# Marine Tank Newbie



## SnailPuffer (Jun 19, 2010)

Hi, I just started my 14g biocube tank with some cured live rock about a week ago... normal treated water to the correct salinity. i'm going to put in some sand this weekend... there are a bunch of feather dusters came with the rocks... I also have some zoas in there already... looks like the zoas are doing okay so far... tank came with upgraded lights when I bought it... not sure what it is thou ... a few questions I have...

Is it true that all new tanks will go through an algae bloom stage? even with cured live rock?

When can I start putting in my clean up crew?

Any suggestions on a good place to buy macro algaes?


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## monocus (Sep 27, 2010)

you will get brown diatoms first that will disappear in a week or so.then the hair algae,which you can borrow a sea hair to clean that up.even putting cured rock in you probably have some die-off.it is important to check for ammonia around this time coupled with water changes.once your ammonia is down to zero you can slowly start adding livestock.keep checking your phosphate,nitrate and nitrite levels.clean-up crew can be added after there is no ammonia.remember patience-it takes about a year for your tank to mature


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## juicebox (Jun 14, 2010)

Like monocus said, you will get a diatom bloom which is typical of "new tank syndrom", especially with new sand. That being said, although algae blooms (other than diatoms) are common, they are more a symptom of the learning curve and shouldn't be written off as the norm. Algae blooms can be avoided with proper maintenance.

I don't really deal with macros, but I know J&L can order in a wide range of varieties. You might also have fairly good luck getting the more common varieties of other members.


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## lotus (Apr 22, 2010)

I started my first 15 gallon saltwater tank 3 weeks ago and had the brown diatoms and still have the hair algae. I reduced the lights to 5 hours and I had a little bit of Nitrite a couple of days ago. Just do weekly water changes and monitor the water parameters. I heard that it's a good idea to wait until all the water parameters are good before adding any livestock. The key is patience, which I know is hard.


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## SnailPuffer (Jun 19, 2010)

Thank you all for your advice  was hoping I won't get much algae bloom using cured rocks... oh well... haha... guess I have to wait... I only have test strips at home... I use these for my freshwater tank... are these any good for salt water tank for testing the parameters? the testing kits are damn expensive


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## Chewie (Jul 21, 2010)

Test strips are not that accurate. IMO spend the $25 on a marine test kit , don't risk your investment on cheap test strips. They are on sale right now at J&L right now. Good luck on tank.

Aquarium Pharm. Test Kits



SnailPuffer said:


> Thank you all for your advice  was hoping I won't get much algae bloom using cured rocks... oh well... haha... guess I have to wait... I only have test strips at home... I use these for my freshwater tank... are these any good for salt water tank for testing the parameters? the testing kits are damn expensive


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## SnailPuffer (Jun 19, 2010)

Chewie: kool~ just got a box of test kit from Petsmart in Richmond today... they're also on sale... a bit more expensive @ $29.99 than JL @ $25.00...

For starter... I'm putting in my cleanup crew first and a couple bigger hermits... I'm thinking of feeding some algae sheets to them... can I use unsalted nori, sushi seaweed? I've found this on the internet and was noted that this can be a cheaper alternative to petstore algae sheets... how often should I feed them? I'm going to keep a few macro algae in the tank too...


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## monocus (Sep 27, 2010)

wait on your clean up crew till after your ammonia has reached zero.you have to have some patience for a while.there is no reason to feed a clean up crew,they will eat the algae off your rocks and glass and any leftover food from feedings.start with a cheap hearty fish to cycle your tank(molly,clown,firefish,chromus,damsel,etc) unseasoned nori is great for feeding all herbivores


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## Chewie (Jul 21, 2010)

+1 on Monocus just NOT a damsel. I used a damsel to cycle my tank way back and ended up having to pull everything out to catch it as it was a huge bully to the new fish I added after cycle completed. Mean old SOBs they are. I have heard that some people actully add pee (human) to their tank to start the cycle...LOL


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## SnailPuffer (Jun 19, 2010)

lol Chewie... I really want to know who did that to their tank hahaha... just tested my water today... it's only been a week since I started the cycling...

