I made the jump from fresh to saltwater!!

[madroosta]

:headbang2:I recently sold my old Juwel Rekord 120 and purchased a Juwel Lido marine conversion tank with lighting, skimmer, filtration, substrate, chemicals etc from my local aquatic store. The owner has given me loads of freebies to help me get set up.
Its now been 3 weeks and I've gone from a tank with water, sand and structural rock to having my live rock (purchased last weekend and I can't wait.
I got 2.5kg for now for the price of 2 which ain't bad considering the price of that stuff. Inside two of the rocks I had a small hermit crab that has yet to be seen since tank introduction and a snail who keeps popping up every now and agian. Also I had about 3 what I can only describe as baby shrimp?? They were between 0.3mm and 1cm. They looked like they had the same body but were pretty much see-thru.

All my parameters are dead on I believe, which is great, as I don't normally have much luck. I hope it maintains the levels whilst I am doing what needs to be done.

I'm not sure when I'm going to add ish. I think this week I may purchase another snail and a couple of admiral shrimp. Let them beaver away and also allow the live rock to get settled too.

I definately want a couple of clowns however in a 26 gallon tank I'm not sure if having an anemone will be too risky. I'm not saying now, maybe in 6 months time once the tank is established a little more.
I have heard how having an anemone in a small tank can change the parameters quite drastically if you are not paying enough attention??

I won't be overstocking either. 2 clowns, maybe a damsel, 2 flounders, 2/3 shrimp, a starfish maybe and another but not sure which....oh yeah a lionfish....ha ha no just kiddng.

Anyhoo just a quick note really to say hi to the Marine side o the forum and hopefully you guys wil be as helpful for me as the Tropical guys were!!!

 

[Blown 346]

:headbang2:I recently sold my old Juwel Rekord 120 and purchased a Juwel Lido marine conversion tank with lighting, skimmer, filtration, substrate, chemicals etc from my local aquatic store. The owner has given me loads of freebies to help me get set up.
Its now been 3 weeks and I've gone from a tank with water, sand and structural rock to having my live rock (purchased last weekend and I can't wait.
I got 2.5kg for now for the price of 2 which ain't bad considering the price of that stuff. Inside two of the rocks I had a small hermit crab that has yet to be seen since tank introduction and a snail who keeps popping up every now and agian. Also I had about 3 what I can only describe as baby shrimp?? They were between 0.3mm and 1cm. They looked like they had the same body but were pretty much see-thru.

All my parameters are dead on I believe, which is great, as I don't normally have much luck. I hope it maintains the levels whilst I am doing what needs to be done.

I'm not sure when I'm going to add ish. I think this week I may purchase another snail and a couple of admiral shrimp. Let them beaver away and also allow the live rock to get settled too.

I definately want a couple of clowns however in a 26 gallon tank I'm not sure if having an anemone will be too risky. I'm not saying now, maybe in 6 months time once the tank is established a little more.
I have heard how having an anemone in a small tank can change the parameters quite drastically if you are not paying enough attention??

I won't be overstocking either. 2 clowns, maybe a damsel, 2 flounders, 2/3 shrimp, a starfish maybe and another but not sure which....oh yeah a lionfish....ha ha no just kiddng.

Anyhoo just a quick note really to say hi to the Marine side o the forum and hopefully you guys wil be as helpful for me as the Tropical guys were!!!

Your on the right track, Im not sure how much 2.5 KG is, but try and get as much Liverock as you can as it will not only help the cycle along but will be beneficial to thetank as the rock is a natural filter. try and buy cured rock as it wont send your ammonia etc in frenzy.

I would check the parameters every 2 days or so. Since the tank is new it is still very unstable and those water conditions you have now can change over night and can become deadly. I wouldnt add fish until you have your cleanup crew. I would add them until the tanks condtions stay the same for a week or more and dont change. Then add the cleanup crew, wait a few days. Check the water again, if it is fine, add a fish or two. Wait again. You have ato add slowly so the load of the new fish can be handled by the bacteria. if you dont do this the tank will go into a mini cycle.

I would wait for shrimp, as they are very sensitive and dont do well unless the tank is stable. Add most of your rock, then cleanup crew etc.


Having a Anemone in small tank wont change anything. Its the waste from not only the anemone but all the livestock you have. The less water volume you have the faster things can change for the worse. The more water volume you have the less of an effect it will have on the tanks water parameters.


I would becareful with Damsels, they can get quite aggressive and are almost impossible to catch when you want to remove it unless you tear the tank down. Starfish such as sand sifters need a well established depp sandbed, a refugium for there livefood to stay healthy. You need a large footprint tank to give them the space they need to survive. they will quickly starve.


What type of lighting setup do you have as far as style fo Bulbs( VHO,PC's etc) What wattage?

 

[madroosta]

If you cut a basketball in hal and filled it with live rock, that is about 2.5 kgs. I'm looking at purchasing one final piece of live rock to go in the centre of my tank attached to the structural rock. I will post a pic in a sec.

My parameters are being checked every 2 days at the moment however once I add cleanp and fish at the correct stages i will check every day to be on the safe side.
I was under the impression that shrimp were part of the cleanup crew? Along with crabs and snails?

Ok here is the marine virgin coming out......what is a refugium? Is that a sump tank?

