Brand New! Setting Up A Tank Questions/advice!

[KatrinaMiller]

SO I have had a FW 45 tall set up for about a year and just recently started working at our LFS and decided to convert to a FOWLR SW set up! yay go me!

My boss said I could use the AquaClear 50 gal filter that I currently had running and it would be adequate for my FOWLR (of course I rinsed the stones and cleaned the sponge out and replaced the carbon). I am using a Whisper 60 gal heater, and I am also using 2 Rio powerheads.

When I cleaned out my tank after emptying my FW fish and all it's contents I scrubbed (with no chemicals of course) and wiped and rinsed everything that I could.

For my substrate I am using crushed coral. I put in Instant Ocean. I also have 22 lbs of Live Rock (which I am planning on adding more.. I didn't realize it would still look bare!!) I can't remember which light I purchased, because hubby picked it out

For Fish I have 2 Yellow Fin Damsels waiting for me (which I plan on adding tomorrow or Thursday [today is Monday September 7th]) I am also ordering some clownfish.

8 hrs after I set the tank up my levels were as follow;

PH between 8.2 and 8.4
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate between 0 and 2
Salinity 1.025

How many fish are adequate for a tank of this size? Any advice for a newbie?

Here is a picture of my tank about 16 hrs after set up. Still a little cloudy. (don't mind my clothes I need to fold )

 

[Buddyboy67]

First off ..welcome on board Katrina...

Now it's a waiting game i'm afraid....tank's gotta cycle before you add any fish i'm afraid.
First your ammonia will spike and drop, next the nitritesfollowed by your nitrates...once nitrates drop below 10 ppm do a 25% water change and then you'll be able to start stocking it

 

[aly_starh]

Welome!
Nice tank, is that 45 litres? If so a pair of clowns might be abit too much,
Abit more rock will look excellent! Also you will need your rock to filter naturally for a week or two, then add your CUC. Wait abit longer, then add the fish. Abit of a long wait i'm afraid!

Apart from that GoodLuck On starting your tank!

Betta_246

 

[KatrinaMiller]

My boss said that I would be safe to add fish 2 days after I initially set it up.. is that not true?

I did a quick conversion from gallons=liters and it is approx 172 liters.

Sorry I am in the USA and we are odd ones who use Gallons instead of L

Forgot to add that the LR that I stole off of has been living in a very large tank at work for quite some time

 

[aly_starh]

My boss said that I would be safe to add fish 2 days after I initially set it up.. is that not true?

I did a quick conversion from gallons=liters and it is approx 172 liters.

Sorry I am in the USA and we are odd ones who use Gallons instead of L

Oh ok... 172 litres is fine, infact great. The bigger the better!

As for adding fish goes, reading posts on this forum, it advices that fish should not be added until Live rock is cycled.
There are lots of posts about it on the marine section. You can search for it at the top of the page.
Hope that helps!

Betta_246

 

[Buddyboy67]

Tell yer boss to get a new job,lol......live rock set ups will have to mature (cycle ) as said..die off occurs when transporting the rock and this will add your initial ammonia to the system to start the cycle chain rolling...once you have cycled, as above then you can add stock...would be really risky to do it any other way...
Also if using liverock to filter the system all you really need in your filter is rock rubble, phosphate absorber, activated carbon and filter floss..the latter being in removed and replaced as it clogs up....

Doing it as he has suggested is an accident waiting to happen i'm afraid...damsels are hardy and used to be used years ago to mature systems but as you,ve gone to the expense of adding live rock it will do this job for you...
Also if adding more live rock, do it as soon as possible, as every time you add more a new mini cycle will occur knocking your stocking date back a little further each time

 

[TigerIssey]

Yep, will reiterate what Buddboy said.

When you add live to a system, even if it has been in a mature system, you can get a mini cycle wherby you will get some ammonia, Nitrite and nitrate present.

You should add all of your live rock before any livestock, even if adding in very small amounts, you can still get die off which will spike the ammonia and nitrite again causing another mini cycle.

It is not fair on the fish to add them the day after setting up a new tank.

I would also agree with Buddy about taking out the media in your filter, you can use floss, but this will religiously need changing every 7 days. Add some live rock rubble, this will aid filtration far better.

You can as buddy says add carbon and phosphate remover as these are beneficial to the system.

Most of all, patience is a virtue with a marine tank, learn, read, learn some more and don't hesitate to ask any questions you may have.

 

[seffieuk]

Katrina, nice to have you onboard

I also agree with everything Buddy has told you - patience is a virtue on the salty side, so slow down and enjoy the ride

Seffie x