PH: 8.2 - 8.4
Ammonia: 0 ppm
Nitrite: 0 ppm
Nitrate: 40 ppm

Not going to add clean up crews yet... even the test results shows 0 ammonia... i'm just going to add some sand and do a small water change and let it run for another week... then i'll test it again... if I get the same results... or better... I'll add the cleanup crew... not in a hurry  i've also seen a copepod mobbing around the rocks once...

Also going to start an internal refugium in a couple weeks too... I'll put some cheatos, rubbles and fine sand...

I was thinking of cycling my tank with a clown... but I heard during the process it burns their lungs? so cruel... is this true?


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## noisetherapy (Jul 25, 2011)

SnailPuffer said:


> I was thinking of cycling my tank with a clown... but I heard during the process it burns their lungs? so cruel... is this true?


It's true that it causes the fish quite the discomfort. They will get really stressed, maybe even take a dirt nap.

The way I started my cycle, was using a cocktail shrimp. Buy a cocktail shrimp ring, throw a couple in your tank, and watch the next Canucks game with a delicious appy!


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## Chewie (Jul 21, 2010)

I think that the burning lungs would be from high ammonia levels. You should add the sand asap as it needs time to cycle as well ( become live) If you know anybody that could give you a bit of their live sand it would help "seed" your tank as well. And using a shrimp is a great idea.



SnailPuffer said:


> lol Chewie... I really want to know who did that to their tank hahaha... just tested my water today... it's only been a week since I started the cycling...
> 
> PH: 8.2 - 8.4
> Ammonia: 0 ppm
> ...


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## tang daddy (Apr 21, 2010)

Yah don't use fish for cycle it's not friendly.... The sand should been the first thing in the tank, then the lr you've kinda gone backwards which isn't a big deal. If you plan on putting sand or aragonite in the tank the easiest way would be to remove liverock and water then add sand, scape the rock then add water back using a bowl or saucer to diffuse the water so it doesn't churn/disturb the sand causing a dust storm.

Also as long as you have liverock that is more than enough to cycle the tank,,don't need cocktail shrimp unless your tank is using dead or macro rock.

The only way to avoid a cycle is taking the water, sand and rock from an established system. Otherwise even if the rock is cured there will still be a cycle because the sand and water is new!

Good luck and happy reefing!


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## SnailPuffer (Jun 19, 2010)

yea the initial water i've put in are cycle water from another tank...rocks are all cured... sand are not thou... but i thought that this can be seeded by the live rocks... anyway... i put in the sand and created a massive sand storm lol... all sand are settled now... my snail was trying to get outta the tank lol... he's okay now... well... i think the guy who gave me the sand has aptasia... I'm seeing small clear hairy stuff on my live rocks... didn't notice them before I add the sand... and the guy who gave me live rocks never had an aptasia problem... >< thinking of getting a peppermint shrimp after a couple weeks... just want to wait a bit longer... the peppermint sold at JLAquatics doesn't seem like the one that actively scavenges for aptasia? I believe this (link:Saltwater Aquarium Shrimp for Marine Reef Aquariums: Peppermint Shimps) should be the one I should get to rid of aptasia? not link:Peppermint Shrimp ?


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## Chrisrex (Jan 20, 2012)

no offense but I think its an unwise choice to add any creatures to your tank until your tank is fully cycled it will take about 4 to 5 weeks you got to have patience


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## Chewie (Jul 21, 2010)

Just to let you know peppermint shrimp are not 100% guaranteed to eat your aiptaisa. I have been fighting (and loosing) a battle with them for a bit now. Have added pepermint shrimp but they have not touched it yet. I do feed a little to heavily tho (can't resist the fish following my every move when I'm in the room, giving me the feed me, feed me look) so they may just be getting enough food from that. The ones at jl are the right ones. There are a few different colorings of them depending on location collected and time of year (taken from first link, overview)

