Steps to setting up a tank

[joeyg2100]

Ok I am going to go out and buy my supplies for setting up my 29 gallon. Here are the steps I think that I am going to go through unless you guys think they should be different

1) Mix r/o water with salt in tank

2) Add live rock at right temp. (should I use that aquarium epoxie to stack rock on?) Set up all rock how I want it to look

3) Turn on powerheads to help mix salt

4) Start the cycle of the tank for a couple weeks doing water changes once a week or when amonia levels get to high I will be adding straight amonia to help start this process. I have done this with my freshwater tanks and had great success in speeding up the process. Does it work the same with saltwater?

5) Week 2 add protien skimmer (I have read that you don't need to add this for a couple of weeks)

6) After tank has cycled add fish and corals. I have read this can take anywhere from 6-12 weeks, so I will have to play the waiting game. I don't care how long this takes I want to do this right the first time.

7) Stock list will go like this

Cleaning Crew(Let me know if I need more if I have to many to start out)
3-Blue legged hermit crabs
3-Emarald Crabs
3-Mexican Turbo Snails
10-Astrea Snails

Fish
2-Ocellaris Clownfish
1-Court Jester Goby
1-Scooter Blenny (Well after tank is setup)or a Green Mandarin (I have read these are hard to keep, Please fill me in why.)

Corals
Any soft corals that are easy to care for like leathers, shrooms, and polyups

Shrimp
1-Cleaner Shrimp
(How many should I get?)

Let me know what you think of this setup. Thanks

 

[tranceFusion]

yes you can use pure ammonia for the cycle.. some people say it is unnecessary with live rock as the die off will be sufficient. I would do large water changes as soon as your cycle is over. I waited a couple of days and saw rapid algae growth likely due to excess nutrients.

Usually you want to add your cleanup crew at your first signs of algae, and add fish/corals once you get the algae under control. Also, you shouldn't stock the tank all at once - add a fish a month or so.

I wouldn't worry about having a set cleanup crew.. add them as needed. you don't want to add a ton of diatom eaters if you don't have any diatoms, etc.. research Cerith, Nerite and Trochus snails too..

As far as the crabs.. alot of people say emerald's pick at their corals. The blue legs may attack your snails. Consider scarlet hermits instead of blue legs and forget the emerald crabs except for a last defence against bubble algae..

I should note that most of my opinion comes from my research rather than my experience..

 

[Reefscape]

Ok I am going to go out and buy my supplies for setting up my 29 gallon. Here are the steps I think that I am going to go through unless you guys think they should be different

1) Mix r/o water with salt in tank - add heater at this point too, get it to 79f

2) Add live rock at right temp. (should I use that aquarium epoxie to stack rock on?) Set up all rock how I want it to look - If you stack the rock properly and testing it, there should not be much of a need to use epoxy..

3) Turn on powerheads to help mix salt - do this from the start, I.E at number 1 above..

4) Start the cycle of the tank for a couple weeks doing water changes once a week or when amonia levels get to high I will be adding straight amonia to help start this process. I have done this with my freshwater tanks and had great success in speeding up the process. Does it work the same with saltwater? - Only do a change at the end of the cycle.. I.E when ammonia and nitrite are zero, and nitrate is >10 and stayed that way for a week. Just start adding your pure ammonia from the point that all rock is in, salt disolved and pH correct..Personaly, i dont believe is speeding up cycles, its nature and should be left to run its course, however long it takes...but, thats just me...


5) Week 2 add protien skimmer (I have read that you don't need to add this for a couple of weeks) - I would not add this untill after the cycle and large water change ( 50% )has been done.

6) After tank has cycled add fish and corals. I have read this can take anywhere from 6-12 weeks, so I will have to play the waiting game. I don't care how long this takes I want to do this right the first time. - Sounds fine, just dont add too much at once.

7) Stock list will go like this

Cleaning Crew(Let me know if I need more if I have to many to start out)
3-Blue legged hermit crabs
3-Emarald Crabs
3-Mexican Turbo Snails
10-Astrea Snails

Fish
2-Ocellaris Clownfish
1-Court Jester Goby
1-Scooter Blenny (Well after tank is setup)or a Green Mandarin (I have read these are hard to keep, Please fill me in why.) - Good choice to wait out for this fish..Its not that they are hard to keep, its that they require a mature and established aquarium to live in, for example, a good colony of copepods as these are its natural food source.

Corals
Any soft corals that are easy to care for like leathers, shrooms, and polyups

Shrimp
1-Cleaner Shrimp
(How many should I get?) - I would get a couple...

Let me know what you think of this setup. Thanks

Added some comments above in Red...

Hope that helps

Niko

 

[Grynox]

I'm a total noob with this stuff too so I don't want to be giving bad advice...

but wouldn't it be better to switch #2 and #3? I would think the organisms living in the live rock would benefit from having the salt properly mixed and the SG at the recommended level (1.025 or whatever) prior to adding live rock to the tank....

 

[Reefscape]

I'm a total noob with this stuff too so I don't want to be giving bad advice...

but wouldn't it be better to switch #2 and #3? I would think the organisms living in the live rock would benefit from having the salt properly mixed and the SG at the recommended level (1.025 or whatever) prior to adding live rock to the tank....

Its a valid point actually...However, i read the steps mentioned as the salt being mixed in number 1, so, there would have to be flow in there to mix it and a heater to get it to the right temp...then, from that, live rock would be added into the correct environment...

But, thats just me, and how i read it..

Thanks for raising the point Grynox...good deal..

Niko

 

[schigara]

The Scooter Blenny and Mandarin Dragonette eat primarily crustaceans called copepods and will rarely eat prepared foods that we feed our other fish. This is why they are hard to keep because they starve to death in systems that are too small or to young to supply enough copepods to keep them fed. You'd be lucky to find 5 out of 100 that would eat anything but copepods.

The sad truth is they are, arguably, the most beautiful SW fish, small and very cheap. The mortality rate of this fish is probably the highest per capita of all SW fish. They, on average, eat 1 pod every 5 seconds while they are active and awake. Pods are small so it takes a lot of them to sustain one of these fish.

1-Scooter Blenny (Well after tank is setup)or a Green Mandarin (I have read these are hard to keep, Please fill me in why.)