New tank cycled....The beginning.

[uscstaylor]

OK Guys and Gals,

I checked my water last night and this morning I went to The Hidden Reef, it's a fish store my friend told me about in PA. My water levels were still perfect so I bought 3 snails, 1 little tiny emerald crab and 1 tiny little clown fish. I don't want to go crazy so this is it for about 2-3 weeks, then as long as everything is still doing well, I'll buy my next fish. So now here's my questions to you the experts.

1. How many times should I feed my little fish and can the crab eat the same stuff as the clown?

2. In the next 2-3 weeks I was thinking about either a flame angel or coral beauty would that be ok for my next fish?

3. Also I took out my 1 wave maker and put in a smaller one that made less current, the other one was too strong. How many of you have and use these things. It just better to take it out all together?

 

[Zero Nitrates]

I feed my fish everyday. Flame angel or coral beauty are both cool fish. I would keep the wave maker. You will probably like more flow in the near future.
Have fun reefing!

 

[SeahorseKeeper]

Personally, I would wait a few months before adding an angel. I've struggled keeping an angel alive in the beginning stages of a tank.

 

[uscstaylor]

Yeah
Thinking of maybe a gobie or blenny cor next fish.

 

[uscstaylor]

Ok so far it's been 3 days and I checked the levels last night and all is still perfect all levels, fishy and little emerald crab are still doing great. Although the little crab has been hiding in the live rock ever since I put him in the tank, I saw him once. Are crabs always so scared or skiddish.

 

[Palting]

Going perfect by taking it slow! :thumb:

I feed once a day, and only what can be consumed within minutes. Your crab and snails are detrivors, will eat whatever is left over, plus any poop and junk. And yes, crabs hide most of the time. If you want to see him more often, get a red lens flashlight and look for him an hour or so after lights out.

If you plan on doing reef, stay away from angels. They are hit or miss, are generally considered "reef caution" fish. Some will nibble at coral and invertebrates, some won't. If you really like angels, get a coral beauty at a later stage when you can take the risk and have enough coral you won't mind a nibble or two. Flame angels are a bigger risk than a coral beauty. Another fish commonly found at the LFS but should be avoided is a 6 line wrasse. Pretty but aggressive, it will be the last wrasse and possibly the last fish you will put in your tank. My next fish for this tank probably would be another clown, one that's either larger or smaller than the current one. Clowns can change sex depending on the environment, and the larger one will become the dominant female of the two. They will go through a "sexing" phase, where one will go into what looks like seizures. Once it's established who's the male and who's the female, the seizures settle down. Pretty cool, actually. I like tangs, too. Pretty and reef safe, they are excellent herbivores and will help mow down your algae. Peaceful against other fish, a tang can be aggressive towards other tangs, so you'll likely only be able to keep one tang in your size tank. A kole tang would be a good one for your size tank.

Since you are posting in the "Reef discussion" forum, I assume you do want a coral reef tank. Flow is important in a reef tank. Flow can range anywhere from 20X DT volume for softies all the way to 50X+ for SPS. What makes you say the flow of your first wave maker was too strong?

 

[uscstaylor]

Hey thanks for the good advice. I am going to get another clown fish and let them have some time together before I buy another fish. I will definitely take your advice about not getting any wrasses. I think the last fish I'm going to get for my tank will be that coral beauty. But that's weeks away for now.

Getting back to my wave maker, I felt it was to strong because the clown fish seemed like he was constantly fighting the current that's going around in the tank. So I had a slower one around 600 gph and used that one instead. Now he can swim around and it doesn't look like he's struggling to swim.

I really like him to. I'm going to do a 10% water change this Saturday, at which time I'm going to clean tank socks and sponges and wipe it down really good, then I'm going to go get his friend and add him into the tank. After he's properly acclimated of course.....

 

[uscstaylor]

Well it's been a week since I added my 1st fish and today I bought him 2 new little friends. 1 clown fish about a 1/4 inch bigger then he is, I would say the new clownfish is about 1 3/4. I also got a very tiny royal gramma may 3/4 of an inch. This is it for about maybe a month or month and a half.