As far as adding livestock to your tank I'm under the impression that unless there is something feeding the benificial bacteria (fish poo, left over food etc.) then it will not establish itself. This is why you add fish slowly. Gives the bacteria time to grow so it can manage the waste output of said fish. correct me if I am wrong anybody


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## monocus (Sep 27, 2010)

not wrong-and if you do add a fish or two in your cycling -it is after a month to 6 weeks after curing the live rock-keeping an eye on your ammonia.water change is recommended when you see any spikes in the ammonia.as for aptasia-use berghia


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## SnailPuffer (Jun 19, 2010)

found another hitch hiker from the liverocks i got ... it's a small white crab... dunno what kind of crab it is... it's been hiding in the liverocks for three weeks now... guess it has been eating the copepods on the live rocks...  going to do my third water test... i'm seeing brown diatom on the sand... going for another water change too... should be adding my clean up crew soon...  well when all my parameters are zero... i'm going to start adding one or two small fishes...

What should I add for my first fish? 1. Tomato clown 2. Percular clown 3. goby 

Vote anyone?

I'm starting to feel that my tank is too small... crap.


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## monocus (Sep 27, 2010)

clowns are more hearty-just choose 1 type of clown-tomatoes grow larger than percs


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## SnailPuffer (Jun 19, 2010)

Third water test results:

PH: 8.2-8.4
Ammonia: 0 ppm
Nitrite: 0 ppm
Nitrate: 20 ppm

I'll go with percular then... since my tank is so small...


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## noisetherapy (Jul 25, 2011)

I find that False Perculas are the best looking and you can't beat the real "Nemo"

They made a full length movie about them!


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## SnailPuffer (Jun 19, 2010)

Here it is... my newbie tank... and my first salt fish.. finding NEMO! lol... I bought two actually... and one died from clownfish diseases.... f**k... oh well... I wanted to have two so they have company... it was a bad experience having to pick out the dead nemo that got stuck to my filter... feels very mushy and rubbery... and his month was exploded with white spots...

Anyway... going to add a cleaner shrimp next week... and complete my internal refugium...

I'll be going away for three weeks... and there will be no one in the house to take care of my tank either... is there any marine fish feeding blocks? Nemo is not taking flakes at all... he's just been eating little worms on the glass and frozen blood worms...

or can I just let him shrive on the pods in my tank? anyway to boost my pod colony?

Cheers...


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## PurpleMonkey (Nov 28, 2011)

For feeding, your best bet it to get a friend (preferably with fish experience) to come in and add top off water and to feed your fish. Don't assume they know how much to feed. Pre package all food (or you come home to algae/cyano bloom like I did after 3 weeks -- and my friend has FW + SW experience).

Nice scape, I believe you can just push the false floor in chamber one out (in the back part of your tank) and stick the heater in there. check out some of the mediabasket options for upgraded filtration options.


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## gklaw (May 31, 2010)

Don't feed anything but pellet. It will get trained fast enough. All you need is a friend to feed a few pellets and top up water once every 3-4 days.


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## SnailPuffer (Jun 19, 2010)

one of my friend just told me that the less you feed a fish... the longer it lives cus it will then have to look for food and exercise more and thus healthier... I know that fish do die from too much food and it contaminates the water with too much food... but it seems a bit iffy to me that the lesser you feed the longer a fish lives... my friend is talking about feeding the fish just once a week...! I dunno man... maybe he has lots of pods in his tank...


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## gklaw (May 31, 2010)

It all depends on your filtration and WC scheme. Some do feed once a week and have skinny fish. I feed mine daily and has fat fish.

In SW, if you don't have adequate skimming and WC, then over feed will cause deteriation of Wc and problem. But you only have 1 clown fish, how much can you feed  I have a clown fish in a 8g which was fed daily.


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## SnailPuffer (Jun 19, 2010)

yea... i don't feed much... probably once a day and 1/5 of a frozen blood worm cube... there's a couple crabs and a fuzzy worm that came with the rocks i've bought... minor bioload... and I do about 15%-20% water change a week... well I'll try to train nemo to eat pellets...


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