Here is the start to my Reef

DIDYSIS

Mantilla Stingray
MFK Member
Feb 9, 2012
5,542
307
1,946
West Jordan Utah
Looking over the local classifieds someone got a tank from a friend and was going fresh water so needed to send the salt water stuff on its way and as always nothing was taken care of the tank had been taken down for many hours the fish was in a water pitcher, so I figured I could do better and grabbed my tank and set it up with some salt and threw the filter stuff in it and went to grab the fish with some rock, figured the rock would be able to maintain the water ok and I would make it work. Got the substrate and rock and single tomato clown and ran home, the fish was in super hot water as he had put a heater into the water pitcher, it seemed like 95+ when I felt the water, so put him in a bag to soak for 30 minutes and threw the rock, base and some of the water into the tank to mix. Well long story short here we are 3.5 days later. And the fish still lives and seems very happy to my amazement. Ordered some new salt mix (reef crystals) as my other was super old and a solid rock in the bucket but its salty. Got new bulbs on the way with a reef test kit and hopefully I will turn this into a nice little reef after sometime. Just debating if buying an ro filter setup is worth it with such a small tank, or get water from walmart or distilled water, I plan to upgrade later at some point but for now we will see. I have other tanks to keep me very busy. Hopefully the old rock and base are doing the job and I can push along with new salt mix and getting some stuff going fast as that's the fun of a tank is adding all the cool stuff, Im sure I will be asking for a little help as I have not done a salt tank for a while,

First need advice on snails and crabs to add to the tank, when do I add them? Its of course a clean tank but I can see a little old stuff on the rock like brown hair or what really thin though, of course animals that eat the stuff that grows is good.

Also a person gave me some reef stuff for the tank, should I start adding a little soon?

Here is what I have-
Reef builder
Reef buffer
Reef complete

Aiptasai kit?? What is this?

And sorry for the long wait here is the mini tank pic,

Sorry no 600 gallon salt tanks here.

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DIDYSIS

Mantilla Stingray
MFK Member
Feb 9, 2012
5,542
307
1,946
West Jordan Utah
uploadfromtaptalk1375982061603.jpg

Like my monster heater, lol

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Cu455

Fire Eel
MFK Member
Mar 8, 2011
1,089
94
66
US
For Reef builder, Reef buffer and Reef complete don't use any of it. You don't have coral so it is not neccacery and even if you had coral it still wouldn't be.

Aiptasia is an anemone which is concidered a pest. The kit is to kill them. This is something you should look up. if the person had them in his tank and you used his rocks or filters you problaly going to have it. Keep an eye out for them and kill them. They aren't as bad as people make them seem.

No need to throw away his salt. If its in a bag tie the top and drop it a few times on the ground, this will break it up. Since you don't have coral there is no need for reef crystals, simple instant ocean will do.


I don't use r/o water but if you are going to use it buy the system or just get the saltwater mix from the store.mit should be about a dollar a gallon. I don't know how much the r/o water is at the store.

You want a saltwater test kit not a reef test kit. Reef test kits will test calcium, idone and stuff for a reef. The saltwater test kit will test ammonia, nitrates and nitrites.

You can slowly add a clean up crew. For now a snail, a couple of crabs and a shrimp. As your tank becomes more established you can add more. I like my emrald crab. He is always munching away on the algae on the rocks.

How large is the tank?
 

DIDYSIS

Mantilla Stingray
MFK Member
Feb 9, 2012
5,542
307
1,946
West Jordan Utah
The reason for the reef crystal salt is that I plan to setup a coral reef in the tank as soon as possible, and the price was really close to the same as the other so I went with it figuring what I would been keeping really soon.

The Aiptasia kit came from a different person so good I wont worry too much about my rock that I got.

I can test for ammonia, Ph and nitrates and what already so I got the reef test kit as that's the stuff that is really unknown to me.

The tank is about a 30gallon Bio cube.



For Reef builder, Reef buffer and Reef complete don't use any of it. You don't have coral so it is not neccacery and even if you had coral it still wouldn't be.

Aiptasia is an anemone which is concidered a pest. The kit is to kill them. This is something you should look up. if the person had them in his tank and you used his rocks or filters you problaly going to have it. Keep an eye out for them and kill them. They aren't as bad as people make them seem.

