Saltwater Aquarium N00b Needs Help

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Wiggles92

Dovii
MFK Member
Apr 25, 2009
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Pennsylvania
Hello all, I'll start by saying that I normally work just with freshwater aquaria, but my dad decided to set up a saltwater aquarium with some invertebrates that we legally acquired while in Florida over this past Thanksgiving Break, so here I am trying to help him with it almost a month later... :irked:

Here is the current set up and stock list:
Aquarium: 55 gallons (half-filled; I'll elaborate on this later)
Filtration: Fluval U2 Underwater Filter (rated for 12-30 gallons)
Heater: Whisper Submersible Heater (rated for 10-30 gallons)
Lighting: Some generic compact fluorescent light... (60 watts or so) :screwy:
Skimmer: None :screwy:
Decorations:

  • Bubble waterfall (helps with aeration)
  • Fake stingray (crab hides under it)
  • Dead piece of sponge (at least I think it's dead)
  • Dead piece of coral (at least I think it's dead, kept stinging me when we first collected it, not an anemone)
Substrate:

  • 15 lbs. CaribSea Florida crushed coral
  • 20 lbs. CaribSea Tahitian Moon Sand
  • 20 lbs. CaribSea live sand
Live Rock/Sand:

  • 20 lbs. CaribSea live sand (added 11/27/2010)
  • 5 lbs. cured Fiji live rock (added 12/22/2010)
Invertebrates:

  • 3x shrimp (3", added 11/27/2010, these were left over bait from fishing)
  • 1x brittle/serpent sea star (added 11/27/2010, not sure on exact species)
  • ?x brittle sea star (added 11/27/2010, not sure how many are still alive)
  • 2x sea star (added 11/27/2010, just your common sea stars)
  • 4x Florida crown conch (added 11/27/2010)
  • ?x mangrove tree crab (1", added 11/27/2010, reason for half-filled aquarium, not sure on how many since some escaped :irked:)
  • 1x crab (0.25", added 11/27/2010, was in a shell that we brought back but is not a hermit crab)
  • 1x anemone (1", added 12/22/2010, came attached to the live rock)
Fish:

  • 2x mosquitofish (0.5", added 11/27/2010, no idea why they were living in a saltwater canal when we caught them :screwy:)
  • 1x yellowtail damselfish (0.5", added 12/22/2010)
  • 1x blue damselfish (0.5", added 12/22/2010)
  • 1x three stripe damselfish (0.5", added 12/22/2010)
  • 1x three spot domino damselfish (0.5", added 12/22/2010, pretty sure that the anemone ate it :irked:)

I tested the water yesterday and the nitrate and nitrite levels are way too high, so how can I get those levels down and keep them down for my dad without him having to spend a pretty penny?

He has three mangrove propagules floating in the aquarium that can easily be rooted if those will help with water quality. He is really over-protective of the invertebrates (besides the mangrove tree crabs) and is especially fond of the brittle/serpent sea star. He was hesitant to add any fish besides the two mosquitofish, so I would prefer to not have to remove any of the invertebrates (besides the mangrove tree crabs) or add more fish (which is probably a bad idea based on the current water parameters).

So what are some things that I can do to help him get this aquarium to be under-control and reasonably low-maintenance while not breaking the bank?

P.S. I'll post pictures as soon as I can.

P.P.S. I would like to add that I was going to put the invertebrates back where we got them after photographing them and was against rushing into this whole situation.
 
Very good write up...kinda an interesting tank.

I would get a skimmer.

I would do away with all of the corny decorations.

I would probably with a tank like this just use an oversized nice skimmer for filtration...but that is only if current fish stocking levels stay the same.

The nem is going to die unless lighting is upgraded. Same story with some of the other inverts and the plants.

Best way to get nitrate down is to do a h2o change...get a skimmer...keep up on h2o changes.

Lastly I would get some reef-grade aragonite and replace your hodge-podge low quality substrate.
 
FLESHY;4731938; said:
Very good write up...kinda an interesting tank.

I would get a skimmer.

I would do away with all of the corny decorations.

I would probably with a tank like this just use an oversized nice skimmer for filtration...but that is only if current fish stocking levels stay the same.

The nem is going to die unless lighting is upgraded. Same story with some of the other inverts and the plants.

Best way to get nitrate down is to do a h2o change...get a skimmer...keep up on h2o changes.

