Need review and advice for new 2' tank.

[ngug]

Hi,

I recently started a marine tank and due to my ignorance my startup was haphazard at best. So now I am trying to correct it.

Tank Info

=============================================

Tank Size: 2 feet tank.

Tank Age : ~3 weeks old

Experience: Same as Tank Age ~3 weeks old

Day 1: Added Saltwater and sand and Protein Skimmer.

Day 3: Added a few pieces of rocks ~1.5kg and 2 clumps of turtle grass. Added a chiller and filter. Didn't know any better, took some tapwater and top up the tank to the level you see in the photo below. Estimated added 1.5 inch of tap water. Added 1 cap of Chem-Safe (purifies tap water). This capful was poured into the tank after added tap water. Added a damselfish.

Day 4: Damselfish had a broken fin and died .

Day 11: Added a bunch of rocks ~3.5kg and 2 red tree-like plant (sponge).

Day 18: Added another 4 kg of rocks and a sea apple.

Day 21: Removed sea apple and gave it to a shop after I read that its bad idea.

Day 24: The water level was 'low' after I added the chiller and filter, so decided to purchase another bag of pre-mixed saltwater to top it up.

Day 25: Added 1 cap of Iodine to feed the starving sponges. Didn't even know they needed feeding.

All in all I estimate around 8-10kg of live rocks. Seabed around 1-1.5 inch of #1 sand topped with a thin layer (.25 inch) of small coral chips.

System:

Resun Cl-280 Chiller

Dolphin C-1600 Filter (has Matrix, Biohomme, PUR-II Water Recharge Ammonia/Nitrate Recharge and some 'sponge')

El-Cheapo Protein Skimmer

Enqing Lights - no idea the specs

Water Parameters (taken once on day 23).

Salinity : 1.018

PH : ~ 8.x (dark green using Aquamedi)

Ammonia : 0.25 ppm (Aquarium Pharmaceuticals Inc)

Nitrite : -- not measured.

Nitrate : 10 ppm (Aquarium Pharmaceuticals Inc)

KH : 11 dKH (Aquarium Pharmaceuticals Inc)

Calcium : -- not measured.

Phosphate : -- not measured.

Questions:

==================================================

1. Since the salinity is too low, I bought some Red Sea salt and intend the following: take some water out, add 1 tablespoon of salt, mix it, let it settle for an hr or so and pour it back in. Wait a day, take a ready and repeat till salinity gets to 1.022 - 1.023. Is this the right way to go about it?

2. Since I totally missed the ammonia spike (not that I was even looking for it), I have no idea what cycling state my tank is now. I didn't add any dead prawns or anything to start the cyle (no idea at that time). I was hoping the LR additions + the dead fish (removed it within ~6 hrs of death) would kick start the cycle. I am guess the ammonia spike's over, nitrite went up and down, and nitrate went up? and probably coming down? Due to the fact I also added some Live Rocks 3 days ago, this might have restarted the cycling again?

3. Well, here's the plan for the next 2 weeks or so:

a. Up Salinity

b. Get Nitrite test kit.

c. Wait for this weekend and re-measure water parameters.

d. Add 1/2 cap of Iodine every other day?

e. If all seems resonably good, going to add 1 or 2 cleaning shrimps this weekend (day 28).

e. Wait a week and if the cleaning shrimp(s) lives and water parameters still good, will add 1 fish (still to be determine what type of fish). Estimated day 35.

f. Wait another week, if still good, add 2 fishes. Estimated day 42.

g. Wait another week, if still good, add 1-2 corals? Estimated 49.

Step f & g might switch.

Please comments if this is ok.

4. Anything else I should be doing: add kalwasser?, water change (now or after adding fishes?), any other parameters that need testing?

5. I think my sponge is dying. I added Iodine based on LFS advice. Is this correct? I posted as Naganoth before.

All advice , recommendations and criticisms welcome.

[hammy]

i would advice u to be patience in this wonderful hobby ... if ur tank is fully cycle , there will not be a fluactuation of nitrite or even ammonia...

in the meanwhile , stop all stocking , get a nitrite tester , only when it reach 0ppm, then u start stocking up slowly ...

sponge feed on iodine ?? from what i know , they feed on phyto and iodine is a element that will help to 'colour ' them up ....

tank cycling is different from tank to tank , so make sure ur ammonia and nitrite is zero first ...

[FuEl]

One capful of iodine!? Iodine is toxic if overdosed!

[tineng]

day 4, you added fish!!! a bit too quick....for my 2 footer i only added my first fish after the 1st month, and 2nd fish after month 2....did not add any coral, sponge, algae....etc until much later.....I think you need a lot more patient for a 2 footer as they are less forgiving....

but then, I'm also a newbie (started 1/1/2004)....maybe some of the other bros here with more experience might be able to help with advise to 'speed' things up a little....

[ngug]

OMG !! toxic? Any way to remove them?

[ngug]

Umm.. yeah. I was a newbie on Day 4. And the LFS told me to just add saltwater, sand, some rocks, stick in a filter and protein skimmer and add a fish after a week.

...... yea i know better now.

[rickykoh8888]

Hi there ,

If you are using a cannister filter you can add carbon to absorb some of the

toxic but the carbon need to be replaced in ard 2 mths time else the carbon will release what they absorb back . But what is your filteration like ?? It would be better to use a sump but if you can't a basic cannister is the minimum IMHO . And how's the water movement inside ??

[tineng]

Umm.. yeah. I was a newbie on Day 4. And the LFS told me to just add saltwater, sand, some rocks, stick in a filter and protein skimmer and add a fish after a week.

