Need help 55gal. Reef Tank

[7digits]

Really all you should need at this point, even if there are small corals on the rocks, is light and water. As far as your ph goes, it shouldn't be too much of a concern at this point. If you bought a buffer product I'd say use it sparingly or not at all until you can test for it. If you can't test for it yet, then don't use it. In the coming months you will be surprised at all the life your tank has, even without doing anything to it.

[Steve McKay]

Low PH= Low pH: Causes and Cures by Randy Holmes-Farley - Reefkeeping.com

High PH= High pH: Causes and Cures by Randy Holmes-Farley - Reefkeeping.com

[Playful]

Thank you for the links, very helpful. Well we are in week #2 now and my husband has added a few critters of the "clean-up" crew. I know it is too early (or maybe not in some cases) but because we are just starting out I think it is too early. So far we have added, 4 hermit crabs, 1 stripe damsel, 1 blue damsel, 1 snail (believe it is a Trochoidea) and lastly 1 peppermint shrimp. I was alittle discouraged when he brought them home as I really did'nt want the fish yet and the crabs are not blue or scarlet. The snail has been my biggest worry as it is not the type I asked him to get (astrea, turbo) or maybe it is just a different sub-type. The snail has left a huge pile of waste, when I mean huge I mean "wow that's alot of crap".

We still only have 2 live rocks, more are coming any day now. One of the rocks we have confirmed a "shrimp-sized" hitch-hiker but in over a week we have not seen him until last night. Almost looks like a shrimp with the way the antenna's are on top (long) and they are black and white. Have not physically seen him yet, just his antenna's hanging out. Hoping it is a shrimp but I doubt I would be that lucky.

Anyhow within 12-16 hours the snail has begun to turn sorta white. We checked out salt levels and they are a tad high so in process of handling that. He also seems to be hanging near or around the top of the rock that I mentioned was turning alittle white. My main concern is his waste though. Should I be worried about all this waste? We are planning to buy Aquarium Gravel Cleaner: Eheim Sludge Extractor is this a good idea? We have fine sand however, not gravel. But the siphon said the same thing and people have assured me the siphon is what most people use to aid in tank clean-up.

Additionally, The sand made a drift while we were setting up the tank. A nice little hill, everything got flattened out except this one area under the power-head. The way the flow is jetting it has collected this snail waste and brought it back to the drift. It all seems to hover and collect there. I dont know if this is a bad or good thing? All the snail waste is neatly collected there but Im assuming this will cause alot of algae eventually? Should I get rid of this snail? As we mostly want just a Reef aquarium with at most 4 fish in it. Trying to keep the bio-load as light as possible..always.









I am not good with this camera, still fiddling with it.

[rluix]

Thank you for the links, very helpful. Well we are in week #2 now and my husband has added a few critters of the "clean-up" crew. I know it is too early (or maybe not in some cases) but because we are just starting out I think it is too early. So far we have added, 4 hermit crabs, 1 stripe damsel, 1 blue damsel, 1 snail (believe it is a Trochoidea) and lastly 1 peppermint shrimp. I was alittle discouraged when he brought them home as I really did'nt want the fish yet and the crabs are not blue or scarlet. The snail has been my biggest worry as it is not the type I asked him to get (astrea, turbo) or maybe it is just a different sub-type. The snail has left a huge pile of waste, when I mean huge I mean "wow that's alot of crap".

We still only have 2 live rocks, more are coming any day now. One of the rocks we have confirmed a "shrimp-sized" hitch-hiker but in over a week we have not seen him until last night. Almost looks like a shrimp with the way the antenna's are on top (long) and they are black and white. Have not physically seen him yet, just his antenna's hanging out. Hoping it is a shrimp but I doubt I would be that lucky.

Anyhow within 12-16 hours the snail has begun to turn sorta white. We checked out salt levels and they are a tad high so in process of handling that. He also seems to be hanging near or around the top of the rock that I mentioned was turning alittle white. My main concern is his waste though. Should I be worried about all this waste? We are planning to buy Aquarium Gravel Cleaner: Eheim Sludge Extractor is this a good idea? We have fine sand however, not gravel. But the siphon said the same thing and people have assured me the siphon is what most people use to aid in tank clean-up.

