33g first tank

[1337cr3w]

I bought this tank used form reef_surfer and plan to house a dwarf lion in it. some specs on the tank are.

-33g tank 30.5"Long x 12.5"wide x 18.75" high
-seio 650 water pump
-25lbs live sand and coral rubble
-aprrox. 40 lbs live rock
-aquaclear 50 filter
-coralife super skimmer 65
-250W Metal Halide light with ballast

the tank was down for a week so its cycling now only been 4 days so far. I came across the topic of uv sterilizers and was wondering if it'd be something i should have, i plan to have a dwarf lion, a clown fish and a yellow tail damsel in the tank with a few corrals.


first on stand empty

halide only w/camera flash

in dark no camera flash

[1337cr3w]

so yesterday my amonia came down to zero and everything else was zero so today i got my fish put in

I added a false percula, a yellow tail blue damsel, an unknown anemone and a green star polyp.






I also slighty moved the live rock, making room for another piece i want to add on the right.



help identifying the anemone would be nice, i could not get a good picture of him, ill keep trying for a better picture.

[Reef_surfer]

hey bud the anemone i forgot to tell you is a sand sifting anemone. hope everything, one is doing good in the tank

[Reef_kid]

i would really suggest something to remove nitrate and nitrite, phosphate, and ammonia form the water. it will help eliminate green algae and promote Coraline algae. you may need to increase your filtration on the system if your going to increase the bio-load.

[saltynuts]

if you cut the tube from the pump to the skimmer. your skimmer will skimm much better.

[1337cr3w]

Originally Posted by saltynuts

if you cut the tube from the pump to the skimmer. your skimmer will skimm much better.

cut as in shorten?

and what would i add to reduce nitrates, nitrites, amonia and phosphate? i have coraline algae growing, it showed up a few days ago and is starting to grow faster and faster.

[saltynuts]

yes shorten the hose.

[Myka]

Heya! You've got a great start on your tank! Your live rock has really nice shapes. Where did you get it? Good to see another Skatchie on the forums!!!

You may want to consider progressing slower, as I foresee some possible deaths in the near future from pushing on too quickly. It would have been wise to wait at least a week with 0 ammonia/nitrite before adding livestock. It would have also been wise to just add one fish at a time, especially in a tank of a smaller size. Anemones are also quite sensitive creatures, and appreciate a more established reef. Keep an eye on your critters for signs of stress as you may need to move back a step before stepping ahead again. Your anemone almost looks like a hairy mushroom in the pic though. Or a Rock Anemone of some sort (there are many different species)?

How's the temperature in the tank with the big halide? Do you get fluctuations from night/day?

[Reef_kid]

for nitrate use a nitrate remover
http://www.jlaquatics.com/product/sc...-+1+Litre.html

and for phosphate you can use ferric oxide

http://www.jlaquatics.com/product/rw...+-+100+mL.html

small tank build up excess of these nutrients as your tank cycles.
in larger tanks you can have sumps
most people cycling occurs much faster then it actually does..

you can add a little sack of these chemical filters to your aquaclear filter.

[1337cr3w]

Originally Posted by Myka

Heya! You've got a great start on your tank! Your live rock has really nice shapes. Where did you get it? Good to see another Skatchie on the forums!!!

You may want to consider progressing slower, as I foresee some possible deaths in the near future from pushing on too quickly. It would have been wise to wait at least a week with 0 ammonia/nitrite before adding livestock. It would have also been wise to just add one fish at a time, especially in a tank of a smaller size. Anemones are also quite sensitive creatures, and appreciate a more established reef. Keep an eye on your critters for signs of stress as you may need to move back a step before stepping ahead again. Your anemone almost looks like a hairy mushroom in the pic though. Or a Rock Anemone of some sort (there are many different species)?

How's the temperature in the tank with the big halide? Do you get fluctuations from night/day?

well reef_surfer had the tank down for only a week buit the live rock live sand and everything was still in a running tank so, i hope i was safe to put them in already but ya i probably should have waited a bit longer. and with the light i have to turn down the heater when i turn it on or it will rise over a degree per hour. but i keep an eye on it checking every hour and adjusting to compensate.

I have two bags of carbon and a sponge in the filter do i replace one carbon with a bag of a mix of these?

and reef_kid thanks ill look into those.