New to the site and SW!

Leslee

Reef enthusiast
:sfish:Hello!:sfish:
Hi there! My name is Leslee. I am 25. I live in a suburb of Chicago, Naperville, IL. I am a graduate student and a teacher. I am getting my masters degree in special education. I love to spend my time volunteering when ever I can. I have even done the polar plunge, for Special Olympics and I will be doing it again soon!

I have *some* experience with saltwater tanks. I started a tank 2 years ago with my ex-fiance, I had it for 5 months, then moved out and he took it over. Since I had that tank with him it wasn't all mine.

Six months ago I started my own tank using a fresh water tank kit I found at the big box store. It is a 29 gal tank. I am using 3 over the back filters. 2 are for a 30 gal tank and the 3rd is for a 15 gal tank. So that is 75 gallons worth of filters on my 29 gal tank. I do not have a protein skimmer. :question:Do I need one? I do water changes every other week, and I rotate the filter changes. My water tests all come back clear and safe. I have been advised that I need one and I have also been advised that I don't. The store I trust the most says that I don't and they have not steered me wrong yet....I would just like to know your opinions! I use the strip light that came with the kit. I have a filter and the temp is usually about 80 degrees. :question:Is that too warm? My fish seem to be doing fine but I was worried about the temp. I do have one power head.

In my 29gal tank, I have 4 fish and numerous snails and crabs. There is about 35 lbs of live rock. On one of the live rocks I bought there is a clam or mussel or something along those lines that opens and shuts. It is apart of the live rock. The fish I have are 2 True Percula clowns, one royal gramma, and one green wrasse. There was a tiny little white starfish on one of the rocks, and it has since broke off two of its legs and now there are two. The green wrasse hides A LOT! He is only out for about 5 hours a day. :question:Is that normal? I have had the wrasse and royal gramma for about 2.5-3 months.

I took my time adding to my tank. I started out with the live rock for a week. Then I added 3 damsels and kept them for about 6 weeks and took the 3 out and took them back to the store. (didn't lose a single one!) Then I added the 2 clownfish and waited about 6 weeks before adding the royal gramma and wrasse. I added live rock and snails and crabs along the way.

:question:Can I add more fish to this tank? If yes, what would you suggest? My wrasse hides so much it seems like I only have 3 fish in the tank.

I rotate the food I feed my fish. One day they get flakes and sinking pellets, and the next they get brine shrimp and Rod's fish food, the Rod's frozen fish food is a mixture of all sorts of seafood.

For Christmas my mom bought me one of the cube tank set ups with a stand. It was the floor model at my favorite fish store so not a lot of information came with it. The guy told us it was all set up for corals, since mom knew I wanted to try out corals she bought it for me! While I know I can call the store and ask them, I like to hear all the opinions on it! The tank is a 22 gal with the protein skimmer and pump all built in the back. There is no top just a huge light for it. The light sits about 4 inches from the top of the tank.

The light is where MOST of my questions come from! I am not sure how to work it and what does what! The brand is a Finnex. There are 3 sets of bulbs in it! The first set is 2 blue-ish bulbs, that says Actinic blue/AB. The middle set of bulbs is one blue-ish bulb one white bulb, it says Actinic blue and 10000K. The last set is 2 white bulbs and I am not sure what that says it is in another language, no numbers. There are 2 switches on the side. One turns on only the middle bulbs (blue-ish and white) and the other turns on the outer sets of bulbs.

:question:When do I turn on which set of bulbs? I am sure if I do more research on corals I would learn more information but I am just starting out!

:question:Do I need a heater for this tank? Or will the lights keep it warm enough?

I have the water in the tank and I filled up to about an inch from the top of the tank. :question:Since there is no lid I didn't want it to flow over, is that alright?

I am getting live rock for the tank, and then maybe next week I might get some damsels.

I have only bought fish from one store. It makes me nervous to buy else where, because when I had my tank with my exfiance, we would buy fish from several different stores, and we lost several fish throughout the process. Since I have started my new tank, I have bought from one store, and haven't lost one fish, is that a weird fear?

Sooooooo....if you have made it through all of this,:Cheers: thank you very much! Your help is much appreciated!
 
Hi and welcome!! Let me try to start from the beginning...

You do not need a protein skimmer -- especially for a small tank. The hang on back filters that you are using can lead to high nitrates down the road, if you are not diligent about keeping them clean. They'll work fine for your tank as long as you keep up with cleaning. If you decide to get "lazier" with the tank and want less maintenance, then a protein skimmer is the way to go. They are much more effective at removing waste and organics than filters are, and much easier to maintain.