My lighting set up is a T5 White and Actinic Blue light both at 24W each.
I am also using a red sea prizm skimmer.

I am starting to get a red/brown algae on the substrate and green har algae on a couple of rocks, on part of the substrate the algae looks like red hair algae if that is such a thing/ All the parameters seem ok though? I heard this can be normal and will settle itself?

 

[madroosta]

If you cut a basketball in hal and filled it with live rock, that is about 2.5 kgs. I'm looking at purchasing one final piece of live rock to go in the centre of my tank attached to the structural rock. I will post a pic in a sec.

My parameters are being checked every 2 days at the moment however once I add cleanp and fish at the correct stages i will check every day to be on the safe side.
I was under the impression that shrimp were part of the cleanup crew? Along with crabs and snails?

Ok here is the marine virgin coming out......what is a refugium? Is that a sump tank?

My lighting set up is a T5 White and Actinic Blue light both at 24W each.
I am also using a red sea prizm skimmer.

I am starting to get a red/brown algae on the substrate and green har algae on a couple of rocks, on part of the substrate the algae looks like red hair algae if that is such a thing/ All the parameters seem ok though? I heard this can be normal and will settle itself?

attached below are the pics taken with my blackberry so not great!!

 

[Blown 346]

If you cut a basketball in hal and filled it with live rock, that is about 2.5 kgs. I'm looking at purchasing one final piece of live rock to go in the centre of my tank attached to the structural rock. I will post a pic in a sec.

My parameters are being checked every 2 days at the moment however once I add cleanp and fish at the correct stages i will check every day to be on the safe side.
I was under the impression that shrimp were part of the cleanup crew? Along with crabs and snails?

Ok here is the marine virgin coming out......what is a refugium? Is that a sump tank?

My lighting set up is a T5 White and Actinic Blue light both at 24W each.
I am also using a red sea prizm skimmer.

I am starting to get a red/brown algae on the substrate and green har algae on a couple of rocks, on part of the substrate the algae looks like red hair algae if that is such a thing/ All the parameters seem ok though? I heard this can be normal and will settle itself?

Shrimp are and arent part of a cleanup crew. When I think Cleanup Crerw I think of snails,hermots that will actually eat detritus,algae etc. Shrimp will pick algae here and there but are mosty Carnivorus and prefer meaty foods. Since they are very sensitive introducing them with the clean up crew could leave out money.


A refugium or fuge is a safe place for pods to grow and reproduce. As these are used for live foods for certian fish inverts. Basically its either a seperate fish tank that is connected to the main tank to allow the pods to transfer from the fuge to the main tank. They are great to have not only for the Live food source, but also to reduce Nitrates. You will actually get nuisance algae growing in the fuge instead of your display.

The red brown alage could is probably a mix of Diatoms (these can be blown off the rock with a turkey baster). The red alage is most likely Cyano, I would just siphon that out, and pick off what you can of the Hair algae. It is normal for a new tank to go thru this. Just keep up with it, once the tank starts to even out it will go away. Just make sure to keep up with it, or it will always be there and will get worse.

 

[madroosta]

Great, thanks ever so much for your advice. Greatly appreciated!

 

[Reefscape]

:headbang2:I recently sold my old Juwel Rekord 120 and purchased a Juwel Lido marine conversion tank with lighting, skimmer, filtration, substrate, chemicals etc from my local aquatic store. The owner has given me loads of freebies to help me get set up.
Its now been 3 weeks and I've gone from a tank with water, sand and structural rock to having my live rock (purchased last weekend and I can't wait.
I got 2.5kg for now for the price of 2 which ain't bad considering the price of that stuff.

<< Your going to need about 10 - 12 more KG of rock if you want the live rock to act as natural filtration in the system >>

Inside two of the rocks I had a small hermit crab that has yet to be seen since tank introduction and a snail who keeps popping up every now and agian. Also I had about 3 what I can only describe as baby shrimp?? They were between 0.3mm and 1cm. They looked like they had the same body but were pretty much see-thru.

<< They are more than pods, a good natural food source >>

All my parameters are dead on I believe, which is great, as I don't normally have much luck. I hope it maintains the levels whilst I am doing what needs to be done.

<< Have you started the cycle in the tank? >>

I'm not sure when I'm going to add ish. I think this week I may purchase another snail and a couple of admiral shrimp. Let them beaver away and also allow the live rock to get settled too.

<< Admiral shrimp? >>

I definately want a couple of clowns however in a 26 gallon tank I'm not sure if having an anemone will be too risky. I'm not saying now, maybe in 6 months time once the tank is established a little more.
I have heard how having an anemone in a small tank can change the parameters quite drastically if you are not paying enough attention??

<< The tank is only 26 gallons, so i would not put an anemone in there. Couple of clowns would be cool though. >>

I won't be overstocking either. 2 clowns, maybe a damsel, 2 flounders, 2/3 shrimp, a starfish maybe and another but not sure which....oh yeah a lionfish....ha ha no just kiddng.

<< Stick to your two clowns and maybe a bottom dweller like a goby, and you should fine >>

Anyhoo just a quick note really to say hi to the Marine side o the forum and hopefully you guys wil be as helpful for me as the Tropical guys were!!!

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