1. Welcome to Aquarium Space! We are a friendly online community for aquarium owners all over the world who love their tanks including their fish, reefs, corals, invertebrates and their aquatic livestock. If you haven't joined yet, we invite you to register and join our community!

My new 29 gallon Reef

Discussion in 'Freshwater Aquariums & Fish Photos' started by Lanvin87, May 18, 2010.

  1. genettico

    genettico New Member

    Messages:
    138
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
  2. genettico

    genettico New Member

    Messages:
    138
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0

    I should mention, if you have fish already there or something else, you can still do this but at a much lower rate of speed, since you suffer the risk of creating too much ammonia at one time and killing your beloved pets.

    regards
     
  3. Lanvin87

    Lanvin87 Thread Starter New Member

    Messages:
    126
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
    No I dont have any fish or invertebrates there, just live rock and live sand. The tank is just 1,5 week....still cycling. I am just worried that its been 1,5 week and ammonia is still 0,25 and no2 and no3 are 0.
     
  4. genettico

    genettico New Member

    Messages:
    138
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
    no worries.... just add more food as you said yourself. Ammonia will soon come!

    regards
     
  5. nossie

    nossie Member

    Messages:
    281
    Likes Received:
    1
    Trophy Points:
    18
    Yeah, just be patient with it! :)
    If you want, you could try and check the damselfish out! They are quite hardy for a marine species, and they would be perfect to keep in the tank as an aid for the cycle as soon as the worst ammonia and nitrite are gone! :D
    Damselfish are very different between the species, so they would make an interesting addition to your marine tank :)
    They might get a bit territorial, towards their own species, or towards other fish, but that's up to each of the different varieties. Check a few of them out at least and see which ones go well with other fish! :)
     
  6. kbekl

    kbekl New Member

    Messages:
    29
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
    sorry with every system i have setup been about 9 now on cycle i have always had cured live rock and their has always been nitrite present with in 3 days due to the die off of each bacteria species

    the dead bacteria show as ammonia which is then turned to nitrite as the ammonia bacteria are the fastest multiplyers then this is the first to decrese followed but nitrite and then followed by nitrate[/quote]

    Lol... You made my point... The nitrite came as a result of the die off and was NOT present at the beginning, but 3 days later. The ammonia CAN come from dead bacteria, but your statement: "...the dead bacteria show as ammonia..." is not correct. I think you are a little confused about the workings of the Nytrogen cycle. the principles in your statement are correct, but your phrasing of some things are off. I will post a link that hopefully will help on clarifying this.[/quote]


    yes this i understand and just put it in laymans terms the point is the tank has been cycling for 1.5 weeks the sand was live sand which has just been confirmed which means their would have been a spike to begin with and would have been dealt with buy the sand to some extent which is why their should have been a reading of nitrite at some point and no4 which unless you are running a nitrate reactor then the tank cant convert this befor it is established
     
  7. genettico

    genettico New Member

    Messages:
    138
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
    If you add "live sand" and "cured" Live rock.. though they may have been a slight spike in nh3, it might it have been so insignificant as to not be measurable/traceable. A nitrate reactor deals with NO3 (nitrates). I do not understand your point regarding the usage of one and: "...cant convert this befor it is established..."

    I also do not think you understand the fact that there's always nh3,no2,no3 in our systems, just when the cycle is established, the concentrations of nh3Nh4 and n02 are in most of the cases UNTRACEABLE by our cheap reagent test kits.

    There might have NOT been enough of a spike to be registered.

    regards
     
  8. Lanvin87

    Lanvin87 Thread Starter New Member

    Messages:
    126
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
    I'm planning to pu couple of drops of household ammonia (ammonium chloride) . And made the tank tempersture ~86 after some recearches online. It should help. What you think guys?
     
  9. Lanvin87

    Lanvin87 Thread Starter New Member

    Messages:
    126
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
    Here is a link:
    <a class="postlink" href="http://www.csupomona.edu/~jskoga/Aquariums/Ammonia.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.csupomona.edu/~jskoga/Aquariums/Ammonia.html</a>

    Put 3-5 drops of pure ammonia in the tank, or enough ammonia to turn the "Ammonia Alert" dark. If it doesn't darken, add more. Wait for the ammonia alert to go back to a "safe" level. This may take several days. Repeat this many times, each time waiting for the ammonia level to get back to "safe" before adding more ammonia...


    8. Continue to put ammonia in the tank until the "Ammonia alert" shows that the ammonia level goes to zero within 8-12 hours after the ammonia is put in. Try putting some in the morning before work and checking when you get home. Once the tank shows the ability to lower the ammonia level in this time interval, this means that a large population of bacteria is resident in your filter. This may take 2 weeks or even more (even four weeks
     
  10. Lanvin87

    Lanvin87 Thread Starter New Member

    Messages:
    126
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
    I did it:) put drops of clear ammonia and made the level 1.0
     
  11. genettico

    genettico New Member

    Messages:
    138
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
    well... theres always the quick way. Patience.... is a quality you are going to need to develop in this hobby. Without it your success rate diminishes greatly.
     
  12. MOD_Dawn

    MOD_Dawn Active Member

    Messages:
    5,172
    Likes Received:
    15
    Trophy Points:
    38
    received via pm
    I never tried that and only kept fish when I had a tank.
    Switching the bulbs as long as they are the same wattage & type will be fine of course, but I'm not sure if you'll have any negative effects making 1/2 the tank daylight and the back half actinic at the same time.
    I've always done actinic/daylight/actinic/daylight (ended with daylight in the back because that's usually the part of the tank that's hardest to get the light to ime.
    I'll copy and paste this into the forum and maybe someone has already tried their lighting arrangement this way?
     
