Water Change?

[jrose40]

Well first of all i want to say hi I am new here but have been reading the your post for awhile. I recently aquired a Bio Cube 14 and am having a blast setting it up. I have all live rock and live sand in my tank and used Instant ocean salt and bio-spira. My tank parameters after the second day are ammonia 1.0,Ph 8.0,Alk 190,Nitrite 3,Nitrate 20. I live in the Florida Keys so I can gather pretty much anything I need for my tank so I gathered some blue legged hermits,and snails for cleaning my tank. I was able to catch a banded tail puffer in my canal 'he is small only about 3inches". Was wondering if anyone could give me any advice on anything else I should do, and when and how often and how much on the water changes. Once again thanks and I am very glad to be apart of your forum.

:sfish:

 

[Marines_Wife]

I would honestly recommend not taking anything else from the ocean....Its just not a good thing to do. Since he is currently in your tank I would research everything you can about what you can do to make him a good home.

 

[jrose40]

Well out of all due respect, where do we get our fish from?

 

[little_fish]

Hello and Welcome!

First off all nothing should in your tank until your ammonia is at zero, until then you are subjecting your ammonia poisoning. Your tank is still cycling. Please find an established tank to keep your creatures until your tank is fully cycled. Also read this immediately so you can understand cycling your tank.
https://www.livingreefs.com/cycling-tank-adding-fish-and-corals-t26452.html

Secondly, your tank is much much much too small for a 3 inch fish. I would keep at most a pair of clowns in there or a clown goby. Just because the fish can fit, doesnt mean it should go in there. Here is a good place to research fish, including the size of tank they should be housed in, temperament, and other requirements.
Aquarium Fish: Tropical Freshwater Fish and Saltwater Fish for Home Aquariums
Here are some good nano fish that will do much better in your tank:
Nano Fish

Please dont remove stuff from the local bays to put in your tank. Most of the creatures are going to be unsuitable for our tanks because they get too big or they cannot live in the higher temperatures we keep our tanks at.

Once your tank is set up i would do either bi weekly (2 gals) or weekly water change (1 gal).

Here are some good articles to read:
https://www.livingreefs.com/why-using-tap-water-bad-idea-t19865.html
https://www.livingreefs.com/basic-equipment-list-t19611.html
https://www.livingreefs.com/choose-your-fish-t27083.html
https://www.livingreefs.com/ideal-books-reef-keepers-t19535.html
https://www.livingreefs.com/water-chemistry-t31270.html

 

[little_fish]

You get your fish from your local fish shop, they will set fish that are better suited for our tank. But not every fish will do well in our tanks.

RESEARCH EVERYTHING BEFORE YOU BUY IT!!!

I cannot tell you how much heartache this will save you.

Also, were you inspired to set up your tank from the new show "Tanked" on Animal Planet?

 

[NanoReefer]

to tell you the truth i think its awesome to get your stuff wild, if you can keep ti good for you. but most of the time wilfd caught fish are more inclined to only eating live food caus thats all they ate for their whole life. so if your up for a challenge keep the wild stuff. but keep posting your water chemistry and us on the forums will tell you when you are able to add fish. read our article on tank cycling

 

[NanoReefer]

+1 lil, i didnt see what you posted, your always 1 step ahead of everybody!:p

 

[jrose40]

Well thanks for the replies, I understand about taking things from oceans. The Florida Keys supplies many fish for a lot of people probably on this forum, we have a lot of companies who capture fish down here. As far as LFS we dont really have any since almost everyone who has a saltwater setup in the Keys gathers there own fish. Another question I have though is how many snails and hermits should I have, blue legged hermits are very popular here and so are nerite snails.
Thanks again and hope no one is upset.

 

[NanoReefer]

4 hermits and 4 snails would probably be good,how about sending me some keys rock up here in pa:)

 

[jrose40]

What size hermits and snails should I have? Its a Bio Cube 14

 

[NanoReefer]

it doesnt really matter, i would lean to smaller sized ones, are there ricordias in the water where you live?!?

 

[jrose40]

We do have them here, they are beautiful creatures.

 

[little_fish]

If are going to continue to do your own collect, make sure you follow the laws for collecting. The penalties are quite huge.

 

[NanoReefer]

do you think you could send me some if i pay you? haha

 

[Slimkasey]

Play it safe on the crabs, if you're starting put go with blue legged hermits, hardy as he'll, (don't forget to get extra shells so the can molt and grow), and go with naussarius snails, they'll help work the sand, while your tank matures. All these can be very hardy for new tanks.

Welcome aboard!

 

[jrose40]

Definately will obey all local laws, the recorordias around here are on the reefs which are about 6 miles out and I dont frequent the reefs looking for things for my tank yet since I really want to learn more. The naussarius snails and nerite snails are the ones I have currently. What about small crabs?

 

[NanoReefer]

i would stay away from crabs caus most of them will eat small fish and inverts, and sometimes corals. and thats fine, if you ever go to the reef let me know! thanks