Pics of our first tank

[The Langs]

Tank is about 10 weeks old. Hope I didn't add too much stuff too fast. We were just anxious to get it going.Tank consist of 28lbs live rock, pair of clowns, blue tang, basselt, damsel, lobster, coral banded shrimp, and a sea anenome.
Just tested the water the other day and results were: PH=8.4, ammonia=0, nitrite=0, nitrate about 50. Can someone tell me if my nitrate is too high and if so how do I bring it down. Also how long should I keep the light on each day?
Any advise will be greatly appreciated.
Thanks

https://picasaweb.google.com/1169937794 ... 4/FishTank?

[garetjax]

Hello.

Nice tank setup. Nitrates are high. Have you done a water change yet or when was the last time you did one? How often are you feeding then and how much? Also what kind of filter media are you using? As for lights i leave my main lights on for about 7-10 hrs a day and the moonlights on for about 6 hrs depending on the amout of time i'm home. If you get a timer for the lights it will be easy to setup the times and control them. I have my lights on for when i get home so i can watch the tank.

[bluwtr]

Wow, you added a lot of bioload in a short period of time so your nitrates are going to be high. Do as suggested and do a water change and decrease feedings. Only feed what can be eaten in about 2-5 minutes. Also, using crushed coral can contribute to higher nitrates. Good luck and I really like aquascaping; great rock layout.

[The Langs]

Thanks for the responses. I done my first water change about two weeks ago. I only changed out 4 gal because I figured in a 29 gallon tank with all that live rock I probably only have about 20 gallons of water or maybe a little more. I did use reverse osmosis water. As far as feeding I feed them twice daily and I put about two or three little pinches ( i know you can't really know how much that is but) of sprectra pellets and I feed the shrimp and the lobster one shrimp pellet per day. I would say 80% > of the fish food gets eaten and the rest falls to the bottom. All of the shrimp pellets do not always get eaten. The my nitrates were down to 40 or < but then when I bought the seanenome I also bought a bottle of liquid food for it and it was a day or two after adding that stuff that I noticed an algea breakout so I checked all my levels and found the spike in nitrates.
Would I be better off feeding the sea anenome frozen shrimp versus the liquid?

As far as lighting I didn't know I need lighting at night. I thought that was for tanks with coral. Also I'm not sure what typ of light bulb I have because the tank was given to me. Should I look into buying new lighting soon??

[MPowell]

One thing Gerwin will say is don't use a pinch as a measurement, actually count the number of pellets...2-3 per fish you have in the tank.

[garetjax]

I would watch feeding the liquid food right now and go with mysis shrimp or someing you can see it eat. Also keep doing the water changes at least every 7 days till the nitrate get lower. Don't add anything else till the nitrates get down and stay down. I do a water change in my nano every 7-10 days about 4-5 gals. Also it looks like you have an under gravel filter is that true what i'm seeing?

Garetjax

[sweetpea355]

What kind of anemone did you buy? It looks like your using standard lighting which you would need to change if your gonna keep an anemone, unless its a condilactis.

[Gerwin]

so,
I like the setup, its clean and old school simple and works. NO3 at 50ppm is nothing to panic about for the tank you are running, would 0 be better? of course but with what you are keeping now in the tank 50 or less should be ok. The anemone and standard lighting could be a issue, may be something we need to look at. And take your time add slow and a little at a time knowing you are almost at you peak.

[The Langs]

Okay so I guess I failed to find out which type of anenome I purchased but I did explain to the woman in the store how old my tank was and how I wasnt sure about the type of lighting and she said I would be okay. I will try to find out what type it is or I may just post a pic of it on here and maybe one of y'all can tell me.
So what is the mysis shrimp and is that something pass road sells.
I plan to do another water change this weekend. How long after the change do I wait before I should check all my levels again? Also how often should I check my water?
Sorry for so many questions. I guess I could google some of this stuff, but I believe I get better advise from you guys if y'all don't mind.

[The Langs]

Something I forgot to say on the last post was about the feeding. If i'm only suppose to befeeding two or three pieces per fish then I definitely have been over feeding. So changing that should definitely help. Also I do have an under gravel filter system because thats how the person who gave me the tank had it set up. Is this good or not?

[Redfish]

Tank looks really nice and I like the rock work. Are these the official pics for the tank wars? I waiting to see what Gerwin has to say about the under gravel filter system. I have heard they are old school and are Nitrate traps.

[goalk33p3r]

lighting go with some t5s i bought some about 3 weeks ago and man do they make a difference def get some pictures of your anemone up pretty sure one of us can tell you especially o wise masta g

[bluwtr]

Yeah, UGF are old school. While effective, they are not the best choice for a reef tank because they can/do clog and lose their effectiveness among other things. In addition, as Redfish said, the crushed coral will become a nitrate factory. Detritus settles and builds up and causes increases in nitrates. Only way to prevent that is very frequent cleaning of the substrate and that’s not very fun.

The lady that sold you the anemone is mistaken for the most part. Anemones like good water parameters and will not be happy w/o it. Not saying it won’t make it, but without the right lighting it’s just a matter of time. If an anemone dies they can poison a tank so you definitely want to make it happy! Also, because the have symbiotic algae in them they need intense lighting. T5's or LED's are the way to go. Metal halides are the origional standard, but the T5's and LED's are the future.

Mysis shrimp are a small food shrimp. They are also known as grass shrimp. If you've ever pulled a small seine through marsh grass, you have seen types of them. They are very nutritional and everything will eat them. Your fish will love them as will your nem. Thaw them is some tank water in a cup and feed a little at a time for the fish. I feed my red bubble tip anemone (RBTA) them about once a week using a turkey baster. Just suck some up and gently squirt them into the tentacles. It loves them.

Wait one day to check your water parameters after a water change. This gives your system time to reach equilibrium. If your tank is cycling you can/should test daily, but I think most everyone tests about once a week. I do. Also, keep a log. Write down everything you do and all of the readings you take. I've got a log built through Excel that I will send you if interested plus I have a spreadsheet with graphing. I will see if Gerwin and Doug can post it to the site with a way for anyone to take a copy and use it.

Hope that all helps.

Wes

[The Langs]

Here's a few more photos including some of the anenome.
https://picasaweb.google.com/116993779492626802654

[The Langs]

Thanks bluwtr for the info. I would like the excell spreadsheet log and if you're unable to post it you can email it to me at bklang_at_live.com. So where can I buy these frozen shrimp? Does pass road sell them?

Thanks for all the help