shawnw

Hi, im new to this hobby.. i believe that i have done everything right.. i have 2 damsels in my tank right now trying to help cycle the tank and i was just wondering when is it best to start adding new fish and my clean-up crew they have been in there for about 2 days now and nothing has happened to them... all tests are ok.. i am trying to cycle a new tank with new live rock so with that said how long should i wait to add things to my tank...and i also wouldn't mind having corals in my tank when can i add them??

Naeusu

Welp....i've been told that it takes at least 30 days and up to 3 months for a tank to appropriately go through the nitrogen cycle. So i suppose you need to watch for the signs that your tank is ACTUALLY cycling...you need to wait until your test kits show at least some ammonia, then at least some nitrite, and then finally some nitrate and then wait for the tests to start showing no ammonia or nitrites.

As for corals, you can't put anything in your tank that you expect to live without at first having pristine water conditions (ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and phosphates at 0 as well as maintaining appropriate calcium levels) which usually means you need both a sump and protein skimmer as well as having the appropriate lighting.

What kind of corals do you want to keep? certain corals need certain lighting and the cost of the setups can get pretty pricey. Not to mention you can't keep certain fish with corals because the fish will eat them.

aquarist48

Hello ShawnW and Welcome to Fish Lore. Here is a link to the nitrogen cycle that is crucial to fish keeping. It goes into more detail about the ammonia, nitrite and nitrate that Naeusu has mentioned above. Best of luck!
The Aquarium Nitrogen Cycle
Ken

shawnw

thanks for the info... greatly appreciated

MizRamzi

I see you started your tank with LR and live sand and that it's been running for close to 4 weeks. I would say you could add your CUC now. They wont add to your bio load and will help clean up after your fishes. I personally wouldn't add any new fish at this time.
As far as corals you could start out with zoa's. Their great for beginners (of which I am one) they are easy to care for. They do depend on photosynthesis to feed so as long as you have proper lighting, your good to go.
Have fun and keep us posted and don't forget the pic's!!!

shawnw

p.h-8.2
ammonia-0
Nitrite-.50
nitrate-5.0

With that said, my tank is new how can i lower my nitrite and nitrate to 0??

MizRamzi

Water changes! That's about all you can do until your through cycling. How are you feeding your fish?

shawnw

flakes everyday and brine shrimp every 2-3 days

shawnw

I wasnt for sure if i could do a water change now or if i had to wait for the tank to cycle, i havent seen any algae, the fish have only been in there for 3 days and i dont have a clean up crew

MizRamzi

Even during cycling you need to be doing weekly WC, at least 25% keeping your SG consistent. Frequent small amounts is best. You may be over feeding a little. Get you a clean up crew to help with left overs and cut your feedings down to every other day (no your fish wont starve I promise) Don't worry! Your readings are normal for the age of your tank. You do want to make your fish as comfortable as possible by keeping your readings down.
The most important practice in SW is *patience* the more the merrier , which is something that a lot of us lack, If your like me, panic will set in often. Don't give in to it, just run.
Your doing great and keep posting. Worry not about the ton of questions you come up with, we've all been there. Actually I'm still there

shawnw

ok thanks... my next question is, any suggestions on my clean up crew?

MizRamzi

Hermits are always hurgry lil buggers but sometimes a little destructive, nassarius snails are great sand sifters as are cerith snails, peppermint shrimps are beautiful and too always hungry but they do hide a lot. These are just some that I personally own but there are many you can choose from. Just do a little research and find what you like. The ones I've mentioned are the most common.
You have a nice size tank, go crazy! But remember, research, research and research some more.

shawnw

when doing a water change, how long do i wait to add new salt water.. i know when the SG is right?? and should i put a powerhead in the new water to circulate the water more

Naeusu

When you do a water change you're supposed to take out a certain amount of salt water from your tank, then put the same amount of salt water back into the tank with about the same salinity as the water already in the tank... if you don't put saltwater back into the tank during water changes your salinity dips way too low...

this is not to be confused with doing freshwater top offs when you just add a little regular water without salt when the tank has had some evaporation and needs the salinity to be lowered a little.

if you're mixing your saltwater in a bucket, using a powerhead helps to disperse and mix the salt more quickly imo.

shawnw

thanks.. thats what i had figured on so im gonna go run some tests and check everything... and see just how off my tank is on nitrates

ATP

When your tank is cycled, I would only do water changes every two to three weeks. (unless you have a lot of algae). Normally, you would add water everyday (RO). Doing to much water changes will mess up your water chemistry. (mainly magnesium, calcium, KH).

