steelerfan's 30 Gallon Breeder Journal/Build

greech said:
Good QT. A single pack of rings will help but you will still need to do fairly frequent WC's. While you want to be careful with overfeeding you still want to make sure the fish eats well. You will want to siphon out the crud on the bottom anyway. Get some thin tubing (bigger than airline tubing though) for this and you can reduce the amount of water and give you time to siphon. I would also add a bottle of Amquel to your list as a just in case.
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thanks greech,

i was hoping a 2-3 gallon a week on that would keep water levels good.

i will get amquel, thanks just for an emergency.

the only bummer about that is if i am running copper, amquel can't be used.

i do have a small python water cleaner and it is very slow for getting crud and not a lot of water.

as always, thanks man.
 
ok, seems strange to me but here are test results as of this morning:

ammonia-0
nitrIte- .5
nitrAte- 10

so in 3 days since adding the other half of shrimp my ammonia has gone down from .50 to 0, nitrIte 1 to .5 and nitrAte from 20 to 10????

what do i know, i'm a newbie
 
That is a bit odd considering you started with dry sand and dry rock. When using LR those numbers would make more since and indicate that the bacteria that convert ammonia to nitrite have a high population and that the nitrite>nitrate bacterai population will start to grow to combat the trites.

Don't use copper or mediactions unless you have too.
 
greech said:
That is a bit odd considering you started with dry sand and dry rock. When using LR those numbers would make more since and indicate that the bacteria that convert ammonia to nitrite have a high population and that the nitrite>nitrate bacterai population will start to grow to combat the trites.

Don't use copper or mediactions unless you have too.
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yeah, that's what i think too greech. could it be that i have so much rock in there that it is catching up that fast?

i am gonna retest monday and see what happens.

as far as medication, i am still reading the debates which is really putting me on the fence.
 
Not sure. Maybe confirm your tests with your LFS?
 
well, after ammonia testing 0 again, i kicked it up a notch.

i unbagged the shrimp that were in there and peeled away the bit of shell that was remaining and put the shrimp back in the bag and threw them in there again.

that is a smell i really don't want to smell again anytime soon.

a little bit is blowing around tank but the major part is still staying in bag.

will test ammonia/trite/trate later tonight and see if that did anything.
 
so i just got back from the LFS.

told him my setup and how long it had been running, which is 30 gallon 37#'s fiji dry rock with about 1.5 raw shrimp in there for just under 4 weeks.

told him i tested and that i believe my kits must be off, so he tested my water free of charge and these were results:

he used a different kit than mine. was a strip.

ammonia-0
nitrite-0
nitrate-he said if it was an established tank it would almost be at the warning level, but since it is 4 weeks old it was completely normal.

ph was 7.8 and i bought some seachem buffer from them just because i wanted to get something and in an emergency it could come handy i guess.

sg was a tad high at 1.027. i trust theirs as it was 1 that they put water on a automatic thing and got read out.

mine is a standard refractometer and mine was reading like 1.026.

i am going to go ahead and drop sg a tad.

so now my LFS says i can go ahead and add my crabs, snails and a clownfish.

i just in my mind can't justify this yet regardless of what my water is telling me.

ok, next question: would you buy from my LFS?

my LFS.

i like both these guys who are there. they are nice guys, but having said that i am conflicted if i should buy from them.

PROS

like i said, nice guys.
they recomend QT.
their tanks are super clean.
they hand pick their livestock from their supplier and can get anything i ask for.

i spent about an hour there looking at all their livestock. all but 1 fish appeared really healthy and i noticed 1 bicolor dwarf angel with 3 salt specs on it.

CONS
17.99 lb for LR
1 of the guys said ich is always present in all tanks. i disagree
1 of their bi color angels had 3 white salt spots...this says to me if 1 in a system has it, it is present and anything i get there will have to definately be treated as such.

every LFS i have been to there has been bad, but this store is probably the healthiest looking in my area.

would you feel ok buying here or should i just reside myself to the fact that i am gonna be paying a lot of overnight charges from the diver's den
smile.gif
 
What was the # on nitrates? Warning level for what?

Test "strips" are not known for their accuracy. The colormetric kits most use are hard enough to read and sometimes don't get down to the levels we need.

The ph of the water you brought in is not the same as what is in your tank by the time it gets to the LFS. pH fluctuates throughout the day. I wouldn't try and tweak H or anything else in the tank. Too early.

What did they use to test SG? Not aware of anything more accurate than a calibrated refractometer.

Still too soon for fish and feedings. Couple crabs and snails. IME, don't go with a lot of crabs. Even hermits can wreak havoc. Don't go heavy on the CUC either. You really don't need 20+ snails in there right away like some shops recommend.

It doesn't sound like a bad store. All I can say is that LFS are never perfect. As you learn more about the hobby and what certain animals are and what they need to thrive you will be a better judge of whether they just want your money or are giving you good advice. I definitely see my favorite LFS sell things to new people they probably shouldn't have yet. However, most of the time they will tell people that a particular fish gets big or is aggressive or that a coral needs a lot of light. The people wanted the fish despite this advice because it's pretty or cool. Bottom line they need to make money and you need to know what you are buying. Everyone wants the whole ocean in a box and it just doesn't work that way. Wow that was a RANT! :)

Oh and $17.99 is INSANE for LR. My LFS has some decent rock for $3.99/lb and the nicer porous rock is only $5.99.

If you live in a large area maybe make some post online and see others recommend any decent LFS in your area.
 
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