10 Gallon Nano Saltwater Journal

[fishlover500]

Not sure if this is right but to see if the tank was ready after sitting for 2-3 weeks with live rock in it I went and got a yellow tail damsel. They had it listed as yellow tail damsel but I am not sure of another name for it because it is a whitish colour with a yellow tail. not a blue body. The fish is doing fine. The lfs said that if I don't have corals I can keep the salinity lower as nitrates won't be as much of an issue.

Am I ready for cuc?

Do black turbo snails flip over being unable to right themselvess?

for the cuc I was thinking

7 turbo snails
2 crabs (need recommendation about this not sure what type of crab and if hermits are okay)
maybe 1 blood shrimp eventually or coral banded shrimp

Also for stocking I would like

1 royal gramma / royal dotty back
1 three stripe damsel fish
1 cardinal fish

Would this cuc and these fish work?

 

[kj23502]

What are your water stats?

Ammonia
Nitrite
Nitrate
PH
SG

??

salinity should be around 1.025. I just wouldn't stray to far from that, imo. The sea doesn't vary a whole lot either. I haven't had saltwater yet, but am setting one up now and have read quite a few books on it and read about it from other media as well.

 

[fishlover500]

not sure about ammonia and nitrite and nitrate and ph
but the salinity is like 1.022-1.023 right now.

Sorry, haven't gotten test kit yet cause I find very costly, is my cuc and stocking fine?

 

[fishlover500]

bump also what is a good online store to buy marine fish and cuc from that has reasonable costs and ships to north america

 

[chrissaysyes]

ebay.com

 

[kj23502]

Sorry, haven't gotten test kit yet cause I find very costly, is my cuc and stocking fine?

And it's very costly if you don't get a test kit as I'd guess you're more likey to loose fish/critters just like in a new freshwater setup

the thing is you have no idea if your tank is completely done cycling or not, unless you test the water. If it's done and your nitrate is much above 15sih (i think) it can kill your inverts. I don't think you've read enough to be going this fast.

ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, alkalinity, ph

I'd get ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and ph first and foremost. You have no idea what your chemisty is if you don't.

Here's some more info.
http/www.fishforums.net/content/Nano-Ree...ing-your-Cycle/ <Cycling and getting ready to add inverts

http/www.fishforums.net/content/Nano-Ree...up-Crew-Snails/ <----Snails

http/www.fishforums.net/content/forum/19...04-20-04-27-07/ <----Shrimp

Here are some references from a retired moderator. Some of the books are expensive. Go to your library and see if they have them or can get them. I did. They had to do an interlibrary loan. I believe one of my books came from a few states away (Wisconsin to South Dakota) and it didn't cost me anything. Something to check in to

Navarre "References

There are several texts/manuals in print that have garnered a lot of praise in marine circles. Below are several good basic starter textbooks to begin your entry into the world of nano reefing. Although they are written with the mini reef in mind, the advice is quite easily applied to our system. Here is a brief list to get you preparing:

1) The New Marine Aquarium: Step-By-Step Setup & Stocking Guide
by Michael S. Paletta, Edward Kadunc (Illustrator), Scott W. Michael (Photographer), John Goodman (Photographer). Popular and easy to read startup book with good illustrations

2) The Simple Guide To Mini-reef Aquariums
by Jeffrey Kurtz. Hot off the press. Well written for beginners. Has some more current topics than Paletta's.

3) Aquarium Corals : Selection, Husbandry, and Natural History
by J. E. N. Veron (Foreword), Eric H. Borneman. The 'bible' of coral husbandry.

4) Complete Encyclopedia of the Saltwater Aquarium
by Julian Sprung (Foreword), Nick Dakin. Not a bad book, some of his advise is outdated (bristleworms being a dangerous pest etc) but it has good fish and coral descriptions.

5) Natural Reef Aquariums: Simplified Approaches to Creating Living Saltwater Microcosms by John Tullock. An absolute MUST for beginners who want to try and run a tank via liverock and other methods. It goes into great detail on all different types of reef setups, Traditional sytle, Dutch style, Monaco style, The Natural Style (Euro-American hybrid) etc. Highly recommended.

6) The Complete Book of the Marine Aquarium
by Vincent B. Hargreaves. A good book with lots of basic principles of reef keeping. Some very nice illustrations and photos with good sound advice.

7) Reef Secrets: Starting Right, Selecting Fishes & Invertebrates, Advanced Biotope Techniques
by Alf Jacob Nilsen, Svein A. Fossa. One of our moderators 'bible'.

The Conscientious Marine Aquarist: A Commonsense Handbook for Successful Saltwater Hobbyists , by Robert M. Fenner"

 

[fishlover500]

Is there a special ebay or something for fish you know like there is ebay motors?
I have a hard time finding live fish for sale there

 

[kj23502]

hey what's a journal with out

http/home.shop.ebay.com/items/Crabs-Snai...d=p3286.c0.m282

180 results....I hope I can post a general link where to find it...I'm not advocating a specific thing.

 

[fishlover500]

Thanks for that OOHHHH kj lol thought it was someone else cause you changed pics that'll be good for cuc at least

also in terms of fish sttocking eventually could i get

1 royal gramma
1 cardinal fish
and one other fish i forget sorry gtg

 

[nano_reef_ubergeek]

the damsel fish should be the last one to add (so I've read) because they can be very territorial and it can be impossible to stock more peaceful fish once a damsel has had the run of the tank for a while (will relentlessly harass newcomers)

I'm just starting with a 10 gallon tank also ..... I was hoping to add a dottyback myself, but on one website they said that 20 gallons was the minimum for a purple dottyback.

 

[jtnova13]

liveaquaria.com has free shipping on a clean up crew package i think.

I like their policy on fish, 14 day guarantee or they refund your money.


Also, get the API saltwater master test kit. it costs about 35 bucks and has all the tests you need for a beginner saltwater aquarium... i still use it.

 

[nano_reef_ubergeek]

I've been following this .... I've already ordered the API test kit ..... my 10 gallon tank is 10 days old.

I'm trying to save money too .... I've been using a 6500k daylight fluorescent bulb (26 watts) .... one person warned me about the possibility of excessive algae growth -- but the live rock is LESS green than when I put it in the tank.

I'm a bit concerned .... I wish there was more sign of life in my tank .... really.

 

[nano_reef_ubergeek]

well.... there's more sign of life alright. Now there are some dark brown/green spots on my live rock .... I guess the 6500k daylight bulb was not a great idea.

:stupid:

 

[nano_reef_ubergeek]

guess what is the next stupid thing I'm going to try .... I'm going to make a hood with cardboard and blue cellophane for the 6500k fluorescent GE bulb.... and see if the algae spots stop getting bigger.

 

[nano_reef_ubergeek]

well, that didn't really work. My tank did cycle, but there is quite a bit of brown algae in the tank and very little green algae. [I even have one book that talks about lighting and it says 5000 -5500k is ok for marine tanks]



I had an anxiety attack over the brown algae and I ordered a 10000k lamp. 40w. In the mean time I'm still using the 6500k lamp with blue cellophane in front of it.

I have a domino damsel in there now and he is doing ok. The water tested ok too: ammonia and nitrites at zero. The nitrates took only two days to reach 10ppm, so that's a concern however.