownfish and a medium size snowflake clown… and it seems that they had “paired” within a day. But the time will tell.

Question…
When can I start adding soft corals? Ammonia, Nitrites, & Nitrates are zero.

More updates coming soon…

Glad to see the tank is doing well for 1 month!

 

[Hooz]

Man. I love that Nuvo 20! I have a Nuvo 10 and a Nuvo 30L, and I've always felt like I needed the 20 to complete "the set".

As for coral... As long as your tank is cycled completely and has some nutrients (Nitrate and Phosphate), you should be okay to start adding a few easy tester frags. Just remember, things like GSP, Pulsing Xenia, and Kenya Tree are listed as "easy beginner coral", but they can also turn into nuisances later and overrun everything. So don't start with one of those unless you actually want one of those. Once it's in there, it may never come out.

 

[hahahohol]

Man. I love that Nuvo 20! I have a Nuvo 10 and a Nuvo 30L, and I've always felt like I needed the 20 to complete "the set".

As for coral... As long as your tank is cycled completely and has some nutrients (Nitrate and Phosphate), you should be okay to start adding a few easy tester frags. Just remember, things like GSP, Pulsing Xenia, and Kenya Tree are listed as "easy beginner coral", but they can also turn into nuisances later and overrun everything. So don't start with one of those unless you actually want one of those. Once it's in there, it may never come out.

I do like GSP but don’t want gsp tank. The issue is that my nitrates are still at 0, idk

 

[hahahohol]

Week #5 update:
So my orange molly only lasted a week. It spent a few days with new clownfish (was not hiding anymore as it used to), but we found it dead a couple of days later. I’m not sure why. Because it was
1. Hungry? (it wasn’t eating much)
2. Stressed? (The snowflake clown is a bully)
3. Wrong molly? (it wasn’t a black sailfin)
4. Other?

Anyway, I went to LFS and got a Yellow Watchman Goby. (BTW, the ammonia, nitrite & nitrate in my tank were 0). I acclimated the YWG for a couple of hours slowly raising salinity … kind of regret for not checking it at the store, which was 1.017. After YWG went in the tank he was either hiding or aggressively making sandstorm near the snowflake clown. Then he disappeared . Last time I’ve seen the guy was at night with a flashlight… freaked me out because he turned all pale with blue dots, no yellow whatsoever. Had to research to find out that they can do that at night. I stole the pic below from another forum…this is for reference only – that’s exactly what he looked like. Btw, 3 days later, all the parameters are still 0… and I searched around the tank , just in case he jumped and was able to fit through the net-cover.

Question…
So I really wanted a paired YWG & pistol shrimp… I want to believe that he’s still hiding under the rocks. Do you think it’s ok to add a Candy Cane shrimp now? Perhaps they’ll find each other and feel more comfortable. If I do, should I feed the shrimp something special since the sand is still clean?

More updates coming soon…

 

[Drewerd7]

Hello again,
I am not sure what test kits you are using for testing NO3 and PO4, but make sure you're using something that is (agreed upon within this community) reliable, like Salifert or Hannah, etc. Seems like a lot of folks bash on ATI.

Just saying, I would focus on water quality and patience before rushing into more livestock... let the bacteria colonies grow a bit.. the tanks with DRY rock always take more time to stabilize than starting will LIVE rock.

Also, add more biodiversity, like copepods, phytoplankton, a variety of snails (some for sand bed, some for rockwork, glass etc.)
and "seeded" liverock, and coraline algae encrusted rubble/shells.
You are creating a bio diverse "reef," not just a FOWLR tank, right?!

Also, it is normal for any fish to be very "shy" and timid for the first couple days/weeks in a new environment.. they need to recover from stress of transportation and learn that they are safe in their new home. Don't worry if your Goby is hiding.. just make sure to sink a few pellets to the bottom for him to find, and verify he is eating some.

If any of your fish are being finicky feeders, buy frozen brine shrimp in a blister pack.
Shave/cut off a piece and thaw in a little cup of RODI water or tank water.. brine shrimp will make a good meal for any of em.

I also agree that you should have SOME PO4 and NO3 for any corals to thrive... otherwise they will slowly starve.

Practice good husbandry and patience, and keep learning and stability.
(Hope your wife loves your clowns! Happy they paired up for ya.)

-Drew

 

[hahahohol]

Hello again,
I am not sure what test kits you are using for testing NO3 and PO4, but make sure you're using something that is (agreed upon within this community) reliable, like Salifert or Hannah, etc. Seems like a lot of folks bash on ATI.

Just saying, I would focus on water quality and patience before rushing into more livestock... let the bacteria colonies grow a bit.. the tanks with DRY rock always take more time to stabilize than starting will LIVE rock.

