saltwater aquariums

Ill try to get some pics, but i dont really know how to use all that shit. as of right now theres nothin in my tank but 70 lbs of sand. Im gettin rock soon though and fish when ever the tank cycles

My tank has been up for ten days now and i was wondering if it is ready for some livestock. Here is the water readings or chemistry or whatever they call it.

Ph- 8.3
Ammonia- less than .25
specific gravity- 1.023
Nitrate- 50

it seems as though my tank is just about done cycling. I havnt put any liverock in it yet so im guessing once i do the ammonia will go up again and it will have another small cycle. Are those good numbers?

what about the nitrites which break down into nitrates.
I would guess no if I had to,be on the safe side and wait few more days.
What do you plan on putting in first?
what did your ammonia spike at?

I put in 51 pounds of live rock, 2 blue damsels and i yellow tail damsels. The ammonia is still at 0 and the nitrate is at 50. Im sure by tommorow that will change.

I'm wondering what you put in the tank at first to cycle it? The process is generally to add the sand and live rock and then wait for the tank to cycle. The live rock is essentially your filter. It is all the bacteria which build up on, and in, the live rock that break down the ammonia. Cycling is the process of building up all of those bacteria so that they can handle additional waste entering your tank. So, if you hadn't put the live rock in your tank wasn't cycled.

Don't worry about it though. Once your ammonia levels have gone down again, and stayed down, your tank will be cycled. Be sure to check for nitrites too, like unmeg mentioned. Nitrates aren't so bad. They can cause algae to grow which is a pain in the ass but won't really do any harm to the fish or corals. Nitrites, however, are a different story.

Damsels huh? I just hope you got them because you liked them and not because that's what the guy at the fish store said you should get first. I actually thought they were pretty cool and had a couple that lived for as long as I had my tank. If I had to do it again I wouldn't have gotten any, however, because they can be bullies and will limit what other fish you can add. Still, they're pretty cool, I especially liked my yellow tail. I think you can even see her in one of the pics I posted early.

Anyhow, good to hear things are coming along. Keep us posted on your progress. Damn I'm jealous! I want a new tank too.

need more pics on this thread.

i want a really cool aquarium to just get high and stare at.....




and mastrubate.....

ya those damsels i got are agressive. The yellow tail got stuck in between rocks and died. Oh well. I bought 4 turbo snails and 1 emerald crab. They are awesome to look at.For the past hour i have been staring at my tank very stoned. Its amazing! i keep on finding new things! The live rock i got is VERY good. There is a lot of shit such as coral growing on it. I love the way i set up the live rock. There are so many caves. Barely any of the rock is on the sand which is good. Most of it is stacked. The two fish that are left are very healthy i can tell. They are moving all over the place. Same with the snails and crab.

Im stoned

gald to hear all is alive for now,dont add anymore for couple months,just be happy watching the live rock establish your tank.
Yea those Fiji damsels look cool,I cycled a tank with some b-52 mollys(freshwater)acclimated them to salt water use to blow ever ones mind when i would check the salt level with freshwater fdish swimming around.

Havnt talked about this in awhile! Ill try and send a pic of my tank some time. Right now i have a fire shrimp, 2 saddleback clowns that are black with yellow fins and yellow faces, a blue damsel, and a yellow tang. I also added a small refugium. I love this hobby. It is very relaxing (and expensive!). I plan on going back to the store this thursday and pickin up 20 snails and another fish. I may also pick up some base rock. I need more rocks but cant afford the live rock. I mixed base rock and live rock when i first put in all the rock. The base rock allready has coraline on it so i am kinda mad that i spent $9 a pound on live rock when i could have ust bought $3 a pound base rock that would turn into live rock.

I plan on getting a low light coral and seeing how that goes. I want a yellow goragian or whatever. I must get a better cleaning crew. My sand has to much fish shit on it that i have to siphon.

Glad to hear all is going well. Don't feel bad about spending the money on the live rock. There will be all kinds of critters coming in on it that you don't see, like amphipods, but the coral will love. You just won't get that from the base rock. Can't wait to see pics. I'd stay away from the yellow gorgonians though. They look really cool but are notoriously hard to keep for more than a few months. I had a red one and even though I had a well established tank and fed it daily with live phytoplankton it only lasted about 3 months.