tank is cycled.

[JGoslee]

nitrates doesnt cause to much harm to the fish correct?

As waste breaks down in your aquarium, it cycles from ammonia to nitrite to nitrates. The first 2 are highly toxic to marine life. Nitrates aren't as bad but you don't want them out of control either. Nitrates are only in the water column so water changes will get rid of them quick.

 

[p3t3rc]

i need a small heater for the quarantine tank then huh? any good small HOB filters you got in mind?

as far as the temp should i set it to my main tank temp? and its the LFS salinity not mine?

 

[p3t3rc]

jGos: thanks for all your help. another question though. how many fish can you put in a quarantine tank?

 

[JGoslee]

jGos: thanks for all your help. another question though. how many fish can you put in a quarantine tank?

Depends on the size. If you setup a 20gal long you could put the clowns and a tang in there. After you add them to the display you could then add the trigger to the QT. Triggers are messy eaters so you probably will want to QT them alone so your not doing water changes every 12hours. LOL

 

[ivgonmad]

A refugium with macro algae can help bring Phosphate and Nitrate to 0 and is cool to look at

You could also get a de-nitrator (sulfur based media are the best ones), or if you are more experienced dosing vodka or sugar. You can find more info on these methods on many different web sites, just google them.

A Deep sand bed can help too, or regular water changes, or a good protein skimmer, etc, etc.

 

[ivgonmad]

In your QT you want too keep the temp the same as your display tank, its best to use water from your display to start the QT tank in the first place since it will be the same when you transfer the fish to the display and it will help minimize stress. You would most likely want to keep the QT tank bare bottom (no substrate) with some pieces of PVC pipe or some other inert object like a flower pot, just for the fish to hide. Water changes must be done very often, sometimes even daily unless you have an established bio filter running 24/7 in the QT. Water changes are done with water from the display tank. There must always be fish in the QT tank if you are running a dedicated bio filter or the bacteria will just starve and become very weak and will be of no use.

HTH

 

[TankBuster]

Also, I would start with chromis, blue/green chromis are great starter fish and look awesome under halides.

 

[p3t3rc]

::update::

i did the water change the water is a lighter tint of green so a couple more and i should be fine. i now have 6 fish. 4 shrimp and 22 hermit crabs. i did buy a green chromis and ive named him emo. i have a sailfin, yellow and a blue tang. and i have 2 clown fish. and one of em is MIA. the tank is doing good except of the one that is missing. heres a picture for enjoyment. thanks for all the help guys.

 

[sweeTang21]

sounds good. watch the tangs for signs of aggression with each other, multiple tangs in small systems can cause disputes for algae and territory.

keep us posted and of course keep the pics coming.