My first 12g nano reef, First test results, Need advice

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Doriginal

New Member
Hi, Iam new to reef tanks and also to this board. First off Iam very impressed with this board already. I have found alot of good tips already for my first visit. Anyway, I have a 12 gal. Nano Aquapod thats about 4 days old. I have about 15+ lbs of mixed live rock in there already. Some fiji, and some Carribean I think. There is a small goby in the tank as well as two peppermint shrimp. I have dionized water in the tank as opposed to RO water because the deionized filter was much cheaper. As a result my levels in the water may be slightly off. Here are the results.

Nitrite: 0.25
Amonia: 0.25
Nitrate: 20
Phosphate: 4.0
Calcium: 400

Are these levels way off or are they decent? I know I probably need to do a partial water change in the next day or two but what does everyone recomend I do? How much of a water change should I do? Also I bought some polyps today, I forget what the exact name was but they are purple when closed and when they are open they are green and grassy like. These have not opened since I bought them a few hours ago. They were under the lights for about 3 hours before I shut it off. Are they dead? I didnt want to rush into filling the tank up until about a month or two later but the guy at my aquarium shop said that since I have so much cured live rock already that my tank is all set to go. Is this true? Sorry for the long post. Thanks in advance for any help
 
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reefman23

New Member
First off...welcome. secondly, this is perfectly normal for a new tank. Thirdly, that is the reason you should NOT have anything in there right now. I would suggest removing the goby and the shrimp...return them (which the fish store should do seems how they sold livestock to someone that had an uncycled tank), or find them a temporary home until the tank finishes it's cycle.

Dont do any major water changes until the cycle is coming to an end. Once the cycle ends, go ahead and change 30%-40% of the water. The polyps you are talking about are green starburst polyps...those should be taken out too.

Finally...dont listen to ANYTHING else that that particular fish store tells you EVER. "the guy at my aquarium shop said that since I have so much cured live rock already that my tank is all set to go." He said this in order to SELL YOU GOODS and make money of of you. You should always wait to allow time for a cycle any time you start a new tank. No matter if the rock is cured or uncured, there will be some die-off...that is why your readings are so high. There should only be live rock and sand in the tank right now with the filters and heater running. You shouldnt be running the light besides to peek in at what is going on.

I AM NOT upset at you...dont take what I am saying wrong. I am, however, VERY upset at your LFS. This serves as an example to those out there who trust everything that the LFS's tell you. DONT DO IT.

I will wait for others to chime in to see what they suggest to.

Hope that helps,

Jesse
 
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Doriginal

New Member
Wow that was a fast reply..this place just gets better and better lol. Thanks so much for the help, I will do what you say as far as taking everything out of the tank to let it cycle. How long do you think it will take for the tank to completley cycle? Also my LFS clerk said the bacteria from all the live rock would make the tank cycle instantly, is that total BS? So what I must do is clear the tank, let the tank cycle, 30-40% water change after cycle, and no lights on at all through cycle? Is all that correct? Any other noobie tips I should know? Thanks alot for your help Jesse
P.S. I will ask this board for advice first from now on instead of asking the guys down at the fishstore who will prolly just try rip me off! :lol3:
 
skipm

skipm

Moderator
Staff member
Jesse has pretty well covered the best steps to avoid undue stress on your livestock and their possible demise.
Your idea about adding things slowly is right on the money but you just neededd to wait until the cycle completed. It is possible to use cured rock and move things into a tank with no cycle but this should only be attempted when you have no other option (like a tank sprung a leak).
You'll be ready to start adding things a few days after your ammonia and nitrite levels have reached 0, you will see a slight rise in nitrates at this time.
It sounds to me that your LFS is out for your money and not the well being of your tank, with that said feel free to post your questions here instead of taking them to the store where it appears their answers will be tainted by the possibility of a sale.
 
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k8

New Member
wow, i have worked in the aquatic trade and have heard some stories but that takes the biscuit! your LFS obviously has no understanding of aquatics and the care of fish and live stock, yet another one in for the money :evil:

i t took me 2 months for my 400l tank to cycle when i set it up, nothing was added apart from the lr and a tiny clean up crew eventually , but i used a regular prawn to start the cycle.

all i would say is get some books, keep looking on the net and take all your LFS with a pinch of salt!