Additionally, The sand made a drift while we were setting up the tank. A nice little hill, everything got flattened out except this one area under the power-head. The way the flow is jetting it has collected this snail waste and brought it back to the drift. It all seems to hover and collect there. I dont know if this is a bad or good thing? All the snail waste is neatly collected there but Im assuming this will cause alot of algae eventually? Should I get rid of this snail? As we mostly want just a Reef aquarium with at most 4 fish in it. Trying to keep the bio-load as light as possible..always.









I am not good with this camera, still fiddling with it.

Clean up crew doesn't include any fish, by introducing the fish this early you are submitting them to ammonia spikes, and with more ammonia, more algea, more stuff you prob. don't want in the tank.
Adding fish this early is allways dangerous , and can put the whole system in risk, as the cycle is not completed yet, even more you don't even have the right ammount of biofiltration ( live rock ), the fish will prob. stress, hopefully it will not get ick, but if it does, its bad news for the whole tank, as you will have to use medicaments, and most are copper based, wich is very bad for the fish, and other habitants.
And no, no siphons for sand, it contains living creatures, by siphoning it you might be damagin their home.
I am not trying to be mean, just advising.
Also, why curel world, why do the damsels have to be the ones to suffer every time
For once i wan't to see someone cycling a big tank with a shark.

PS: Steve, how do you get the avatar? i wan't to get a Damsel Fish Avatar.

[Parrothead]

Playful,

I'm sorry to put things this way, and if I get banned, I get banned, don't care at this point,


Have you done 1 iota of research regarding owning a saltwater, let alone a reef tank???????????

Based on your last post, I have to say no you or your husband have not. Please, PLEASE, take sometime and read through this,
Click here before you ask, (links to answers)

and if you get confused, ASK us, not whoever you are taking advice from at the moment. You never, ever, ever add fish to cycle a tank, let alone add them or a clean up crew when you are just starting your cycle, who is telling you this?????? Please don't listen to them anymore, if you want to know what you need at any given point, ask, don't just buy, and by all means don't listen to who ever it is you are listening to, they ain't got a clue.

Do your homework, and if confused ask, if you're mad at me, figure out how to pm me and we will discuss it there. Good luck.

[Playful]

Yeah,

You sound angry but it's really not necessary. Although I am not the only one in the world who has cycled with fish I am also aware there could be problems from doing so. But my question still remains however about the snail waste. Would the siphon link I provided above be ok to use when the time comes?

Lastly I have read iota. ;)
I have armed myself with vast amounts of knowledge on owning and maintaining a fish aquarium but there is still lots to learn, a lifetime of learning even. I know my husband is jumping the gun abit but I can only help him so much before he learns these things on his own as well.

Still thanks, for all the information and caring enough to share your opinion. I appreciate all the feedback, good or not so good.

P.S

The LFS is who told him these critters would be fine to start with.

[7digits]

'dont listen to LFS people. They only want to sell you stuff. The people here care about the well being of these living creatures and have nothing to gain from offering you their advice or you from you being in this hobby. They are only trying to help you be successful. At this point you should be focusing on preparing your tank, spending your money on enough live rock to provide the proper means to break down waste and also on a skimmer if you don't have one. By jumping the gun you are only setting your system up to fail. Did the lfs tell you that damsels are highly aggressive and will probably fight with later additions? The folks here would have.

[rluix]

Indeed, the Damsel fish will prob. take big part of the tank as hes territory, and defend it, and wen you later add new fish, he will prob. fight it out of hes territory, even if that means the death of the new fish.

[Parrothead]

Yeah,

You sound angry but it's really not necessary. Although I am not the only one in the world who has cycled with fish I am also aware there could be problems from doing so. But my question still remains however about the snail waste. Would the siphon link I provided above be ok to use when the time comes?

Lastly I have read iota. ;)
I have armed myself with vast amounts of knowledge on owning and maintaining a fish aquarium but there is still lots to learn, a lifetime of learning even. I know my husband is jumping the gun abit but I can only help him so much before he learns these things on his own as well.

Still thanks, for all the information and caring enough to share your opinion. I appreciate all the feedback, good or not so good.

