Newbie with some questions...

[WBrian]

Hi All,
I am really new at all this and Ican't begin to thank you all for the advice I've found just by reading the posts here. Unfortunately I came upon this site after I possibly screwed up a bit.

I currently have a 29G tank, that is FOWLR. Eventually I'd like to get it to become a reef, but that is down the road a good bit.

I bought my set up from the LFS (There are several in Virginia Beach which cater to saltwater aquaria.):

I have a SeaClone 100 PS, an Emperor 280 (marineland) filter with a biowheel.about 20 Lbs of LR, a 3in. bed of crushed coral and live sand.
I have a aqualife Coralife light for it. 2 2 white and 2 actinic (blue?) bulbs 65 each for a total of 130 watts( I think that's the jargon...??). Plus I have a blue coralife moonlight for night time.

I've had the tank for about 2 weeks, and all is running fine, so far-ish.
I didn't get a test kit right off the bat, I just kept bringing in water samples to have them checked. The tank seems to have cycled very fast, and the numbers have been pretty stable. last night my Ammonia was zero, Nitrite <0.25, and Nitrate 0. My PH was low at 7.8 and my salinity was a little high. The LFS gave me some buffer powder to raise the PH and add some "kalk" to the water (It was apparently low as well- but I don't know what exactly it is!).

Anywho, that set of readings, my water had been fairly stable and the LFS guy had told me it was OK to add some hardy fish. So in went a Royal Gramma, a clownfish, and a banded coral shrimp. after several days of stable water readings (per the LFS), I added another clown to make a pain, and a Flame Angel. Well, the Gramma recently died. (It stopped eating and just hung out under a rock, after the addition of the last 2 fish.)

The fish and shrimp inside are apparently happy as can be. Although the Angel had an eye that looked swollen. (like 'Pop-eye' whenI had freshwater tanks) Once I adjusted the PH, overnight it was back to normal (the eye).

After reading the boards here and at other sites, I realize I've rushed things along too fast. My questions are:

When should I consider adding anything else living? And any suggestions? My wife wants a colorful tank.

Should I add any plantlife? (I have what appears to be Caulerpa reviving from my LR) in addition to a small button mushroomy looking thing. And some little (really tiny!) white circular critter that retracts into itself whenever bubbles come by (Oh yeah, I have a bubble strip).

Should I add anything like snails (do they reproduce like freshwater snails?!!) or other bottom dwellers? not a big fan of hermit crabs, though.

Any suggested improvements to my set up? (I am thinking about someday adding a sump, and I'm giving a LOT of thought to adding a 20 gal 2nd tank as some type of refugium (would this help at all?)

Well that's all my rambling for now...

Thanks for any help or insight. I really appreciate it!
Brian

 

[WBrian]

...Would it be OK to add to my live rock by picking up pieces of cured at the LFS a little at a time and adding as I go?

Thanks!
Brian

 

[Anonymous]

Hi Brian and welcome to rdo!!!

You haven't messed up all that bad, but you do need to slow down!

I also have a 29 so when I say your at your fish limit, I hope you'll believe me. I really don't think that you NEED more lr, but if you want more then go head, just add one piece at time. When ever you add anything to your tank you get a mini cycle. When you start to see algea/bacteria blooms then you could add some clean up crew. If you don't like hermits, then don't add them. Get a couple of snails of different types when you can find them.

I don't think that you need to be dosing anything right now. The problem with your pH is probably co2 build up and very easy to check. Take about a cup worth of tank water and place an airstone in it for a couple of hours. If the pH goes up, then your tank needs more oxygen, pretty simple. You can place a ph so that it's pointing towards the surface to get some aggitation going there.

Please give your tank time to stablize before adding anything else and take your time. Impulse buying = bad!

Geesh, I hope I answered your questions........but if I didn't, some one else will show up and pitch in. Good luck.

 

[ChrisRD]

Hi Brian and :welcome:

When should I consider adding anything else living? And any suggestions? My wife wants a colorful tank.

As recommended above - slow down a bit and let things stabilize. Once your parameters are stable and all your livestock is looking good, you could start thinking about trying some hardy soft corals (your lighting should be adequate).

Use the next few weeks to get a couple of good books (if you don't already have some), research/ask questions here, and browse through our library (check out the Beginner's Guide and the suggested reading lists)

Should I add any plantlife? (I have what appears to be Caulerpa reviving from my LR).

Personally, I wouldn't purposely add macro algae to the display tank - particularly a toxic/invasive variety like Caulerpa. It has various downsides and can be very hard to erradicate in the future when you decide you no longer want it in your tank.

Should I add anything like snails (do they reproduce like freshwater snails?!!) or other bottom dwellers? not a big fan of hermit crabs, though.

Herbivores and detritivores are good to have around to aid in keeping the tank looking nice, but only add as needed (ie. add snails if you need more algae grazing) as you don't want to put a bunch of stuff in your tank and have it starve down-the-road. FWIW, I don't care much for hermits either and you certainly don't need them in your tank.

Any suggested improvements to my set up? (I am thinking about someday adding a sump, and I'm giving a LOT of thought to adding a 20 gal 2nd tank as some type of refugium (would this help at all?)

Sumps and refugiums are nice options to have, but not a must. Just keep that hang-on filter well cleaned as you don't want detritus accumulating in their and decomposing (can result in nutrient/algae problems).