What is next...?

Sxybeemr325

Reefing newb
Hey everyone! I want to thank everyone here for all of your great help!

So far so good.... Mixed my water with salt this week.... Just received my Remora pro (Mag 3 pump) yesterday. I also purchased a bilogical filter with another skimmer integrated in it... not sure what the brand is but is is a clear blue plastic.... I installed on top of that the Remora skimmer... I just added 40 lbs of Aragonite sand. and just added 90 LBS of Fiji live rock. It seems like my dog was just as excited as me when she saw the rocks! She was running around the house stealing rocks from the box! The skimmer are working like crazy! The "water" or the goop that is is the skimmer's collection cup is MORTAL!!! It smells like dead bodies!!! It is terrible!!! But at least, it seems like th skimmers are doing their job! I also bought the Current USA Outer Orbit light. After a while, and after my tank will be established with a couple fish in there, I want to turn it into a reef tank...So what is next....?? How long do I have to wait for the rocks to cure and for the tank to cycle? About a month to a month an a half???

It is so hard to resist and NOt to buy anything... I was so tempted, but there is absolutely no point on spending big $ on fish that will have a destiny to die in a new tank... So I am hangning in there... I am happy to see that my tank is starting to look like a tank !! :^: :bounce: :D

So I'd like to know how long will it take before the rocks cure? and the tank cycle (about...)? All I really want to add is a couple clown fish, and a yellow tang.. a blue star fish (wow, that thing is tripping me out)... WHat do you people think about the urchins? Someone told me that they tend to distroy your tank and to break corals, and to move everything up side down...?? true or not? Any tips on corals...? Once I add the clown fish and the tang, how long should I wait before I buy an anemone? And some polyps?

Thank you and Happy New Year to all! :Cheers:
 
Wow!!! thanks for the question. Well lets keep it simple for now. At this point you will need the following test kits to monitor the cycle process. Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate. You should 1st get an ammonia spike, and then a nitrite spike and as those go down your nitrates will start to rise. when the ammonia and nitrites are at 0, then you can do a water change for several weeks and get the nitrates down. At that point a couple more test kits to get the system ready for the next step adding fish. Your cycle should take anywhere for 10 to 30 days depending on the die off of the rock. If the ammonia does not come down within a week of the spike you might want to do a water change to help the rock cure, however, this may extend the overall cycle time but will save the rock. As long as the cycle is moving in a positive direction up then down, you are fine. oh and also it is not common for the cycle to consist of several or more cycles. All depends on the rock.
 
The fish sound good, on the star I have read here that they have a life span in the aquarium of 18 months and then die of malnutrition, and on the urchins some can and will destroy your tank but if you epoxy the rocks I dont think you have much to worry about unless you have corals, I dont know about all but they somtimes eat soft corals I have a colored one in my tank with corals and it hasnt bothered anything and I love it, however that dosnt mean all will be as good as mine, on the anenome I would wait quite awhile to let the tank mature and give you more time to learn about there needs and let learn more about keeping your water perameters as stable as posibale. Well good luck and keep us posted.
 
WOW sounds like its going to be a great system. You will also need a PH test kit before you add the fish. Keep us posted on the tank.
 
Most people recommend having a stable tank with no animal deaths for a year before buying an anemone. They are very sensitive and hard to keep. I got my anemone after eight months, so that's not a rule or anything.

Polyps you can add sooner, some of them are easy to keep, probably them, xenia, and mushrooms are the easiest corals to keep. Those would be good ones to start off with once your tank has been stable for a while.

I'd recommend trying your hand with fish only and a clean up crew consisting of various crabs, various snails, a cleaner shrimp, and a brittle star. If you can successfully keep those guys alive for a while, then you can start adding more difficult animals like corals and anemones.

Urchins have been known to eat coralline algae too (a good type of algae, the stuff that turns the rocks and glass purple), so buy at your own risk.

Good luck!
 
Hum... Well I guess I will go but the test kits on tuesday for the ammonia, nitrate, nitrites and PH. Do I really have to monitor the cycling process, or can I just let it be and check in a couple weeks to see what is happening in there? I guess it must be easyer to monitor it so you can see what's going on right away.... It makes sens....

As for the urchins, I find them to be fashinating little balls!! But I definetely plan on keeping corals and want to try and get some coraline to grow in my tank, so I guess I'll stay away from it...

Bifferwine, you were talking about a cleaning crew.... Here is my question.... You sated you can get some brittle stars, crabs and snails.... I hate snails.. Even when I had freshwater fish, i always hated those snails crowling around my tank!!!!!! Somehow, Snails are just a creature that I hate!!! Do they really do good stuff in the aquarium cleaning procedures?? Or can i live without it??lol... Anything else I could replace the snails for..? Because even on the internet, every cleaner package always includes snails in it...

Thank you and HAPPY NEW YEAR!!:Cheers:
 
You don't have to monitor the cycling period using tests. But you do have to test the water before you add any animals, and then do regular water tests from then on to make sure your water conditions are okay for your animals.

Snails are AMAZING cleaners. They clean the glass, rocks, and substrate, and some species dig in the sand and keep it aerated and mixed. They will eat algae and detritus off of everything in your tank. I have a 55 gallon and have about 100 snails of about eight different species. You can do without them and get crabs instead, but crabs need a consistent supply of new shells as they grow and they won't clean the glass.

Yeah, they're gross at first, but they just might grow on you once you see what a help they are at keeping your tank clean. Maybe start with a couple and if it's not too bad, you can add some more? You don't really notice them after a while, they blend in with the rocks.
 
Hum... Well, by reading your post, seems like snails do a great cleaning job!!! Any type of snails in particular that you could recommend that does a great job? How many snails should I keep in a 90 gallon? Don't snails reproduce non stop and then you get invaded with snails? When my tank was filled with freshwater and had plants in there, i was invaded with snails!!! :shock: Started with 3-4 that propably landed in my tank when i bought some new live plants. And at one point, they were just all over the place!!!!!!!:frustrat: I probably had 200 snails in there!!!! :frustrat: I don t know about the salt water snails.. does it reproduce as much as the fresh water snails... ? Lets say you buy four, are you gonna end up with about 200 snails..?
 
No, saltwater snails are not like freshwater snails. They don't reproduce like crazy. Some good ones I have are astraea, nassarius, bumble bee, conchs, ceriths, Mexican turbos (some people don't like Mexican turbos because they knock stuff over) and trochus. If you buy four, you will probably end up with three :)
 
Hahaha.. Well good stuff then!!! I tan probably take to have a couple snails here and there... The freshwater snails were just killing me!! But like you said, if I buy four and end up with 3, that is PERFECT for me!! lol... :^: :D The way you are talking, snails do a hell of a cleaning job!!! lol.. if it can save ME on cleaning...lol.. why not?

SO I guess I will test my water in 3 weeks or so and see what is happening in there.... I know there is no point of really testing it now.. The rocks are curing... and so on.. so it is obviously far from ready to have fish in there...

Anyhone here have some clown fish? Which one would you recommend buying? I'd like to keep 2-3 clown fish in my tank.... there is so many variety, colors, farm raised and so on.... I like the pretty ones looking like an actual clownfish(not the ones with like half a line on it...)... Any suggestions on some hady clowns?
 
Clarks and false percula or snow flake percula (they have more whiite) are my favorite. I would not go with the maroon or true percula, the maroon are mean little suckers and the true purcula are harder to keep from what i've read, and if get clowns get the ones the are tank bread they are more adjusted to life in the aquarium and easy to care for. I just added 2 false purculas to my tank and love them.

A few things to look for before you buy any are 1 make sure you watch them for a while to make sure there not breathing to hard or fast, watch them swim and see if they lay on the bottom alot. 2 ask the seller to feed them and make sure they eat eagerly. If you can place them on hold for a week and make sure they are still doing good (might be a little harder to do though) 3 if your buying more than 1 buy all at the same time otherwise the first one you add will claim its turf and fight the rest or bully them untill one dies. I would only buy 2 if going more than one that way if 2 pair off they dont start picking on the single one. Good luck and keep us posted.
 
Last edited:
I have a big tomato clown. That's the kind with just one white stripe near the head. She's cool and they're an easy species to keep. My LFS recommends only having one species of clown per tank (unless you've got a really big tank). They'll fight otherwise. I've been thinking of getting mine a boyfriend, but I already have a pretty high bioload (13 fish in a 55 gallon with a 20 gallon sump), so we'll see how things go... Maybe she'll get lucky :)
 
Clownfish are my absolute fav fish, I have raised perculas, clarkis, maroons, skunks, cinnomon, tomatoe and more the only thing about clowns are they do not tolerate other species of clowns ie maroons love maroons but I have yet to find one that likes any other type and my clarki would run my cinnomon and tomatoe would run my skunk. I dont know how much you know about them but I do know that clowns were the easiest for me to breed and remember when you get them eventually youll have one that hits a growth spirt that would be the one that turns female she will get to be 4.5 to 5 inches long while the male does good to hit 3 they do not need an anemone they will in fact host numerous amount of corals including frogspawn, and hairy mushrooms. And I agree about the snails you can find pretty ones and they will save you alot of cleanup.
 
Glad to know more about the clown fish.... So I guess that I will buy 2 instead of 3. And as long as I buy them toghether, they should be ok... Thanx to all for all the info! I guess I will do my research up front for the clowns and see what I will pick... Clowns are easy to care for right?

One more question, for the coraline stuff, anyone ever tryed the Purple Up stuff? Does it work good? How long does it take before the coraline starts to grow?
 
Yes clowns are very easy to care for and very hardy fish Im actually starting over with a 30 gal turning it into a reef tank the only fish I am going to keep in there are a mated pair of maroons and a mated pair of sea horses. As for your coraline I use a kent marine product called pro buffer dkh with coraline accelerator works great in my tank. Hope this helps.
 
Here is one more question for all of you....lol...

Just purchased another 50 lbs of live rock for a total of 140 Lbs now.... I know i am supposed to purchase some supplement or whatever you want to call it for the rock... Stuff like calcium.. Iodine....??? What do I need to purchase for the live trock exactly?? Any brands that anyone can suggest?

Thank you!!!!:sfish: :question:
 
marine starter and reff tank starter kits contain all of that calcium, iodine, trace elements, strontium, amonia detox, pro buffer dkh with coraline accelerator, molybdinum and more produced by kent marine. It done well for me.
 
Might sound like a stupid question, but is it something that you have to constantly put in the water? or is it something that you put once and that's all.... Yeah, I have seen the Kent marine Starter Kit, but the bottles seems so small.... How many gallons can you treat with these bottles?

And the live rocks needs that?? .... Sorry.. So new to all of this.. Salt water is a total different world then fresh water.... :sfish: :question: :question: :question: :question: :question: :question: :question: :question: :question: :question: :question: :question: :question: :
 
no problem at all typically the live rock has organisms of coral on them no they dont need it but it helps and you can get them in bigger sizes and 1 capful treats anyware from 20-50 gals depending on the chemical and some are daily some are weekly and some are bi-weekly there again depends on the chemical.
 
I have used Purple Up to accelerate coralling growth in my tank, it has worked amazingly well. I would not hesitate to recommend Purple Up to anyone.
 
Back
Top