Wrasses tend to hide, and when they do come out, they tend to stay close to the rockwork. I have a fairy wrasse in one of my tanks that only comes out to eat when I feed the tank twice a week. I never see her otherwise. They can be very shy fish, so your fish's behavior is not abnormal.

In a 29 gallon tank, you are limited to 3 or 4 fish. I'd say you're okay to add one more IF your water parameters are good, and IF your fish are not fighting. It would have to be a small fish though -- a firefish or goby would be a good choice.

You may want to think about discontinuing the pellet and flake foods. They contain preservatives which can lead to algae problems and poor water quality. It's just one more thing that can ugly up a tank. Stick to using only frozen foods instead. Rod's Food is, in my opinion, the best quality food out there. You can alternate that with frozen cubes of mysis, fortified brine, Marine Cuisine or Emerald Entree.

Are all the bulbs the same shape and size? Long skinny tubes? Short stumpy tubes?

The blue bulbs are actinics. The white bulbs are daylights. You will want to use these in conjunction with each other. If they are controlled separately, most people turn the actinics on for about an hour before turning on the daylights. Then they leave the actinics on for about an hour longer after shutting off the daylights. This simulates sunrise and sunset. Or you can switch them all on at the same time if you'd like -- it doesn't really matter. In any case, if you have corals, you want to run the lights between 8 and 12 hours a day.

You will probably still need a heater. You want to avoid the temp dropping at night when the lights are off. You can put the heater in the same compartment in the back that the other equipment is in.

I would highly suggest NOT cycling the tank with damsels. You got lucky last time, and none of them died. That's usually not the case. I (and most people in this hobby) believe it's unethical to use sacrificial fish to cycle a tank. These fish are taken from the wild, and it's our responsibility to treat them with care, not purposefully endanger them. Plus, it's such a hassle to catch them to remove them once you have rock in the tank!

A much easier, cheaper and better way to cycle a tank is just to add a bit of fish food to it, and let it rot. This has the exact same effect as adding a fish (or two or three). Alternatively, you can get a raw shrimp from the grocery store, chop a bit off, and leave that to rot in the tank. There's no need to bother with damsels.

I think that's about all I've got to say... Feel free to ask any more questions you have!!!
 
Welcome to the site. :) I'm new to saltwater...so I won't attempt to answer any of your questions. Trust me, you're better off. lol
 
Thank you for all of the welcomes! Also thankyou Biff for the awesome advice!

I never thought about the whole process of putting damsels into the tank. I for sure will not be putting any in this one! I am such an animal lover and sad to say I didn't think that one all of the way through.

The light bulbs are long and skinny and all the same size and shape. Do you know what kind of light that is?

I just threw out the flake and pellet. It always drove me crazy that it would be on the bottom of the tank. I honestly only liked it because I thought with the wrasse hiding so much the leftover food was there for it to eat, especially since it hides when I feed the fish.

We are going to a new store I found online today near the airport and we are getting live rock for the new tank. I am thinking about trying some live sand. We will see. I have the super fine white sand in there now and I wanted to keep it that way, so we will have to see. While at the new store will be buying a heater!

Thanks again for all of your help! And Thanks for reading my novel I posted!!
 
As soon as I get the batteries charged I will post pictures, I have something that grew in my tank that I am curious to know what it is!



Also I have decided to either get a goby, sandsifting goby, or nothing as far as new fish go.
 
Welcome to the site and the hobby Leslee.
Dont waste your money on live sand.Get the dry aragonite stuff.It'll become live in no time.
 
Welcome to the site! I'm fairly new too (about three weeks) and you'll find SUCH helpful people on this site. You'll get answers to any questions you have within a couple hours most of the time!

Good luck with your tanks! ;)
 
Welcome to the site and the hobby Leslee.
Dont waste your money on live sand.Get the dry aragonite stuff.It'll become live in no time.


I dunno. I saved 10 bucks by using the dry stuff and an hour and a half cleaning it.

I added one bag of live sand afterward it cost a little more but totally worth the time I gained using it.
 
Where are our photos?!!






I'm just kidding.:mrgreen:







but seriously:grumble:

:mrgreen:

Well my friend, I got myself outta bed, I have strep and feel horrible but I uploaded the pics just for you! I am going to put them in the show case section! :nanananan :mrgreen: (no hard feeling Eli, just teasing!)
 
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Well my friend, I got myself outta bed, I have strep and feel horrible but I uploaded the pics just for you! I am going to put them in the show case section! :nanananan :mrgreen: (no hard feeling Eli, just teasing!)

Strep?! That's no excuse! Man up!!! ;)
 
Ha ha ha! I know! Well I womaned up and I posted the pics in the showcase thread. Didn't want to put them in the wrong spot! :mrgreen:
 
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