new to the hobby, requesting feedback/comments on my initial setup thoughts

[aixenv]

well its all setup!, gonna wait a few days until all the salt is gone to put in the live sand, then in a week ill put in the cured live rock, and then 2-3 wks from there ill start putting in my fishie! yay

it looks perfect fits exactly how i hoped, looks great, i have to go exchange the rio 2500 pump for a 2100 as the 2500 was too powerful, need to pick up a powerhead too as the guy forgot it

went with the asm g-1 skimmer

im gonna buy a border for the back of the tank so you cant see the few wires not sure which to do yet, either black (since all my furniture/sofas/cofee tables/end tables are black with black glass, or maybe some type of ocean scene, anyone have any thoughts?

thanks for all the info and advice

 

[aixenv]

status on my fish tank project,

had the store setup the tank and wet/dry and all that stuff, mixed the water and salt and got everything going i put in my hydrometer and salinity was around 1.023, i waited a few days for all the salt to disappear/dissolve, had to put in a new pump because they thought the other pump was too powerful so i had to recreate the siphon on the u-tubes for the overflow (pretty proud of myself figuring that out lol), so everything looked good again salinity around 1.022 - 1.023, so i then added 2 bags of live sand (i think i need maybe 1 more bag possible 2 more), and my salinity is through the roof, on my hyrdrometer, it's even past reading numbers heh, above 1.030

two questions:

1) will this "hurt" the live sand?

2) whats the best way to get teh salinity down? i was planning on putting live rock in this weekend if the water was in good shape, which it obviously isnt right now

suggestions?

should i siphon out a 1/4 or something of the water and put in just fresh water? whats the way to drop the salinity ?

thanks in advance

 

[aixenv]

hmm oddly enough i think maybe some bubbles forced the gauge up, im going to look for a digital hydrometer and thermometer i think...i too it out, and then placed it back in and it's reading between 1.021 and 1.023, so that's definitely acceptable

i should be adding live rock come this weekend yay!

 

[Lorna]

You should aim for a sg of approx 1.025 as optimal. I know a lot of people use swing arm type hydrometers but they are known for inaccurate readings due to air bubbles etc. as you experienced. Personally I use a refractometer which tends to be more consistent, or you could get more accurate yet with a bobber type floating hydrometer, the down fall to these is they can be harder to read due to the meniscus curve.

 

[aixenv]

well i've been letting my tank cycle to make sure everything was right, my old heater wasnt working right so i have replaced it with a nice black heater, i put the black background on my tank too, that took some time to get perfect heh..well yesterday my girlfriend comes over and we're gonna watch the nba game *what a horrible comeback /cry* and i turn aruond and there's a lil bag of 2 damsels sitting on top of the tank! she got me a yellowtail and 4 striped damsel to start my tank out

i can tell they like shelter as they gravitate towards hanging by the heater/powerheads..

right now my salinity is 1.024 and my temp 78.1 hows that?

i figure since these guys would be lunch for a lionfish im going to go a dif route and go nonpredator tank as it'd be mean to just let a lionfish eat my birthday present!

i need to get some live rock and some decoratoins (a sunken ship or something) in there so they have places to hide and play around

it's interesting one of them slept on the very bottom and the other slept at the very top..

the yellowtail seems to be braver and more curious about his new home..the 4 stripe will swim fast away from the powerhead and then dart right back to where he started lol...

well i feel pretty happy with how i did all this, i didnt get impatient about having fish, the tank has been cycling for about 3 wks, thankfully i waited with the heater problem my water was at like 90.6 degrees and that wouldnt be that good..

i read somewhere it says damsels are very strong fish to varying water conditions but what i read said they like 1.017 - 1.018 salinity, if im going to have like damsels, puffers, tangs, marinfish types in my tank, should i work on getting the salinity lower than 1.024?

thanks for all the advice and help, being new to this hobby and wanting to do it right was a daunting task to read about everything and try and make informed decisions, but im pretty happy with my setup and think i did just that

 

[TRe]

hate to brake it to u but damsels are a poor choice... either way u want yur salinity at 1.024-1.025... the live rock will actually give places to hide and "decorations" arnt nessacery

 

[aixenv]

why do you say they aren't a good choice? everything ive read said they are great fish to start off with due to the fact they have high tolerances and can adjust to varying salinity's and temperatures?

i suppose it's more a personal preference, just curious why you say that

 

[Joe Fish]

Well, just about anyone that has kept a damsel before will tell you the same thing. They are mean fish and will bully just about any sized fish to, in some cases, death. They are also very hard to catch if you ever want to take them out. You are right, they are very hardy fish and can survive is not the greatest conditions. I had 3 damsels to start my tank and I had to complete take down my tank to catch them.

If you are going to put decorations in your tank make sure they are saltwater safe.

 

[kay-bee19]

Damsels are extremely tough fish and can tolerate conditions which would probably kill other fish. I guess in that sense (combined with their vibrant coloration), they're good fish to start with.....however!

