Newbie to Reefing

J

Jkraft136

Reefing newb
Setup my 75gal tank about a month ago with help from my local aquarium store. Pretty much have about 20lbs of live rock (yes no where near enough)
One puffer fish, 2 Snails, have a marine glo light in it atm. Had a maroon clown fish but for some odd reason is passed away today. I feel as if the shop rushed me through things when setting this up. For some reason one of my live rock is covered in brown dusty stuff instead of the colorful purple algae it once had. Running a floval 404 with bio max in 2 canisters and charcoal in the other 2. For air flow running 2 Koralia 1s (which came with the tank). Any idea whats going on with my live rocks? or why the clownfish passed away?
 
The dusty stuff is diatoms, which are normal for a new tank. You will get diatom outbreaks less frequently as your tank matures. You'll just need to wait it out in the meantime.

If I had to venture a guess, I'd say the clown died from stocking a new tank too quickly. Did you wait until your cycle was finished before adding fish? Meaning, ammonia and nitrite both at zero. If not, the presence of ammonia or nitrite (even a little bit) could have killed the fish. It usually takes several weeks for the tank to cycle, so the fact that you have 2 fish within a month makes this theory plausible. In the beginning, you should add no more than one fish every three weeks.

Are you using tap water or RODI water? Use only RODI water, tap water will come with its own set of problems. Post your water parameters here to help us (pH, salinity, temperature, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and alkalinity are the most important, and most basic params).

Welcome to the site!
 
Ya i thought it was a little quick on the fish but they guy said it would be fine. The test i bought does (ph,ammonia,nitrite,nitrate) Gimme a few and i'll get those posted before i hit the sack. on a side note, any idea why my puffer fish hangs around the powerhead?
 
With two Koralia 1s, you don't have enough flow in your tank. For a 75 gallon tank, you probably want at least two or three Koralia 3s. MaxiJet brand powerheads are a much cheaper alternative, and are also very good. They are a fraction of the price of Koralias (they go for around $18). You could try adding a few MaxiJets around your tank. You want a lot of water movement in your tank. Think of where coral reefs are in nature -- shallow, rocky, turbulent areas of the ocean. Lots of water movement. More water movement increases the amount of dissolved oxygen in your water also. It also cuts back on the amount of algae you get, because algae has a harder time establishing itself in areas of high flow. Ideally, you don't want any dead spots in your tank.
 
Yeah it is a lot. But don't sweat it, we were all newbies at one point or another, and every single one of us has made mistakes that we regretted later one. It's part of learning. And there's a lot to learn in this hobby. It never hurts to get a "second opinion" when your fish store tells you something.
 
No, have them pointed slightly at the surface of the water, so that they are creating a ripple and breaking the surface. If they are breaking the surface of the water, it helps to oxygenate the water.
 
Jkraft,

I agree with Biff.
You will definitely need more flow. 2-3 Koralia #3s is a good recommendation.
When you get them, you can have one breaking the surface for the oxygenation ripples and the others at the rocks for flow.

I am not a proponent for canister filters in SW tanks.
Also, not a big mechanical filter supporter either (Biomax, etc).
These things work GREAT in freshwater setups, but tend to lead to future problems in the saltwater trade.

You will want to use your LIVE sand and LIVE rock for your biological filter and add a decent protein skimmer to your tank.
Since you don't seem to have any corals, your lighting will be sufficient. If you plan on coral keeping down the road, you will need some upgrades there.

Just let your tank mature slowly, the diatoms will go away, and things will settle in.
Test your water frequently in the beginning. Pick yourself up a calcium test kit too and keep an eye on your levels. Good calcium levels will help purple up your rocks.

FYI...you can get yourself some inexpensive dry or base rock rather than live rock to beef up your tank. Since you have live rock in there now, eventually, it will seed the base rock so it becomes liverock too.

Good luck!
 
Jkraft,

If it was my decision, I would say yes.

The thing about canister filters and BIOMAX type bio filters is they become septic tanks for nutrients in your system.

All the crap & muck from the tank (the stuff that turns into nitrates) gets caught in the canister and can never be filtered OUT of the system. This stuff just stays in the canister. You will have to keep the canister EXTREMELY clean and clean it very often.

I ported a freshwater setup to a saltwater setup with the canister filter.
My nitrate readings were 30ppm + ALWAYS. Sometimes into the red!

I took the canister out, replaced it with a great quality skimmer, and never looked back. The crap the skimmer gets out of the water is amazing. You just have to dump the skimmer collection cup every couple of days, but, you are removing it from your tank which is the benefit!
My nitrates went from 30ppm+ to ZERO in two weeks and have never gone up.
My water is super clean and the fish & corals are thriving.

I assume you have a standard tank rather than an overflow reef tank since you have a canister filter.
If so, later down the road you can add overflow boxes to your tank and run a sump system. For the time being, a nice hang-on-back style skimmer would be great for you.
I would recommend an OCTOPUS (what I use). Octopus makes a HB800S which would be perfect for your 75g tank. They run about $240.00 (well worth the investment if you ask me).

Ask lots of questions, have patience and you will be successfully enjoying this hobby for many years.

Good Luck.
 
You are still cycling.
You cannot add fish or inverts until your ammonia reads 0.00 & nitrite reads 0.00 for at least one week.
Cycles can last anywhere from 1 week to 3 months depending on liverocks.

Keep monitoring your system. I would take back the livestock you have left and have the LFS hold them until your cycle is over. Also, I would raise hell and demand a refund or replacement on the clownfish since the LFS killed it!
 
First off welcome to the site.Sounds like you are still in the middle of a cycle.The only thing you can do now is either return the fish or wait it out.

My suggestion is to stop adding any fish for now.Add more live rock until you get to at least 1lb./gal.,add a skimmer and if you continue to use the canister.Clean it on a weekly/bi-monthly basis.Another good use for a canister is use it a few days a month to polish the water using carbon,floss etc.
 
Thanks for the help. After i get ammonia and nitrite to 0 its safe to add more live stock. Now when adding live rock in the future is it going to spike up ammonia and nitrite where i have to cycle it again?
 
There is always the possibly of starting another small cycle when adding live rock.Add small amounts of fully cured live rock.Smell it first,it should smell fresh like the ocean and not like a wet old sock.

The safest way is to cure the live rock in a separate container,a rubbermaid tub of some sort.
 
How would i go about curing it in a separate container? I have a small 20g tank thats not being used that can be used for curing live rock
 
Yeah.That little 20gal would be perfect for curing live rock.
Just drop a couple of cheap power heads and a heater in there with enough salt water to cover the rock your curing.Test it daily and when there is no ammonia or nitrites in the curing tank,then the rocks ready for your main tank.
BTW,Welcome to the site.Were happy to have you on board.
 

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