New Tank

[lawrie]

just got my first cube! DMS-400T5, its a 12.5 UK gallon. im completly new to salt water fish!

it came with:

1 skimmer
1 water pump
bio-balls
ceramic rings
light tubes 4x 8 Watts

i have put in a heater, plan to add live rocks with coral then 2 clown fish a small clean up crew, possibly 1 firefish.

my first question is: when should i add the live rock? i just set the cube up today, added water and sand with salt at around 5pm.
my second question is: i would like an easy to keep soft coral, but no weeds i.e mushrooms. something nice but hardy?
my third question is: what tempreture should the tank be at?
my fourth question is: how long should i wait before i do water tests?


i hope someone can answer these questions! i have done alot of research but just want to get proper advice from more experienced people.

cheers, Lawrie

 

[pengy666]

Hi welcome to the salty side,

I hope by "when do I add live rock" you mean when do I buy LR to add it?

If you have it already and it isnt in tank get it in asap!! but ideally you wanna add it when the SG (Specific gravity or salinity) is spot on, basically when all the salt is dissolved

the ideal temp is anywher round 24-28 but most aim for 26 but it will fluctuate due to lighting, weather etc.

I would let the tank settle for around a week and take your first parameter readings, then every other week after that.

But you wanna wait till your levels have spiked then settled back down, usually between 4-6 weeks. yes its a long time but you will have fun critter watching on your LR. Then you are ready to start buying fish.

I would get a powerhead to get some good flow in the tank too!! This will help things get moving, and you wanna get it to slightly chop surface but not too much, this will help airiate water and get rid of surface scum!!

Patience is the key to success!

Oh please dont buy an anemone for at least 6 months

Here some usefel links

Basic info

Hitch hikers on your LR?

Which fish with which?

Anemones

Ok so they are ok links but should give you fun reading and they will help you on your way to a successful tank!


Good luck

OH YEAH

 

[lawrie]

Hi welcome to the salty side,

I hope by "when do I add live rock" you mean when do I buy LR to add it?

If you have it already and it isnt in tank get it in asap!! but ideally you wanna add it when the SG (Specific gravity or salinity) is spot on, basically when all the salt is dissolved

the ideal temp is anywher round 24-28 but most aim for 26 but it will fluctuate due to lighting, weather etc.

I would let the tank settle for around a week and take your first parameter readings, then every other week after that.

But you wanna wait till your levels have spiked then settled back down, usually between 4-6 weeks. yes its a long time but you will have fun critter watching on your LR. Then you are ready to start buying fish.

I would get a powerhead to get some good flow in the tank too!! This will help things get moving, and you wanna get it to slightly chop surface but not too much, this will help airiate water and get rid of surface scum!!

Patience is the key to success!

Oh please dont buy an anemone for at least 6 months

Here some usefel links

Basic info

Hitch hikers on your LR?

Which fish with which?

Anemones

Ok so they are ok links but should give you fun reading and they will help you on your way to a successful tank!


Good luck

OH YEAH

the info that you gave me was very usefull, and im greatful of it!

i have left the water for 17 hours and the salt looks to have desolved. would i be rushing if i added some live rock on thursday/friday? i plan on adding fish in like...6 weeks or longer. i dont want to rush anything!

thanks again!

 

[Musho3210]

if salinity levels are correct, if you have done at least a few months of research, and all equipment is working, i dont see why you cant add live rock by thursday.

 

[fishwatcher]

Is your filter running on the tank already? If not, how did you keep the salt stirred up so it would dissolve?
Test the sg and make sure you have it at the right level. It's best to have all of your equipment in place and running before you add anything to the tank (other than substrate, of course!) (If you haven't added your sand yet, turn off your filter/power heads while you do, otherwise the sand will get sucked up and can mess up your equipment.)

