Newbie questions

[Ottomund]

Hi there,

I have acquired a 12 gallon nano cube dx setup that came with a damsel, a snail, some colt coral and live rock. I have a lot of experience with freshwater, but this is my first saltwater setup. The tank was not taken care of very well and nitrates were very high (50ppm). There was a ton of hair algae and bubble algae growing on the LR, and even the sides of the tank. I did about a 60% water change because I was concerned about the nitrate level. I also manually removed most of the algae from the tank and LR. The substrate was standard freshwater gravel so I replaced it with crushed coral. I did all of this from 11pm to 2am last night. Now I hope everything I did was OK but I have a few questions:

The largest piece of colt coral has 4 heads and is about 5-6 inches tall. It didn't look too bad after the move, but this morning it seems to be drooping down quite a bit. Most of the small pieces seem to be in good shape. Is this normal after a move or did I do something to harm it?

I used tap water with water conditioner and instant ocean salt for the 60% water change. Is that OK or do I need to use distilled water or something?

The temperature is currently 80 degrees F. Is that a good temperature or should I try to get it lower?

The blue damsel really perked up and seems to be quite a bit more colorful than it was at the previous owners house. It wouldn't even come out of it's little cave but now it is swimming all around. Is that any indication of better water quality or anything?

Is there a way to get rid of the algae? I have read that if you keep the water very low on nitrates the algae will die. Is this the best way to do it?

And finally... Does anyone have any additional general advice to give me?

Thank you all in advance for any help you can give me.

[HumanIMDB]

First thing people are going to tell you is to get rid of the Damsel; they're nasty.

I'm not sure about the coral as I don't have much experience with coral yet, but I'm sure someone will have advice.

For water, the purer the water you use the easier your life will be. I use RO from the local supermarket but when I get my big tank going I will be getting a RO/DI unit.

80 degrees sounds okay to me, just keep it constant.

A good cleanup crew should help with the algae. A couple of snails (Mexican Turbo Snails, Margarita Snails, Cerith Snails, Nassarius Snails, and/or Nerite Snails); one or two of each should keep everything spotless. For the bubble algae, you can try a Emerald Crab but some eat it, some don't and there is always a chance it could like the taste of meat over algae and start taking out your other inhabitants.

Water movement will help with the algae and the general health of your tank.

How much live rock do you have?

If you can, I would get rid of the CC now. Go with sand, it's nicer to look at and your inhabitants will probably enjoy it more. I'm just doing that in my 10 gallon now.

Hope this helps! And welcome to RC.

[Ottomund]

Thanks for the info Chris. I will replace the CC today. I just had to run to my local supermarket at 11pm last night to try to get something better than blue/green/red/white freshwater gravel. Is there special sand that I need to get or will a silica sand be fine?

I have about 10lbs of live rock. It has tons of colt coral growth on it and other than the algae it is pretty nice.

I think I will go buy 6 or 8 gallons of RO water from the supermarket today because I have since read that tap water can actually cause algae growth heh.

Is it ok to get the crabs/snails right now or should I wait until things get settled down a little?

Thanks again,

Keith

[HumanIMDB]

I'm using <a href="http://www.carib-sea.com" target=_blank>CaribSea's</a> Aragamax Sugar Sized Sand™; it's the best looking (IMO) and is usually the most recommended on RC.

I buy my water in a 5 gallon jug once a week. That is enough for the top ups every other day and a 25% water change every weekend.

I would say that the cleanup crew can be put in now, just be sure to acclimate them.

[matasw]

I'm not sure that replacing all the subtrate like that is a good idea as it will remove most of the beneficial bacteria that was living in it.

Definantly ditch the damsel. They're mean SOB's.

[HumanIMDB]

There wouldn't have been much, if any, good bacteria in the FW gravel so removing that was a good idea. The CC hasn't been in long enough to build up any either, so now would be the time to take it out and put in sand.

If the CC had been in there for a while, I would make up a few balls of CC wrapped in nylon and place them in the sand for a week or two. <a href="http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?postid=120579" target=_blank>Sand Bed Swap Article</a>

[matasw]

If the beneficial bacteria isn't in the FW Gravel then where is it? Not trying to be a smart *** I just dont understand.

[HumanIMDB]

From what I know of FW Gravel it is covered in epoxy, if not all epoxy. This means there are no pores for to house bacteria. I am sure there is bacteria covering it, but I doubt it's the beneficial kind.

Crushed Coral and Sand are natural and porous which give bacteria, the good kind, a nice home in which to eat and grow thus giving you the benefits of denitrification.

Like FW, you still need to clean your substrate with CC or Sand. However, this is done differently in SW. Where you'd vacuum the substrate or have an under gravel filter in FW, you get a cleaning crew to clean the substrate in SW.

That said, most of your denitrification is done in your live rock.

Also, a Deep Sand Bed (3-6 inches) will be better than a shallow one.

[Ottomund]

I went to my LFS today and the closest I could find to your recommendation is SeaCarib's Arag-Alive. It is live sand with all the bacteria in it already. It is the Indo-Pacific Black version. The only other thing I could find was another brand that looks similar in grain and color but is not live sand. What do you think is best?

[HumanIMDB]

If the cost is the same, go with the live sand. If the other is significantly cheaper, go with it as it will become live eventually.

I am not versed on either product you mentioned, I just know that most people on here use the sugar sand, as do most of the reefers local to me, so that's the one I went with.