Jen \ Mikes 25g hex

[jen_1122]

Our first set up.
Magnum 350 filter - Marineland
27 gallon tank
15-20 lbs live rock

 

[jen_1122]

Today.

 

[jen_1122]

Our current ressidence.
2 blue damsils (about 3 weeks)
2 black/white damsils (about 1 week)

 

[Smitty]

It looks good...lots of hiding places for the fish.

 

[Bifferwine]

I like it too! Hex tanks are always difficult to aquascape.

 

[jen_1122]

Thank you.

I like it too! Hex tanks are always difficult to aquascape.

Not to mention the narrow opening in the top of the tank to place the live rock.. had to break it up smaller than we would have liked, but with the putty it went back together nicely.

 

[jen_1122]

We are having trouble bringing down our specific gravity though. It seems to be running at about 1.024 - 1.026 . We've added up to 1/2 gallon of DI water and done a water change of 10%. Is it safe to add more than a 1/2 gallon of DI water to bring it down????

 

[motorcyclereefer]

That is okay for salinity. Do not want to go up too much more than .026 but that is fine.

 

[Bifferwine]

I wouldn't mess with it. 1.025-1.026 is perfect.

 

[d2mini]

Ditto, i keep mine right at 1.026 and i think Yote even goes higher. But that's perfect for a reef tank. Fish Only tanks are kept at 1.022-23.

 

[jen_1122]

Thanks for the info. I was really excited to get some fish in the tank and they seem to be doing well. We are very fortunate to have a great LFS that is very informative and hands on. They don't strip test they only use drip test, and walk us through learning to test ourselves at home and alot of the info lines up with the info i'm getting here.

 

[jen_1122]

Well, I thought we had some algae growing but I guess it's the "diatoms" (didn't know about that part). So, I guess this is good, from what i'm understanding. What are diatoms? Is there a thread about this part of the cycle?

 

[jen_1122]

So, I found some info on the diatoms and i'm thinking this in normal in a new tank and should let it run it's course :question: But here are some photo's just in case it's something else.. Hope these photo's are close enough. Thanks for any help :D.

 

[pheasant29]

perfectly normal. Your well on your way.

 

[jen_1122]

Came home from work to find some new residents in my aquarium. We now have 3 snails 2 turbo snails and 2 fancy leg hermit crabs. Oh, and an early bday Present from the family. 14 gallon Oceanic bio cube. :D

 

[dcantucson]

Cool. Congrats and Happy B-day!

 

[Smitty]

Congrats! :)

 

[jen_1122]

Thank you.
I found a light on ebay that I would like to replace our old light with. I was wondering if this lighting is good for a fish only tank.:sfish:
12 inch 18w Aquarium PRO Light Suitable for 9"-14" Tank - eBay (item 270635826001 end time Oct-15-10 12:43:07 PDT)

Oh, any tips on lowering our nitrates, can't seem to get them below 20ppms. Everything else seems fine. Did a 5 gallon water change, didn't seem to help.

 

[slm32123]

I would think that would be a fine enough light. I had a regular 20" fluorescent on my 35 hex until i decided to make it a reef

 

[BL1]

You don't need any specific type light for a fish only tank. So as long as it's wide enough it'll be good. How often are you cleaning out your marineland filter? If they're not cleaned regularly they can lead to high nitrates.