l33tak

Hello everyone, about two years ago i started fish keeping with a 29g then a 40gl and shortly found myself with third 55gl aquarium!!(I know it can be addicting). So after gaining some experience with fresh water I finally decided to join the (darkside) and start my first saltwater tank and came through with a 12gl aquapod. It came with
# 54 Watt Sunpaq Lighting
# 1x27w Dual Daylight (6,700K + 10,000K)
# 1x27w Dual Actinic (420nm + 460nm)
# 2 Nocturnal Blue Lunar Lights
# Integrated Cooling Fan
# Built-in Internal Filtration
# 160 GPH Pump
# Sponge, Ceramic Rings, Carbon and Bio Ball Media
Soon after i bought 10 pounds of Fiji live rock and some oceanic natural sea salt mix and a 50w heater. With that said I'm looking to start a FOWLR for now. When i got home i rinsed the ceramic rings, bio balls and sponge. After that i filled up a few buckets of water and treated with API clorine conditioner. Then i added the water directly into the aquarium and mixing the salt using 1/2 cup per gallon. I mixed it well for a few minutes and then turned on the air pump and let it circulate for about three hours. Shortly after i added my live rock and had a lot of fun setting it up how i wanted it.

l33tak

hi

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agabr123

very cool, and welcome to fishlore!

l33tak

So i ended up testing my specific gravity yesterday and it was at 1.018, really. I had my tank running barebottom with only live rock for about 3 days with that SG. I didnt have something to measure the sg before with. Then i "read" that live rock can actually start to die off if the waters close to fresh water so soon after i decided to head to my LFS and bought a 5g container with some water and replaced it asap. Today i retested and got 1.021. wooh; ;]] i can see my shrooms n sponge doing a lot better. Also i have a standard 160 GPH pump that came stocked. I want to replace this and get more "flow" going. Any suggestions?

l33tak

Ok, my tanks been up for a few weeks now and i was amazed how fast it cycle after i added live sand. I believe it was done in about three days. Now my sg and pH are a lot more stable at 1.021 and 8.1. A week later i added a fire shrimp and soon after a cleaner shrimp. Both molted within a week after they were introduced to their new home. ;] My calcium is 500+. Took some pics to share, enjoy.

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l33tak

Oh and i added some snails; 5 nassarius, 4 margaritas, 4 cerith and 1 bumble bee snail. Also I'm thinking about adding two perculas soon and a bubble tip anenome for them to host once my tank matures more (4/5 months) will this be a tad overcrowded or work out just fine? gracias

au01st

You're probably still going to want to up the S.G. to 1.025 or so. I honestly don't know if the lighting will support the anemone in that tank.

l33tak

Hey au01st, thanks for the input. I've been trying to get my S.G up slowly with out any drastic changes. Earlier today my hydrometer read 1.023 slightly closer to 1.024. So far so good, and i notice that my copepods had baby's because the back of my tank was scattered with tiny little ones. I guess that's good because I'm thinking about a green mandarin since i really want perculas and an anemone but concerned about the lighting like you mention. Anyways i took more pictures to share. later

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cerianthus

Looking Good!. Wondering if you got that pc of rock as LR or as shroom.
Maybe bought it from another hobbyist? Never seen LR with shroom from lfs as lfs will probably sell it as shroom rock for more $, lol!.

l33tak

Hey, actually i bought that piece of rock from my LFS as LR. There were many other gorgeous pieces from that tank and was priced at $8 dollars for a pound but got it for $6. That piece it's self weighted 5.5 lbs covered with coraline algae. The shrooms were about half the size from what they are now and found starfish, slugs and other really cool creatures. ;;]

au01st

Shrimps are lookin good. Please please do not put a mandarin in there. He will decimate the pod population in a matter of days and will starve to death in a tank that small. There are a few "experts" who have Mandarins in small (20-30 gallon) setups and they require constant attention and are weaned onto frozen food from live feedings. It's a real hassle and should not be attempted, especially on a first SW setup. Yes they're cheap (relatively) and pretty, but they're still living organisms and deserve respect.

l33tak

So i ended up getting a pair of Percula Clown fish. Soon after i acclimated them everything seemed fine, but after close inspection i realize they had grainy salt size dots on them witch i believe is "ICH". I've done some reading and ich is the closest diagnostic I've concluded. I know i should have a quarantine tank but financially i can't right now. Because of this I have Shrooms and shrimp that i believe are sensitive to copper in the main tank and don't want to expose them to that medication. I've read garlic can work but not too sure as there is no deeply research on it. Also will Formalin work removing some of these parasite cysts when I siphon debris from the bottom of the treatment aquarium. Or is there a better way to treating this common disease? I want more experience fish keepers to share their input who have encounter this disease at one time or another and really don't want to lose my fish as i take pride in everything i do and would be a tragedy if it came to down to that.

l33tak

Ok today after class i went over to my local fish store and bought Ich Attach, it's 100% percent organic was recommended by a few friends and a couple experts after several input. For food i bought Spectrum Thera + A by New life non medicated. One of the ingredients is garlic and hopefully it will help the ich fall off. It has Protein, Fiber, Ash, Vitamin A, Vitamin D, Vitamin E and other great ingredients. I treated my aquarium for the first time today and removed the carbon. It's a start and will see what happens.