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Diddle822

Cleaner Shrimp
M.A.S.C Club Member
#1
Ok so got my tank up and going after lots of trips to home depot and lots of money ... as you all know. So I've got everything cycling and watching my ammonia levels and if I stay stable will add a fish next weekend. I have some fritz turbo start 900 but it says to not use protien skimmer... is that just for like 24hrs or what? Any experience with this will be very helpful.

But after I add a fish when do I want to add clean up crew? And how much do I add? Do I start small ? Also when would you add coral?
 

zombie

Dolphin
M.A.S.C Club Member
#2
Even though it sucks to have an empty tank, I would not add any fish for at least a month after ammonia stabilizes.

What I would do instead is once ammonia is stable add a small cleanup crew of snails (about 1/4 the recommended amount for your tank size) to help you with cleaning up the algae bloom that will happen very soon.

Once the algea bloom has finished and your ammonia, nitrate, nitrite, and phosphates are all within proper ranges for at least a week straight, then you can add 1 or 2 fish. Quarantine all other fish you add for 2 weeks to 1 month and add them slowly.

For coral, wait until at least the 3 month mark to add easy corals like zoas, mushrooms, torches, etc. and make sure your alk Ca and Mg are all stable and in the correct ranges before doing so. For more difficult corals including sps, you need a very mature tank past the 1 year mark to have any success.

You might be an engineer if...You have no life and can prove it mathematically.
 
#3
Please listen to the advice. Watching an empty tank is much better than dropping money and watching a dead fish. There are a million reasons. And no, the skimmer shouldn't be used until its got something to skim. It will work out great for you if you utilize these forums as a guide. Best of luck

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Andrew_bram

Tiger Shark
M.A.S.C Club Member
#4
Don't forget to pee in it. Makes turbo start work even better. And yes give it time nothing good happens fast

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SynDen

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#7
Ammonia is only the first stage of a cycle and any fish added is this point is most sacrificial and not recommended.
The next part is the nitrites/nitrates which can take a month or more. There are ways to speed it up but always best to just let nature do its things naturally imo. Study up on the saltwater nitrogen cycle, test for it, and be patient. With saltwater it can take a year or more to fully mature the cycle.

As for first added to tank, if you started with dry rock, add a piece of mature live rock first, otherwise, I'd add a crab or two and 2-3 snails to start once the nitrate levels start to fall. Once algae starts to appear on the rocks, I'd add a few more cleaners and then go from there

What is your plan for fish/ corals in this tank? If you dont have a plan already, I would spend the time during the cycle, making one. Figure out the two or three things you want to keep the most and build the tank around them.
 

Diddle822

Cleaner Shrimp
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#8
So I started my tank with 80+ lbs of mature live rock and li e sand. Everything has been fine so far but after reading more just kinda waiting for an Algae bloom then see where I sit. My nitrate levels with the strip tests look low to 0 but kinda hard to tell with them. What test kit should I get?

so my goal for fish / coral is basically want clowns, blue hippo for the kiddo tge basic nemo stuff. Like yellow tang and mandarin etc. I don't know all the fish yet... and don't know all the different coral I guess so as are pretty easy? And poops? Also I'd like a tentacle anemone...

don't know when but some seahorses or snowflake eel would also be something I'd like ...

let me know what you think of my plans... or suggestions would be much appreciated
 

zombie

Dolphin
M.A.S.C Club Member
#10
I would recommend API for ammonia and nitrite since it's super cheap. For everything else (you need KH, Ca, Mg, phosphate, and nitrate) go with red sea, salifert, or hanna.

You might be an engineer if...You have no life and can prove it mathematically.
 

zombie

Dolphin
M.A.S.C Club Member
#11
You didn't list the size of your tank (or I'm blind). That will make a huge difference on our advice on your stocking list.

You might be an engineer if...You have no life and can prove it mathematically.
 

SynDen

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#12
I hope its near the 200g mark if you want a hippo, these are not for small tanks. They might start out small but that only last a few months as they grow pretty quick. Yellows also need a minimum 6' tank
I think you need to spend sometime researching want you really want and what it takes to care for each of those fish over their whole lifetime
A good place to start looking is Live Aquaria. Lots of fish to look at, and they generally do a good job of listing some of the requirements for each kind. Figure out the one signature fish you want in your tank. Find one that fits with your tank size, and then do a bit more research about caring for them long term. Once you figure that out, look at the other tank mates. Research each one and make sure they are compatible with the signature fish you chose.
 

Irishman

Tang
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#13
What size tank do you have?
 

Irishman

Tang
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#14
My best option for you is go to live aquaria.com and look at all the fish you want and build a list and post it here. We can give you advice on what will work with each other and which ones to start off first. If you start off with an aggressive fish first they won't let you put anything else in your tank unless its big.
 

Diddle822

Cleaner Shrimp
M.A.S.C Club Member
#16
Thank you for the advice I will check live aquaria and see what I come up with.

So I've got a question. Been running my tank for like 4-5 days now and my return is way faster than my drain. I have a 1" drain 3/4 return and I have my ball valve on the return so that water is coming out but not much just so the drain can keep up. Any ideas on what I can do? All the reef tanks I've seen the return water seems to be coming out at a-pretty good rate?
 

Andrew_bram

Tiger Shark
M.A.S.C Club Member
#17
Your flow should not come from your return imo. Your sump doesn't need to turn over I million times a day. Let flow in tank come from power heads.

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Diddle822

Cleaner Shrimp
M.A.S.C Club Member
#18
Ok just not sure how it's really supposed to go just kinda what I've seen. So keep my flow into tank at a constant and just let power heads push it around? And let that create the overflow that I need?
 

Andrew_bram

Tiger Shark
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#19
Diddle822;674187 said:
Ok just not sure how it's really supposed to go just kinda what I've seen. So keep my flow into tank at a constant and just let power heads push it around? And let that create the overflow that I need?
Correct you need to find and equilibrium and then dial it down that way if your drain gets a snail or algae stuck you will have a little wiggle room. also depending on what you want to keep for corals there is no such thing as too much flow.

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SynDen

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#20
Ya the returns are about feeding the equipment underneath, and arent the main flow in a tank, thats what power heads are for. But as a general rule of thumb you general what are 8x-10x you water volume in the return turnover. So if you are running a 75g tank then you want around 600-750 gph from your return pump
 
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