Janelle12 Posted June 4, 2013 Share Posted June 4, 2013 I kept reef tanks from 2003-2009 but got out when i had kids. I maintained my mother in laws 30 gal Fowlr tank while Ive been tankless. Recently she rehomed the too-large one of her two fish so wants to restock it with a couple small fish. So I set up a 10 gal tank 6-1-13 with an aquaclear hob filter with foam and ceramic biomedia and some bacterial additive, (no substrate) planning on waiting 6 wks. All that thinking about saltwater made me aquire my own 30 gal tank. I dug out my old crushed coral and heater and 2 maxijet 1200's. Put water in and a handful of macroalgae and a cup of cc from MIL's tank. Also a few pieces of holey rock and base rock that used to be live from my tanks years ago. Plan on adding another aquaclear later to run foam and carbon as needed and when i can afford, a little skimmer. Thats the cliffs notes version. I am rusty so keeping in mind my purpose of small simple peaceful community fish only, comments welcome. Im torn between intensive qt medicating protocol and laid back approach where u throw em in the DT and take good care of them so they can settle in and be resistant to whatever ich or whatever that invariably comes with the territory. Feel free to chime in on that too. Im in round rock and would love to meet some of yall and talk tank in person too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Grog Posted June 4, 2013 Share Posted June 4, 2013 Welcome to the site. Good to see new folks posting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted June 4, 2013 Share Posted June 4, 2013 Welcome back to the hobby! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Planeden Posted June 4, 2013 Share Posted June 4, 2013 Looking forward to seeing it come together. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dustin Pedretti Posted June 4, 2013 Share Posted June 4, 2013 Welcome to the site. Good to see new folks posting. you mean new folks not from aggieland dont you! j/k j/k welcome to the forum! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesL Posted June 4, 2013 Share Posted June 4, 2013 I kept reef tanks from 2003-2009 but got out when i had kids. I maintained my mother in laws 30 gal Fowlr tank while Ive been tankless. Recently she rehomed the too-large one of her two fish so wants to restock it with a couple small fish. So I set up a 10 gal tank 6-1-13 with an aquaclear hob filter with foam and ceramic biomedia and some bacterial additive, (no substrate) planning on waiting 6 wks. All that thinking about saltwater made me aquire my own 30 gal tank. I dug out my old crushed coral and heater and 2 maxijet 1200's. Put water in and a handful of macroalgae and a cup of cc from MIL's tank. Also a few pieces of holey rock and base rock that used to be live from my tanks years ago. Plan on adding another aquaclear later to run foam and carbon as needed and when i can afford, a little skimmer. Thats the cliffs notes version. I am rusty so keeping in mind my purpose of small simple peaceful community fish only, comments welcome. Im torn between intensive qt medicating protocol and laid back approach where u throw em in the DT and take good care of them so they can settle in and be resistant to whatever ich or whatever that invariably comes with the territory. Feel free to chime in on that too. Im in round rock and would love to meet some of yall and talk tank in person too. I think, as with all things in this hobby, you will find opinions varied all over the place on every aspect. And that includes the QT vs no QT topic. Here is my 2 cents on it. I have been keeping saltwater fish on and off since 1991, and I have never had a QT tank (still don't today). I currently have a reef dominated tank, but have had fish only also along the way. I guess call it luck, but I have never had issue with parasites wiping out my fish. I totally understand the desire for a QT, especially when you get into a fish heavy tank, and really when you get into really expensive fish (I think the most I have paid for a fish is $50). So it can be done without a QT, but I think you really have to be careful on the load of the tank and the quality/quantity of the fish (to the extent you can). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janelle12 Posted June 6, 2013 Author Share Posted June 6, 2013 yeah i hear you. well thanks for the welcome and I'll post any exciting updates as they happen. I did go get a few lbs of cured LR from the lfs today so I'll have SOMETHING to look at and to seed the rest of the rock. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wardlaw Posted June 6, 2013 Share Posted June 6, 2013 I went qt slow and then let a couple swimmers in w/o qt.........I had a brooklynella outbreak and now I've lost 7 fish. I'd recommend moving slow and quarantining everything Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bpb Posted June 6, 2013 Share Posted June 6, 2013 +1 on quarantine. If nothing else to help get them eating and healthy so they don't hide and starve. I have tested my luck too many times on not quarantining fish but now that I'm attached to my current ones I would feel irresponsible risking their health. I have however had a fish die because I didn't quarantine it, it was too thin and shy, and never gained its confidence so it ended up starving to death. Just too many good reasons to quarantine. Best of luck, looking forward to your updates! