No more then 2 clowns, otherwise once a pair establishes they'll kill all the others. Choc chip and alot of other stars aren't reef safe and some will eat inverts. I've had pretty good luck with serpent stars not bothering anyone.
100 gallon fish only saltwater tank...first saltwater tank ever
- Thread starter trenton
- Start date
hey everyone its been a while since i have posted.. i have been cycling my tank for a month now and i have the api testing kit and the ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates are all off of the charts.. i have one damsel and he has survived through alot and i cant get the levels down i have tried everything. any suggestions
get. some. rock. Seriously, it i s not just for decoration like in a fw tank. Live rock is, like Greech said earlier, a vital part of the actual biological filtration in a sw tank. Meaning that's what you need to bring down those inexplicably bad chem numbers.
you can start with "dead" rock since it's way cheaper, but get at least a few pieces of the live stuff since the life in them will spread and enliven the dead ones. And the sand. If possible I would suggest you take the damsel back to the store or wherever you got it. Yeah I know it's surviving but "off the charts" ammonia and nitrite is just cruel. Some livestock will help the cycling process along but stick to snails and some hermit crabs and such.
I meant to ask you in the beginning why you were avoiding live rock but figured hey, it's your tank, none of my business. But this time you asked what you could do so well, there you are.
A month is on the one hand not long to be cycling a tank that size. But on the other if you had live rock it might nearly BE cycled by now at least to where you could maintain a damsel just with water changes. My 10g first salt tank will be all of 3 months old tomorrow and it's been supporting 2 clowns, a cleaner/skunk shrimp, 2 turbo snails and 3 hermits for 1 month. But the first month was nothing at all until the ammo/nitrite numbers came down. Going to change a couple gallons tomorrow but that's just on general principles, not because the tests are showing any need. The live rock sustains, it really does.
you can start with "dead" rock since it's way cheaper, but get at least a few pieces of the live stuff since the life in them will spread and enliven the dead ones. And the sand. If possible I would suggest you take the damsel back to the store or wherever you got it. Yeah I know it's surviving but "off the charts" ammonia and nitrite is just cruel. Some livestock will help the cycling process along but stick to snails and some hermit crabs and such.
I meant to ask you in the beginning why you were avoiding live rock but figured hey, it's your tank, none of my business. But this time you asked what you could do so well, there you are.
A month is on the one hand not long to be cycling a tank that size. But on the other if you had live rock it might nearly BE cycled by now at least to where you could maintain a damsel just with water changes. My 10g first salt tank will be all of 3 months old tomorrow and it's been supporting 2 clowns, a cleaner/skunk shrimp, 2 turbo snails and 3 hermits for 1 month. But the first month was nothing at all until the ammo/nitrite numbers came down. Going to change a couple gallons tomorrow but that's just on general principles, not because the tests are showing any need. The live rock sustains, it really does.
thanks for the reply. i already have 40lbs of dead rock and i wasnt wanting to do live rock because of the price but i guess i am going to go pick up 10 lbs of live rock this weekend and take the damsel back.. i forgot to mention earlier that i did a 10 gallon water change when i first noticed that the water was wack and i picked up some seachem prime from petco and i noticed that it smelled like sewer when i put it in, i dont know if that is normal because i have never used it before..
Lol... Yes the stuff smells pretty bad, but it is the only dechlorinator I will buy as it is only 1 cap for a 55 gallon. It is so strong that it is what I use to clean my purigen packs (water polisher and stabilizer) after I soak them in 50/50 chlorine for 30 min. I would also like to comment on the live rock...You can't live without it. It is filtration for the tank, as well as a natural and life giving environment for all your tanks inhabitants. You will notice that there are stages of algae growth on the rocks as you go on as well. As for the sump look up its exact dimensions, once you know the gallon size you can google the tank size and add the words diy sump next to it and that should get you going.Most likely if its a 29 you can go with a filter sock on one end with a holster, a single baffle with a bubble trap and your return on the other side, but you are going to need a overflow box and the hoses.All in all, enjoy the hobby and welcome to ac fellow fish friend...