Lastly I would get some reef-grade aragonite and replace your hodge-podge low quality substrate.
Click to expand...

Sounds like a plan; thank you!

So to-do list should consist of:

  • Do a water change
  • Get protein skimmer
  • Get better lighting; have any specific recommendations?
  • Replace current substrate with reef-grade aragonite
  • Get rid of corny decorations
Would you recommend water changes in the area of 15-20% per week until the nitrates go down? Would adding more cured live rock and/or live sand help at all? Would you recommend making a refugium for the mangrove propagules?

I forgot to mention that he added the water that we transported the stuff from Florida in to the aquarium when we set it up; that should have helped with cycling, right?

Really the main goal other than stabilizing the aquarium is to make it centered on the invertebrates rather than the fish, which many of you may find unusual (heck, I think it's odd). :confused:
 
Wiggles92;4732046; said:
Sounds like a plan; thank you!

So to-do list should consist of:

  • Do a water change
  • Get protein skimmer
  • Get better lighting; have any specific recommendations?
  • Replace current substrate with reef-grade aragonite
  • Get rid of corny decorations
Would you recommend water changes in the area of 15-20% per week until the nitrates go down? Would adding more cured live rock and/or live sand help at all? Would you recommend making a refugium for the mangrove propagules?

I forgot to mention that he added the water that we transported the stuff from Florida in to the aquarium when we set it up; that should have helped with cycling, right?

Really the main goal other than stabilizing the aquarium is to make it centered on the invertebrates rather than the fish, which many of you may find unusual (heck, I think it's odd). :confused:
Click to expand...

First off, I would think that the reason the water quality is very poor is that the sponge and coral died in your tank and polluted it. Honestly, I am amazed it hasn't killed everything if that is actually what happened.

With that said, yes, doing 15-20% water changes until the nitrates are close to gone would be good. Then scaling that back to about 5% per week.

The mangroves are going to be a tough thing to keep unless you make a refugium(refugium would be pretty expensive, need a sump/return pump/lights(besides the tanks). It may be possible if you keep the water level half way up the tank still so that you the mangroves can grow under the lighting. They will not help much with keeping nitrates in check as they are slowing growing, so they would be for looks only.

Adding some more good live rock would definitely help the situation. You must make sure that it is fully cured so that you don't cause even worse conditions in the tank.

I think that you could make a pretty cool setup by adding the rock and stacking them on one side like a shoreline. You could then propogate the mangroves to eventually grow right at the shore. The one issue with this would be incorporating a skimmer. The only way you could add a skimmer would be in a sump if your tank is not full of water.

So you have to decide whether to...
1. Keep the mangroves and have a half full tank so you can grow them. A sump would be needed for a skimmer.
2. Get rid of the mangroves, fill the tank(this would help keep high quality water as well, more water, more spreading the waste), and get a hang on skimmer.
3. Keep the mangroves, but in a refugium setting within a sump where the skimmer would also be located. Then the tank could be filled(same as filled above).

With all of these choices, getting a good skimmer(something like a Aqua C remora(if hangon choice is made)), adding some good cured live rock, and increasing flow(with the sump and/or a powerhead). You can find cheap powerheads and maybe skip the rock if you have a limited budget, but I agree with Fleshy that a skimmer is very important and pretty much a must.

My choice would be to ditch the mangroves, fill the tank all the way up, buy a hang-on protein skimmer(this will be your biggest expense), a powerhead, and some more live rock.

If you can't afford a protein skimmer you should ditch the mangroves, maybe get rid of a fish or two, add some live rock, and get 2 powerheads. The key here being that flow and good rock will help compensate for the lack of a protein skimmer(this option still won't be as good). You will have to pay much closer attention to the water parameters here as they will build faster.
 
nonstophoops;4732257; said:
First off, I would think that the reason the water quality is very poor is that the sponge and coral died in your tank and polluted it. Honestly, I am amazed it hasn't killed everything if that is actually what happened.

With that said, yes, doing 15-20% water changes until the nitrates are close to gone would be good. Then scaling that back to about 5% per week.

The mangroves are going to be a tough thing to keep unless you make a refugium(refugium would be pretty expensive, need a sump/return pump/lights(besides the tanks). It may be possible if you keep the water level half way up the tank still so that you the mangroves can grow under the lighting. They will not help much with keeping nitrates in check as they are slowing growing, so they would be for looks only.

