New to saltwater

[vetteguy53081]

 

[Conchman]

Welcome. I did not have a skimmer for my 20 gallon. Good practices like water changes should suffice. When you can do a 25% water change with a 5 gallon bucket I did not see the need. Having it in a well lit room is not a good idea, cycled rocked would shorten the cycle time, or an additive. I would stay away from hard to keep livestock for a while, learn good husbandry first. Most of us always forget the most important thing, patience...good luck...

 

[reefer81]

Just in my opinion I always feel that a protein skimmer is a must, it’s really easy for waste to build up. You could have a sump if you wanted, it would most likely make your water parameters better and more stable. Also you can get more creative with your filtration systems that way and cater to your aquariums needs.

 

[...]

Pincushion Urchin = Awesome, funny, full of personality, algae eating monster in your tank. When he gets large just feed him a piece of nori, or maybe he'll use that for camoflauge

 

[...]

Thank you for the warning on starfish I much prefer the look of the pink tiled starfish and I’m happy to know they will do better in my tank BT anenomes sound and look great I will do some more research on them and will a pink tiled starfish be good tankmates with two or three emerald crabs and some kind of snails

Starfish don't give a crap on tank mates (Besides predatory ones), I don't (think) emerald crabs care about starfish either,

 

[Emma_fish]

Starfish don't give a crap on tank mates (Besides predatory ones), I don't (think) emerald crabs care about starfish either,

Great thank you i think I have got my stocking I will maybe have a look at some sort of goby later on but for the next few months I like what I will have I will be using the dr Tim’s one and only but I am a bit reluctant to fill up my tank wait for an ammonia reading then put my fish in straight away is it safe ?

 

[Emma_fish]

Welcome. I did not have a skimmer for my 20 gallon. Good practices like water changes should suffice. When you can do a 25% water change with a 5 gallon bucket I did not see the need. Having it in a well lit room is not a good idea, cycled rocked would shorten the cycle time, or an additive. I would stay away from hard to keep livestock for a while, learn good husbandry first. Most of us always forget the most important thing, patience...good luck...

Thank you !

 

[...]

PUt the fish in after. The fish will suffer in the ammonia. Get bottled ammonia.

 

[Emma_fish]

PUt the fish in after. The fish will suffer in the ammonia. Get bottled ammonia.

sorry I meant wait for an ammonia reading put in dr Tim’s then add fish
is this good ?

 

[...]

Your parameters should be 0 Ammonia and Nitrite, -20ppm Nitrate but when you get corals aim for -10ppm. -0.2ppm of Phosphate. 390-450ppm of Calcium, 7-11dkH and 1350 to 1450ppm of Magnesium. Take these as general guidelines and keep them as stable as possible

 

[Emma_fish]

Thank you everyone for your help I have decided On two clownfish one pink tiled starfish one emerald crab and one pincushion sea urchin and some corals further down the line is this over stocking ? and seeing as though I have so many algae eaters ( that wasn’t intended I just like all of the fish ) could I have it in my conservatory ? In a corner ? When I say conservatory one of the sides is a brick wall and the roof has black tiles on top blocking light from the roof) I’m just worried that If I don’t have it there there won’t be enough algebra for all of the algae seaters I will feed them seaweed if there isn’t enough but I’d rather them be able to scavenge like they like to do than just eat seaweed once a day

 

[Emma_fish]

Your parameters should be 0 Ammonia and Nitrite, -20ppm Nitrate but when you get corals aim for -10ppm. -0.2ppm of Phosphate. 390-450ppm of Calcium, 7-11dkH and 1350 to 1450ppm of Magnesium. Take these as general guidelines and keep them as stable as possible

Will test strips tell me this ? And do I need a salinity tester ?

 

[...]

No, get good test kits, salifert or HANNA or Red Sea will do. Yes, I forgot, salinity should be 1.023 to 1.025. Yes you should. What size is your tank?

 

[Steph1]

Salinity tester? Refractometer is your best bet and yes you do need one
I srongly recommend a protien skimmer

 

[Emma_fish]

No, get good test kits, salifert or HANNA or Red Sea will do. Yes, I forgot, salinity should be 1.023 to 1.025. Yes you should. What size is your tank?

My tank is 81L so 20 US gallons I’ve done some more research on pink tiled starfish and it said they need a tank of 30 gallons or more do you have any other starfish recommendations?

 

[...]

Multiflora lincktia, they are a little challenging as they are a lincktia but they can eat enough in a 20 Gallon. Just keep your water very stable. I have a blue lincktia in a 40 who is doing fine when they are recommend for Well Established 100 Gallon Tanks..

 

[Emma_fish]

Multiflora lincktia, they are a little challenging as they are a lincktia but they can eat enough in a 20 Gallon. Just keep your water very stable. I have a blue lincktia in a 40 who is doing fine when they are recommend for Well Established 100 Gallon Tanks..

Ok but seems a bit harder to keep would a pink tiled be ok in my sized tank 20 us gal

 

[...]

Most likely, just feed it. Maybe some pellets.

 

[Emma_fish]

No, get good test kits, salifert or HANNA or Red Sea will do. Yes, I forgot, salinity should be 1.023 to 1.025. Yes you should. What size is your tank?

Is the API master test kit ok I have the freshwater one for my tropical tanks but seems like I can’t just use test strips for saltwater

 

[...]

Sort of. Its not to accurate, what corals do you plan on keeping? Also with a starfish, you do need to remember stability.