Sophie's Saltwater Diary

[Sophiaqua]

Hiya everyone! Okay, here goes...

My shiny new tank looking a little bit empty:

My test kits and other bits and pieces: (Cost me an arm and a leg!)

Here I have added about half a bag (or so) of CaribSea live sand, five nice, big, chunky pieces of live rock and, of course, lots of lovely salty water:

Lights on:

Moonlight:

Here is a lovely little snail that hitchhiked on one of my pieces of live rock:

And another one:

As for the tank, it's a 65 litre Boyu marine tank complete with filter, heater and protein skimmer. (Sorry, I'm not very good at specifications!)

Once my tank has cycled, I am hoping to add:

A pair of black and white ocellaris clownfish (emo Nemos!)
A six-line wrasse
A blood-red fire shrimp
A porcelain anemone crab
And lots of pretty coral!

I will post water test results tomorrow night. Bye-bye for now!

Sophie

 

[GGtank]

Welcome Sophie!

My sis has the EXACT same tank. It's gonna be pretty exciting, they don't call it live rock for nothing lol, there'll be all kinds of hitchhikers turning up over the next few days.

One thing, try to make sure your rock doesn't touch the glass (it creates a dead spot, plus you cant use the magnetic cleaner to get rid of algae in that area). Also, I'm sure you're gonna have loads of fun re-arranging the rocks and aquascaping it, just remember, some of the critters you add are VERY capable of toppling rocks, so try to ensure you have a pretty sturdy structure!

Otherwise looking good! Can't wait to see how your tank comes along!!!

 

[sorgan]

Looking cool! As said above try motto have anything leaning on your glass, I like to have at least 2 inches of water between glass and rock so you can clean (and often retrieve frags)

 

[jameshughes1989]

The tank is looking great, is it your first marine tank? Im liking the scape but as above, its best to move the rock away from the glass. What lighting has the tank got? Are you planning a reef setup?

Oh and some of the pics arent working for me, maybe its just me


James

 

[Sophiaqua]

Thank you for all the good advice everyone! I will be rearranging my live rock a bit later on when I do my water tests. I'm not worried about it toppling over though, I spent about half an hour poking and prodding it to make sure it wouldn't move a millimetre! Yes, it is my very first marine tank, but I have been keeping tropical freshwater fish for a little while now and decided I would join the salty side! My lighting is PL-18W. (Whatever that means! Not so good at the technical stuff!) Also, had a little problem with Photobucket, which was why some of my photos were not showing, but is now fixed.

Went to my local fish shop today to buy a magnetic algae scraper (£5.99) and saw a beautiful mandarin. I love them so much, wish I could keep one in my tank! My porcelain anemone crab is also still there, looking as cute as ever hanging out in his little yellow anemone home.

I'm off out to watch the fireworks now, I will be doing my water tests and rearranging my live rock when I get back and will post my results and upload a photo of my new arrangement later tonight or, if not, tomorrow morning. Bye-bye for now!

 

[the biffster]

to the forum from the
biffster

i am just on doing a micro reef
at the moment good luck with your
tank and well to the salty side

 

[Sophiaqua]

Just did water tests! Results are:

Ammonia: <0.25
Nitrate: 5
Nitrite: 0
Salinity: 1.025
And temperature has stabilised at 26 degrees (after soaring up to 30 yesterday! Had to turn the heater down!)

I also rearranged my live rock to make a gap between it and the glass. Will take a photo and upload it tomorrow. (My tank looks better in the daylight!)

So, what do you think? Is all looking good so far?

 

[seffieuk]

to the salty side of the forum Sophia

I could be wrong but that looks like the 126 litre Orca/boyu to me?

How much live rock have you got in there? And do you have the spray bar pointed upwards to create a lot of surface aggitation?

Seffie x

oh and looks like your cycle has started, but am surprised that you have no nitrite reading

 

[Sophiaqua]

Hiya guys! I know I haven't posted anything in a couple of days, I'm sorry, I've been a bit busy lately, but thank you very much for the replies. My tank is the 65 litre Boyu tank, definitely not the bigger one, my mum wouldn't let me have that one! The nice lady at the shop told me how much my live rock weighed... But I forgot! And my spray bar is pointed downwards. I tried to rotate it to point upwards, but it wouldn't budge! What should I do about this?

