Newby looking for input/feedback

[Koresample]

Hi,

I just started a salt tank, it's 41G fluval. I have 49Lbs LR that i purchased that was well established in another tank, plus 60 llbs of aragonite live. The rock and sand has been in the tank for only about 4 days and my readings are;
HG 1024, 79.8 degrees, Ph 8.2, amnonia 0, Nitrite 0 and Nitrate 0. I have the Marine Glo and Power Glo lights on a timer for 10 hours on 14 hours off.
I have noticed coral coloration on my newest rock that matches the other rock overnight, but have not seen any algae start to grow. It almost seems too perfect, am i being set up for disaster?
I have about 6 crabs and 8 snails right now in there. Should i just keep checking my readings daily and watching out for dying critters? I plan on waiting another month before i add any fish, but should i be concerned about the critters/janitors?

thanks!

[Trigger Man]

You may need to add something dead to the tank to begin the cycle. There may not be enough dieoff occurring to start the process. As a second note, you did transfer a bunch of lr from another tank so that decreases the intensity of the cycle in many instances, and the tank my be cycled for the current bioload. Also you don't need to have your lights running for such a long time when cycling. When I cycle a tank I don't turn on the lights till after the cycle ends (keeps from the possible algae bloom).

[Alberta-newb]

Welcome to Canreef!

Sounds like your off to a very good start and have obviously done your homework (real parameters rather than "the water is good"):biggrin:

You may have some good established rock and sand, I started my tank with similar well cured rock and never had any appreciable readings. I did add a piece of cocktail shrimp into my tank to let it rot and see If I could get a spike but I guess the rock was established enough as even then nothing showed up.

[Koresample]

thanks for the feedback. The only semi-dead thing i added was a piece of rock from the other tank that had been out of water for about 8 days. it was totally white compared to the other rock with minimal purple growth. Is the purple stuff growing on the LR coral algae?

When i took the readings tonight all was the same except for the HG which was up to 1027. I added a litre of de-clhorinated water and will take the reading tomorrow. Is it normal to see that much of an HG change in 24 hrs? I don't think I lost that much water to evaporation.

[Trigger Man]

Yes the purple stuff growing on your rock is Coraline Algae.
As for your increase in salintiy it is due to the evaporation occuring in your tank. The less open spots in the tank top the less you should see in evaporation. Ideally you want to keep you salinity level as constant as possible, with many reefers on here keeping their tanks at 1.023 to 1.026. I keep mine at 1.025.
You can look at a auto top off unit if you find that the salinity level is fluctuating to much, or add some water in the morning and then in the night as needed (remember top off water is water that has no salt in it).

[Koresample]

thanks for the info, I topped off with de-chlorinated water (1 litre) and will check it again today.

[tang daddy]

alternatively if you don't want to chuck a piece of cocktail shrimp you could put some frozen mysis or brine and that way atleast the hermits will get a meal!

you can make an auto top off fairly easy aswell so it adds the water in slowly all you need is a plastic waste basket and a couple fittings from home depot, an airline hose and a nozzel from the sprinkler from the plumbing dept. I made one for under $20 and put 1g of water into it everyday then set the nozzel to drip 2 drops per second it usually takes a couple hrs to empty. Ofcourse this top off system is gravity fed meaning it has to be above you tank or sump.

http://www.buydripkits.com/catalog/309B-L_thumb.jpg

http://www.rittenhouse.ca/content/images/big/oasis_watering.jpg

[Koresample]

thanks for the tips, I don't have the room to put one of those drip feeds in though, so i"ll have to do it manually. I'll pick up some shrimp like you suggest and feed my crabs. The 1 ltr brought the HG down to 1022 again, so i'll just have to make that part of my daily routine now :biggrin:

I bought the Sea Clone Skimmer not knowing jack about skimmers (obviously) and i've been reading up on them that they are not too good, but can me modded to make them better. Mine has a nice cyclone vortex but i am not collecting any stuff in the cup or getting enough foam to spill over in to the collector cup. Any tips other than scrapping it already?

I also noticed i have what looks like a bright green coral algae forming on some of the established rock (not fuzzy and it looks like the same density/texture as the existing purple stuff), is this like the purple stuff and just leave it alone?

[fishytime]

Coraline algae can be many colors. Pink, purple, orange and green.

[Koresample]

Can it change from purple to green? What causes the color changes?

[Trigger Man]

with your salinity you don't want it to change so much so rapidly. You mentioned that it was at 1.024 when you checked the water parmeters, then went up to 1.027 that night, and is now down to 1.022 after topoff. These swings will cause alot undue stress on your tank inhabitants.

[Koresample]

Is there any kind of 'rule of thumb' for adjusting the HG level when you are trying to make small changes?

[TheMikey]

I vote against adding anything to cause a spike in your tank. IF you've bought live rock from another source, then it's teeming with all the beneficial bacteria from that tank. Why spike your parameters and kill it off?

[MCC]

If you can... get rid of the fluval filter... its a disaster in a making... unless you are religious in cleaning that filter like every 5-7 days... and rinse it good.... and lots of water changes

In saltwater systems no mechanical filters are needed.... you rely on your LR and sand and water changes (Once a week and 20%)... seems like you are on a good start on that..you got plenty of LR and sand...

I would instead of using the fluval....add a HOB refugium. They are very popular with Nano systems that are not big enough to require a sump. In the refugium add some sand and cheato and you got a Nitrate Reducing Factory....

Seaclone 100 will be fine for now, but later on depending on your bioload it won't do much.... Remember protein skimmer, lights, and LR are where your budget goes to...

As for your lights... its fine for a FOWLR setup...if you plan on anything with corals...you need to switch your lights....

You will need more water flow as well.... For a tank your size....depending if you want corals or not.... with corals you should be aiming at least 1000-1500 gph total in your tank for soft corals... and even more for SPS corals..

Anyways good start for now...and I am happy to hear you got lots of LR as lots of people cheap out on the rocks...and pay for it later on :(

[Sparkfarmer]

I used a funnel fron Canadian tire and a unused valve from a circ pump for a dripper. I hang it in the back of my biocube and drip in my chemicals/water top-ups. Works great for under $10. Also use it for aclimatizing new stock.

As far as the cycling is concerned. I had a similar situation with transfered live rock, and I didn't get a detectable cycle. You still need to wait a while before adding fish to be safe though....

[BlueAbyss]

Is there any kind of 'rule of thumb' for adjusting the HG level when you are trying to make small changes?

The 'rule of thumb' is to not ever have to adjust your Specific Gravity. It should stay very VERY close to where you want it... large changes like what you've described above would kill or at the very least heavily stress many of the less hardy types of creatures you will likely want to keep. The ocean is a very stable environment and doesn't change that much, which is what you should strive for... stability.

And I agree with MCC about the fluval. I would empty it and use it to circulate the water, nothing more. There really is no need for a filter like this in tropical saltwater tanks, that's what your rock and sand is for.