New Guy Kinda Lost On Set-up

[new2saltyfish]

yea there pretty cool. i was told about 2 weeks and i can add fish....is this correct?

 

[Mr.September15]

It depends on how well your tank is cycling. It may take up to a month for it to cycle, but for me it took 2weeks with bio-spira.

 

[maidenfan]

as mr sept says length of time a tank takes to cycle can vary you need to test your water for ammonia nitrite and nitrate once the first 2 are 0.00 and nitrate is lower than 20 then you can think about adding your clean up crew to tackle diatoms etc only after getting your algea under control and making sure your nitrates are low with regular water changes using RO water would i think about adding fish

 

[new2saltyfish]

another question is how long does it take to start to see a change in the water. Ive had the rock in for about 6 days and have't the slightest change.

 

[Mr.September15]

It depends on how cured your Live Rock was. The more beneficial bacteria the quicker the changes and the quicker your cycle goes. You really start seeing changes around the 2nd week I would say.

 

[new2saltyfish]

well i just checked all of the levels of amonia, nitritem ate ex.. and everything seems fine but i thinks its only barely been 2 weeks. am i ready to add a clean up crew?

 

[Mr.September15]

I would wait it out...That's what I did since I was a bit skeptical on how my tank cycled in a 2weeks. So I just waited a few days later and then added my first livestock.

 

[new2saltyfish]

ok sounds good. guess ill just wait another week. It's soo hard though with all of those nice fish in the pet store lol.

 

[Mr.September15]

lol Shield your eyes whenever you pass them

 

[new2saltyfish]

well today i was looking at the progress of the tank and i found a small starfish out and about near the heater about .25 inches. one question i have is how long untill they get to be a decent size. another question i have is that my ph has stayed at 7.8 since i started the set-up. I know its supposed to be around 8.2 so how do i increase the ph?

 

[SkiFletch]

The starfish are most likely common little guys, my tank is full of them. They dont get much bigger but they will multiply. Just keep an eye on them, sometimes you get the unfortunate bad luck of having the species that likes to munch on corals. If you see them on your corals, pull them off. If you catch them cruising your glass chances are they're the safe ones

 

[new2saltyfish]

ya it was on my glass. another question is that i live about 10 minutes from the ocean (i live in boston, mass) so i was wondering if taking hermit crabs or starfish out of the ocean would hurt my tank or it would be ok to add.

 

[SkiFletch]

Problem is, most of the stuff that lives in the boston area is coldwater and would die in your tropical tank. There's a reason the life in Boston is different than that in Florida, the Carribean, and the southeast pacific

 

[new2saltyfish]

ok lol i was just wondering. i didn;t know if any diseases would happen or anything.

Another question is that my ph is only 7.8. CAn i do something to raise it to 8.2.

 

[SkiFletch]

Do what Dr Randy Holmes-Farley reccomends. Make sure you have your thinking cap on, cause this is not a simple answer