fishiesforme1
Reefing newb
Hi! I'm brand-spankin new to salt. Was given a tank from a friend of a friend last month, a 25 Gallon bowfront with gold bar maroon clown pair (2 1/2" and 4"). He had the tank for four years. He said aside from the clowns there was a hermit crab, but I haven't seen any signs of life other than a tiny starfish on the glass. It looks like it was around a nuclear test site.
The initial set-up: tank came to me with about 15 pounds of crushed coral and sand, and about 4 gallons of water. Also an established bio wheel, and broken protein skimmer. Is a skimmer REALLY necessary? The fish were in a large bucket. I made a salt mixture with the salt he gave me, and Nov-Aqua plus, keeping the salinity in the red middle range. After water went clear it was added to tank, then the fish. I couldn't see through the water for about 4 hours. Once it cleared up the clowns started moving the substrate around. It's been different every day. The temp has been at 78 degrees F.
This was 2 weeks ago, and the water tests show the nitrates are starting to rise, so I'm assuming it's the same as fresh and will need a partial water change. I'm not doing this till I know I'm performing it the right way.
If it's possible at all, if anyone's willing, I'd like to have a phone conversation to get my "training wheels" removed. I have so many questions and not much access to the internet.
Some background on me...I have 10 freshwater aquariums ranging from 5-80 gallons. Fancy goldfish, senegal bichir, aggresives, baby mollies, every barb on the face of the planet (ok, just a little exageration), fiddlers, apple snails, pondfish). I've been in the freshwater hobby about 10 years.
I know it's a lot to ask, but if you're interested in giving me a little phone guidance, please email me at [email protected]
Thanks for any help!!!
The initial set-up: tank came to me with about 15 pounds of crushed coral and sand, and about 4 gallons of water. Also an established bio wheel, and broken protein skimmer. Is a skimmer REALLY necessary? The fish were in a large bucket. I made a salt mixture with the salt he gave me, and Nov-Aqua plus, keeping the salinity in the red middle range. After water went clear it was added to tank, then the fish. I couldn't see through the water for about 4 hours. Once it cleared up the clowns started moving the substrate around. It's been different every day. The temp has been at 78 degrees F.
This was 2 weeks ago, and the water tests show the nitrates are starting to rise, so I'm assuming it's the same as fresh and will need a partial water change. I'm not doing this till I know I'm performing it the right way.
If it's possible at all, if anyone's willing, I'd like to have a phone conversation to get my "training wheels" removed. I have so many questions and not much access to the internet.
Some background on me...I have 10 freshwater aquariums ranging from 5-80 gallons. Fancy goldfish, senegal bichir, aggresives, baby mollies, every barb on the face of the planet (ok, just a little exageration), fiddlers, apple snails, pondfish). I've been in the freshwater hobby about 10 years.
I know it's a lot to ask, but if you're interested in giving me a little phone guidance, please email me at [email protected]
Thanks for any help!!!