Have you ever kept any fish before? cold water? tropical? the reason i ask is that all tanks have to go through this cycle, its just with marines, it is so much more important.

kate
 
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reefman23

New Member
I would say that IF the rock IS cured (I have a hard time believing your LFS), it should take about 2-6 weeks to cycle. then you can slowly add stuff back. Fish are the largest bioload, so those should be added one at a time (if possible) with time in between to allow your tank to stabilize.

HTH,

Jesse
 
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AlexfromSATX

New Member
WOW!!! That is crazy! My LFS prefers you bring a water sample in before he sells you any fish or ANY Coral!! If you don't want to do that it Voids the return policy.
 
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Doriginal

New Member
Hey all, Thanks for the advice everyone. I unfortunatley cannot return the fish at my LFS. They dont except returns at all and that did not make me happy to say the least. Last time I shop there. They usually have very cheap and healthy marine fish thats why I shop there in the first place but this instance is total BS.
So with that said I have no place for the fish or coral :shock: I dont know where I should put them while the tank cycles now. Also to answer some questions. I have 72 bow tank with fish only saltwater tank for about 4 years with no problems and that cycled for 3 months. I just never had a reef tank so thats why I beleived the LFS guys BS. Also 1 quick question, ,my salinity level on my 12g tank is to high at .29 how much of a water change should I do to get it down to .23? And when should I do It now? I will also post pics of the tank very soon so you guys can have a look at it. Thanks Again and Again for all this great advice!! :D
 
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reefman23

New Member
Did you tell them that you found the info that they gave you to be bulls#$%? That is pretty messed up?

What is the name of this place and where is it just so we know not to shop there.

Jesse
 
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Doriginal

New Member
Hey, Its in NY but I don't want to post the stores name because I still go there for non fish stuff. I just take this as a lesson learned. It just sucks that it cost me money. I did have a gut feeling that his advice was wrong but I never had a reef tank so I took his word for it. Now I will ask here first. You all seem to have way more experience than these fish store guys. I did in fact go to another shop today to buy a powerhead and i got to talking with this other guy. He had a beautiful 24gl nano on the counter. He said that all he has in the back of the tank is the blue mechanical sponge. He said that he removed the bio rings, bio balls and the carbon pouch. He said that they steal bacteria from the live rock and the rock and corals thrive less. Is this true? Should I do this as well? In the back of my tank I have all those things plus some crushed live rock rubble. What do most of you have in the filter compartments? Thanks All
P.S. I need to lower the salinity in my tank is there a chart on how much salt I need to add to 5 gal to lower the salinity from .29 to .23?
 
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reefman23

New Member
He is ALMOST right...do take out most of the sponge (leave some of it though, just keep it clean), and remove the bio-balls and leave the carbon. In place of the bio-balls you can place in live rock rubble. Some macro-algaes like chaetomorpha do well in the rear chambers if you provide some light back there for them...they are great denitrificators (if that is a word).

HTH,

Jesse

p.s. About the salinity...do it slowly. when you do water changes, just do changes with water that is like 1.020... the key is to take your time...no more than a few points every couple days. Also make sure you are topping off with freshwater, not salt.
 
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Doriginal

New Member
Hey, Its in NY but I don't want to post the stores name because I still go there for non fish stuff. I just take this as a lesson learned. It just sucks that it cost me money. I did have a gut feeling that his advice was wrong but I never had a reef tank so I took his word for it. Now I will ask here first. You all seem to have way more experience than these fish store guys. I did in fact go to another shop today to buy a powerhead and i got to talking with this other guy. He had a beautiful 24gl nano on the counter. He said that all he has in the back of the tank is the blue mechanical sponge. He said that he removed the bio rings, bio balls and the carbon pouch. He said that they steal bacteria from the live rock and the rock and corals thrive less. Is this true? Should I do this as well? In the back of my tank I have all those things plus some crushed live rock rubble. What do most of you have in the filter compartments? Thanks All
P.S. I need to lower the salinity in my tank is there a chart on how much salt I need to add to 5 gal to lower the salinity from .29 to .23?
 
skipm

skipm

Moderator
Staff member
If you still have the fish you may be able to keep ity in another tank or suitable container doing frequent water changes to keep ammonia levels down. This would be less stressful IMO than the fish living in a cycling tank. You can't do this in the cycling tank though because the water changes would keep the tank from ever completeing its cycle. You could also see if a friend or even the other fish store would either hold or let you trade the fish in until your tank is ready for them.
IMO if the original store would feed you a lot of BS the way they did and then not work with you by taking the fish back I would not buy ANYTHING from them, if they lied to you once they'll do it again.
 
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