Hello.. I’m Brand new to the hobby and completely lost and starting to become over whelmed with everything

[GatorGreg]

Also try to bring pH up to 8.0 ish area.

They’re super super super new…..did I mention they were super new. Lol

Right now what they have 2 clownfish in a tank that was started with dry rock barely 2 weeks ago. I think they should probably hold off on chasing PH and get through the cycle first. That may be a little advanced for where we’re at right now

 

[littlefoxx]

They’re super super super new…..did I mention they were super new. Lol

Right now what they have 2 clownfish in a tank that was started with dry rock barely 2 weeks ago. I think they should probably hold off on chasing PH and get through the cycle first. That may be a little advanced for where we’re at right now

Fair enough, if the tank was fully cycled it would probably be at that level. That was more my point, I for sure could have elaborated more on that part lol.

 

[GatorGreg]

Fair enough, if the tank was fully cycled it would probably be at that level. That was more my point, I for sure could have elaborated more on that part lol.

Yeah they went full send on this build lol.

But they’ve been armed with enough information to get them through this rough patch. They can do it

 

[littlefoxx]

Yeah they went full send on this build lol.

But they’ve been armed with enough information to get them through this rough patch. They can do it

Sounds good! I was very confused reading the first post as to what was actually going on

 

[GatorGreg]

Sounds good! I was very confused reading the first post as to what was actually going on

Yeah I think we have a bad case of being mislead by a untrustworthy and in my opinion greedy LFS

 

[newhere]

In that case your rock was not actually LIVE rock like you mentioned in your initial post. But it will be with patience. Don’t add anything else to the tank for a good little while.

Essentially what youre doing is a cycle with fish. In it can be hard on them once the ammonia levels do start showing. The ammonia can hurt their gills. I recommend watching the ammonia close and even purchasing a cheap seachem ammonia alert badge so you can have a quick read of when it spikes beyond safe levels. Have saltwater on hand to do water changes. May wanna have some prime on hand.

If it were my tank I’d probably dump a bottle of bottle bacteria in there as well. Proper amount for your sized tank. Follow the instructions on the bottle. There’s all kinds of brands. I usually use Microbacter7. People may disagree with me because that’s just how it goes lol. But if this were my tank that’s what I’d do

You’re doing just fine.
Beginners anxiety.
I suffered the same with my first BioCube tank. It’s sounds your fish are doing ok. They eating?
Don’t worry about the torch. This might have been an overzealous sale from your LFS.
Focus on the survival of your clowns. They will love your for it.
Watch ammonia and do check Nitrite. If it’s zero you do not need to continue to check it. Then your your tank is cycled.
Please continue to check the rest of the parameters. There is no need for daily checks unless something is out of check. One back here and ask if values are out of whack.
Most of us will ask for the basic parameters.
The BRS videos helped me ton.
One piece of advice. PATIENCE. Nothing happens over night.
seachem prime is good. Doesn’t hurt.

Not keep adding other chemicals until your tank is way more mature and you have good handle on the basic parameters.
Salinity
PH
Nitrate
Calcium
Magnesium
Phosphate
I would stick a small ammonium sticker from seachem in my tank. It gives you a visual alert if things go wrong. Works for me for years.
You’re running your tank a bit hot in y opinion
Try to stay around 79 F. That’s more what the clowns are used to.

As far as test kits goes you can see the 1001 opinions in this forum. Nobody’s is wrong, and we all have options based on what worked for us.
I have been using a set of Hanna checkers for all of the parameters.
If your budget allows it, I would have a look at them.
They take the guess work out of reading color compares.
These little machines a pretty accurate and tell you the numbers. No color guessing.
I started with the Hanna salinity probe, ph and the nitrate checker and whenever i had money left over(lol) I added another checker.
Keep in mind that all testers need reagent refills $$
Your lights are on definitely to long.
Try to stay below between 8 - 10 hours a day. Keep a low blue nightlight on if you want.

Good luck

ok cool! when do you need to do the reagent refill?? hopefully not everytime because i think i did the initial setup with the solution that came with the hanna tester

 

[newhere]

should i be putting in micro bacter7? i put them it in before the fish but I have seen to keep adding bacteria when cycling?? o

If your nitrate is 0. You’re not overfeeding.

Also watch your phosphates.


In fact in a brand new tank. Having 0 nutrients is not a good thing. It opens the door for extreme nuisance algae’s like Dino’s. I know some people have disagreed with me on that. But I’ve had 3 tanks all bottom out nutrients because I didn’t know better. I was terrified of algae and I sparingly fed and was doing like 30 percent weekly water changes from day one. All tanks showed Dino’s within 2 months of setup because of this mistake. It took 3 back to back failures of setups and a lot of wasted money for me to realize what I was doing wrong. The last two new setups I’ve done. I watched the nutrients like a hawk and kept them at elevated levels (I chose a target range of 10 to 15 nitrate and .05 to .10 phosphate). I haven’t had a Dino problem in either of my past two tanks.

Yes I have a little bit of algae here and there. But I stay on top of it and I keep my Clean up Crew beefed up. Sometime if a little patch gets too big for my liking. I intervene and take care of it myself. I’ll take sporadic patches of algae’s that I can manage over a Dino infest

Also try to bring pH up to 8.0 ish area.

how do i bring the ph up??

 

[newhere]

how do i bring the ph up? im not suppodesed to add anything right?

 

[GatorGreg]

should i be putting in micro bacter7? i put them it in before the fish but I have seen to keep adding bacteria when cycling?? o

If you already put it in then you’re good

 

[GatorGreg]

how do i bring the ph up? im not suppodesed to add anything right?

