Complete Noobie Exploring Unknown Territories

[superman1]

yeh for some reason i wouldnt have asked if someone would sell me 3kg as i need about 20kg so i emailed the guy and when he replied he wrote you can take it for £35 so me thinking 20kg for £35 is a BARGAIN... but just to make sure i asked him how much i actually asked for because he wrote a new email so i couldnt see the msg i sent him

and as i sent a few msgs out i wasnt sure but then he replied you asked for 3kg... when i read that i thought F*** that.. lol

but luckily another chap pulled through

so tomorow i am picking up 20kg of live rock which has been established and 2 powerheads which will go alongside my spray bar from my external and will be picking up some food

so to summarise i now have

1x blue marine lamp (fitted) THIS WAS BROUGHT FOR ME SO GOT THIS FREE
1x 25kg of coral sand THIS COST £17
1x bag of 25kg ocean rock which i reckon will be useless so this will be available for sale THIS COST £30 BUT I AM GUESSING I WONT NEED THIS NOW SO I WILL BE SELLING THIS ON. ANY TAKERS???
20kg of established Live rock THIS COST £80
2 Korali 1 powerheads THIS COST £35
frozen food THIS COST £1 PER PACK
1x 24kg tropic marin THIS COST £44

i still have a hydrometer to purchase and master test kit
the guy im collecting the LR from has a refractometer for £30 for sale. is it worth buying that over the hydrometer?

so onto my next question. how long can i leave the live rock out of water for as am awaiting for the contents of my tank to be cleared.

also with 20kg of live rock is there any need for me to keep the external or would it be good to just put some LR rubble in and maybe one sponge to stop bits filtering through. the capacity of the external is 8 litres so to me seems like a good idea to keep to increase capacity.

thanks

i think ive got the marine bug as all of this i decided about a week ago and now ive collected all of this stuff. lol

 

[rabbut]

I'd have a refractometer over a hydrometer any day personally

The rock wants to be out of the water for as shorter time as possible. Consider 48 hours maximum, but aim for an hour or two if possible

There is no reason to keep the external, other than flow and chemical/mechanical filtration if you have LR. I'd stick in floss and Rowaphos if it were mine and "medialess", packing out any spare space with LR rubble

HTH
Rabbut

 

[superman1]

ok heres a quick update. so today i went to pick up the LR.

the chap that i met had pretty much sold most of his stuff.
he gave me 20kg of LR but was actually slightly over weight..

i also brought 2 frozen packs of garlic rich brine shrimp and also 3 packs of some other marine food. £5

i also brought 2 koralia 1 powerheads which were only about a month old for £35 and he also offered me
1x clown fish
2x scarlett cleaner shrimps all for £25

does that sound worth it

now my question is if i can empty out my tropical tank tomorow and fill with water and get the salt mixed and put the live rock in which has already been in the chaps tank for nearly 2 years. am i ok with introducing fish on sunday. (when i say fish i mean the 2 shrimps and 1 clown)

thanks

 

[TigerIssey]

Depending on the type of clownfish, the cheapest you would get a juvenile for (occelaris / percula) is about £15. Cleaner shrimps are about £10-14 for a small one each. I would say therefore they are worth £25.

As long as you have managed to keep the live rock wet with a powerhead on it, you should be ok to add the fish on sunday.

Many people buy a full set up and transer the tank, live rock and fish on the same day. You will need to keep an eye on Ammonia / Nitrites and Nitrates and may need to do some extra waterchanges, but you should be fine.

 

[superman1]

yeh it was just under an hours drive and ive got the liverock in a massive bucket with power heads on here.

i went to the local fish shop today and the women was like
"oh no you cant add any fish for at least a month and you can only add one fish permonth and you HAVE to have a protein skimmer"....

i was like okaaaaaayyyy then....

 

[Anguilla82]

yeh it was just under an hours drive and ive got the liverock in a massive bucket with power heads on here.

i went to the local fish shop today and the women was like
"oh no you cant add any fish for at least a month and you can only add one fish permonth and you HAVE to have a protein skimmer"....

i was like okaaaaaayyyy then....

well at least it makes a change from LFSs telling people to chuck fish in straight away to help with the cycle etc.......