 

[lawrie]

Is your filter running on the tank already? If not, how did you keep the salt stirred up so it would dissolve?
Test the sg and make sure you have it at the right level. It's best to have all of your equipment in place and running before you add anything to the tank (other than substrate, of course!) (If you haven't added your sand yet, turn off your filter/power heads while you do, otherwise the sand will get sucked up and can mess up your equipment.)

the filter is running and the sand was put in lastnight. the tank has been running for nearly 24 hours now. all i need now is to add the live rock, will do all the tests tommorow then add the live rock on thursday.

is there anything else i should do before i add the live rock? also, i dont know the prices of live rock, has anyone a rough idea?

 

[fishwatcher]

I'm from the US and it's about $5 a lb for the lesser end stuff, up to $9 a lb for the high-end stuff. (Guess which one I went with! LOL)
If you plan on using your filter for a filter (as opposed to just water movement) you can buy base rock and then cap it with a few lbs of live rock. Over time the live rock will seed the base rock.

 

[lawrie]

so thats around 4 pounds a lb, i read that it can be really expensive, i dont mind paying the money cause i want the cube to look its best. im only planning putting a small amount of live rock in the cube.

so bassicly i can attach live rock to base rock? and with both rocks attatching together i can add the coral to the now one rock?

 

[pengy666]

Yes it can be expensive, dont be duped by the LR on ebay as it probably isnt cured thats why its cheap!!

Try and find someone in the aquarist classified selling there LR off its cheaper average (from a hobbyist) is £5 per kilo but in the shops it varies where you live. My local lfs charges 9.95 per kilo but some charge £11.95 per kilo which is about the national average prices.

At the minute Indonesian is popular you get more for your money (only because of the density) but fiji is the usual!!

Shop around also see if you can find someone willing to do a deal if you buy it all at once??

DONT BUY UNCURED (its smelly)

but you could if you want!!

Good luck!

 

[lawrie]

Yes it can be expensive, dont be duped by the LR on ebay as it probably isnt cured thats why its cheap!!

Try and find someone in the aquarist classified selling there LR off its cheaper average (from a hobbyist) is £5 per kilo but in the shops it varies where you live. My local lfs charges 9.95 per kilo but some charge £11.95 per kilo which is about the national average prices.

At the minute Indonesian is popular you get more for your money (only because of the density) but fiji is the usual!!

Shop around also see if you can find someone willing to do a deal if you buy it all at once??

DONT BUY UNCURED (its smelly)

but you could if you want!!

Good luck!

LOL. i was planning on buying cured rock.

thanks for all your advice!

Lawrie

 

[pengy666]

I would just buy live rock, it will get tank looking good quicker.

I got a 12 gallon uk nano and I have 6.5 kg of LR in it!

Its bursting with life!!

 

[lawrie]

I would just buy live rock, it will get tank looking good quicker.

I got a 12 gallon uk nano and I have 6.5 kg of LR in it!

Its bursting with life!!

how long does it take till you begin to see life on the rock? i always imagine just a rock woth all sorts sprouting out of it! LOL! you got any pics of your nano?

 

[fishwatcher]

My live rock has no indication of anything live really, other than a leather coral and then of course different algae. There's been no hitchhikers that I've found, that is. I've heard it can take up to a month or so to see what's really in your rock, so don't expect an instant explosion of life. If you get that, then that's fantastic, but don't be disappointed if you don't.
Since you are starting with a smaller tank I'd go ahead and get all live rock myself. It will look better faster, IMO.
Uncured rock would simply have to stay in your tank awhile alone while it cures. I've bought some of both, and see no real difference in it. If they have it cured already then of course choose that over uncured, but don't worry if all they have is uncured. Within a couple of weeks typically it'll be cured.

 

[lawrie]

i got 2 bits of live rock, 2 kilo for 20 pounds. i will add a clean up crew next week if the tests go ok. do them on tuesday. then in 6-8 weeks add some soft hardy corans.

thanks for all your help guys, you made my life less complicated!

 

[Musho3210]

uncured costs less, so if you want to save some cash and you have patience, go with uncured. If you are in a rush and you dont mind spending a little more, cured.