Don’t worry about PH right now. Let’s get through this first. Build up to that

They’re not wrong though. It’s just for a little later

 

[rpkneumann]

ok cool! when do you need to do the reagent refill?? hopefully not everytime because i think i did the initial setup with the solution that came with the hanna tester

ok cool! when do you need to do the reagent refill?? hopefully not everytime because i think i did the initial setup with the solution that came with the hanna tester

The regents will last time. Check BRS or Hanna instruments how many tests are in a refill.

 

[newhere]

Just enough for what your fish will eat. Put a bit, watch them eat it. Put a tiny bit watch them eat it. After 2 times it’ll probably be enough. You don’t want to starve your fish

Okay everything looks to be doing good still I have had the tank for about a week now should I do I a 20 percent water change? Or is that not necessary ?

 

[JayM]

Okay everything looks to be doing good still I have had the tank for about a week now should I do I a 20 percent water change? Or is that not necessary ?

Almost nothing in this hobby is necessary, but a weekly 10-20% water change is rarely a bad idea.

 

[GatorGreg]

Okay everything looks to be doing good still I have had the tank for about a week now should I do I a 20 percent water change? Or is that not necessary ?

What’s your ammonia level reading?

 

[rpkneumann]

Not sure if smaller tanks cycle faster.
Seems a bit early for that change
You do not need to change your water unless your Nitrate level is higher than let’s say 30 and then do a 25% one time water change.
These are all good signs that your cycling is nearly ending. Your oxidzing-ammonia bacteria is live and well and growing and Your oxidizing-nitrite bacteria are multiplying and producing more and more nitrate. Your cycle is nearly done
All is working as designed by nature. . I would make it depend on the nitrate levels.
After that keep monitoring the nitrate especially to keep it below your target value. Some go with 5 others run high at 20 or even 30.
I suggest 10% water changes every week after the cycling is complete.

 

[Naso180!]

@GatorGreg Awesome to see you and a few others being super patient and really helping someone on this forum. Nowadays it seems to happen less and less. Lots of newbies getting trashed and overloaded for not knowing. Kudos for taking the time.

 

[tbaum101]

Hello I started my tank about two weeks ago I went and got a 13.5 gallon and all in one fluval evo salt water kit I bought some live sand and live rock I put them in she thing up and waited about a week and went to the fish store to ask some questions and when I did he told me he didn’t like the water I was using so maybe do a water change. I’m brand new so will almost listen to anything that seems reasonable. So I buy hit water and then come back in the next day to test it and see if anything has gotten worse or better so I wanted a couple days and then went back and asked him on what my next step should be and he said you can throw a fish or two in there if you want so I purchased two storm clowns not knowing that might tank is pry not cycled and take them and a torch reef home.. the first couple days I would hardly do any light (room is decently lit up durning the day and night) I dont know how to tell what the right flow is or what’s not even gettting flow and my torch coral looks like its going to die… I have read on the internet no light during this and I the guy at the store told me to do 8 hours…. I just dont know what to do one person tell you something in such confidence and the other just says nope you killed them. I’m feeding them mon wed and Friday about 5 beads of sea marines staple food.
The ph level is 7.8 ammonia 0 nitrate and nitrite 0

I put in a new light the fluval 25k light and the tank has been up and running with the fish for about a weeek now should I leave this light on its 24 hour cycle yet? Water is 81 degrees

Your LFS Guy doesn't seem to be giving you the best advice. First, it sounds like you may be getting methods mixed up. Watch the BRS Series on cycling tanks. That got me started. You are on the right track with the live sand and live rock. As long as both were wet when you bought them. You DO NOT HAVE TO GO THROUGH AN UGLY PHASE. I did not at all. Get a bottle of copopods and cleanup crew. Snails, blue legs, sand sifter...maybe a diamond goby. I got mine super early and all still kicking. I also don't believe in feeding light. You have live sand and rock. You're cycled already. I fed very heavy and got food and nutrients into the biome. Make sure you do water changes. Check out my tank build. I went into a decent amount of detail. Watch those videos from BRS. Devote an hour a day or real learning about the hobby and you'll be a little more prepared. There are too many potential pitfalls in this thing to go in blind. You got this

 

[reeferstudent]

Id agree to slow down, dont rush and then learn from mistakes, its a lot easier to figure out what went wrong and research it when you only make one change at a time. I unfortunately learned my mistakes from dead corals, I also learned that carpet anemones will eat a tang if its weak aand swims into it. And now Im trying to solve the mystery of why my hermit crabs died. Like any hobby it takes a lot of research and experience

 

[klmt]

I came to say one more thing that I think has been lost among all of this good advice…. Try and have fun. I’m jealous of your new tank and novice wisdom. The steep part of the learning curve in any hobby is always the most exciting. You will learn your tank with patience and time if you stick with it and keep it simple. Learn from your mistakes. But really enjoy your new little ecosystem and the stages of change that are coming in the near future. Be excited to see a nitrate spike and for the ugly phase. All of that means you’re doing well. You’re in good hands here and it seems like you care enough to succeed, good luck. You’ll be looking back on a post like this in a few years with nostalgia.

 

[Dburr1014]

Sounds like OP is in good hands.

How's the torch coral doing?
Is it possible to gently place it in a hole of one of the rocks?
Why?
1) they don't like being in the sand.
2) closer to the light, they need light.
3) keeping it alive will help eat any ammonia from the fish.

Carry on, happy reefing!