  13. Lanvin87

    Lanvin87 Thread Starter New Member

    Messages:
    126
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
    Thanks Mod! I have switched already but still not sure if that is ok to do.
    Here are the pictures:
    Both(day light at the front of the tank and actinic on the back fixture)
    Actinic blue only
    Daylight only
    Daylight.jpg securedownload[1].jpg Both.jpg my light fixtures.jpg
     
  14. nossie

    nossie Member

    Messages:
    281
    Likes Received:
    1
    Trophy Points:
    18
    Beautiful! You should totally combine these two lights! :)
    (Sorry that I have nothing smarter to say in this case)
     
  15. Lanvin87

    Lanvin87 Thread Starter New Member

    Messages:
    126
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
    Thanks nossie:) I like them combined Too but the blue actinic one is very cool also!
     
  16. Lanvin87

    Lanvin87 Thread Starter New Member

    Messages:
    126
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
    My water parameters are getting better. The ammonia is going down and No2 and No3 are going up. I guess 1 more week and I will be there. I am starting to think what fish I am going to put there....
    Well there will definately be 1 clownfish and I am thinking to put one bicolor angel(I hope they are fine with 29gal), and maybe couple of cardinalfish or damsels. Probably like this:
    1 clownfish(maybe 2)
    1 Bicolor angel
    1 Bangkok Cardinal
    1 Pajama Cardinal
    and also 1 fire shrimp and 1 crab plus other invertebrates and of course CORALS.
    Please let me know if I am already overstocking my tank?:)
     
  17. MOD_Dawn

    MOD_Dawn Active Member

    Messages:
    5,172
    Likes Received:
    15
    Trophy Points:
    38
    [*]umm..the clownfish (dependant on type) will work. I recommend Ocellaris (false percula) since they get to about 2" which is a great size for your tank...but be forewarned that they can get a bit territorial.
    [*]the bicolor angel gets to be 5 or 6" and will need swim room, relatively placid...eats animal protein and plant matter, but I think he needs more swim space than what you have to offer.
    [*]the bangkok cardinal (which I think you meant to say Bangaii Cardinal) will be okay (size 3 & 1/4") and relatively placid.
    [*]the pajama cardinal get's to be about 3 & 1/4" and is relatively placid. 12" of tank length for each is recommended to reduce risk of territorial disputes amongst them.
    -->I wouldn't do the cardinals, they're recommened for at least 30g minimum size tank.

    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Now, if your anything like me you'll be aggrovated by now since you're now realizing what you really want won't work well so I'll make some recommendations on what I'd do with a tank that size, but again..these are just recommendations.

    [*]a pair of amphiprion ocellaris(about 2" with being occassional territorial) I kept a pair of these..they stayed towards the upper level for the most part.
    [*]Either one of the green clown goby, yellow clown goby, yellow watchman goby, or firefish (as long as you have hiding places like within the rockwork and a lid to prevent them from spooking and jumping out of the tank). I had purple firefish, very pretty!
    [*]and finish the tank off with either a longnose hawkfish, a trio of Blue Damsels, a pair of orange-striped cardinal fish
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    The freshwater version is pretty good (with the exlclusion of the discus in a community setting)...
    the saltwater version is still pretty new and alot of species aren't on there yet.
    <a class="postlink" href="http://aqadvisor.com/AqAdvisorMarine.php" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://aqadvisor.com/AqAdvisorMarine.php</a>

    Ps. check out saltwaterfish.com (they have really good prices, or at least they did when I had my salty and ordered from them...way cheaper than the lfs even with the shipping included)
     
  18. Lanvin87

    Lanvin87 Thread Starter New Member

    Messages:
    126
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
    It is sad:( I looove the bicolor angel and was thinking to get one cus the petco website says 30+ gallon so mine is 29-but yeah it gets 6" I am not gonna take. Also looove Cardinal fish , and will that be fine if I get instead of orange-striped cardinal, a bangaii cardinal or pajama? Arent all the cardinal fish requirenment the same? I just loove the bangaii one and pajama too. Not into the orang-striped that much.
     
  19. Lanvin87

    Lanvin87 Thread Starter New Member

    Messages:
    126
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
    my brother has 5 goldfish in his 29 gallon and they have been healthy and happy and very active for about 3 years now(the same fish that he purchased from the very beginning). I tried to check it on the AqAdvisor and I put 4 goldfish and it already says that the tank is overstocked by 179%. What would this mean?
    hahah Does this mean that I can have a bicolor angel in my tank? lol


    and here is the link about Pajama Cardinal fish, which says 20+ gallon tank....
    I am confused, I dont know where to get the right information.
     
  20. nossie

    nossie Member

    Messages:
    281
    Likes Received:
    1
    Trophy Points:
    18
    That's a very full tank indeed, goldfish should be stocked so that you give one fish 20 gallon as a minimum, ABSOLUTE MINIMUM, and add another 10 for each additional fish.
    So I guess these goldies won't grow to their full potential being kept in a small, crowded place like this. But as long as the water quality is good with sufficient filtration and aeration, I can't point any fingers ;)
    May I ask, which kind of goldfish are these?

    Well, I guess you could d: BUT it's incredibly risky to have a crowded marine tank, since most marine species are incredibly sensitive to changes in the water chemistry. They're used to living in the sea where the water rarely or never changes, so the smallest difference in the parameters, and they get sick, or die from shock.