New tank and not sure what to do next...

[DENNIS]

Hey everyone,
I've had my tank for less than a week now and I'm a bit lost as to what I shoud do next and how soon. My tank is 37 gallons (tall). I just introduced 38.5 lbs of live Haiten rock last evening and just tested my water for the first time tonight. Below are where my levels are at.

Salinity = 1.024
High Range PH = 8.4
Ammonia = .50
Nitrite = 5.0
Nitrate = 10

I guess question is could I introduce a couple damsels at this time. I've read that the tank won't cycle until I introduce live animals to it. Also, the live rock I picked out had polyps all over a couple of pieces. Will these die due to my current levels?

Thanks in advance for the help everyone!

Peace,
Dennis

 

[Woodstock]

The tank is cycling with the live rock. When it cycles you'll see a spike in ammonia first, then nitrIte, and last nitrAtes. Your tank will complete it's cycle in a few weeks without damsels. Adding damsels is a bad idea anyway.... they're usually very aggressive to any other fish you try to add later and they are very, very tough to catch if you decide to remove them!

Just sit back and wait You can test daily to watch the cycle progress. Keep a journal.. I do!

 

[Woodstock]

The polyps will probably be ok. Do you run a skimmer?

 

[Little Luey]

Right now your tank is going thru a cycle, this is when some of the living organisms on the rock will die, that is why the ammonia and nitrite is high right now, this also means you really do not need to add any fish, some people think this is kind of cruel to put any fish thru this level of stress, they may survive but they will be stress out. It is more humane to let the live rock cycle by itself, when your ammonia is 0 you may be ready to add your fish. The lenght of time will depend on how much of the stuff on them dies off. So for now just relax and look at your rock, we all did that at least once and we will not think of you as crazy, this is the time when you discover one more thing moving that was not there the day before. Be ready to do a water change in about 4 or 5 days.
Oh yea, welcome to this great hobbie and greater forum.

 

[Rougiem]

Ditto Woody and Little Luey!

Yea do not put any fish in there...They will most likely die..trust me on this! Besides IMO I think it is a cruel thing to do!

Cheers!

 

[DENNIS]

You guys are fantastic! I never expected such quick responses. Woodstock, I don't run a skimmer yet. I was told I didn't really need to invest in one until I started to add coral. I figured I wouldn't be ready for that for at least a couple of months so I decided to hold off on that expense. I've been reading some opposing views on that though, so I'm not quite sure what to believe at this point. The guy at my lfs seems knowledgable so that's the advice I'm going on.

Little Luey, I'm really quite content looking at my rock right know. I don't have much of a setup but it's one I'm proud of thus far.

I have a question about lighting. Right know I have a 20 inch / 28 watt aqualight. Do I need to leave this on all the time or can I turn it off in evenings. I know this sounds like a stupid question but I've read where persons have one lamp to signify daytime and another to signify moonlight. I'm not quite that advance yet.

Peace,
Dennis

 

[Woodstock]

Yes, varying opinions are everywhere in this hobby but one thing everyone agrees on is water quality. For fish only, keep a constant PH (it may go down a bit during the night hours), temp, and low nitrAtes. If you can keep the water quality good without a skimmer (water changes, etc), go for it! My skimmer saves me a lot of tank cleaning by removing nasties quickly.

My bright metal halides are on an 8 hr timer.. my blue powercompact actinics are on a 11 hr timer, and I have no moon lights yet. The PC come on 2 hours before and 1 hour after the bright MH; this helps to create a sunrise/sunset transition.

Just get a timer for your current lights and run them about 8-12 hrs a day. YOu don't NEED moonlights.

 

[cheeks69]

I don't run a skimmer yet. I was told I didn't really need to invest in one until I started to add coral.

I don't agree ! A skimmer will be one if not the most important piece of equipment you buy and if you want the fauna that came with your LR to survive the curing process then I recommend you get one ASAP. As mentioned very well by Doni and crew you shouldn't add any fish the cycling has started so it's unecessary to pain your fish with the ammonia levels you have in your tank. I would take this time while your tank is curing for a few weeks to do as much research as possible on your future inhabitants.

 

[docklink]

As stated by others, your tank is cycling as is and it's just a matter of waiting till the Amm/ Ni+ read zero (in a week or two).
I'm curious about the polyps on your rock. Have you identified them yet? I'm concerned about aptasia on your rock. At the same time, you can get some very desireable hitchikers sometimes. Best of luck.

