Bleigh
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My Tank Thread
SOOOO…. I am just starting my salt water fish keeping journey. I read “The Supreme Guide To Setting Up A Saltwater Reef Aquarium, but I still have a bunch of questions before I feel comfortable progressing.
First, I have a 29 gallon biocube that we started on January 12th2019 with live sand and rock and a bottle of bacteria. We added clownfish the next day (as recommended by the LFS owner). I am getting a slight nitrite reading and decent nitrates and have yet to have any ammonia, so I am assuming we managed a no cycle. I did start a thread about this because I was so surprised that the LFS owner was right that the tank would be almost instantly up and running.
The plan is to upgrade to a larger tank if this all goes well. One day, I’d also love to have a tank set up so I can have an eel. I find them very beautiful. Those topics are for another day though... Let’s make sure this first one is successful first.
The plan is for this tank to become a reef tank. My first three pressing questions are 1) Quarantine for such a small tank, 2) When to add corals and which kinds? 3) When do I need to add a clean-up crew and what kinds?
First topic: My initial thoughts are that my biocube would become my QT if we do decide to upgrade. But the kore I read, the more I wonder if I should have quarantined and dose these first two clown fish. Is this something that I could do if and when I upgrade to a larger tank, or would everything already be contaminated? I did start off as a biologist and have done quite a bit of work in aquatics and know that fish have some pretty strong immune systems in the wild. In one project, we were working with devil rays. Their slime produces a natural antibiotic. We were having trouble finding this in lab settings. Someone got the idea to puncture one, and suddenly the antibiotic showed up in heaps. The darn things heal so fast though, that it felt cruel having to constantly puncture, so we changed species, with far less success. Rabbit trail I know, but all that to say that my experience with marine organisms has always made me see them as anything but fragile. I did read Paul B’s “no quarantining” article, but I would feel more comfortable testing his waters for microbial life and confirming there is indeed an ecosystem of badies and goodies. I could imagine him being lucky and having a bacterial crop that is harmless to the fish, but outcompetes any badies introduced to the system. This would mean that the fish are not immune, but that the tank acts like an immune system, fighting off anything bad before it can damage the fish. I find it very fascinating, but am hesitant to try it with so little reef keeping experience. I am not totally opposed to it for such a small tank however. I am also not opposed to the idea of needing to quarantine if I do decide it’s the precaution I’d prefer when moving from the 29 gallon to the larger tank. I am sure there are many opinions about this. I just want to make sure I am making the most informed decision I can.
Second Topic: The LFS had some suggestions about coral, including some I could put in immediately. I found this surprising, and honestly was half expecting my clown fish to die to to ammonia from the cycling of the tank. I was wrong about the cycle, maybe I am wrong about the corals? Second thing, I have read some about corals, but am really in uncharted territory. I know they need special lights (which my biocube may be sufficient for) and special foods. My husband currently has the lights automated to match sunset and sunrise. But I know very little about whether this is an appropriate lighting scheme or light types. I am still not familiar with species names. When I am looking at corals, I am starting to recognize the looks of some of them, but just have no ability to label them yet. I believe soft corals are more user friendly for novices, but I believe I read somewhere that they can take over tanks and aren’t as attractive. I am not sure if that is true. Additionally, I did purchase a Reef Red Sea Test Kit. I am assuming I need to be testing for more than what came in this kit, i.e. calcium. Can someone list for me these things and potentially preferences on brands? I am very happy with the Red Sea kit, so I know I’d be inclined to just stay with that brand for other parameters. I do want to make sure this is a good brand for salt water tests. So if anyone has any insight on coral types/requirements and a timeline for introduction, I would appreciate it.
Third Topic: While reading through things, I saw clean-up crews mentioned quite a bit. I had not even considered these things before. I had a bad experience with an explosion of snails when I had multiple fresh water tanks set up years ago. Trying to get rid of the jerks nearly drove me insane. Due to that, I have always avoided snails like the plague. Are there varieties of salt water snails that make for happy communities? More importantly, are there certain species I need to stay away from? Additionally, what else would you recommend for a healthy, but attractive/interesting clean-up crew? Any nuances of these species I should be aware of before I just go nutty?
