michelle
Reefing newb
Hello!
Background:
I have a 33 gallon aquarium that I have had running as a saltwater aquarium for about 3 months now. I have a crushed coral substrate, 25 lbs live rock (more to be added soon-1-2 lbs a gallon right?), 2 hagan filters (one 70 gallon one 50 gallon), and a powerhead. The waterflow is about 600 gallons. I plan to add a skimmer but was advised by the lfs to wait until the tank is running about 6-8 months.
The cycle took about 3-4 weeks, I monitored everything closely and once ammonia, nitrites and nitrates were all 0 I waited another 10 days before adding anything. (although I did have 5 small snails, a small star and a sally lightfoot hitchhike on my rock). Then I added a clownfish.
Now:
The fish and my hitchhikers are all doing fine, but I had a small outbreak of brown algae. I had the water tested at the lfs (i am picking my own kits up this weekend) and my ammonia is at about 0.5 and my nitrates are 0.3
Questions: (sorry:S there are a few)
1. How bad are my levels? What should I do about the brown algae?
2. does anybody see any problems with my setup so far? It's a work in progress on a budget, but I am trying to get everything I need followed by the niceties (did I mention "on a budget"? not to sound cheap, but this is an expensive hobby to start:S)
3. My live rock: 2 pieces have gotten to be a nice dark purple/red color, the other has actually faded-why? is it a poorer quality? is it dying off?
4. I am being given a 20 gallon tank...what would be its best use? sump/refugium? And I have no idea how to do either (but I will research that to save anybody from having to type it all out)
5. I was told I should wait and increase my experience level before attempting to add coral-which works ok b/c i havendt got the lighting yet,but, is there a reasonbly priced way to set up the appropriate lighting? I currently have a 24 inch ocean light by zoo-med.
ok, I will stop.
I know my inexperience screams out through my questions, I hope you aren't annoyed by me already, I have only been on the forum an hour:)
Thank you so much for any help or answers you can offer:bowdown:
Background:
I have a 33 gallon aquarium that I have had running as a saltwater aquarium for about 3 months now. I have a crushed coral substrate, 25 lbs live rock (more to be added soon-1-2 lbs a gallon right?), 2 hagan filters (one 70 gallon one 50 gallon), and a powerhead. The waterflow is about 600 gallons. I plan to add a skimmer but was advised by the lfs to wait until the tank is running about 6-8 months.
The cycle took about 3-4 weeks, I monitored everything closely and once ammonia, nitrites and nitrates were all 0 I waited another 10 days before adding anything. (although I did have 5 small snails, a small star and a sally lightfoot hitchhike on my rock). Then I added a clownfish.
Now:
The fish and my hitchhikers are all doing fine, but I had a small outbreak of brown algae. I had the water tested at the lfs (i am picking my own kits up this weekend) and my ammonia is at about 0.5 and my nitrates are 0.3
Questions: (sorry:S there are a few)
1. How bad are my levels? What should I do about the brown algae?
2. does anybody see any problems with my setup so far? It's a work in progress on a budget, but I am trying to get everything I need followed by the niceties (did I mention "on a budget"? not to sound cheap, but this is an expensive hobby to start:S)
3. My live rock: 2 pieces have gotten to be a nice dark purple/red color, the other has actually faded-why? is it a poorer quality? is it dying off?
4. I am being given a 20 gallon tank...what would be its best use? sump/refugium? And I have no idea how to do either (but I will research that to save anybody from having to type it all out)
5. I was told I should wait and increase my experience level before attempting to add coral-which works ok b/c i havendt got the lighting yet,but, is there a reasonbly priced way to set up the appropriate lighting? I currently have a 24 inch ocean light by zoo-med.
ok, I will stop.
I know my inexperience screams out through my questions, I hope you aren't annoyed by me already, I have only been on the forum an hour:)
Thank you so much for any help or answers you can offer:bowdown: