HELLO EVERYONE! 29g modded biocube....new reefer here...established tank.

[just josh]

Hey yall im josh, im a new "reefer" and yall i got the "MADNESS"!!!!!


Totally addicted!!!


Picked up a modded biocube from a cool asian guy named ryan - thanks bro!!!

Anyway this fella put alot of time and love (and coin) into the tank but life got in the way and after the move im actually suprised at how well everything is starting to bounce back!

I am new to this so sorry for any q's I might have in the future!!!!! And "tanks " in advance!!

I saw an offer for a free coral if I join arc and this already was the coolest forum ive found AND I get deals on stock n dry goods etc??? WIN WIN!!!

I AM JUST HAPPY TO HAVE ALL THE KNOWLEDGE BEHIND YOU MEMBERS AND FOR THAT I AM GRATEFUL!!!


anyway back to the tank!

I first got it setup rough (still not how I want) cuz it was so murkey from the move. I have moved stuff around a cpl times trying to get some things right but its prolly all wrong. I have yet to id alot of coral in there as it is all curled up still some has come out and I have ideas on whats what.

I set it up and let it settle.

temp 70.9 ph of 7.9. ( quality hanna ph meter not a cheapie reads temp too)

Next day I went to LFS and got 5 gallon pre made and had water tested.

0 nitrates 25ppm of ammonia ph of 7.9 alk of 9. Salinity of 1.023 thats what they tested so far.

I bought micro Bacter 7 and 8.4

I added 1 cap full of 8.4 and two capfuls of the bacter7.

let stuff open up and fed each a lil reef snow at moonliggt.

timers set 12 hrs full bulbs...blue alone for 30 min before and after. Moon leds the rest of the night cycle.

got water home water temp 80 so dropped heater down. Tank holding at around 78 on money. Ph 8.0. Water temp now 78.3.

changed the 5 gallons out w the recommended swap- cleaned some surface algea while doing this. Looks better.

was advised to get a cleaner shrimp and "crew".

I have noticed I have : two hermit crabs- one small slug- lots of tiny snails (name starts w a c)- and one big snail

I want a peppermint shrimp.

After water change water temp was 74.3 ph 7.9.

I added the bacter and 8.4 at that time.


am I on the right track? Lol

my tank has :

Skimner
bio balls removed
some filter rig with mechanical filters into a bag of (coral?) Then another bigger bag of something ( more coral??) Then a piece of live rock under that...then a hole cut to even the water level ( some slit mod ryan mentioned) then another big bag of ( something ?) W more coral under that I believe. This chabver has the automatic water top off. Then into the sump chamber.


Im trying to research all I can..i cant sleep at night!! Lol



wanting to add a light and add the good algea to whatecer chanber I need and want to do whatever I can to learn this system and its twerks n perks. Im soooo new! Lol

Anyway im putting up pics of tank before he let it go..and then after I did a "rough" setup.

mating pair of nemos
some kinds of anemones
star polyp ( spelling?)
Some zinnia things
a cpl species of shroom
some other things but have no clue!


Will get photos of filter setup ...


1st q! Is it better to pull filter during the day or moonlight?

I assume any Food that gets washed back in coukd be eatin but dont know best time etc...


What would YOU do with what im workin with as far as maintence other than getting calcium and phosphorous tested? - the pet store said wait toll ammonia at 0 then add shrimp etc.......and

q #3 what are all these media bags. He called them diff names but idk. I dont expect yall to know even w pics but I am thinking that ppl are running similar setups.

Pointers??

these are the tank in its glory before let go a lil and move...I will get other pics but I think I have to resize my camera pics....

I have alot of small critters floating around assume I coukd support some more fish etc.... id like more frags n stuff abd will be happy to buy any. I REALLY want this to be a neon tank and I will work hard to get it right. Im very good with water and have prior expierence but not saltwater at all would like advice on what you all might add to get this tbing bangin agian...it needs some tlc now but I kniw its not that bad. I was waiting to clean the glass fully till I got advice.

I want to take itty bitty baby steps.ive read that nothing but bad things happen fast with reefing.
thanks for looking!!!


all advice welcome!!
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[just josh]

I keep forgetting things...I am giing to do weekly water changes at 5 gal a pop...store made...I have a 7 chamber ro unit and want to eventuslly batch my own.

I know not to use any cleaners around it at all...no soapy hands...etc
water temp 78.... feed every other day etc...I git the main basics ...just no exp w this setup and it being saltwater.

Edit: Trying to resize pics of the tank now....


I added a piece of base rock to give more area and crevices. Id like to add a lil blue lobster some day.

tank needs higher center pile and stuff moved to make happy but idk whats what. I wanted to let it sit for a few days and just keep adding the 8.4 till its right and no ammonia but isnt 25ppm low? Idk!

I need new good algea and a new basket for it and want to put it in the back...the one in tgere looks dark n not healthy to me but Idk...the mice was long and some of the water got cold ( not the majority w the fish n frags n coral)


Will get fikter pics if its ok to pull the baskets out at night im reak new to this and dont want to mess ANYTHING up.
thanks!!!!
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[just josh]

Tried to edit again but woukdnt let me...so this is edited n added sorry!!


I need new good algea and a new basket for it other basket is old and dingy n all covered in algea. Im still learning names of this stuff sorry!!!

and put it in the back w a light...the one in there looks dark n not healthy to me but Idk...the move was long and some of the water got cold ( not the majority w the fish n frags n coral) is why it got down to almost 70....but the nemos are fine and acting STARVED lol very voracious eaters!!! And even when they look fat and full they still want food...


Glass needs to be cleaned too...and need a new powerhead as the one ge had quit....

 

[just josh]

Is this .25 ppm or 25 ppm in your opinion. I didnt know if they said it was 25 just to sell me tbe bacter7.....???


I also cant upload anymore pics...
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[just josh]

Ok found a good link in ammonia.

finally something I can sift through and laid out simple.


http://www.fishchannel.com/fish-health/healthy-aquariums/controlling-ammonia.aspx">http://www.fishchannel.com/fish-health/healthy-aquariums/controlling-ammonia.aspx</a>

anyway thinking of parts per million and tge number 25 it jyst seems low to me but I understand the only acceptable amount is 0.

will be making an easy FAQ for a complete newbie like me as I go along and learn...way to much stuff everywhere or compiled into three page long brick paragraphs that you get lost in!! :p

still looking for the easy all in one page of links for each thing thats easily laid out without having to dig through 5 pages to get a simple answer of whats acceptable and whats not...to dos n donts...etc

 

[tbub1221]

Welcome to the forum.
It's a lot to absorb learning all about your water chemistry.
I also keep a Biocube , I would possibly take pics of the equipment if you can't ID it , once we can I'd what your working with we can best teach you to operate it.
I would try and get the temp under control fluctuations between 70-80 in a day could verywell damage coral , not to mention it will keep them from opening , shoot for a target of say 78 or there abouts.
I use to do a 5g weekly change , but I found it was more than was needed and by changing too much water it affects water chemistry too much making my creatures retract for a few days.
Just how much wc is needed would depend on the bioload and the amounts of sand and rock you have in the display.
For example. In my system I have approx 25lbs of sand and 12-15 lbs rock if I had to guess , so take total tank volume minus 5-6 gallons for rock etc my total volume is closer to 20-23 gal so changing that much water could do more aggravating to the coral than good. I personally do 3g per week but like I said it all depends on your system and what works for you.
Read as much as possible and it will begin to make since.
I'd make my main concern water quality , moving a tank can cause another cycle and could potentially kill the coral because there very fragile and it would really suck to jump in this hobby head first only to have the existing stock die due to unawareness .
Buy good quality test kits (dont bother with API kits there garbage) you will be testing a lot IMO atleast 1x. Bi daily if not daily until its stable and your comfortable.
Also purchase a refractometer to monitor the salinity it can't fluctuate , stability is key in this hobby.
So look at test kits , read reviews but IMO Red sea and seachem are 2 of the finer kits but there are others that may say different , read as much as possible on all the corals and creatures you have so you can fully understand there needs , do not put the water you bought pre made in your ATO its only for water changes , if you do your salinity will increase as water evaporates out again damaging live stock from saline swings.
Nothing good happens fast in this hobby so anything that's changing really fast one way or another probably isn't good.
At this point in your reef tank crash course Google will be your buddy.
There are tons of awesome resources on the net , seek them out , I'm fairly certain there isn't anything you could ask that someone else has not already.
I hope your live stock takes the transition and move well
Good luck (Remember to ask questions there are no bad questions , and read read read...

 

[tbub1221]

just josh;916041 wrote: Ok found a good link in ammonia.

finally something I can sift through and laid out simple.


http://www.fishchannel.com/fish-health/healthy-aquariums/controlling-ammonia.aspx">http://www.fishchannel.com/fish-health/healthy-aquariums/controlling-ammonia.aspx</a>

anyway thinking of parts per million and tge number 25 it jyst seems low to me but I understand the only acceptable amount is 0.

will be making an easy FAQ for a complete newbie like me as I go along and learn...way to much stuff everywhere or compiled into three page long brick paragraphs that you get lost in!! :p

still looking for the easy all in one page of links for each thing thats easily laid out without having to dig through 5 pages to get a simple answer of whats acceptable and whats not...to dos n donts...etc[/QUOTE]
25ppm ammonia is very high and Will kill coral , don't add anything in the tank coral, fish , or cuc until your past the mini cycle.
Read all about setting up sw tank and the cycle etc (every thing you know about fw you can toss out the window it is very different)
Also this was an after thought to my earlier post , buying premade salt water is ok , but you really need a high quality reef crystal , it contains elements the tank needs to thrive unlike regular salts such is used in fish only systems.
This is why reef keepers prefer to mix there own water .

 

[picoreefguy]

welcome to the club josh seems like youre off to a good start my only advice is to get your ammonia down and shorten your light cycle. if you run your lights at full blast for 12 hours a day you will most likely bleach your corals and grow lots of algae. try shortening it to 8 hours with the first and last hour being just the blue bulbs.

 

[just josh]

Awesome!!!! Thank u guys so much for your time!! I dinbt mention...the 70 -80 swing...that happened over 2 days...the water temp had dropped cuz the move.

the temp has been steady at 78.

thanks again!!!

 

[jennm]

OK... I'm up to speed now

I'm surprised the LFS didn't suggest you get some Prime or Alpha to manage that .25 of ammonia right away. There was a big temp swing etc. in the move, but that is what it is and you seem to have resolved that.

The first thing I would do is get some Prime (or Alpha) and let that put a band-aid on the ammonia.

Next thing - take a breath I love your enthusiasm - it's a good thing... but you will need to let things settle out before you add anything else. I would not add any livestock until everything settles out, no ammonia or nitrite, and nitrate below 20 (closer to zero the better).

Now that it's moved, it needs some time. It's hard to be patient but it will pay off in the long haul. Now is a good time to figure out what all you have, what it needs etc.

I'd suggest no more than a 10 hour photoperiod - and having the blue (actinic) on before and after to simulate dawn and dusk is just fine

Keep calm and reef on!

Jenn

 

[just josh]

Thank u jenn!!!!

 

[thecanman]

Way to go josh my reeding buddy we can learn a lot together

 

[just josh]

The can man.....that wouldnt happen to be my brother in law would it??

Hes the guy who had to listen to me in the car for over 2 hrs to and fro while goin to get the tank.


I couldnt have done it without him!!!

 

[thecanman]

That would be me

 

[just josh]

Poor feller!!!

 

[nhannon8]

Hey Josh. Welcome to the addiction. I love the 29 Bio cube and have had a hard time keeping my wife from buying one. I am about six months in with my 75 gal and loving it. Like Jenn said, and she is a wealth of knowledge, it's time to let things settle and take a breath. The biggest thing I have learned so far is no good things happen fast in a reef. Prime is a great idea, and I would get that ASAP to help with the ammonia. Once you get that under control and get through the mini cycle you are having then you can see what direction you want to go. If you decide to go with Cheato to help with nitrates I would be willing to give you some. It's about time for me to trim mine back anyway. I am in Woodstock also and you are welcome to stop by and see my slice of the ocean anytime.

 

[brandonmason]

I was going to toss in my two cents but if you are related to Ronnie then I'll pass... anyone related to him has my sympathy.

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[just josh]

Lmao! Sup brandon??

Feel free to kick in anytime!!

Im fresh to the saltwater reef!

Edit: Ohh thanks hannon!!!


I am letting everything balance off before I fool with adding or pulling anything.

id like to get rid of some of the frags in there and move to neons when tge time is right and I know I wont kill everything off lol

thank you all for chiming in!!!!!!!!!!

 

[brandonmason]

Its like everyone says... be patient good things come to those who wait. It took me 3 years before I was comfortable enough to try sps. Everyday is still a learning curve.... what might work on someone else's tank might go differently in yours. Stick around here and most guys will lend a hand.... that's why we are here... to see you have success...

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[just josh]

Thanks man!!!!