 

[rabbut]

Actually, for a LFS, thats not that badder advise Certainly is better than "fullly stock it tommorrow to get it cycled" that many seem to think is a good idea to recommend...

You transfering the rock and the fish should be fine if you can have flow over that hour or two in transit. If you cannot have flow in the tub, you'll have to play that by ear after keeping an eye of Ammonia and Nitrite levels

All the best
Rabbut

 

[superman1]

hello

ok so today i had a fun day and am completely shattered. so thought i would kick back and relax and tell you guys the story so far

so after sitting in my room and seeing all this marine stuff that i had. i couldnt wait much longer for my fishes to be sold so i donated them to a friend.

so now what was left was to empty the tank contents and to give it a good ole clean. so i syphoned out all of the water. brought myself a nice container and emptied all the gravel, wood and plastic plants... then gave all the glass a proper clean.....

now that the tank was clean i filled it with water and dosed the correct amount of salt. i left it running for a few hours and checked and topped accordingly untill i got a reading of about 1.023

then in goes the coral gravel after a thorough cleaning and then went in the rocks. after a bit of a play around i finally got the rocks the way i like them.
although i have to say i reckon i will try and add about another 10kg. as 22kg doesnt look like much. so i reckon another 10-15kg should top it off. currently i am just running the tank and should be picking up the 2 shrimps and clown fish on sunday. all stats are fine so fingers cross should all go ok..

let me know if theres anything i should keep an eye on or if theres any other way i should have aquascaped it

also i found a snaill. would you be able to ID this for me,.... thanks

enjoy the pics...

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[Trod]

Looking good so far.

your bedroom resembles my dining room minus the bed

 

[superman1]

yeh its all looking clean and un cluttered now.

what would you recommend as good starting hardy fish.

i will be introducing fishes slowly but generally how early on should CUC be added.

 

[Trod]

Once there is algae for the CUC to eat then I would add them, if you add fish first I'd just add a few snails to hoover up the uneaten food. Then add more, gradually, as needed.
What fish have you got on your wishlist?

 

[youngfisher]

I think you should add the CUC before the fish.
But I could be wrong, as im still learning myself.

YF

 

[Trod]

Doesn't really matter which order they go in TBH, as supermans LR has come from an established tank the cylcle is not likely to be long, the CUC is exactly that, they are put in to clean things up, if there is nothing for them to eat they will starve, so putting them in after fish is fine

 

[superman1]

well i am picking up one clown and 2 cleaner shrimps tomorow as that was supposed to be coming with the live rock but i decided to set the tank up first and let it settle down for 2 days.

then introduce the fish. i checked the stats and
ammonia 0
nitrite 0
nitrate 20
ph 8.3
salt 1.023

does that look good. the live rock was established in a tank for 2 years and was out of the water for a minimum amount of time as possible. i will be running my external alongside the liverock aswell for extra filtration and water movement.

i wanted to add some anemones. would this be possible and how fish friendly are they.

once the algae is visible i think i will add the clean up crew then. i may introduce a few snaills though for the left over food.

but seeing as the rock is established and i will be having fish in there would it be a problem if the CUC were added in a weeks time.

thanks

young fisher. hows your changeover going to marines.



on my wish list is to have a pair of clowns. as i am getting one on sunday i will need to see whether i need a male or female.

i wanted a clean up crew and also some chromis. would like a type of dwarf angel fish and maybe a couple of grabs.

at the moment thats all i want. but i will continue to look out for something

what would you recommend that would be suitable but something brightly coloured and not aggressive.

thanks

 

[Trod]

Yep your stats look fine, just keep an eye on them
I would add some snails as quickly as possible after putting clowns in, so they can eat the uneaten food.

Forget the anemones please, they need a very mature tank. They very commenly get sucked into powerheads and can easily and quickly crash your tank, best left to the experts