...they become aggressive as they mature and will not hesistate to harass fish larger than themselves in some cases. They may also overly harass any fish added to the tank after them. Some damsels get fairly large as well (5"-6").

I started out with damsels and figured I wouldn't get any other fish so their aggressive behavior wouldn't really be a problem.

Well, at least in my tank, they discovered other ways to become problems (at least from my perspective):

-Tank rearrangement.
I've had damsels that like to dig and fan sand on corals in the area. Also, in some cases, my damsels DO NOT LIKE where I place new corals and will knock or push them down on occasions. I often have to place corals where they will not bother them (or in other words, where they permit me to place them).

- They're literally not afraid to bite the hand that feeds them. My hand gets nipped everytime I need to do something in the tank. Recently I've had to use a flash light to keep them at bay (for some reason the light beam wards them off). Prior to using the flashlight, there's been a couple of instances where I nearly broke off some attached corals in my tank after involuntarily flinching following a damsel attack and knocking my hand into corals. I've only observed this behavior with damsels that are the dominant fish in the tank; in other tanks occupied by more aggressive fish, damsels don't seem prone to do this.

- They're EXTREMELY DIFFICULT to extract from a tank when/if you do decide to remove them. One of my happiest moments in the hobby was when I successfully removed some damsels from my reef tank.

 

[TRe]

was a daunting task to read about everything and try and make informed decisions

looks like u have a little more reading to do before u start adding fish its a good idea to get a full thought out game plan as to exexctly what fish u ultimetly want to keep in there and start with the least aggressive and work your way up.... not trying to be a jerk or anything but u said u wanted to do it right and im just trying to help
edit:
looking back over your thread i see u ended up with the 50-55g tank, i also see u mentioned u want tangs and puffers which i honestly wouldnt recomend in a tank this small... also i kno u mentioned getting liverock but u never said if u acually got it or not, if u did how much did u end up getting? u also said the tanks been cycling for 3 weeks but looking back its been more like 2 i cant help but notice u havnt mentioned testing your water once! are u sure the cycle is done after 2 weeks?

 

[Lorna]

hmmmm my suggestion would be get a lion and let nature take it's course....solve your stocking and feeding and damsel problem. Then when the gf finds out, you can blame the lion fish.....

 

[TRe]

lmao i thought the same thing tho the damsels will prolly out run the lion all day

 

[aixenv]

i tested my water yes its good, i have 55lbs of live rock, the two damsels were a birthday present and having them has changed my thoughts as to what fish i want, as i dont want my present to be eaten, thus far im thinking of a clownfish, mandarinfish, blue tang, and maybe one other fish, and some cleaner shrimp

thanks for the info

 

[Joe Fish]

1. No blue tang... Tank way too small. You run the risk of ich with a big fish in a small tank. Trust me, you do NOT want ich in your tank. Not fun at all! Your fine with the other fish though.

2. Don't add the mandarin until you see you have a good pod population because most of them won't eat prepared foods. Though if you get one that does, it's not that big of deal when you add them. Clownfish can be a little aggressive as well... mainly depending on what species you get.

3. What type of rock do you have? If it's fiji 55 would be the minimum for your tank.

4. Overall, your damsels will most likely pick on all the fish you want to put in your tank.

5. Is your ammonia and nitrite levels 0? Nitrate should be below 20 if your just keeping fish.

 

[Lorna]

ha....the clowns, mandarin and any other fish you add will be harrassed to the point of death by those damsels. Clowns and damsels definitely wont get along as they are the same family and clowns are more docile than the damsels.....Absolutely no blue tang. I have a 75 and I consider it too small for any tang other than the yellow and even then I think it is too small for it but I haven't the heart to try and catch him......

 

[Joe Fish]

Lorna... I'm pretty sure you dislike damsels more than anyone!

 

[aixenv]

i believe my tank is still cycling, this is what it looks like #s wise before i have put the live rock in

6/14/08 -

Nitrite -NO2 = .5
nitrate -NO3 = 0
pH range electronic tester - 7.9
ammonia - .50

so not too bad i think (am i wrong?) and the natural filteration should be a lot better once i get the live rock in there; doing that next weekend

 

[TRe]

ahh i thought u said u had the liverock already? if so why isnt it in ther? yur tank is definitly still cycling and not ready for fish.... when u add the rock youll prolly create another cycle aswell.... seems as though u got alot more reading to do

 

[aixenv]

wow is there any reason to be a knowitall jackass?

ive gotten lots of advice from many people, some good and some bad, but no one has had such an ******* attitude before you, i guess it just goes to show you, there's people who think they are better than you in any given hobby, you remind me of all the computer nerds i dealt with @ work

anyways this is my last post, ill find a different website hopefully with more adults than childish kids

 

[Joe Fish]

It's obvious you need to read a little more about this hobby. Not trying to be a jerk, but just trying to help you save money. All we are trying to do is give you accurate advise that is well documented in many books.