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janelle12 Posted June 10, 2013 Author Share Posted June 10, 2013 tanks (display and qt) are 10 days old. on the 5th I added some cured LR from lfs and tested oxygen, was 'very good' I didn't get the number though. we didn't test anything else at that time. On the 7th I added some Saltwater SmartStart bacteria culture, and removed the macroalgae. Today I tested and ph 8.1, ammonia 0, nitrite 0, nitrate 20ppm. Did a 2 gallon water change. tested the 10g qt and it has ph 8.2, ammonia 0, .25ppm nitrite, and 5-10ppm nitrate. Fixing to go on vacation until the 24th so hopefully will be able to go fish shopping when I get back. I want to get a couple of neon gobies as the first fish. The fish I want are: 2 neon gobies 1 ocellaris 2 firefish 1 royal gramma If anybody has any of these that they can get me, I'd rather get from someone's healthy tank than the lfs Diver's Den doesnt seem to have any of these in stock. With their extensive qt and medicating, if ordering from them, would it be dumb to not qt them again once they arrive to your house? I'm gonna try a post a pic, but don't laugh at my plastic plants and fake clownfish and anemone statue. My kids want something colorful to look at in there till we get fish Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janelle12 Posted June 10, 2013 Author Share Posted June 10, 2013 pic Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Planeden Posted June 10, 2013 Share Posted June 10, 2013 i rather like the red plant. some of the decorations look so nice and real, i was considering doing it too. but, i wouldn't have a kid to blame it on . i'm curious why you took out your macro algae? i actually added some this weekend and am pleased with how it looks and it may have helped finish off the cycle by pulling the last bit of garbage from my tank. It has given my baron wasteland some color and movement. My nitrates even dropped significantly in just a couple of days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janelle12 Posted June 11, 2013 Author Share Posted June 11, 2013 well its not a quick answer, but here is why I took out my macroalgae.... http://www.thereeftank.com/forums/f6/reefkeeping-made-easy-what-was-not-explained-160389-5.html?highlight=reefkeeping+is+easy I'm on page five, if that helps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
esacjack Posted June 11, 2013 Share Posted June 11, 2013 Macoalgaes utilize phosphates and nitrates. Siphoning the sand bed is not likely to lower the phosphates. The illusion of it lowering the phosphates is due to the fact you're essentially performing a water change. I would talk to patrick (subsea) about macroalgaes. He has some of the most intuitive natural approaches to a stable system. Given that your system is a FOWLR, I would leave the macroalgae alone. What exactly were you trying to accomplish by removing it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
victoly Posted June 11, 2013 Share Posted June 11, 2013 Not necessarily. Removing the macro or algae is the final step in export. If there is more excess nutrient, as the algae or macro grows it will remove said nutrients from the water column. If you have removed the root cause of the excess (too much feeding usually), then eventually your nutrient levels should decrease. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Planeden Posted June 11, 2013 Share Posted June 11, 2013 well its not a quick answer, but here is why I took out my macroalgae.... http://www.thereeftank.com/forums/f6/reefkeeping-made-easy-what-was-not-explained-160389-5.html?highlight=reefkeeping+is+easy I'm on page five, if that helps. thanks. i'm not really sure i get it. it is way to chemistry heavy for my addled little mind. i am trying a different approach for mine. there is also research out there that says the exact opposite of what he says. just food for thought, both sand and rock depend on tiny critters in order to make them affective. i believe it was timfish that posted an article about anoxic regions in LR. the only way the process is effective is if you have little critters living in those holes. as the critter moves around it pumps water in and out of the anoxious regions. i'll be following along with your build. good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janelle12 Posted June 11, 2013 Author Share Posted June 11, 2013 "What exactly were you trying to accomplish by removing it?" I didn't really love it so I took it out, if I really loved macroalgae I'd probably leave it in, bottom line Yes that is a very heavy thread but the good thing is that the way they talk about it, they do it in language that is less technical. It talks about all the different processes that go on in our reef tanks and that is why I like it. I like to understand the how and why of it, and since its been quite a few years since I've had a tank and been reading up on sw tanks, I feel I need the brushup and add to/gain a deeper understanding. I want to understand the processes so I can have adequate husbandry. right now I KNOW I can get away with a fish only tank and have atrocious husbandry and have the fish not die. How do I know? because my mother in law's tank was living proof!! LOL I have since gotten her tank back on track with no fish deaths so that's a good thing, but five years of a blue tang in a 30 gallon with next to no water changes is proof there's a lot of room for error in a fish only tank....apparently. And I am NOT a husbandry slacker.) I may even decide, once I get the tank stocked with fish and I get a good routine where the nitrates are kept down, I may consider adding some soft corals. I do love xenia and gsp. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Planeden Posted June 11, 2013 Share Posted June 11, 2013 "What exactly were you trying to accomplish by removing it?" I didn't really love it so I took it out, if I really loved macroalgae I'd probably leave it in, bottom line well, i can't argue with that. had you just said that in the first place it would have saved me 45 minutes of reading . not that i was planning on arguing with you anyway. but i am all for the research into the best practices. i know very little (two months ago i knew nothing), so i am certainly able to learn a lot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janelle12 Posted June 11, 2013 Author Share Posted June 11, 2013 LOL. Sorry. Ok, this quote is partly why I was like, oh, its not doing me any good? OK I'll take it out..... "algae do bind phosphates (if your system has any), but they are also leaky. they are like any other organism they have biological functions. they have wastes they need to get rid of also." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janelle12 Posted June 11, 2013 Author Share Posted June 11, 2013 Planeden, read post number 277 and 278 and then tell me what you think. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Planeden Posted June 11, 2013 Share Posted June 11, 2013 LOL. Sorry. Ok, this quote is partly why I was like, oh, its not doing me any good? OK I'll take it out..... "algae do bind phosphates (if your system has any), but they are also leaky. they are like any other organism they have biological functions. they have wastes they need to get rid of also." i have not seen anything that indicates that would be true. i don't think they "leak" unless they die. but, as esacjack said, subsea is the one to talk to about macro. but as i understand it, they use the nutrients and light to grow and then you pull it out as it becomes too large. can i also say, that while geoff in that thread may know his system very well, some of the things he was saying about methods he did not utilize contradicted all the information i have seen from people that successfully use them. like his deep sand bed discussions, for instance. I know the some find DSBs controversial, but if you take care of him the way he said (totally syphoning them clean to the bottom) then yes, they are terrible and may kill your tank. that is why you don't vacuum them completely clean. so, if you don't like algae, then that is fine. but if you want to learn more about it check out some other sources. www.chucksaddiction.com is a good start, but there are better ones i can't look up right now. there is also a lot of information on here if you search for "mud" or "DSB" or "refugium". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Planeden Posted June 11, 2013 Share Posted June 11, 2013 Planeden, read post number 277 and 278 and then tell me what you think. i can't right now, but i will get back to you. also, please keep in mind that i am brand new and my advice/information should perhaps be weighed accordingly . everything i have to offer now is theoretical and based on intuition. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
esacjack Posted June 11, 2013 Share Posted June 11, 2013 Patrick will have to correct me if im wrong, but I believe the calcaerous macro's are the ones that can leach consumed nutrients back into the column, generally calcium. I'm REALLY on the fence about a plant leaching phosphates back into the water column. To my understanding, the point of using macro as an export is to literally, export the overgrown macro, to permanently rid yourself of those nutrients, and to allow the macro to go back into a growth spurt, thereby utilizing more of the nutrients in the water column. (as vic pointed out) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janelle12 Posted June 11, 2013 Author Share Posted June 11, 2013 Dang this thread, it has EVERYTHING. It even has deception and intrigue from deep within the hobby! page 19 is especially juicy, and gives the credibility factor of why you should listen to a thing this thread has to say. (thread linked above) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janelle12 Posted June 11, 2013 Author Share Posted June 11, 2013 yeah but why would you want to have a system so high in phosphates and nutrients, that you would NEED macro to export it out? Aren't there better ways to keep a tank? Shoot, I don't care what y'all do, but I'm just saying what I'm doing with my tank. No problem with discussing though I think you can have a DSB and mangroves and turf scrubbers and macroalgae, there's more than one way to skin a cat. it just isnt what I want to do Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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