Also, add more biodiversity, like copepods, phytoplankton, a variety of snails (some for sand bed, some for rockwork, glass etc.)
and "seeded" liverock, and coraline algae encrusted rubble/shells.
You are creating a bio diverse "reef," not just a FOWLR tank, right?!

Also, it is normal for any fish to be very "shy" and timid for the first couple days/weeks in a new environment.. they need to recover from stress of transportation and learn that they are safe in their new home. Don't worry if your Goby is hiding.. just make sure to sink a few pellets to the bottom for him to find, and verify he is eating some.

If any of your fish are being finicky feeders, buy frozen brine shrimp in a blister pack.
Shave/cut off a piece and thaw in a little cup of RODI water or tank water.. brine shrimp will make a good meal for any of em.

I also agree that you should have SOME PO4 and NO3 for any corals to thrive... otherwise they will slowly starve.

Practice good husbandry and patience, and keep learning and stability.
(Hope your wife loves your clowns! Happy they paired up for ya.)

-Drew

I can’t disagree with you on the API test kits - which is what I’m using. However, my results were very consistent with other 3 LFS’s in the area. I drove around with my water during & after cycle just to make sure my readings are correct — especially that my test kit expired 5 years ago lol
But it works! … I agree, though. I need better test kit for PO4 & NO3, especially when I introduce more serious coral.
Btw, Thanks for helping me reveal another skeleton in the closet

Regarding the rock - I want to say that 90% of the rock was dead (when I started) and 10% was live rock that I added later in the cycle to help “seed” the other rock.

As of right now, things are stable (if you can trust my test kits lol)… I still haven’t had an ugly stage, just a few tiny yellow spots on the sand. IDK

 

[hahahohol]

Week #6 update:
I found my missing Yellow Watchman Goby (3 days later) … on the floor

I knew that they were jumpers, but I had a “tight-fit” mesh cover which was supposed to prevent the carpet-surfing. But the dude was able to fit through the mesh, unfortunately.

So I found a piece of 1/4” Polycarbonate in a scrap pile that was cut to size - now it fits perfectly inside the cover opening.

It seems that it’s blocking a little bit of light & shimmer, but it reduced evaporation. The back of the tank (AIO “sump” area) is till exposed to air, so it doesn’t seem to suffocate the tank from oxygen.

A few days ago I was feeling risky and got another YWG … AND a Candy-cane pistol shrimp.
That shrimp is tiny ~1”. Goby is about 1.5”.

After acclimation, when I was moving the shrimp to the DT - the little guy jerked and dropped the pistol-claw. Made me SO SAD that I may have injured little gangsta - only to find out that they do that on some stressful occasions.
He is now quietly making caves under one big rock (while growing new claw) and YWG is always hanging out near his hole. They’re not “paired”, yet.

I love how this guy just blends in with the sand at night and then turns yellow again in the morning. I think “the fish Creator” had put a lot of thought in designing these creatures

Question…
Any other livestock you’d recommend? I am happy with my goby and a clown pair and would like to keep it under-stocked… but just curious if there’s something to consider?

More updates coming soon…

 

[MoshJosh]

Think your stocking is good as is. . . but maybe a 6-line (a favorite of mine but some people are not fans) or springeri damsel. Both can be on the aggressive side. . . though adding last should help

Purple file fish, a dotty back (WITH CAUTION), some type of cardinal, some type of basslet (maybe chalk basslet) are all options that should be easy to find.

 

[Jason Scalise]

Nice progress.
I have the same tank.
It’s been up for just about a year now.
Here is my build thread should you find any ideas that help.

Btw…I have had a couple of fish jump through the stock mesh lid. I removed the stock mesh which I think were 1/2” squares and replaced it with 1/4” square mesh.

Best way to not have fish jump out is….to not have fish. (Recent fortune cookie).

 

[hahahohol]

Nice progress.
I have the same tank.
It’s been up for just about a year now.
Here is my build thread should you find any ideas that help.

Btw…I have had a couple of fish jump through the stock mesh lid. I removed the stock mesh which I think were 1/2” squares and replaced it with 1/4” square mesh.

Best way to not have fish jump out is….to not have fish. (Recent fortune cookie).

Really nice build! Nice work

 

[hahahohol]

Week #7 update:
A couple of local reefers gifted me some coral frags - for which I’m super grateful. A GSP, Kenya Trees and some encrusting coral (idk the name).

Since I added the coral I raised the light intensity to 80% blue + 50% white (it’s a RedSea 50 LED)… and soon after that the “brown beauties” showed up. I am curious how long this “pretty phase” will last.

Question…
1. I’d like to attach the Green Star Polyp to the back wall. Is there a good way you’d recommend? It’s currently on a flat square tile. Can I scrape it off?
2. Should I add any CuC to help with diatoms? (I have 2 small hermits) Or just wait with a long enduring patience?

More updates coming soon…