New build, first fish added

[Hecswazy]

Hello everyone, I just got a tank from my girlfriend as a birthday gift, I waited an about a week to let the tank cycle then added two clowns after I got my water tested. I then added a fire red shrimp to clean up excess food and that has been in the tank. I’m not sure what I should do as of right now. I have not yet done my first water change, I now know to keep the light off for a long time to prevent ugly stage, I don’t have any salt tester or anything yet.

 

[Hecswazy]

It is also a 20 gallon

 

[melonheadorion]

well, there is some things that you will need to do immediately. im fearful for fish death at this time, but thats just because i am going off of your OP. if it was just a week of letting it sit to cycle, its probably not cycled. you are ultimately going to see an ammonia spike if thats the case, which will likely lead to fish issues/death. i would get some bottled bacteria as soon as possible, unless of course, you already did that initially. if you added bacteria to begin with, youre probably ok, but there wasnt any mention of it. secondly, i would get a saltwater test kit right away. it will allow you to test for ammonia and nitrate.

also, you will have an ugly stage at some point. keeping the lights off to pass it, wont avoid it. you will get algae or something else that doesnt look pleasing somewhere down the line, but yes, you can keep the lights off to help minimize it. if you do hit an ugly stage, when its jsut fish only, you can keep the lights off to rid of it

 

[dstockwell]

If you don’t know how much salt is in there is a big problem, you should be testing long before adding fish.

 

[TokenReefer]

Welcome! You'll be alright if you get a little serious about it. Get some test kits (so much on this already on the forum I'm not going to elaborate) and a refractometer or hydrometer to test salinity. Keep up on water changes. Don't slack on that and you'll be better off overall. Most of all start reading / watching YouTube. https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/content/category/brs-tv/52-weeks-of-reefing
This is a good place to start

 

[Hecswazy]

well, there is some things that you will need to do immediately. im fearful for fish death at this time, but thats just because i am going off of your OP. if it was just a week of letting it sit to cycle, its probably not cycled. you are ultimately going to see an ammonia spike if thats the case, which will likely lead to fish issues/death. i would get some bottled bacteria as soon as possible, unless of course, you already did that initially. if you added bacteria to begin with, youre probably ok, but there wasnt any mention of it. secondly, i would get a saltwater test kit right away. it will allow you to test for ammonia and nitrate.

also, you will have an ugly stage at some point. keeping the lights off to pass it, wont avoid it. you will get algae or something else that doesnt look pleasing somewhere down the line, but yes, you can keep the lights off to help minimize it. if you do hit an ugly stage, when its jsut fish only, you can keep the lights off to rid of it

So the reason I added the fish was because the store employees gave me some bacteria; and said I can add fish after a day of that being added but would wait a few days, so right after I first added the water in the tank I added that bacteria. I have checked the salt levels and it was super high so I brought it down to safe levels with distilled water. I am planning on doing water change today or tomorrow as I have no clue what the nitrate levels are but I imagine spiking since I just started feeding

 

[Hecswazy]

If you don’t know how much salt is in there is a big problem, you should be testing long before adding fish.

Yeah the store had given me the saltwater so I assumed it was at sage levels, I bought the kit yesterday as a reefer IRL told me I need that ASAP,
Luckily I bought it as my levels were too high

 

[Hecswazy]

Yeah the store had given me the saltwater so I assumed it was at sage levels, I bought the kit yesterday as a reefer IRL told me I need that ASAP,
Luckily I bought it as my levels were too high

*safe

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

without a salt (salinity) tester you should not have built the tank. Are you at least topping off the freshwater evaporation?

I would say the first step is get some test kits so that you know whats happening with the water. Then I would suggest to do a lot of reading before buying any new animals for your tank, keeping saltwater tanks is fairly complicated and expensive.

 

[TokenReefer]

Listen, I don't want to scare you out the hobby because it's awesome once you're into it. It can be slightly complicated at first until you get the hang of it and get into a groove with it but nothing you can't handle. It can also be expensive but it doesn't have to be. There are certain items you definitely don't want to go cheap on and there are some you can. Just focus on the water for now. Keep the salinity stable. If water evaporates, the salinity will be higher. Keep topping off water to the SAME LINE every time and you'll have stable salinity (big first step). Eventually an auto top off system will fix this for ya and make things easier. Again, it can be expensive when you start automating things but you can play it how you like. It sounds like you have a grasp somewhat already as you knew to lower salinity slowly with freshwater. Again, just focus on water for now, not adding anything

 

[bnord]

Agree with Token and just know that there are a lot of folks here (and I suppose you) who care dearly for their fish and want more that anything else not to loose one to lack of planning.

Ammonia and salinity are your big concerns here and and now, hopefully that point has been made and hopefully there will be beneficial effects of the "bacteria" you got from the store (type? quantity used?)

top offs manually as the levels drop and Water changes religiously particularly in the first months.

what light do you have and how much control do you have over spectrum?

Be ready in the coming weeks for the first signs of algae and be prepared (please) for the clean up crew you will bring in - again little at a time and not till you see the algae start.

best of luck and oh, nice girl friend...

 

[Hecswazy]

I am not too sure, the workers at the reef store asked for my dimensions and etc all the questions and they then gave me the appropriate portion for bacteria, it was reddish brown and smelled bad, the light is what came with the tank just a basic white light. I do know I need a particular spectrum if I want to add reefs and etc, my only concern right now is the ammonia and nitrates so I am trying to do that water change asap, I’m at work till 5 so I will do it right when I get home.