...... yea i know better now.

hehehe...better then my LFS.....ask me to add a fish immediately...if it dies add another one and keep adding till they stop dying.....then your tank is ready....somemore claims to be keeping fish since i was in diapers....

luckliy never believe him.....

[ngug]

You mean this: Dolphin C-1600 Filter (has Matrix, Biohomme, PUR-II Water Recharge Ammonia/Nitrate Recharge and some 'sponge').

I suppose LR counts as bio filtration?

[wts684]

The only speed up the mutual date is to transfer the seawater from other mutual tank. That what I heard.

[kschew1498]

Hi ngug

First, I would advise that you skip dosing iodine.....

Check your NH4 & NO2 first.......from my young experience......its very difficult to perfect this 2 parameter for a 2 footer but however you should keep it as low as possible.

Since it is already 3 month old, I believe more or less it has been through the cycling period because of your LR! However once you are satisfied with your land scaping, try not to add too much LR at one time unless its those from some reefers mature tank.

In fact at this time, you dont even need to on your chiller......IMO.....waste electricity ........because there isnt much LS in it yet. I would rather suggest that you invest a bit on the lighthing.

If you are going for some soft corals in the near future eg. mushroom, buttons, sponge.......PL lights will be sufficient. But if you can affort, go straight to T5....so that in future if you want to try LPS or clams.....you need not upgrade again.

Lastly, be more hardworking, change water more frequently for a 2 footer. I use to do it every week with 1 red pail. That will replanish any chemistry that will be required for the soft corals.

Unless you are going for LPS, I dont think you will need a Cal. test kit now. For

Pay attention to the dkh, NH4, NO2 for the moment. Phosphate......you will know when you see lot of alage growing......every new tank will pass this stage and its very annoying!......so if you can....throw in some rowaphos now.........to absorb any PO4 that is in the new water. Remember to dechlorine your water also when doing a water change hor.....Hope the infor is beneficial to you.

Be patience......you are gonna enjoy this hobby......

[marcvelous]

I am also keeping a 2ft now after I downgraded from a 3ft.

From my very limited experience, it is better to start from a FOWLR tank and learn as you go along. I know the allure of colourful corals but these take time to learn to keep.

You seem to have spent alot on stuff you don't need for starters, for instance your chiller. There is nothing for it to do! Save electricity in the meantime!

I only added in snails as livestock after a month of cycling. After the snails didn't die, I added cleaner shrimps and when those lived happily, I added my first fish.

IMHO, you don't need NH4 tester at all. All you need is patience for the tank to finish cycling, i.e. 1 or 2 months. You are not likely to use the NH4 test kit ever again.

The ammonia alert thing you have serves little purpose. You will know as soon as ammonia levels become unacceptable because all your LS will die! Thus it is more important to do your cycling properly and then try to maintain your water parameters to prevent die-offs.

Since you do not yet have any live stock in your tank, why not consider to cycle (or restart the cycling of) your tank tank properly and learn more about the hobby in the meantime?

When you eventually buy corals, they usually come with the rock that they are attached to (just like your sponge). So there's no need to have too much LR in your tank at this moment.

The one obvious thing is the lack of room in your tank. 2ft is a very small tank (I know coz I also running 2ft). Based on the amount of LR in your tank and your landscaping, it is doubtful that there will be sufficient water movement. In time to come, you may have the problem of trapped detritus which your filter intake cannot get to. Putting in a powerhead will take up space and is generally unsightly. Depending on your setup and filter (canister?) used, you may wish to consider utilising a deeper sandbed to encourage growth of denitrifying bacteria and make do with lesser rocks. With a canister filter that is powerful enough and lesser rocks to impede water flow, you would not need ugly powerheads.

This is an enjoyable hobby but it does not mean that spending alot of money on equipment will bring you success. It's still better to learn how to get things right yourself. That is part of the enjoyment/accomplishment!

You may wish to take some time to pluck out the ugly seaweed on your LRs though

Just my two cents worth

[ngug]

Thank you all for the advice. Very good.

I intend to only add stuff if I feel the water parameters is good enough or normal.

How do I restart the cycling again?

On the topic of seaweed, I thought it looked good i.e. more natural with some green stuff. Need to pluck? What is negative impact if I leave it in?

[marcvelous]

The seaweed on your lR don't have any serious negative impact except people generally don't think it look nice. They are kind of ugly and dirty looking.

You may wish to clean your LR of any unwanted live forms like crabs, mantis shrimps, worms, etc. There are some helpful threads on this.

As for re-cycling, after you are satisfied with the sandbed and LR (remember the part about your tank being too cramped), drain out the water which is currently in your tank and which has been overdosed with iodine and pour in seawater bought fromn LFS or premix using marine salt. Throw in one market shrimp (dead and peeled).

The shrimp will slowly rot away and you should be able to detect the ammonia spike.

The sad thing about re-cycling is that the waiting starts all over again.

Don't need to test your water for the first two weeks, it would not be ready so fast. In fact, I did not test my water for ammonia at all. I just left it for more than a month.

During this time, you need to on your filter and your lights. No need the chiller.

I dunno what filter you using but is recommended that you have a canister filter with around 1000l/hr to help stir the water.

It is easier for you to start from scratch and do it right now than have to discover the flaws and abort your plans sometime later.

There are pros and cons and I am sure that people here are more than willing to share. I'm only my opinion but I think a deeper sandbed would be quite helpful in the long run. Your current design whereby large coral chips cover the sandbed is also a detritus (aka waste material) trap. If detritus cannot circulate freely and be stirred by the water to be removed by your filter, you are always gonna be bogged down by unsightly waste materials and unsavoury water parameters.

My two cents worth...

Cheers!