Hi I am the new guy

Sowmithrichandra

Reefing newb
Hello friends,
Iam having fresh water aquarium hobby sinse 5 years. Recently iam very much interested in marine aquariums. So, I made a tank on my own with previous fresh water experience.
Its dimensions are (in inches) 14*18*14 and a sump with dimensions of 8*14*14.
there is a overflow box with durso stanpipe I made it with cpvc pipes. In the sump there is a 1400litre per hour pump a protien skimmer of 200l flow rate and three trays consists of ceramics, carbon and filter sponge. in the visible tank I have a substrate of coral sand and a 3kg live rock with filter bed I mean a reverse gravel filter of 1200lph and a powerhead of 600lph pump . on the top with 6 8watt boyu lights. I ran the tank for 20 days a nd had a ammonia spike with help of live rock and a nitrite spike also now the water parameters are salinity 1.022 to 1.024, ammonia is 0.25 and nitrites are 0 and nitrates are 5ppm.yesterday I added a blue damsel and a butterfly. Both are one inch size. Can you guys suggest me of any changes has to be made in the tank and water parameters. Iam using ro water mixed woth red sea marine salt.
Thanks in advance friends.
 
Welcome aboard.
If your planning on going reef,bump your salinity on up to 1.026.
And you'll eventually regret that damsel.Their called DAMNsels for a reason.
And post up some pictures.We like to see everybodies tanks around here.
 
I would have thought still having ammonia would mean dont add fish yet. He will probably be fine, but should wait till your ammonia is at 0.

Welcome to the site :)
 
I would have thought still having ammonia would mean dont add fish yet. He will probably be fine, but should wait till your ammonia is at 0.

Welcome to the site :)

I red somewhere that if the live is present the will be slightly noticable. Was it right and how can I reduce the ammonia? One more thing the speeds of the pumps are enough or I have to add any power heads?
 
Ammonia should not be noticeable at all if yoru cycle has finished. Ammonia is eaten up by bacteria which will then multiply and turn the ammonia into nitrites, then nitrates. When you have 0 ammonia and nitrites you are safe to add fish and corals. Then, you decrease your nitrates through water changes.

You should have some powerheads in the tank, if the sand is blowing around it isnt too much flow. So yo ucan probably get more. You should not use any of the freshwater filters as they become nitrate factories which is bad. Just get a good skimmer
 
Ammonia should not be noticeable at all if yoru cycle has finished. Ammonia is eaten up by bacteria which will then multiply and turn the ammonia into nitrites, then nitrates. When you have 0 ammonia and nitrites you are safe to add fish and corals. Then, you decrease your nitrates through water changes.

You should have some powerheads in the tank, if the sand is blowing around it isnt too much flow. So yo ucan probably get more. You should not use any of the freshwater filters as they become nitrate factories which is bad. Just get a good skimmer

how much capacity of powerhead I must have friend. One of my friends have a powerhead with a wave creator a small one can I install it and remove the old powerhead?
 
My butterfly was one inch long I bought it yesterday It was not eating flakes like my blue damsel it was eating the brown algae on the live rock is it fine?
 
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Welcome aboard.
If your planning on going reef,bump your salinity on up to 1.026.
And you'll eventually regret that damsel.Their called DAMNsels for a reason.
And post up some pictures.We like to see everybodies tanks around here.


Why friend is there any problem with the salinity. And whats the problem with the damsel?
 
Damsels are very very aggressive, especially the blue "devil" damsel. I had one that nearly killed the other fish in the tank through its constant attacks and territorial actions.

1.026 is generally considered the ideal salinity for a reef tank so you are a little low at 1.024.
 
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Damsels are very very aggressive, especially the blue "devil" damsel. I had one that nearly killed the other fish in the tank through its constant attacks and territorial actions.

1.026 is generally considered the ideal salinity for a reef tank so you are a little low at 1.024.



But its not a reep tank its a fish only liverock tank and I dont know how to set uo a reef also.
 
Yep,Damsels are just generally little butt heads.But then some folks like em.:D

On your salinity.I prefer to run the salinity at 1.026 even in a FOWLR tank.All the little bugs and inverts in the live rock seem to better when the salinity is closer to natural sea water.
 
Hello and Welcome!

It sounds like you dont know a whole lot about your new hobby, which can be a very deadly and expensive mistake. Please take the time to read this articles so you dont end up killing your new fish.

https://www.livingreefs.com/ideal-books-reef-keepers-t19535.html
https://www.livingreefs.com/cycling-tank-adding-fish-and-corals-t26452.html
https://www.livingreefs.com/basic-equipment-list-t19611.html
https://www.livingreefs.com/why-using-tap-water-bad-idea-t19865.html
https://www.livingreefs.com/marine-aquarium-disasters-and-prevent-them-t20514.html

Its a bit of a crash course, but highly worth the time for your fish.
 
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