New SW chick on the block

[ChristinaJ]

HI Everyone,
Last year my Dad and Sister got me into tanks,...had 2 FW ones,...now switching over to what I wanted in the beginning,...SW
Just set up my 36 Bow with SW crushed coral, and Live Rocks,..and it is happily cycling,...SW level is OK,...got a MarineLand 150 filter, powerhead, heater,...and bubbler,..now I have to wait 2 weeks before I can add a crab and a seastar,..according to the fellow at Pisces Fish store here in Calgary,...then I am looking for a Protein skimmer,...and a new light,..
Anyone has any suggestions??...am I on the right track?

Thanks
Christina

 

[nanoreefing4fun]

to ReefSanctuary, a real Sanctuary of reef forums, with lots of very nice members

and welcome to the wonderful world of salt !

Start a tank thread & share your tank with us so we can follow along, we love pics


Sure some members can advise on the lights & skimmer

You might want to wait a bit on adding the seastar they seems to do much better in tanks that are more mature, like 6-12 months old... see what others think

 

[Tru2nr]

Welcome, one thing to always keep in mind, some LFS's lie or just don't know better. IMO first thing to be added once the tank has cycled is your CUC of snails n crabs once those have been added and the tank has settled you can start adding fish. Stars I wait until the 6 month mark at least they can be tempermental


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[ChristinaJ]

to ReefSanctuary, a real Sanctuary of reef forums, with lots of very nice members

and welcome to the wonderful world of salt !

Start a tank thread & share your tank with us so we can follow along, we love pics


Sure some members can advise on the lights & skimmer

You might want to wait a bit on adding the seastar they seems to do much better in tanks that are more mature, like 6-12 months old... see what others think

Thanks!
I am going into week 2 of water cycling,...so far so good,..did the stick test and conditions are pretty good...
Now I am starting to think about a skimmer,..picked one up for 20$ (Berlin) what a big monster LOL,..I guess it is only good if you have a sump structure under the tank,..but I think I am not ready for that yet,..I better start out with a small hang on the back skimmer,...any suggestions of which one would be enough for a 36 Bow?
Also the fellow that I got it from said that he did not have a skimmer for a long time but lots of rock and the rock filtered it kind-a,..mmm not sure about that

thanks for any input (I will upload a pic of the tank)

 

[nanoreefing4fun]

Have never had a HOB (hang on back) skimmer but I seem to read good reviews on the
AquaC Remora here on RS

Hopefully others can advise...

 

[DaveK]

Welcome to the group.

Overall your not too bad off, but there are a few things you should do at this point.

Get rid of the bubbler. These cause nothing but problems in SW tanks. First off the clog quickly. What's worse is they splash SW all over the place making a big mess.

When you cycle a tank, you need to add something that bacteria can break down to start the cycle. Sometimes this can be done with just live rock, but more often than not, you add one medium size raw shrimp that you get from the grocery store. It will decay and really get the cycle going.

At that point you should see ammonia and nitrite spike and drop back to zero. Note that this often takes much longer than the two weeks your planning on.

Test strips are notorious for being inaccurate. I highly recommend you get regular test kits. Usually you'll need ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, and pH to get going through the cycle. Later on you'll likely want Ca, KH, and Mg. I also recommend a refractometer for measuring SG. The aquarium grade hydrometers are just too inaccurate.

When shopping for new lighting or a new skimmer, you are usually better off looking online. Often your LFS store will not carry the products you want in these areas. There are a lot of junk skimmers on the market, so ask here about anything your considering.

 

[StirCrayzy]

Welcome ! What are the plans for livestock? A skimmer is not exactly a necessity for all SW tanks. In the past, I've used a RedSea Prizm HOB skimmer with very little to complain about for what it was.
I haven't run a skimmer in years though, so I can't speak for many recent ones.

 

[Tru2nr]

Reef Octopus and AquaC Remora are two good HOB skimmers. I've also heard good things about BakPak skimmers, just return the Berlin skimmer, hardly ever do you find something worth keeping in this hobby on the equipment side for cheap. Just remember good rule of thumb is cut the skimmer rating in half to determine the actual water volume it should handle


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[Ceejai777]

Welcome! I've not kept any sw tank above 30g but have found skimmers to be more trouble than what they're worth and have come to the conclusion smaller tanks don't really need them. I don't use them anymore. Best of wishes to you and your tank!


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[ChristinaJ]

Wauw everyone, thanks for your comments,..I will think about the skimmer,..if you say I don’t “really” need one

…And get rid of the bubbler,…how do I get oxygen into the water?

My tank is doing pretty good,..2 anemones popped up on my life rocks,..not sure how to upload pictures here, but when I figure it out I will. I bought the coralife actinic blue light and 10,000K daylight bulbs,..now I have to find an extra cover for the daylight bulb,…do I keep them on at the same time or blue in the morning and night only?