I would add scarlet hermits and emerald crabs. For snails, I would make a combination of Astraea snails, turbo snails, and Tronchus snails.

All of thme do different jobs

shawnw

im about to do a water change now but before i change i did a test and it reads that the:
pH-8.2
ammonia- 0 PPM
nitrite-0
nitrate -5

Naeusu

Ph is a little low...i think...i think it's supposed to be about 8.4 so it's not really low enough to get concerned over... i've heard varying opinions on which ph is best. Everything else seems to be in good parameters. It's gonna kind suck on pocketwise, but perhaps you should buy a "reef keeper's kit" that has a test for KH, (the hardness of your tank water), phosphate (dissolved organics) and Calcium.

Depending on those parameters it can affect your coral and algae growth.

As for clean up crew, i started out with 2 peppermint shrimp (which promptly disappeared when i put them in the tank and then died shortly thereafter) and then changed to two emerald crabs. I love those little buggers BUT when i put them in there i did not have a lot of Coraline algae. Now that my Coraline is finally growing, they are picking and eating it off the rocks like candy...I've heard hermit crabs and snails will not eat Coraline but i haven't had any experience with them yet...

I'm thinking of turning in the crabs since they can't keep their pincers to themselves and getting a brittle star fish which won't bother the algae or corals and will instead eat the detritus on the tank floor...and they're cool lookin.

shawnw

i like the peppermint shrimp.. i want a few but some people say not to get them... i dont really care for the hermit crabs but i dont know... i dont see any algae growth just yet... it is only about 1-2 week old tank so i dont know when i will start to see algae....

Naeusu

With a new tank like that it might take awhile. The good kind of algae (coralline which is purple or reddish) can take weeks to really show a good bloom whereas the nuisance algae (green, brown, or red slime) can show up practically overnight. The peppermint shrimp were nice but they do a lot of hiding...all the time... maybe try fire shrimp? they're more pricey but also more showy. When the tank has fish in it you could put in Skunk shrimp which will sit on top of the rocks and clean the detritus off the fish...it's kinda cool to watch. If you don't care about your coralline you can get emerald crabs which are little green crab suckers...they stay pretty small (2 inches) and are funny to watch scurry around. i like the brittle star more tho i think...they look almost like alien tentacles when they hid behind rocks and stick their legs out between them.

MizRamzi

Not sure why anyone would tell you NO peppermint shrimp. Their great little cleaners, bother nothing and are one of the hardiest of shrimp.

shawnw

thanks.. i just dunno where to start i guess....lol... lots of great options

MizRamzi

You do have a lot of options Shawn and there's no hurry. Have fun, get excited! I wish I could go shopping for, oops I mean with you to pick en choose

shawnw

yep..its gonna be fun
my tank is already starting to get the "brown algae"...yuck...not so pretty.....

MizRamzi

Nope that stuff sure aint perddy, (diatoms) it will cover everything! Have fun shopping! Keep us posted on what all you get.

akamel

Why are they saying no peppermints? Im curious b/c I will be setting up a sw tank soon and that one of the things I had planned on getting

shawnw

well i got some turbo snails.... a emerald crab.... some more live rock with corals..
some shrimp that are large and are white with red spots on them....i couldnt find a fish that cleans the sand and sifts through their gills

MizRamzi

I wouldn't worry so much about ph as long as your consistant with your sg/salinity. Your readings are good. I do agree with the importance of a master test kit. Paying close attention to the basic's of a FOWLR tank.