P.S

The LFS is who told him these critters would be fine to start with.

Playful,

You indicated that your tank has been up and running going into week 2, which means your tank has probably started the nitrogen cycle, you know, Amm. spikes = nitrite spikes = finally turning into nitrates, the amm. and nitrite levels are or will become too toxic to sustain life, fish or clean up crew,

yes, people are still told to cycle tanks with fish, this advice usually comes from LFS, whose job and lifestyle depend on selling fish and stuff that you may or may not need for your aquarium, this is how they pay the bills, In rare cases you will find a lfs that actually cares about you and your tank, but like I said that is rare, most will tell you its fine, because they want to make the sale.

That being said, your husband just dumped a bunch of life into water that is probably quite toxic due to rising amm. levels, you really needed that test kit before your husband went to the lfs, that way you would have known your water was too toxic for life. Also you mention your sg. being too high and you are working on that, how high is it anyway, for a reef tank you want it to be around 1.025 assuming you are using a hydrometer vs. a refractometer.

Please don't purchase or allow the hubby to purchase any life for the tank till you and your husband can actually test your water for amm. and nitrites, make sure they read 0 before adding anything else.

Sorry if I sounded mad, but I get tired of LFS's telling people its ok to put something in their tank, when in fact it is the exact opposite.

[ToddTT]

yes, people are still told to cycle tanks with fish, this advice usually comes from LFS, whose job and lifestyle depend on selling fish and stuff that you may or may not need for your aquarium, this is how they pay the bills

....

Please don't purchase or allow the hubby to purchase any life for the tank till you and your husband can actually test your water for amm. and nitrites, make sure they read 0 before adding anything else.

+1

[Playful]

Did the lfs tell you that damsels are highly aggressive and will probably fight with later additions? The folks here would have.

No they did not, but from reading I knew they were territorial but not aggressive. I guess I assumed with 55 gallons 2 of them could find a area. Yeah, trust me, I know my mate is making some bad decisions. He works alot and when I say alot, like 12-14 hours a day so I throw countless amounts of info at him. It does'nt help however when the LFS tells him what he wants to hear.

The live rock and testing kits should be here any day now and then I'll see how much damage weve caused. Lets say in a worse scenario, everything dies. As of right now, and what everyone is saying here that's almost guaranteed. Would the tank have to re-cycle another few months?

[Parrothead]

Playful,

Let's say worse case does happen, right now you would be out a couple damsels and a small clean-up crew, Not a huge loss compared to what could happen,

For now, think about wether you want a couple mean little fish in your tank and decide before the rock gets there, then get your rock in the tank, and at this point you said you would also have your test kit

Now, please read carefully, Once you have your rock in the tank, you are gonna cycle or continue the cycle that has already started, monitor your water quaility, post your results here so we can follow along and help you out step by step, but for God's sake, no more fish till your finish the intial cycle, it shouldn't take a couple of months, but the BIGGEST asset in this hobby is..........PATIENCE..............

Go slow and easy, and if you or your hubby has any questions, ask here, not your lfs, they are already giving your second half bad advice, Neither I nor anyone here makes one redcent for helping, we do it because this hobby turns into a passion real fast if done right.


Keep in mind, Slow and Easy, and be patient

[Playful]

..........PATIENCE..............

Yeah I know., we won't be adding anymore critters.

For now, think about wether you want a couple mean little fish in your tank

I have definitely taken care of my share of mean fish in the past. (piranha's etc,.) I will take care of the 2 little mean guys I have to the best of my ability until ultimately our bad tank decisions claim thier lives. For this 55 gal. We don't want anymore than 4 fish, one I've had my eye on for awhile now is Saltwater Aquarium Fish for Marine Aquariums: Flame Angelfish

Like I said we mostly want live rocks and soft corals, 3-4 fish, and the CuC. I was planning to follow this recipe: Live Rock - Tampa Bay Saltwater Aquacultured Live Rock - The Package Costs for the CuC. Is this adequate? Is the CuC introduced over-time, periodically, or once the tank has cycled and stable? At this time we are not planning to buy any coral, just observe, adapt, and learn from what will come from the rocks.