 

[Little Luey]

At this time I really don't think you need to have the light on for more than 5 hours, the timer is definatly a good idea and I think most guys use them, have the light on when you are home so you can look at the rock. Your tank will have a lot of die off right now and it will really benefit if you use a protein skimmer to remove a lot of this nasties, when you see the collection cup full of stuff you will see why it is important, I would not want to swim in that stuff. I have also run my tank with out a skimmer and had no problem, but is like driving without insurance, thing can get bad quick in case of an accident. You also need to have a powerhead or two circulating the water, this will help getting the dead organisms off the rock, run a filter with carbon in it to help with the smell.

 

[Gina]

Your off to a great start and your water params are just where they need to be.
Try to identifiy what you are calling polyps and like mentioned above, if it's Aptasia, I would try and get rid of it now.

Aptasia

In about 3 weeks you should be able to add your clean up crew.
I would also be looking into getting a skimmer. Any help you can get to clean up the water is a plus!

 

[Rougiem]

Dennis:

You said you are running a 20 inch/28watt light. I agree with Woodstock on running the light maybe five hours. I assume it is just a daylight bulb? If this is the case, you may get a lot of unwanted algae growth. Depending on what you want to put in your tank down the road, you may want to consider upgrading your lighting. You have less than 1 watt a gallon (28 divided by 37) and if you plan on having corals, many species require much higher light requirements. In the meantime, you could also replace your bulb too.

I am sure others from RS can add to this as well. It was something you mentitioned that was not addressed in previous posts.

Hope that helps you..

Cheers!

 

[DENNIS]

I don't think the polyps are aptasia. I've looked around the internet and the only thing I found them to look similar to are maybe sand polyps? I've uploaded a picture if anyone can help identify.

As far as my light, I went (once again) with the recommendation from my lfs. It was the same light they had set up on the tank that I bought which they had set up with a few corals in it. The bulbs are described as "50/50 combining the daylight rays fo the 10,000k and True Actinic 03 blue rays to provide optimal lighting required for essential biochemical reactions."

 

[Woodstock]

These are NOT aiptasia (you can celebrate now )

That lighting is minimal and will not sustain corals for a long period of time. I would look into adding more watts per gallon before adding more corals. Those polyps are a hardy coral and MIGHT make it through the cycle period.

 

[DENNIS]

Thanks Woodstock, and sorry you have to keep relocating my pictures! I'm off to Big Als Aquarium Supercenter. What would you recommend in terms of lights. I currently have two bulbs. One is blue. Should I replace both or just increase the wattage of the white bulb.

My ignorance is really showing, isn't it?!

 

[cheeks69]

Dennis do you know the wattage ? Is it powercompacts ? What are you planning to keep for corals ? That will dictate what lighting you'll need.

 

[DENNIS]

It is compact. 20 inch / 28 watts

 

[cheeks69]

If you plan to go SPS in the future then I would suggest Metal Halide. What are the exact dimensions of the tank ? You might get away with only one halide bulb. Do you have a canopy ?

 

[Rougiem]

Dennis:

Thanks for the "heads up!"

Woodstock is correct...You need to upgrade the watts per gallon. As far as what to get that once again depends on where you are heading. If you can get some higher watt bulbs that would be my recommendation at this point. If you cannot, you may have to upgrade your lighting and there are many ways to go. I had to do this with mine. I am running a 65 watt 50/50 (10,000k +actinic) compact flourescent + 15 watt 20,000K for a total of 80 watts. I have a 30 gallon tank, so my watts per gallon is 2.6. I am limited what I can have in my tank. I have a couple of corals but they have lower light requirements. I hope this helps!

Do not feel you are showing any ignorance. That is what everyone is here for Dennis. We all want to help...I know I have shown mine enough times here! :smack: Hummm...I may have opened the flood gates upon me!

Cheers!

 

[Woodstock]

http://www.coralreefecosystems.com/ltg_qa.htm#How much light do I need

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/pic/article.cfm?acatid=287&aid=414

How much light do I need?

The amount of light required depends on what type of livestock you want to keep. A very colorful selection of corals can be grown under two VHO fluorescents, or four RO (regular output) fluorescents covering the length of your aquarium. Examples of corals that will do well under this scenario are mushroom anemones, bubble tip anemones, bubble coral, zooanthids, star polyps and other polyp colonies. If you would like a greater variety of species, and possibly a more natural looking aquarium, metal halide or a metal halide/fluorescent combination would be more desirable. Metal halides will give the water column the same glitter effect as the sun, and also enable your system to support higher light loving corals (e.g. most Acropora sp.). As a rough guideline, a low to medium light system uses 2-5 watts of light per gallon, and a medium to high light system uses 5-10 watts per gallon. Corals requiring low light can be kept in high light systems, but may have to be positioned accordingly.