Please Help a Newbie out : (

R

rirrgang

Reefing newb
Hello, I know this is my first post so I will go ahead and apologize if I do anything that is a no no. I am currently in what seemed like an easy process of transferring saltwater aquariums. Im going from a 35 gallon that I inherited for free. In this 35 gallon are two clown fish less then a dozen hermit crabs and at least 50 pounds of live rock which I am assuming is all alive since he had said its been alive for over 4 years. The owner gave it away for free and it was easy to see why. I was unable to see through any pieces of the glass. The filter and wave maker where not even functioning due to all the algae growth and I couldn't even switch light bulbs due to all the evaporated salt that was stuck to the light fixture (which I finally was able to do). Getting to the point I have tested both waters and they all seem to have the same levels. Nitrates both showed up as 0ppm pH showed up at 8.4 in the 55 and 8.2 in the 35 gallon. The ammonia test seemed to have not come out currently and I am unsure as to why. I put about 20 percent of the old fish tank water which is still holding the two fish and the live rock and the rest is new water. My questions are when is it safe to transfer the live rock and seeing what the fish have been throw I feel like it couldn't get any worse for them but to be safe when is it safe for them as well. While doing research I was told as long as the live rock has been around for awhile the new live sand isn't to big of a deal and the eco system should pick up quickly. I hope this is enough information to get a few replies.

Thank you,
Ryan
 
It should be ok to put the rocks in now...if the rocks have algae on them, try scrubbing the rocks with a toothbrush in some old tank water.
 
You can add your rock now Ryan. And welcome to the site as well.Don't be afraid to ask questions, there are alot of folks here to help to out.
 
Welcome to the site!

Definitely scrub the algae off like Smitty said but also, since you don't have any corals just yet you can do a blackout/ reduced light schedule to get rid of whatever algae you can't scrub off. Good luck getting it all going, you can't beat a free setup!
 
Welcome to the site and hobby Ryan.
Just do like was already suggested and scrub the algae off the rock with a new hard bristled tooth brush and rinse it off in a bucket of the old tank water and get it back into your tank.Then add your fish and start doing daily tests for ammonia and nitrites.
If either of those spike,start doing water changes until their under control.
 
Appreciate the warm welcome and this makes me feel much more confident about this whole process. I was wondering if there is a specific level of ammonia and nitrites I should try and aim for or just keep it balanced at what it is already at. I have tried researching those two but it just causes confusion....sigh
 
ammonia and nitrites should both be at 0, both will be toxic to your livestock long term. Once your cycle is complete they'll both be at 0 and your nitrates you'll want to keep as low as possible but, 0-20ppm will be ok
 
Ok so I placed the live rock in only to see the ph decrease, but a few hermits transferred over and seem to be doing just fine waters still stirred from when I added the live rock and moved it around to my likings. I wanna say the pH is at 7.8 and I'm going to the store to invest in pH increase. Any advice on why the pH might have decreased? Oh and the pH in the old aquarium rose to what seems to be an 8.8 which leads me to believe it has something to do with the live rock. I have left the largest and heaviest piece of live rock with the two clown fish and a wave maker and a separate filter so they should be all right.
 
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If there was any sort of die off on the rock, that could cause your pH to change. Don't be worried though, and don't add anything to increase it -- 7.8 is fine and within normal range.

Also, did you test it in the morning after the lights had been off all night? pH will be lowest first thing in the morning, and highest at the end of the day after the lights have been on. It's a normal 24 hour cycle that tanks will go through unless you have a refugium to stabilize it.
 
well right now its just live rock so i don't really have a set light schedule because I'm trying to kill off the little bit of algae I missed. I do have the Current T5 lighting as well as a fixture that has a daylight 12,000 and a true actinic i would assume they are both decent fixtures and both use T5 the second fixture does not have a name brand written on it anywhere but does have three switches and two fans one on each end of the fixture.
 
Even without a set schedule,light will make a difference in your PH.
For right now,just watch for ammonia and nitrites.Those are two main concerns when moving an established tank.
 
Good news just purchased about 12 turbo snails and 12 hermit crabs all are doing well and water test are doing good as well. Planning on adding the last pieces of live rock and then the two fish! Will keep you update and expect pictures soons
 
Quick update fish are in aquarium along with all live rock and snails and crabs. Last test pH was up to 8 nitrates still at 0 and ammonia is 0 as well and same with nitrites. Pictures will be up as soon as water clears up a little and is it common for the clown fish to not come out and I am a little nervous they are not eating cause the pellets just seem to float around.
 
Give them a day, they may take a little time to get used to their new tank. My clowns come out everytime I go near my tank.
 
Well, I'm nervous because they acted the same way in there old aquarium which was beat to s*** so I am worried that they are almost terrified of people and just in case I forgot to mention thank you all very much for helping me out, and my last request is if you guys could tell me some other rookie fish I could acquire that would go well in a 55 gallon.
 
obviously since the tank was in such poor condition, they are probably not used to people coming up to the tank, just give them time Clowns are not very shy fish normally.
As far as other fish, look at small wrasses, a blenny, or goby
 
To them, this is a "new tank" you are putting them in. They will naturally be afraid of their new surroundings. It can take a few days, or even a few weeks for them to adjust and start acting normally.

You should consider switching to frozen food. It's better for the fish and the water quality. You can buy frozen food at Petco or Petsmart. The fish will probably like it more than the pellets too.
 
Brians right.It'll take the clowns a little bit to settle down from the move and get used to having people around.
In addition to the fish Brian listed,Firefish would be good.Maybe a Royal Gramma.Maybe even one of the dwarf angels if you wanna take a chance with corals being nipped.
 

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