Hello all,
I recently (9-29-04) purchased a 75 gallon tank which has been setup for about a year. It has about 2" of sand as the floor. When I got it, it had 3 plastic tree stumps in it, 2 standard 4' flourscent lights, a Fluval 404 multi-stage-filter, and the following livestock:
3-stripe damsel
pink & blue spotted goby
12" snowflake eel
lightning whelk
hermit crab
I was only able to carry about 5 gallons of the original water with the fish in an ice chest to my home (about a 30 mile trip). Once at home, I put an airstone in the ice chest to keep the oxygen level up while I mixed the water.
Using Instant Ocean, I mixed up the water 5 gals at a time and tested the specific gravity before adding it to the tank. After getting the tank full, I hooked up the filter, and let it circulate for about an hour, and tested the pH and SG. The pH in the ice chest was 7.6, and the new tank was 7.8. I began transfering 1 cup of water from the tank to the ice chest every 30 minutes for the 1st hour, then did it every 15 minutes, putting some back into the tank to keep the ice chest from over filling. did this for about 4 hours total before introducing the livestock to the tank. The next morning the Damsel was dead.
The other fish didn't eat for the 1st 2 days, then began taking pieces of scallop from a feeding stick. They are all doing well now.
On Oct 1st, I bought 2 Live Rocks, some Tropical Science brand NITROMAX MARINE Maxium-Density Live Nitrifying Bacteria, some Kent Marine brand SUPERBUFFER-dKH, Coralife 10,000k 40 watt 4' light, & Coralife ACTINIC 03 Blue 40 watt 4' light. I also connected 2 airstones to a Profile 9500 air pump, and have them in the tank. The powerhead you see in the pictures is not hooked-up, because it make a lot of noise, and puts out very little flow. Just left it in for the bacteria it may have on it.
The pH was up to 8.2 as of 10-06-04.
My wife keeps wanting to put more fish in, but I told her we need to keep these alive for a few weeks first. Not sure what other fish would go in with the eel either.
Also I need to know what tests to run, and how often. I have the Saltwater Master brand Liquid Test Kit, which tests for pH, Ammonia, Nitrite & Nitrate.
Also how often should I change out water, and how much at a time?
What about the cleaning the filter? Do I need a Protein Skimmer?
Pictures are available here:
http://users2.ev1.net/~jbicb3/photog...1/Fish001.html
Thanks in advance for all your help.
Jerry



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