Cheers, Christina

 

[ChristinaJ]

Welcome ! What are the plans for livestock? A skimmer is not exactly a necessity for all SW tanks. In the past, I've used a RedSea Prizm HOB skimmer with very little to complain about for what it was.
I haven't run a skimmer in years though, so I can't speak for many recent ones.

So how do you go without skimmer,...just water changes and what other special requirements?
Christina

 

[nanoreefing4fun]

http://www.reefsanctuary.com/forum/...-pics-from-photobucket-nanoreefing4fun.90665/

on a 36 gallon tank, a skimmer may not be a must have... but would be very high on my list of items I would want to have...

 

[ChristinaJ]

Welcome ! What are the plans for livestock? A skimmer is not exactly a necessity for all SW tanks. In the past, I've used a RedSea Prizm HOB skimmer with very little to complain about for what it was.
I haven't run a skimmer in years though, so I can't speak for many recent ones.

RIght now I have 3 red hermit crabs,..which ofcourse are difficult to keep track off, however I do saw one of them yesterday,..and I have anemones growing,..little brownish,..shaped like a mushroom with tentacles in a circle and little white spots,...one day he is really long in the stem,..today he was short and fat,..I saw another one this morning in a crevice on another rock but this aft is was not visible,.. I guess I am on the right track...also got coralife bulbs actenic blue & 10,000K daylight
Christina

 

[ChristinaJ]

http://www.reefsanctuary.com/forum/...-pics-from-photobucket-nanoreefing4fun.90665/

on a 36 gallon tank, a skimmer may not be a must have... but would be very high on my list of items I would want to have...

Thanks I will give it a try !

 

[ChristinaJ]

Reef Octopus and AquaC Remora are two good HOB skimmers. I've also heard good things about BakPak skimmers, just return the Berlin skimmer, hardly ever do you find something worth keeping in this hobby on the equipment side for cheap. Just remember good rule of thumb is cut the skimmer rating in half to determine the actual water volume it should handle


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Would my hermit crabs eat my little anemones?

 

[nanoreefing4fun]

If you get an error - I will help ask any questions too

 

[nanoreefing4fun]

Lots of us use photobucket to host our pics - but RS can "host" them too...

to do that... click here (Media Button) below...

http://www.reefsanctuary.com/forum/index.php?media/

then on top right - click on the button ADD MEDIA from this page - and upload a pic from your pc

once loaded it's easy to display - right click on it - copy image url & click on the Picture Frame Icon in any post, add it there & it will show up

 

[StirCrayzy]

You probably have aiptasia anemones, which are less than desirable but luckily there are quite a few methods to control their spread.
As for going without a skimmer, it's not much difference in maintenance routine, just keep an eye on your water parameters, rising Nitrates mean it's time to change. I would try maintain at or under 10 ppm . The key is Stability. It's one of those words you'll hear a lot, but well worth noting .
Lighting is tough to say much without knowing the fixture you have. If each build is seperately controlled than most of us on avg probably would turn the blue on first for an hour before the white turns on, then shutoff the blue an hour after the white turns off. Total lighting hours are best judged by your livestock choices. Or limit lighting if you are getting excess algae growth.

 

[ChristinaJ]

Welcome ! What are the plans for livestock? A skimmer is not exactly a necessity for all SW tanks. In the past, I've used a RedSea Prizm HOB skimmer with very little to complain about for what it was.
I haven't run a skimmer in years though, so I can't speak for many recent ones.

Thanks,.I am on week 4 now....I hooked up my red sea skimmer (big monster hang on) and I have gotten almost no protein build up,..and as it fell over at the sink and broke the collection cup it now is ducked taped together LOLOL so not looking to great,..mmmpphhhfff,...
But so far so good,..I added 3 turbo snails who are munching away happily on the green and brown algae,...I did see one of my 3 hermit crabs so I think 2 of them are AWOL,..so I am going to take the water in for a test next weekend and then maybe I can add a few corals,...depending on the water status,...I would like to go protein skimmer less,...anyone has any suggestions on how to accomplish that? as I am sure there are no protein skimmers in the ocean,... LOL

 

[ChristinaJ]

You probably have aiptasia anemones, which are less than desirable but luckily there are quite a few methods to control their spread.
As for going without a skimmer, it's not much difference in maintenance routine, just keep an eye on your water parameters, rising Nitrates mean it's time to change. I would try maintain at or under 10 ppm . The key is Stability. It's one of those words you'll hear a lot, but well worth noting .
Lighting is tough to say much without knowing the fixture you have. If each build is seperately controlled than most of us on avg probably would turn the blue on first for an hour before the white turns on, then shutoff the blue an hour after the white turns off. Total lighting hours are best judged by your livestock choices. Or limit lighting if you are getting excess algae growth.

Yes thanks for the info,..I bought a syringe at the drugstore after promising I was not a crack addict LOL,...and killed the 2 aiptasias...with lemon juice,..