Newbi to salt water tanks

Kenny

New Member
I need some help here. I bought a 100 gallon tank w sump about 7 weeks ago I cycled it with 6 damsels and live rock. I've tested the water and everything is zer0 except nitrates which is around 10. I've added a dwarf lion fish,trigger fish a snow flake eel and a angel. Lion fish and eel both dead everything seems to be thriving. What am I doing wrong? Ph is around 8.2-8.4. I added 2 fish at a time didn't put them all in at same time.
 

cracker

Well-Known Member
Hello Kenny, Wow You have a lot going on there ! Consider slowing down on adding the fish . It takes a while for the tank to get used to the extra bioload of additional fish. I'm sure others will want to know more info on your tank and setup. They will be able to help you Good Luck !
 

DaveK

Well-Known Member
Please tell us a nit more about your system.

How much live rock are you using?
How much live sand are you using?
How did you mix your SW?
What is the SG of your water?
How did you acclimate the new fish?
What type of filtration system are you using?
What skimmer, if any, are your using?
What additives, if any, are you using?

I suspect your basic problem is adding too many fish too quickly, but I'd like to know the other information to be sure.
 

nanoreefing4fun

Well-Known Member
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Kenny

New Member
Please tell us a nit more about your system.

How much live rock are you using?
How much live sand are you using?
How did you mix your SW?
What is the SG of your water?
How did you acclimate the new fish?
What type of filtration system are you using?
What skimmer, if any, are your using?
What additives, if any, are you using?

I suspect your basic problem is adding too many fish too quickly, but I'd like to know the other information to be sure.
Hey
I have about 50 pounds of live rock
No live sand
10 gallon sump
No skimmer,yet
Acclimated the fish using the drip system ( let them acclimate for an hour or so)
When I did water change I mixed salt in 5 gallon buckets and ran a pump to mix water for a min of 8 hours. Only did one water change about a week ago about 20 percent
Don't know what sg is lol
I also have a brown algae problem which is making tank a little cloudy. the only additives I've used so far is the dechloranator, and night out while tank was cycling. Thanks for the help
 

DaveK

Well-Known Member
Thanks for your reply.

50 lbs of live rock is about one third to one half of what is generally recommended. This is the biological filtration of your system, so you can't cut back on this amount too much. You can use dry rock if you are willing to wait a few months for it to become populated with bacteria and in effect become live rock.

A 10 gal sump is extremely small for a 100 gal tank. I surprised you could get this to work at all. How do you have the sump set up, and what kind of return pump are you using? While I don't think this is a direct cause of your problems, this may be something you'll need to work on for long term success.

While you don't absolutely need a skimmer, I would consider this to be so highly desirable that I wouldn't set up a large tank with out one. Be careful in you shopping here. There are a lot of low end junk skimmers on the market, and you only want to buy this piece of gear once. Additional note, you seem interested in large predator fish, some of which produce a lot of waste. A good skimmer really helps with these.

I forgot to ask this before. What species of trigger did you get? Some of them are really nasty and can't be kept with other fish at all.

SG is specific gravity. It's measured with a hydrometer or refractometer. Typical reading for a reef system is about 1.025 - 1.026. Fish only systems are sometimes kept at a lower level, about 1.021 - 1.022, but I prefer using the same level as a reef system.

At this time, don't worry too much about the algae issues.

Since you mention using a dechloranator, I assume you used tap water to mix your salt. This could also be the source of your problems. Tap water today has a lot of garbage in it. It can only be used if you live in an area that has very light quality water. Most reef keepers today use RO/DI water, and get that either from their LFS (Local Fish Store) or get their own RO/DI unit. Since you have a larger tank, I highly recommend you get an RO/DI unit so you have a source of high quality water.

As you can see, getting all this gear can get expensive fast. Don't panic and feel you need to get it all at once. However, when you do buy equipment, always get top quality. This doesn't mean most expensive. It does mean getting something that will last for years, and you will not need to replace it after a few months or a year.

If your just a little handy with your hands, you can make a lot of your own equipment. This can save you a bundle.
 

Kenny

New Member
Hey
I have about another 20-30 lbs of dry rock in there as well I was planning on getting more in the coming weeks not sure if I'm getting live or dry depends on budget. I have a 40 gallon sump 10 was A typo w bio balls and a 1200 gph pump. Sg level is at 1.023.
I was told I can wait 3 or 4 months b4 I get a skimmer. You have any recommendations on a skimmer and a ro/di? When would you recommend putting more fish in? Thanks again for your help
 
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