Adding some more good live rock would definitely help the situation. You must make sure that it is fully cured so that you don't cause even worse conditions in the tank.

I think that you could make a pretty cool setup by adding the rock and stacking them on one side like a shoreline. You could then propogate the mangroves to eventually grow right at the shore. The one issue with this would be incorporating a skimmer. The only way you could add a skimmer would be in a sump if your tank is not full of water.

So you have to decide whether to...
1. Keep the mangroves and have a half full tank so you can grow them. A sump would be needed for a skimmer.
2. Get rid of the mangroves, fill the tank(this would help keep high quality water as well, more water, more spreading the waste), and get a hang on skimmer.
3. Keep the mangroves, but in a refugium setting within a sump where the skimmer would also be located. Then the tank could be filled(same as filled above).

With all of these choices, getting a good skimmer(something like a Aqua C remora(if hangon choice is made)), adding some good cured live rock, and increasing flow(with the sump and/or a powerhead). You can find cheap powerheads and maybe skip the rock if you have a limited budget, but I agree with Fleshy that a skimmer is very important and pretty much a must.

My choice would be to ditch the mangroves, fill the tank all the way up, buy a hang-on protein skimmer(this will be your biggest expense), a powerhead, and some more live rock.

If you can't afford a protein skimmer you should ditch the mangroves, maybe get rid of a fish or two, add some live rock, and get 2 powerheads. The key here being that flow and good rock will help compensate for the lack of a protein skimmer(this option still won't be as good). You will have to pay much closer attention to the water parameters here as they will build faster.
Click to expand...

I think that we're going to end up doing what you recommended along with upgrading the lighting, replacing the substrate, and removing the corny decorations. I'm also going to look into converting one of our other aquariums into a sump.
 
Wiggles92;4732816; said:
I think that we're going to end up doing what you recommended along with upgrading the lighting, replacing the substrate, and removing the corny decorations. I'm also going to look into converting one of our other aquariums into a sump.
Click to expand...

That sounds like a great idea. Old sumps work great, you can just buy some acrylic or glass pieces cut to the proper size and silicone them in. It is a relatively cheap and easy thing to drastically improve your aquarium.

You can look on craigslist and other places to try to find cheap used equipment.
 
+1 to the above except...

I dont think that I can tell you a percentage of h2o to specifically change a week.

You need to do tests, and do h2o changes accordingly to keep your fish and animals healthy.

This might be 5% bi-weekly, or 50% weekly.

Depends on how much you feed, how you are stocked....etc. The only way to really tell is by testing regularly.
 
FLESHY;4734706; said:
+1 to the above except...

I dont think that I can tell you a percentage of h2o to specifically change a week.

You need to do tests, and do h2o changes accordingly to keep your fish and animals healthy.

This might be 5% bi-weekly, or 50% weekly.

Depends on how much you feed, how you are stocked....etc. The only way to really tell is by testing regularly.
Click to expand...

Well said. You are right, I guess I didn't really get into that.
 
Alright, I'll make sure that he tests the water frequently in order to determine the ideal water change schedule.

How many pounds of the reef-grade aragonite should I have him get?

Would it be fine if he got a few more pounds of live rock (5-10 lbs.) and then use dead reef rocks for the rest of the aquarium? From what I've read, the dead rocks should eventually become live rock; is this correct?

Lastly, what kind of lighting will be necessary to keep the anemone alive?
 
Wiggles92;4735639; said:
Alright, I'll make sure that he tests the water frequently in order to determine the ideal water change schedule.

How many pounds of the reef-grade aragonite should I have him get?

Would it be fine if he got a few more pounds of live rock (5-10 lbs.) and then use dead reef rocks for the rest of the aquarium? From what I've read, the dead rocks should eventually become live rock; is this correct?

Lastly, what kind of lighting will be necessary to keep the anemone alive?
Click to expand...

I would say 20 pounds should do. Just enough to cover the bottom with a half inch to an inch. Don't put more than an inch, it will just trap wastes and create dead spots.

Yes, you can add a good quality live rock and seed it with dead rock. Just make sure you intermingle the live with the dead.

As far as anemones go, I have not kept them so someone with experience will have to help you. I would think the Power Compacts would do the trick, but you may need more.
 
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