New Set-up

Pilchergate

Reefing newb
Hello Everyone, One more newbie with questions to ask.1 Set my tank up 5 weeks ago,all water testing is good except nitrate,it seems stuck at 2.0,do I need to do part water change? I,ve been told the nitrate will drop when the tank has matured,is that right? My tank is 48"x18x12 I have about 20kg of live rock on about 2" of sand,could you tell me how many gallon of water I,ve got left,I think about 30 gallon, would that be right?My only live stock are 2 hermits and an urchin, I have 2 power heads 1200 and a protien skimmer. The tank looks fantastic,but is it to early to put anymore stock in it,I,m being very patient and I look at fish in the store,but never come home with any.All help and info is gratefully excepted. :bowdown:
 
you say your water parameters are fine except for nitrate. 5 weeks is a bit early to start loading up the system, however, post your other water parameters and im sure we will be able to provide our opinions. if you do decide to go forward and start to stock, remember stock slowly and test for the cycle that will follow with each new addition initially. you could do a partial water change to lower the nitrates even more. (I recommend to read the saltwater forum articles where most of your questions will be answered) if not post here and we will try and help. good luck and welcome to the forum, hope you enjoy your visits here.
 
Thanks for the reply,my tanks temperature is 78,ph 8.2,ammonia 0,nitrite 0, salinity 1.025,I was told by LFS to let it run and the nitrate would clear,how long will it take to mature the system?I dont want to add livestock until everything is perfectly balanced,I have the patience of a saint!! Also,does RO water go stagnant if stored, I have some in a 5 gallon container,would it be best to buy new for water change?
 
48 x 18 x 13 = 50 gallon long and 40 lb of rock.Maybe you will loose about 5-10 gallon of water leaves you with 40 or so left. Just guesing though.
 
Your next step will be a clean up crew, however, be careful not to add too many animals that you do not have a food source to support. so for now let your system go a bit longer and keep testing at least twice a week. at the same time each day of testing. I would let it run for at least another month and watch to see if anything developes on the live rock. al long as the nitrate stays real low below 5ppm you are ok. a little is needed to feed some of the things that will develope in your system. ro water should be ok as long as the container itself does not leach anything into the water. for ro water i recommend osmo prep as a reconstitution addition before adding the salt for new make up water. good luck on your project sounds like you are comming along very nicely at this time.
 
Thanks guys for the info,any other comments will be helpful on a clean up crew,what will I actually need?Ive got an awful lot of stuff growing on the living rock already,plus Ive got some beautiful polyps and mushrooms.Ive also noticed thousands of tiny little, like water fleas, is this the food chain beginning,they,ve been in the tank for about 4 weeks.Is that good or bad? Sorry if I sound stupid, but there are so many conflicting opinions from people,you guys seem like my lifeline as far as information goes.thanks again for all your help :D
 
The water fleas are most likely some type of a pod(yes beginning of the food chain)
What kind of lighting do you have?.For you clean up crew I would start with snails and some Hermits and other down the road.
 
The lighting I have is VHO 3ft tubes,I have 2 so far am I going to need more? I brought 2 red leg hermits at the weekend,The LFS told me that would be enough for now because I already have 2 blue legged hermits and an urchin,have,nt got any snails in yet,maybe in a couple of weeks if everything goes okay.will I need to put any food in for the crabs or will they get what they need off the living rock?Keep info coming, it,s really helping me along.GREAT helpful articles by the way,Im learning something new every day.
 
watch the crabs, as long as there is enough food they should be ok, and it seems your lfs is keeping you from loading up too quickly and that is good. on the crabs, if the food source is not sufficient they will go after anything else edible, other crabs, small worms, snails, etc. so just watch and keep an eye on things for now, sounds like you are doing ok. if you do feed the crabs do so very very sparingly. good luck.
 
sand...

how long does it take for the sand things to start coming alive?
I have had live sand in my tank for 5 days now......waiting patiently!
 
Hi Rich,If you log into helpful articles,go to site of jhnrb,Beginners guide,Im finding loads of things useful,hope some of it helps you aswell.Im also new to reef,but the key word is Patience.Happy hunting!! :D
 
:shock: It is live sand because it has bacteria growing in it. Get your microscope out. :) Creatures on your love rock will eventually inhabit your sand.
 
Welcome Rich and Pilchergate.

Glad you guys are both finding useful information here.

Hope you enjoy the forums chris has going here.

Join us on the live chats M,W,and F at 9 EST.

Brandon
 
Hi Guys, Just another query,what do you think is the best position to have my two powerheads,I have them placed half way up the tank one at each end,could I position them better?Everything else is coming on great,got things growing all over my rock,seeing something new every day.Im getting really excited :^: Going to get two cleaner shrimp next week.
 
I put my 2 power heads up high because the force at which the water comes out of a normal power head is strong enough to damage corals, you can buy specialized powers heads like tunze and sieo(sp?) that limit the force of the power head but still move great amounts of water. I would place each power head in the back corners at an angle facing the center of the front glass of the tank (half of the suction cups of the power head on one glass plane and the other suction cups on the other glass plane.). This will cause the greatest turblance in your tank, which is what you want with reef tanks. Hope it helps.
 
Panick!!!!

Hi Guys, Im panicking,one of my blue legged hermit crabs has lost his shell,Ive put a selection of shells in the tank,but he doesnt seem to be interested.I dont think anything else thats in my tank will harm him,but is it normal for them not to move straight into another shell?Please help :bowdown: I dont want to lose him.
 
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