Almost beginner

[Farendol]

Hi,

I'm a new member since this morning and I have few questions.

I have a 65 gallons tank, I bought it 3 month ago with 67kg of live rock, themometer, crushed corail in place of sand, two motors for current and stuff for first fulfilling tank water treatment.

The seller told me to just put everything in the tank and wait for life to grow and ecosystem to settle down, what I did. The temperature was kept around 78F and salinity around 0,025.

At the beginning, I had a small anemone that came with the live rocks and really small shrimps (2-3 mm long). The shrimps slowly dissapeared and when I realised this, I called back the seller who told be to oppen the lights.

The tank was for fresh water aquarium, and so are the lights. Since I'm oppening the lights a lot of brand new life showed up, small plants grew up and the rocks, crushed corail changed for a brown/red color. But the anemone shrinked and looks sicker every day.

I know that I should bought few more things (skimmer, ph and others treatment pack, salted tank lights) and I have few questions. I don't have that much money so I would love to save money with few tricks.

1) Skimmer : Is it possible to build on by my-self ?
2) Lights : What are the lights I should buy for soft corail tank? I read about the blue light one and about mixing lights color for a better effect on fiches and corail. Is there a model I could fit in place of my actual lights or do I need to buy the whole thing? The actual lenght of lights is 30inches longs per 1inche wide.
3) I need to buy the water treatment pack (PH, calcium, nitrates). Do you have a brand/pack to suggest to me? What are the targets for these elements?

Thank you!! :^:

 

[Melosu58]

Probably you experience a cycle killing off your shrimp. That is probably what`s going on with your anenome. We could be sure if you post your water test results. I would not add anything to the tank till we see them. As far as the lighting you`ll need an upgrade on lighting. For soft corals and LPS corals you`ll need at least VHO lighting up to T5HO lighting. Welcome aboard and I hope all goes well.

 

[coolhandgoose]

Umm, do you know what kind of anemone? Just asking if it's a hitchiker like aiptasia or majano (sp?) which are bad bad bad. Besides an anemone like a bubble tip or condy need way more light than a freshwater tank is able to put out.

 

[Smitty]

Hello and welcome to the site...I see they got you covered.

 

[dcantucson]

Yes Welcome to the forum! We are glad you're here. :wave:

 

[Farendol]

Hey.. Thanks for all welcoming messages ;0)

Here are the latest tests.
PH : 7,8
Ammonia : 0
NO2 : 0
NO3 : 0

For the anemone, I can't say what kind it is... It came with the livre rock itself, so I couldn't say... Here is a better picture.

I've bought hermit crabs and snails to help cleaning... I also bought a 50 litres of distilled water to change if needed.

I also noticed that my 3 slugs were going at the top of the tank, outside of water...

Is PH level could be enough to be responsible of all this? (shrimps, anemones and slugs)..?

Thanks!!

 

[yote]

Thats not an anemone.:D That is button polyps,which are great beginner corals.

From the looks of your tests,The tank dont seem to be in the cycle.So I'm guessing that you just need better lights for right now.
BTW
Welcome to the site.

 

[wontonflip]

+1 everyone :) As usual, good advice! I'd wait for your tank to cycle. Toss some table shrimp or frozen fish food in there to help the cycle. After all, the bacteria need something to eat to survive! Keep check it until you see any signs of ammonia....then, start testing for nitrites, and once ammonia and nitrites are 0, test for nitrates, do a water change, and you should be good to go! Make sure to use dropper-test kits, and not test strips.

Just to put it in perspective, my 125g took maybe 3-4 weeks to cycle, and I just used fish food....I "fed" the tank as if there were fish in there. Patience is key! Dunno if your crabs will survive, but even if they don't, they will be bacteria food anyway.

 

[Sharkie]

your ph is a little low... its usually kept around 8.3-8.5... thats something that can be fixed quickly tho :)

welcome to the site, its filled with lots of helpful people...

as far as the picture of the "slug" you posted, that is a stomatella, a great hitchhiker that you'll come to see pretty often. I'm not sure if you have petcos there but check out a Coralife 50/50 10k light :) they run at about $80usd here and i know some places have evne better ones for a little bit more.

you could and probably will want to switch out that crush coral, it traps lots of nitrates as it stays there longer, taking that out and adding sand will start you a cycle! lol

 

[wontonflip]

Since he's cycling, the PH will be up and down, and depends on the time of day (something I learned while cycling my 125). My ph fluctuated between mid 7's to low 8's...but once it finished cycling, it's now stead yaround the mid 8's. You always learn something new! I don't even remember my 45 cycling cuz I had live rock and live sand and didn't put fish in for a month anyway.

 

[Farendol]

Ok.

So If I understand, I need to fed my tank with fish food to help bacteria producing amonia, then comes nitrite and nitrate. Then, water change. Correct? And during this time, ph may vary.

Few questions. How can I raise ph up to 8,4? Can I use backing soda or do I need to use proper tank products? Do I have to wait for cycle to ends before trying to rise my ph?

What a "cycle" means? English is not my mother language so I have few difficulties to translate and find the right meaning...

Farendol

 

[Bifferwine]

You can use baking soda to raise your pH. However, you shouldn't mess with it during the cycle. Wait for your cycle to be finished before you start adding things to the water.

You are correct about how the cycle will proceed -- ammonia first, then nitrite, then nitrate, then a water change.

A cycle means a progression, or the order of things. The order of 1) ammonia, 2) nitrites, and 3) nitrates. This is the "cycle" of the tank.

Your English is very good! I don't think anyone here is having trouble understanding what you are saying.

 

[Farendol]

Is the cycle « normal » or essentiel for a good tank life? Or it is just a way to restore good water conditions in case of wrong water treatment?

When I'm doing the water change, I'm using distilled water right? Do I need to warm up the water before using it? Otherwise I would lower water temperature witch is not supposed to be a good thing (temperature changes).

About lights.. What means VHO or T5HO (T5 is model number, but HO?)? The seller told me really good things about LED lights... More expensive at first buy, but lasting longer with better quality light and no water heating... It is as good as it seems to be?

 

[Bifferwine]

Don't be confused by a product (chemical) called Cycle -- that is not necessary.

A cycle is a general term for anything that happens in sequence. Your tank will have to cycle before you can add livestock.

You should use distilled water, and warm it up to the same temperature as your tank.

LEDs are too expensive for most people, and they have not been proven to be better quality.

T5 lights will be perfect for your tank. HO means High Output. VHO means Very High Output. T5 lights will also not heat your water (if they do, it's minimal). You will end up paying 10 times as much for LEDs than for T5s, and the T5s are just fine for your tank, and will allow you to keep any corals you would want.

 

[Farendol]

Are second hand skimmer and light good to look for? They are quite less expansive than brand news.. How could I know if a skimmer is in good condition? Same thing with lights (T5).

As my tank don't have an hole for skimmer to be on the ground, I need one that fits on the side of the tank. I know that the current motors shouldn't be on tank's sides because of vibrations. Is it the same thing with hanging skimmers?

 

[yote]

It wont hurt anything to buy used equipment,so long as your careful and inspect it good to make sure it's working right before money changes hands.All of us do our best to save where we can in this hobby,but you do have to watch and try to get the good stuff.

If you'll post about what you've found here and maybe post a link to the actual product,we'd be happy to let you know if its worth the price or not.

 

[Bifferwine]

Buying used equipment is great (as long as it is in good condition and works). I've saved a lot of money by buying some things used.