No need to throw away his salt. If its in a bag tie the top and drop it a few times on the ground, this will break it up. Since you don't have coral there is no need for reef crystals, simple instant ocean will do.


I don't use r/o water but if you are going to use it buy the system or just get the saltwater mix from the store.mit should be about a dollar a gallon. I don't know how much the r/o water is at the store.

You want a saltwater test kit not a reef test kit. Reef test kits will test calcium, idone and stuff for a reef. The saltwater test kit will test ammonia, nitrates and nitrites.

You can slowly add a clean up crew. For now a snail, a couple of crabs and a shrimp. As your tank becomes more established you can add more. I like my emrald crab. He is always munching away on the algae on the rocks.

How large is the tank?


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DIDYSIS

Mantilla Stingray
MFK Member
Feb 9, 2012
5,542
307
1,946
West Jordan Utah
Anyone have any advice on this growth stuff what's the best way to have it eaten or whatever else needs to happen with it.

uploadfromtaptalk1376006999663.jpg




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DIDYSIS

Mantilla Stingray
MFK Member
Feb 9, 2012
5,542
307
1,946
West Jordan Utah
That is what I thought, thanks, I just wanted to ask, ill probably go look for some crabs tomorrow. Do you think adding snails now is to.early as no real algae has grown

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Jrob

Jack Dempsey
MFK Member
Apr 7, 2011
709
1
33
32
Michigan
Looking over the local classifieds someone got a tank from a friend and was going fresh water so needed to send the salt water stuff on its way and as always nothing was taken care of the tank had been taken down for many hours the fish was in a water pitcher, so I figured I could do better and grabbed my tank and set it up with some salt and threw the filter stuff in it and went to grab the fish with some rock, figured the rock would be able to maintain the water ok and I would make it work. Got the substrate and rock and single tomato clown and ran home, the fish was in super hot water as he had put a heater into the water pitcher, it seemed like 95+ when I felt the water, so put him in a bag to soak for 30 minutes and threw the rock, base and some of the water into the tank to mix. Well long story short here we are 3.5 days later. And the fish still lives and seems very happy to my amazement. Ordered some new salt mix (reef crystals) as my other was super old and a solid rock in the bucket but its salty. Got new bulbs on the way with a reef test kit and hopefully I will turn this into a nice little reef after sometime. Just debating if buying an ro filter setup is worth it with such a small tank, or get water from walmart or distilled water, I plan to upgrade later at some point but for now we will see. I have other tanks to keep me very busy. Hopefully the old rock and base are doing the job and I can push along with new salt mix and getting some stuff going fast as that's the fun of a tank is adding all the cool stuff, Im sure I will be asking for a little help as I have not done a salt tank for a while,

First need advice on snails and crabs to add to the tank, when do I add them? Its of course a clean tank but I can see a little old stuff on the rock like brown hair or what really thin though, of course animals that eat the stuff that grows is good.
I'm a bit confused. Did you acquire the rock from a store...from the classifieds...?? In either case...if you got it from the guy who didn't take care of it...i wouldn't use it. it's probably ruined, or you would have to cycle it out with RO water and vinegar until the water tests fine which imo would take way too long and cost too much money in vinegar.... If you got it from a store you're doing good. The clown is very hardy, it doesn't surprise me that it's still alive. It's a damsel and they are the best to fish-cycle with. Even though most people hate it and don't really approve of this method...it does work it is just hard on the fish. The reason he is probably still alive...is because you haven't completely finished your nitrate cycle. It takes over a month to fully cycle a tank. I would wait at least a month to add any more fish. Probably another 2 weeks until you attempted to add inverts of any sort.

Also a person gave me some reef stuff for the tank, should I start adding a little soon?

Here is what I have-
Reef builder
Reef buffer
Reef complete

Aiptasai kit?? What is this?
It's wikipedia i know, but it's actually right.... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aiptasia
And sorry for the long wait here is the mini tank pic,

Sorry no 600 gallon salt tanks here.
they are over-rated anyways...unless they have really cool fish.
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As for the types of inverts you will need.... A standard CUC will consist of any from 6-12 assorted hermit crabs... blue/red leg hermits... 2 Mexican turbo snails should suffice--later into the cycle....a pacific cleaner shrimp wouldn't be a bad idea....if you start to develop algae bubbles, they look like little green beads..emerald crabs are good at smashing those away. Nassaria snails are your best friend in a deep sand bed set up, they literally have snorkels so they get down inside of the sand and sift through it. Starfish aren't bad, but they aren't for me...a sand sifting star is a decent way to go... STAY AWAY FROM ANEMONES.
 