So my list of tank mates are as follows.

2 Clownfish
1 Royal Gramma
1 Tiny Emerald crab
6 Turbo Snails
3 Blue Hermit Crabs

My 55 Gallon tank. Oh yeah I just bought a nice GFO/Carbon reactor to make sure my water is running crystal clear.
I do have one question though I can't seem to get my PH above 8.0 it stay around 7.8 to 8.1 is this ok or should I add some PH stabilizer?

 

[Palting]

Don't chase pH. It will fluctuate during a 24 hour period. And don't use buffer, either.

Most common cause of low pH is high CO2. Make sure you have enough aeration. Open tank tops, good surface agitation and good water flow.

Anyhow, your numbers are not that bad. If you want to check your buffering capacity, get an alk test kit. Should read between 7-11dKH, ideal is about 8.

 

[uscstaylor]

Thanks man Ill check all right away...all the rest of the stuff you stated in you post I have going good.

 

[uscstaylor]

Meant to say I'll check Alk right away.

 

[uscstaylor]

Well I got my GFO/Carbon reactor running today. I want to have the best water for my tank. It's a little cloudy right now, but that's because I did a 20% water change today. I figure in about 2-3 days the water should start to get really clear. I'm going to check water perimeters tomorrow before I go to work. I've had my tank now fully cycled for almost a month now and my PH is my only concern. It's still around 7.8-8.0 I can't seem to get it to 8.2 which is where I want to have it. I do have good water flow with my return breaking the surface of the water and my skimmer running to give me great mixing with oxygen rich bubbles but still have low PH. How can I get my PH up without using buffers. I didn't check my ALK yet.

 

[Palting]

I've had my tank now fully cycled for almost a month now and my PH is my only concern. It's still around 7.8-8.0 I can't seem to get it to 8.2 which is where I want to have it. I do have good water flow with my return breaking the surface of the water and my skimmer running to give me great mixing with oxygen rich bubbles but still have low PH. How can I get my PH up without using buffers. I didn't check my ALK yet.

First, make sure you check your pH close to if not at the end of the light period, and not in the morning. PH is usually lowest in the morning after the lights are out, and highest in the evening after a full day if photosynthesis.

Second, 7.8-8.0 for a young tank fresh out of cycling is not bad. You can leave it alone for now. Once your tank matures some more and goes through the algae blooms, it should get better.

Third, do check your alk. If it's less than 7dKh, you can use baking soda to raise the alk. This will have the side effect of raising the pH.

Fourth, enclosed homes with central AC have inherently higher ambient CO2. If you still want to raise you pH, you can run a larger hose from your skimmer air hose to the outside air to bring in the fresh low CO2 air.

HTH!

 

[uscstaylor]

Thanks a lot Palting....I will do what you posted. Also if I need to add baking soda should I mix it with some RODI water first or just add it straight to the tank slowly?

I'll try the air hose thing first to see if it helps.

 

[Palting]

Here's a link to a dosing calculator: Reef Chemistry Calculator . As I hinted, pH itself is not the basis but alkalinity. Input our tank volume, current alk levels, desired alk level, and use baking soda as the agent, then follow the directions.

 

[uscstaylor]

Thanks a lot my friend.....I'm very grateful

 

[glb]

I have the same issue with ph. Mine ranges from 7.8-8.1 every day. I live in south Florida so my house is sealed and I know it's a co2 problem. As long as your other numbers are ok, I agree that you shouldn't keep trying to raise the ph. When I asked these questions, the forum recommended a co2 scrubber to decrease co2. Good luck!

 

[Scutterborn]

Why do you want a pH of 8.3? Most of the problems I see are form folks chasing that perfect number. Whether its pH, Alk or Ca. Your pH looks fine. Don't start messin with it. Let your tank mature!


- Ben -

 

[uscstaylor]

I guess because I'm obsessed with the tank now and I want my water to be perfect. I am going to listen to you guys and not chase it. One question do you guys keep fresh RODI water in your ATO or Fresh saltwater?

 

[Scutterborn]

Fresh RO/DI. salt won't evaporate but the water will. If you put nsw in your ATO your SG will rise