 

[Hecswazy]

Agree with Token and just know that there are a lot of folks here (and I suppose you) who care dearly for their fish and want more that anything else not to loose one to lack of planning.

Ammonia and salinity are your big concerns here and and now, hopefully that point has been made and hopefully there will be beneficial effects of the "bacteria" you got from the store (type? quantity used?)

top offs manually as the levels drop and Water changes religiously particularly in the first months.

what light do you have and how much control do you have over spectrum?

Be ready in the coming weeks for the first signs of algae and be prepared (please) for the clean up crew you will bring in - again little at a time and not till you see the algae start.

best of luck and oh, nice girl friend...

I got my water test results back

salinity - 1.025
Nitrite - 0.25
Nitrate - 15
Phos - 0
Amm - 0.25
PH - 8.3
KH - 7
Cal - 420

 

[Lavey29]

I got my water test results back

salinity - 1.025
Nitrite - 0.25
Nitrate - 15
Phos - 0
Amm - 0.25
PH - 8.3
KH - 7
Cal - 420

Your tank is not fully cycled with that ammonia reading. Do 50% water change and add more nitrifying bacteria.

 

[dstockwell]

Your tank has not cycled, your ammonia is above acceptable levels.

 

[melonheadorion]

excellent.

so, youre off to a good start. in case you didnt know, bacteria is the foundation in which toxic ammonia is converted to non toxic nitrate. ammonia levels too high will kill fish. this is why the cycling is important. the bacteria can grow naturally, but if they gave you bacteria to add as soon as you put water in, that is a process in which you dont have to wait for bacteria to grow naturally.
so, if we assume that part was done, you should be ok with ammonia. with that said, if you see your water get cloudy this early, it might be an ammonia spike, in which water changes will help with that. It is very important, if you ahve not already, have your own test kit. for starters, you can get away cheap with an api test kit. it is also recommended to have a device to check your salinity as well. these two things are vital at saltwater tank keeping. if you havent already, these should be your next two purchases.
also, i would not add anymore fish quite yet. i personally would wait at least 2 weeks before you add more. this just ensures that your bacteria is setup and going for what you have. with that said, if you do get more fish, go slow at adding them. dont go and buy 3, 4, 5 or more fish and add them all at once. you will possibly run into ammonia issues because your bacteria load cant keep up.
in case you werent aware, try to not use tap water. if you are on city water of any kind, it is a requirement to have chemicals in the water to kill bacteria (chlorine), which will kill fish. in the near future, other than buying water from your LFS, a RODI water system will be useful. myself personally, i buy my RODI water from my LFS, and keep 6 buckets ready for water changes and top off. so a RODI isnt necessary, but is one of those things that most people run.
with that said, as it was mentioned before, when water evaporates, salt does not, so you need to make sure you keep your water level maintained. doing it manually is fine when it comes to a fish only. on my 20g fish only tank, i top off manually on that tank once a day or so.

 

[melonheadorion]

forgot to ask....when they tested your water, what brand kit was it tested with? the .25 level on API and red sea are total ammonia, so after you convert, its actually .025. so, depending on the kit, the .25 may not be anything to worry about. really just depends on the test kit. its not uncommon for an API kit to read a .25 whether its a new setup or been setup for a year.

 

[bnord]

Great Melon, but with those Ammonia numbers converted or not, water changes and more quality starter bacteria are needed and soon - then another water change Till you get down to “barely detectable”

best of luck

 

[Hecswazy]

Great Melon, but with those Ammonia numbers converted or not, water changes and more quality starter bacteria are needed and soon - then another water change Till you get down to “barely detectable”

best of luck

Just did a 25% water change !

 

[Hecswazy]

excellent.

so, youre off to a good start. in case you didnt know, bacteria is the foundation in which toxic ammonia is converted to non toxic nitrate. ammonia levels too high will kill fish. this is why the cycling is important. the bacteria can grow naturally, but if they gave you bacteria to add as soon as you put water in, that is a process in which you dont have to wait for bacteria to grow naturally.
so, if we assume that part was done, you should be ok with ammonia. with that said, if you see your water get cloudy this early, it might be an ammonia spike, in which water changes will help with that. It is very important, if you ahve not already, have your own test kit. for starters, you can get away cheap with an api test kit. it is also recommended to have a device to check your salinity as well. these two things are vital at saltwater tank keeping. if you havent already, these should be your next two purchases.
also, i would not add anymore fish quite yet. i personally would wait at least 2 weeks before you add more. this just ensures that your bacteria is setup and going for what you have. with that said, if you do get more fish, go slow at adding them. dont go and buy 3, 4, 5 or more fish and add them all at once. you will possibly run into ammonia issues because your bacteria load cant keep up.
in case you werent aware, try to not use tap water. if you are on city water of any kind, it is a requirement to have chemicals in the water to kill bacteria (chlorine), which will kill fish. in the near future, other than buying water from your LFS, a RODI water system will be useful. myself personally, i buy my RODI water from my LFS, and keep 6 buckets ready for water changes and top off. so a RODI isnt necessary, but is one of those things that most people run.
with that said, as it was mentioned before, when water evaporates, salt does not, so you need to make sure you keep your water level maintained. doing it manually is fine when it comes to a fish only. on my 20g fish only tank, i top off manually on that tank once a day or so.

I will eventually look at that! Thank you! I have a salinity tester which I have been testing daily since I bought it a day or two ago, I just did a 25% water change. I do not know the name of the test kit they use but I went to my local reef store called “wet pets” located in CT.