DIDYSIS

Mantilla Stingray
MFK Member
Feb 9, 2012
5,542
307
1,946
West Jordan Utah
Thanks very much for all the information, I have started to see some algae growth so I think its about that time to add some snails and crabs for the tank. My water seems to be testing as normal like the tank is up and going, I figure I will treat it like a freshwater tank and do some small water changes every few days to keep it all well if its still doing a small cycle, I plan to add some more rock to the tank as well so I know that will send the system through a mini cycle, but not too much as im going to get the rock from an established system. Thanks for the advice on the cuc, I figured I wanted lots of crabs and I will plan on 2-3 snails to start as well and a shrimp maybe in a good while after the tank seems to be established better and I stop adding rock and moving stuff around. Ya I was looking at amemones and thought a good while ago I wanted one but after some reading I will get a frogspawn or hammer type coral and I will be all good with that.

I have crushed aggregate as that is what came from the other tank system and would imagine the snails and crabs would just clean that ok am I correct in thinking that or should I think of something else to keep that a little clean? As I said I am getting a bit of brown algae growth on glass, substrate, and rock, probably a diatom bloom or growth is my guess, Im going to read up on it and see if the cuc will just eat that and it will settle as the tank gets going with stuff.


As for the types of inverts you will need.... A standard CUC will consist of any from 6-12 assorted hermit crabs... blue/red leg hermits... 2 Mexican turbo snails should suffice--later into the cycle....a pacific cleaner shrimp wouldn't be a bad idea....if you start to develop algae bubbles, they look like little green beads..emerald crabs are good at smashing those away. Nassaria snails are your best friend in a deep sand bed set up, they literally have snorkels so they get down inside of the sand and sift through it. Starfish aren't bad, but they aren't for me...a sand sifting star is a decent way to go... STAY AWAY FROM ANEMONES.
 

Hoyo12

Plecostomus
MFK Member
Jun 23, 2009
4,198
4
53
28
WI
fishsanctuary.webs.com
Thanks very much for all the information, I have started to see some algae growth so I think its about that time to add some snails and crabs for the tank. My water seems to be testing as normal like the tank is up and going, I figure I will treat it like a freshwater tank and do some small water changes every few days to keep it all well if its still doing a small cycle, I plan to add some more rock to the tank as well so I know that will send the system through a mini cycle, but not too much as im going to get the rock from an established system. Thanks for the advice on the cuc, I figured I wanted lots of crabs and I will plan on 2-3 snails to start as well and a shrimp maybe in a good while after the tank seems to be established better and I stop adding rock and moving stuff around. Ya I was looking at amemones and thought a good while ago I wanted one but after some reading I will get a frogspawn or hammer type coral and I will be all good with that.

I have crushed aggregate as that is what came from the other tank system and would imagine the snails and crabs would just clean that ok am I correct in thinking that or should I think of something else to keep that a little clean? As I said I am getting a bit of brown algae growth on glass, substrate, and rock, probably a diatom bloom or growth is my guess, Im going to read up on it and see if the cuc will just eat that and it will settle as the tank gets going with stuff.
From what I've had to work with, the diatom algae will pretty much cover just about everything in your tank. You can get snails and crabs, but they just wont be able to keep up with the growth. Even scrubbing down the tank on your own you will notice the algae re-grow by the next day. Diatom algae usually forms with most tanks that are still cycling - they grow from nutrients in the water, could be from being setup a with a fish already in the tank. After helping a friend of mine setup his first saltwater tank he had gone through the same problem, however he just kept cleaning all of the rocks and tank glass. The algae would come back the next day and eventually he got the idea, but after about three weeks his tank was spotless. This process can take a fair amount of time, sometimes longer than a month. Keep feeding on a minimal, and make sure that your phosphates stay low to help the process.
Saltwater Tanks are all about time ;) My last tank (The Venomous tank) took a month and a half to cycle. More live rock from established tanks seemed to speed up the process though towards the end.
 
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