Stocking ideas and scape ideas.

[Jlit249]

So I’ve had my tank running for about two months now.
I have have two young oscellaris clowns. They are doing great and eating well.
I’m about to order the salifert mag/calc/alk test kits.

I’m ready to starting with corals hopefully soon. I really want to get frogspawn or hammers, so my clowns can have a place to host(hopefully). But I really like the way they look.

Unfortunately I didn’t scape my tank before I filled it I just threw dry rock in to get the tank cycled. So I have to finish that. I would like some opinions on how I should scape it and also some new tank mates possibly.
I have some algae growth so I gotta back the lights off a bit.
I also snagged this reef octopus classic 90 hang on back skimmer for 60 bucks.

-40 gallon cube AIO

 

[MightyMO]

You used the 2 clowns as water canarys?!? Get nitrite/nitrate and ammonia test kits. Also pick yourself up a bottle of beneficial bacteria to seed the tank, follow instructions on the bottle. Adding more won't make it work better... How long has the tank been running???

 

[Jlit249]

No no, sorry. I did a fish less cycle. My ammonia is 0ppm nitrites are 0ppm and nitrates are 30ppm. Then I added my clowns.

 

[MightyMO]

You used the 2 clowns as water canarys?!? Get nitrite/nitrate and ammonia test kits. Also pick yourself up a bottle of beneficial bacteria to seed the tank, follow instructions on the bottle. Adding more won't make it work better... How long has the tank been running???

Ok, reread the post. 2 months... Still would be a good idea to get the things I mentione above... And set your rock work, then seed your tank with some beneficial bacteria... It will make your rock work act as a filter, breaking down the harmful stuff in your water to something more acceptable...

 

[Jlit249]

No no, sorry. I did a fish less cycle. My ammonia is 0ppm nitrites are 0ppm and nitrates are 30ppm. Then I added my clowns.

The fish are doing amazing and eating. No signs of illness. My scape just isn’t finished yet. And I’d like to also maybe start a clean up crew or a new tank mate possibly.

 

[MightyMO]

No no, sorry. I did a fish less cycle. My ammonia is 0ppm nitrites are 0ppm and nitrates are 30ppm. Then I added my clowns.

Awesomeness!!! Thats good... set your rock work and seed the tank as I have mentioned above...

 

[MightyMO]

The fish are doing amazing and eating. No signs of illness. My scape just isn’t finished yet. And I’d like to also maybe start a clean up crew or a new tank mate possibly.

Keep monitoring those parameters after adding the rock work... if things look stable, I say go for it...

 

[Jlit249]

Ok, reread the post. 2 months... Still would be a good idea to get the things I mentione above... And set your rock work, then seed your tank with some beneficial bacteria... It will make your rock work act as a filter, breaking down the harmful stuff in your water to something more acceptable...

I dosed with ammonium chloride from Fritz. And added fritzyme 9 at the very start.

 

[MightyMO]

Are you adding live or dry rock???

 

[Jlit249]

Are you adding live or dry rock???

So I started with dry rock. I wanted a clean slate as this is my first ever saltwater tank. I plan on adding more dry rock or maybe Live rock. Like Carib sea live rock.

 

[dr.ben]

Do you have CUC to manage your algae?

I know some with blanche, but I have a small xenia colony and my clowns host in that. I suspect if you get lucky with your clowns they will host in anything that moves!!

 

[Parent_usmc]

I use carib sea live rock in my rsr250. It looks great and you can get it in awsome shapes. Check my build thread if your interested in seeing an arch design. They also have flat rocks and ones with holes like caves