my first time salt-water tank.

[whazzup101]

hi, i'm pretty new to saltwater tanks and was wondering if i'm doing things correctly.

-so far i have a 20g tall AGA.
-i have about 13-14lbs. of live fiji rock.
-i'm using a single standard 18" fluorescent 15W.
-filter is currently a whisper 20 power filter.
-as for media, i have AZoo bio-glass packed into a mesh media bag.
-my "wave maker" in the tank is a mini pond ornament pump, it's not that strong, but not that weak either. it's suction cupped on the side blowing water to the lr. i'm probably going to buy a real powerhead soon though.
-heater is a AGA 100W heater. AGA heaters suck, they always break. the temperature's at 86 F.
-salinity is at 1.020-1.022ish?
-substrate is sloped from about 3-4" to 1/2" of clean playground sand from my freshwater tank, but i also have about 8lbs of crushed coral layered over the sand.
-i also have in this tank 3 mangrove shoots, which 2 out of three are submerged out of the tank and one is starting to sprout. had some leaves, but they died out . these are in the deep part of the substrate.
-inhabitants include one blue yellow-tailed damsel thats eating vigorously and is pretty active during the day. also one mexican turbo snail.

i started this tank on 08/08/07 (wednesday), and added the damsel and snail on the same day. i know i shouldn't have done it, but i thought it would help cycle the tank (i heard damsels are pretty hardy).

also, i don't think i'll be getting a protein skimmer b/c i heard the mangrove's are supposed to act like one. they take out nitrates/nitrites.

so that's about all the info on my newly started salt-water tank.

it's going to be a fowlr tank.

is there anything i need to do? changes? thanks for any help.

p.s. pics will be posted in a couple of days.

[Midus]

People often recommend that you don't use Crushed Coral. I personally do use some thought Only a small quantity to give some variety amongst the sand, but not a lot.

[rynon]

I would take the filter out unless your going to keep it CLEAN....nitrate factory. Media???? I have no idea what AZoo bio-glass packed into a mesh bag is? If it's like bio balls get rid of them. Your lighting is not going to support any corals other than maybe some mushrooms that will turn brown. The playground sand I'm not sure about? If it has silicates in it, it may cause a lot of diatoms (you'll get them anyway in the beginning). Anyway if you give me some more info that would help.....I'm kind of new here but have been in SW for a while. Welcome to RC BTW.

[whazzup101]

Originally posted by rynon
I would take the filter out unless your going to keep it CLEAN....nitrate factory. Media???? I have no idea what AZoo bio-glass packed into a mesh bag is? If it's like bio balls get rid of them. Your lighting is not going to support any corals other than maybe some mushrooms that will turn brown. The playground sand I'm not sure about? If it has silicates in it, it may cause a lot of diatoms (you'll get them anyway in the beginning). Anyway if you give me some more info that would help.....I'm kind of new here but have been in SW for a while. Welcome to RC BTW.

i don't care about corals, but some some nice green and purple algae formations would look nice.
what do you mean take out the filter? the media i'm using is this http://www.drsfostersmith.com/produc...04+113804+2032

[Lehman]

Yeh I wouldnt run any of that media if I were you. If you want to run something use filter floss which is cheap and easily replaceable. Also, your salinity is a little on the low side and your temperature is a bit too high. Ideally 80 F is a happy median for saltwater. Im not quite sure abut the sand but my guess is it contains silicates which is a no no as well.

[rynon]

I mean I would take out the filter UNLESS you clean it a lot. Junk builds up in the filter and raises your nitrates. If you keep it clean this will not be a problem but most people do not......you need some kind of filter so this may do. The link to the Bio media you gave is junk sorry to say......it breaks down ammonia and nitrite FAST but does not break down nitrate which will also cause high nitrates........IMO keep the filter get rid of the bio stuff, your live rock will break everything down properly. I have a 29 gallon biocube with NO filter and have no issues.....my main tank is a 92 gallon with a protein skimmer and some carbon, no other filters. On your tank a filter may be better than a skimmer? Trust me on the bio media....it WILL cause high nitrates in time.

[whazzup101]

okay, i'm going to pull the bio stuff out now. i guess i'll keep it empty for now. someone told me that my playsand is probably aragonite? so i attempted it. what are some issues if i just left the sand in. i really don't want to tear down my tank b/c of this.

[rynon]

Leave it in, if you experience persistant problems in the future then change it out. I might be perfectly fine.....I changed all my substrate at one time on a 92 gallon tank, nothing bad happened. Don't worry about it. Your ammonia and nitrites may rise initially from pulling the media but in the long run you'll be better off. Since your tank is so new I don't think it will cause a problem.

[whazzup101]

okay, my filter is empty. i also checked the salinity right now and it's at 1.026-1.028. is this fine? how long would i also have to run this tank until i can add more fish. would you recommend me any fish that can be kept in this tank?

[whazzup101]

also i'm thinking of buying a new bulb. maybe a coralife high intensity or 50/50? would this help out more for the lr and make things grow? what are better bulbs for me?

[rynon]

I would keep testing your water...something like Red sea brand is fine for your purposes. I would wait a month before adding more fish, unless the rock is fully cured (at purchase). Fish, hmmm, that's a little difficult. Your damsel may cause problems in the future..my best advise would be to look on Live aquaria under nano fish. LA seems to have accurate tank size estimates for fish, many people overload their tanks with fish, I am not a fan of that. I currently have 3 fish in a 92 gallon and all are under 4 inches. You may find crabs and shrimp will be as entertaining as fish? I don't want to disappoint you but that's a small tank for MOST marine fish...you can still find some suited for that tank.

[Lotus99]

I'm curious about your salinity readings... what are you using to take the readings? You shouldn't have a 0.002 range as a reading, it should be more accurate than that. I'm also wondering how your salinity got from 1.020 to 1.026 in a few days. Are you topping up with freshwater or saltwater? (it should be freshwater you use to replace evaporated water).

[whazzup101]

Originally posted by Lotus99
I'm curious about your salinity readings... what are you using to take the readings? You shouldn't have a 0.002 range as a reading, it should be more accurate than that. I'm also wondering how your salinity got from 1.020 to 1.026 in a few days. Are you topping up with freshwater or saltwater? (it should be freshwater you use to replace evaporated water).

i'm using 2 different hydrometers. one is the floating one that also has a thermometer w/ it also that i just let it float. the other one is a coralife deep six? and yeahh, the first readings on my first post were from the first day i set the tank up. the 1.026 is from just an hr ago, or the time i posted it up. the salinity went up b/c i added saltwater for the amount evaporated today. i guess from now on i'll be using freshwater to replace the evaporated water.

[whazzup101]

Originally posted by rynon
I would keep testing your water...something like Red sea brand is fine for your purposes. I would wait a month before adding more fish, unless the rock is fully cured (at purchase). Fish, hmmm, that's a little difficult. Your damsel may cause problems in the future..my best advise would be to look on Live aquaria under nano fish. LA seems to have accurate tank size estimates for fish, many people overload their tanks with fish, I am not a fan of that. I currently have 3 fish in a 92 gallon and all are under 4 inches. You may find crabs and shrimp will be as entertaining as fish? I don't want to disappoint you but that's a small tank for MOST marine fish...you can still find some suited for that tank.

yeahh, i'm thinking of a coral banded shrimp for sure and maybe a cleaner?

[whazzup101]

here are the pics i took today and last night.

pics from today

full tank shot


live rocks








pics from last night

live rocks

[Criminal#58369]

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[whazzup101]

nvm

mods the "delete now" button won't work?