Moving swiftly on, here are Sunday's water test results:

Ammonia: <0.25
Nitrate: 5
Nitrite: 0.1
Salinity: 1.024

I went to the fish shop today to get my water tested. I just wanted to make sure I was doing the tests right and getting the correct readings. Results are:

Alkalinity/KH: 9
Ammonia: 0
Nitrate: 5
Nitrite: 0
pH: 8.3
Salinity: 1.024

I also bought a lovely new piece of live rock to complete my fortress! Here's that photo I promised:

So... What do you think? I had a bit of a giggle with the nice young man in the shop, I had picked out my new piece of live rock, and it was only when he took it out of the water that we realised a blenny had wedged itself into one of the little holes! And it wouldn't budge, it took about 15 minutes to coax it out, stubborn little fella!

Anyway, I have a few questions...

#1: At the moment I test my ammonia, nitrate, nitrite and salinity every other day, is this okay or should I be testing them every day instead?
#2: How often should I be testing my alkalinity/KH and pH? The man at the fish shop suggested every other day when starting out.
#3: Do I need to do a water change and clean my filter sponge even while there are no fish in my tank?

Thank you for reading this. Bye-bye for now!

By the way, my porcelain anemone crab has gone. Farewell Mr. McClaw!

 

[seffieuk]

When my tank was cycling I just had to test every day to see what was happening, although this only lasted a few days I then tested every 48 hrs At the moment you only need to be testing for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate daily or every 48 hrs. Test your sg weekly, remember though that you will lose water over the week and so will need to top up with ro water, keep an eye on the water level.

Later you will need to test for PH, and then when you have corals you will test for mag and calcium.

The spray bar really needs to be pointing up, so it causes water agitation to help with gas exchange - it is probably just a bit stiff, ask your dad to try and see if he can twist it round, I could never do mine, my sister always had to do it for me

Oh, no, you have left the sponges and noodles in haven't you? If you have, take them out asap

I have just realised that I cant see a powerhead in your tank, you need one asap

Seffie x

 

[Sophiaqua]

Hiya guys! Quick update, here are yesterday's water test results:

Ammonia: <0.25
Nitrate: I'm unsure about, so I took a photo:

What do you think? I'm almost certain I did the test right, but the liquid in the vial seems very dark, whereas when I had my nitrate tested at the fish shop on Tuesday it was almost clear.

Nitrite: 0

Also, I eventually managed to twist the spray bar around! (It just needed some elbow grease!) The surface is now rippling nicely.

Are you absolutely sure I need a powerhead? I asked the man at the fish shop when I bought my tank if I would need one and he said that since my tank is so small the spray bar would create enough flow by itself, so there would be no need for one. What do you think?

And why do I need to remove my filter sponge? Did I mess up?

Also, I came home last night to find this:

...No comment.

 

[the biffster]

Hiya guys! Quick update, here are yesterday's water test results:

Ammonia: <0.25
Nitrate: I'm unsure about, so I took a photo:

What do you think? I'm almost certain I did the test right, but the liquid in the vial seems very dark, whereas when I had my nitrate tested at the fish shop on Tuesday it was almost clear.

Nitrite: 0

Also, I eventually managed to twist the spray bar around! (It just needed some elbow grease!) The surface is now rippling nicely.

Are you absolutely sure I need a powerhead? I asked the man at the fish shop when I bought my tank if I would need one and he said that since my tank is so small the spray bar would create enough flow by itself, so there would be no need for one. What do you think?

And why do I need to remove my filter sponge? Did I mess up?

Also, I came home last night to find this:

...No comment.

i would say looking at the photo
its in between 25 to 50

 

[seffieuk]

I would agree with the Biffter on your test result

The reason we take out the sponges is that if you do not keep them very clean they become a bit of a haven for nasties

Seffie x

 

[Sophiaqua]

Just got back home from the fish shop, got my water tested. Results are:

Alkalinity/KH: 9
Ammonia: 0
Nitrate: 2
Nitrite: 0
pH: 8.2

The man who tested my water said my nitrate test kit may be faulty, told me to bring it in and, if it is, he will replace it.

Also, there seems to be some brown algae growing on the sand at the front and sides of the tank around the glass, what should I do about this? It ain't pretty!

 

[seffieuk]

Well, those results seem to imply that your cycle is finished - however, i'm a bit concerned about that! Can you do a test today with your own kits?

The brown yuck are diatoms, a natural part of the cycle and higher nitrates. When you have finishe dyour cycle, done a water change and got a cuc in, they will go

Seffie x