32.5 gallon FOWLR Build

[Mizu]

I *think* I am really for my first fish, i'll be going back to my LFS this weekend!

I bought some Macroalgae to add some color into my tank which should be arriving tomorrow, today I added 1 capful of Brightwell Chaeto grow to add minerals for the algae.

 

[Mizu]

Today I added 6 small microalgae plants from Gulf coast ecosystems, they look beautiful! I'm really happy with the variety they gave me. I also added one more capful of chaetogrow after adding the algae in.

 

[Mizu]

 

[Mizu]

I went to my Local fish store today and the owner said im ready for my first fish! He recommended me to buy a cheap fish to test the water parameters with but I didn't really want of the fish he had in stock (he had a huge selection too lol). I did see a sixline wrasse that was really cool but when the owner captured it, he noticed one of the fins was damaged and told me to look for another fish, I thought he was really honest.

Anyway, I showed him my stocking list and we modified it a bit, we removed the pufferfish and added a sixline wrasse and a flame hawkfish.

Current stocking list:

1x flame hawkfish
1x Sixline wrasse
1x Helfrichi firefish
1x Citrinis clown goby
1x Yasha goby
2x Blue dudgeon dartfish lyretail (he said these are going to be a pain to get unfortunately)

I ended up buying one Cleaner shrimp to test my waters with, I also got the frozen cube brine shrimps, and eventually once my fish start eating that I will introduce Mysis shrimp cubes.

I know this part is going to be controversial, the store owner said after I temperature acclimate the shrimp, I can just dump the store water in my tank. He explained that since I have no fish in my tank it would be good to get different bacteria from his water.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

I went to my Local fish store today and the owner said im ready for my first fish! He recommended me to buy a cheap fish to test the water parameters with but I didn't really want of the fish he had in stock (he had a huge selection too lol). I did see a sixline wrasse that was really cool but when the owner captured it, he noticed one of the fins was damaged and told me to look for another fish, I thought he was really honest.

Anyway, I showed him my stocking list and we modified it a bit, we removed the pufferfish and added a sixline wrasse and a flame hawkfish.

Current stocking list:

1x flame hawkfish
1x Sixline wrasse
1x Helfrichi firefish
1x Citrinis clown goby
1x Yasha goby
2x Blue dudgeon dartfish lyretail (he said these are going to be a pain to get unfortunately)

I ended up buying one Cleaner shrimp to test my waters with, I also got the frozen cube brine shrimps, and eventually once my fish start eating that I will introduce Mysis shrimp cubes.

I know this part is going to be controversial, the store owner said after I temperature acclimate the shrimp, I can just dump the store water in my tank. He explained that since I have no fish in my tank it would be good to get different bacteria from his water.

I personally wouldn't add a store's tank water into your tank. Your tank water will be much different than the store's water, which can cause some issues with your parameters. Plus, it can have unwanted bacteria in it that you might not want in your tank. I'm sure someone else with a better explanation or more knowledge will chime in, but my personal opinion is I wouldn't do it.

 

[Mizu]

I went to my local fish store today and finally got my first fish!

I ended up getting a pair of Black storm clownfish.

I also got 6 snails (2 Nassarius, 2 bumblebee and 2 Trochus snails)

I temperature acclimated the fish & snails by floating them for 30~ minutes, them I just added them to the tank. Adding them to the tank was not as smooth as I would have liked (I had the bag floating sideways and I cut it in the middle long ways to put a fish net in the bag and I ended up spilling some LFS water in the tank) but I don't think anyone got harmed so that's all that matters.

I added some Seachem prime to give me peace of mind as its supposed to detoxify Ammonia and Nitrite, My ammonia was at 0 anyways.

I also added some seachem clarity because after I added my fish and snails I thought it would be a good idea to re-position my powerhead. I moved my small powerhead to the right-side of the tank and added a bigger powerhead to the left side. The big powerhead was too powerful and whipped up a sandstorm. I had to remove the big powerhead and I moved back my smaller powerhead to the left of the tank, but its now in a different position. Its currently smack in the middle of the left glass panel and I think its giving my tank really good flow.

 

[Mizu]

Fish behavior:

The fish seem pretty happy and are very willing to eat which is great! I fed them twice yesterday and once this morning.

When I first got them they were zooming very rapidly around the top of the tank (they were vigorously using the back tailfin). Since then they've found a spot they like and have stayed almost exclusively in that spot.

My cleaner shrimp almost always stays in one spot on the other side of the tank but I've seen him travel to the clownfish a few times, I didn't see any fighting but I didn't observe it long.

I Don't think the clownfish have a cave even though there's like 4-5 spots they can choose from. I don't know where they slept last night as when I went to bed they were swimming in their spot and when I woke up they were swimming in the exact spot again.

When I bought the pair from my LFS he said they were two males that were going to battle it out however I think they had already decided on who the male/female were prior to me getting them because I don't see much dominance play from them, they seem like a couple to me.

Random thing:

My red bubble algae has been turning white over the past few days. I think the other algae are all ok as of right now, im not sure if its a lighting issue or what.

 

[Mizu]

Algae pics, actually my orange algae also seems to be turning a little white

 

[Mizu]

 

[Mizu]

 

[Mizu]

Water Parameters (Its been 3 days since I got my fish!)

Alkalinity: 170 (I think that translates to 9.5 dKH)

Temperature: has been high, yesterday it went up to 83~ degrees, I cooled it down to around 79.7 - 80. Today It went back up to 82, its currently at 80.02. I plan on keeping the fan on to cool it more.

pH: 8.0

Ammonia: 0 ppm (could be .25ppm)

Nitrite: .25 ppm

Nitrate: 20 ppm

 

[Mizu]

Green algae has taken over! I think its my fault though as I was dosing Cheato Grow for my Macroalgae and may have caused an algae bloom.

Also i think one of my Nassarius snails is missing... I haven't seen him in over 24 hours.

 

[DustinDec]

Green algae has taken over! I think its my fault though as I was dosing Cheato Grow for my Macroalgae and may have caused an algae bloom.

Also i think one of my Nassarius snails is missing... I haven't seen him in over 24 hours.

Snails missing is perfectly normal. They will come and go and if they pass away, your tank should be fine.

Take your time with the tank, every change should be followed by time to allow the tank to adapt. I rushed things along a few times and it just costs more in the long run. I also have a Fluval Flex 32.5g, though I've taken it down now and plan to use it as a QT when necessary.

Your left statue appears to be touching the glass. I highly recommend removing anything away from the glass to make cleaning the glass easier later on. Also if you've not already purchased a magnet scrubber, may want to hold off. I found that with the bowing front, they take a lot more effort compared to just putting on a long sleeve glove and using a magic eraser (if you go this route, make sure it has no additional chemicals added to the eraser).

Also suggest upgrading your test kit as soon as possible. API is great to start off with, but it's not the most accurate.

 

[reefermadnes5]

Here are some really low quality photos:

Siryu can potentially leech zinc into the water and damage your swimmers gills. I had use the exact same stone. I replaced mine with marco.

 

[reefermadnes5]

Green algae has taken over! I think its my fault though as I was dosing Cheato Grow for my Macroalgae and may have caused an algae bloom.

Also i think one of my Nassarius snails is missing... I haven't seen him in over 24 hours.

Nas snails burrow