First, I have a 29 gallon biocube that we started on January 12th2019 with live sand and rock and a bottle of bacteria. We added clownfish the next day (as recommended by the LFS owner). I am getting a slight nitrite reading and decent nitrates and have yet to have any ammonia, so I am assuming we managed a no cycle. I did start a thread about this because I was so surprised that the LFS owner was right that the tank would be almost instantly up and running.
The plan is to upgrade to a larger tank if this all goes well. One day, I’d also love to have a tank set up so I can have an eel. I find them very beautiful. Those topics are for another day though... Let’s make sure this first one is successful first.
The plan is for this tank to become a reef tank. My first three pressing questions are 1) Quarantine for such a small tank, 2) When to add corals and which kinds? 3) When do I need to add a clean-up crew and what kinds?
First topic: My initial thoughts are that my biocube would become my QT if we do decide to upgrade. But the kore I read, the more I wonder if I should have quarantined and dose these first two clown fish. Is this something that I could do if and when I upgrade to a larger tank, or would everything already be contaminated? I did start off as a biologist and have done quite a bit of work in aquatics and know that fish have some pretty strong immune systems in the wild. In one project, we were working with devil rays. Their slime produces a natural antibiotic. We were having trouble finding this in lab settings. Someone got the idea to puncture one, and suddenly the antibiotic showed up in heaps. The darn things heal so fast though, that it felt cruel having to constantly puncture, so we changed species, with far less success. Rabbit trail I know, but all that to say that my experience with marine organisms has always made me see them as anything but fragile. I did read Paul B’s “no quarantining” article, but I would feel more comfortable testing his waters for microbial life and confirming there is indeed an ecosystem of badies and goodies. I could imagine him being lucky and having a bacterial crop that is harmless to the fish, but outcompetes any badies introduced to the system. This would mean that the fish are not immune, but that the tank acts like an immune system, fighting off anything bad before it can damage the fish. I find it very fascinating, but am hesitant to try it with so little reef keeping experience. I am not totally opposed to it for such a small tank however. I am also not opposed to the idea of needing to quarantine if I do decide it’s the precaution I’d prefer when moving from the 29 gallon to the larger tank. I am sure there are many opinions about this. I just want to make sure I am making the most informed decision I can.
Second Topic: The LFS had some suggestions about coral, including some I could put in immediately. I found this surprising, and honestly was half expecting my clown fish to die to to ammonia from the cycling of the tank. I was wrong about the cycle, maybe I am wrong about the corals? Second thing, I have read some about corals, but am really in uncharted territory. I know they need special lights (which my biocube may be sufficient for) and special foods. My husband currently has the lights automated to match sunset and sunrise. But I know very little about whether this is an appropriate lighting scheme or light types. I am still not familiar with species names. When I am looking at corals, I am starting to recognize the looks of some of them, but just have no ability to label them yet. I believe soft corals are more user friendly for novices, but I believe I read somewhere that they can take over tanks and aren’t as attractive. I am not sure if that is true. Additionally, I did purchase a Reef Red Sea Test Kit. I am assuming I need to be testing for more than what came in this kit, i.e. calcium. Can someone list for me these things and potentially preferences on brands? I am very happy with the Red Sea kit, so I know I’d be inclined to just stay with that brand for other parameters. I do want to make sure this is a good brand for salt water tests. So if anyone has any insight on coral types/requirements and a timeline for introduction, I would appreciate it.
Third Topic: While reading through things, I saw clean-up crews mentioned quite a bit. I had not even considered these things before. I had a bad experience with an explosion of snails when I had multiple fresh water tanks set up years ago. Trying to get rid of the jerks nearly drove me insane. Due to that, I have always avoided snails like the plague. Are there varieties of salt water snails that make for happy communities? More importantly, are there certain species I need to stay away from? Additionally, what else would you recommend for a healthy, but attractive/interesting clean-up crew? Any nuances of these species I should be aware of before I just go nutty?
