Cycling of Water - Need Help...

[Solo77]

Bro,

I think you need to have some live rocks. Did you do proper aclimatisation to your livestock when they were being introduced into the tank? Have you cycled the tank and measured the SG level? You have upgraded, hence it seems like you did not cycle the setup to stablise the condition for livestock. Fishes that didnt go thr proper aclimatisation when introduced into the tank are likely to get stressed and die. Patience and basic knowledge in the fundamental are crucial. Your cousin knows anything abt marine? Maybe you can consult him or her.

[raylinea]

Bro,

I think you need to have some live rocks. Did you do proper aclimatisation to your livestock when they were being introduced into the tank? Have you cycled the tank and measured the SG level? You have upgraded, hence it seems like you did not cycle the setup to stablise the condition for livestock. Fishes that didnt go thr proper aclimatisation when introduced into the tank are likely to get stressed and die. Patience and basic knowledge in the fundamental are crucial. Your cousin knows anything abt marine? Maybe you can consult him or her.

Bro,

Yes, he do. In fact he is one of the pioneer in this forum. In fact he did tell me, try out with these 6 fishes and observe for a while...

What u mean by SG level ar?

Btw, u have msn or skype? My msn: raylinea@msn.com

[Solo77]

Sorry bro, dont have msm or skype.....me mountain tortise....lol....

I see. If he is a pioneer, his advice will be valuable. I believe you bought mostly damsel and one purple dotty huh. SG in layman is the "salt level" of the water. Yr setup seems to be like freshwater setup. Put more live rocks, your hang-on filter system should generate enough water flow. You might want to consider a skimmer. For my QT tank, i got live rocks that cover around 40% of the tank and provide enough hideout place for the fishes. I got a red sea prizm skimmer which i also double up as filter(put wool at the outflow area). Lastly, a lightset. If you are driving to the farm, a faster way is the buy new sea water. Put in the seawater, liverock and run the skimmer or filter for for 3 to 4weeks or more. Then start adding your LS. To test whether your tank is cycled and ready for livestock, refer to the past post. For anemone, it requires feeding at least once a week and lighting is importance. Anemone unlikely the reason unless it is dying or got blended..toxic will be released..then u need at 50% water change. Want to meet up at chinatown fish shop?

[raylinea]

Sorry bro, dont have msm or skype.....me mountain tortise....lol....

I see. If he is a pioneer, his advice will be valuable. I believe you bought mostly damsel and one purple dotty huh. SG in layman is the "salt level" of the water. Yr setup seems to be like freshwater setup. Put more live rocks, your hang-on filter system should generate enough water flow. You might want to consider a skimmer. For my QT tank, i got live rocks that cover around 40% of the tank and provide enough hideout place for the fishes. I got a red sea prizm skimmer which i also double up as filter(put wool at the outflow area). Lastly, a lightset. If you are driving to the farm, a faster way is the buy new sea water. Put in the seawater, liverock and run the skimmer or filter for for 3 to 4weeks or more. Then start adding your LS. To test whether your tank is cycled and ready for livestock, refer to the past post. For anemone, it requires feeding at least once a week and lighting is importance. Anemone unlikely the reason unless it is dying or got blended..toxic will be released..then u need at 50% water change. Want to meet up at chinatown fish shop?

Bro, why not? I think it only opened at 130pm..I shall see you at around 1.45pm? Ok for you?

I be wearing black polo Tee...

By the way, those water which is in my tank are salt water liao which I bought from one of the fish farm...only thing now I think I am lacking are live rocks ba..and my water slight low, cos not up to the filter outflow marking...that's why it created lots of air bubbles...

See you!

[Solo77]

Should be okay. My number is 97858289. : )

Bro, why not? I think it only opened at 130pm..I shall see you at around 1.45pm? Ok for you?

I be wearing black polo Tee...

By the way, those water which is in my tank are salt water liao which I bought from one of the fish farm...only thing now I think I am lacking are live rocks ba..and my water slight low, cos not up to the filter outflow marking...that's why it created lots of air bubbles...

See you!

[dragonfly_sg]

Hi guys,

Thanks lot for your advice...in fact I have just upgraded to a 2FT Tank over the weekend. My cousin brought me to Pasir Ris Farmway for an orientation trip and indeed, it was an eye-opener for me, as a noob....

I bought 6 fishes but as of today, it only left with three...it seems that my anemone is the culprit to cause their death..or is it still water problem (which I bought salt water directly from the famr)? Haiz....

I also realise some fishes are tend to act like commando and they really "Cheong" for the food..and my purple fish seems to be bit slower..and since this morning, he is feeling not well and lying on the sand bed...i really wonder what went wrong...

Hi Andy,

One thing I learnt from this hobby is "Patience", you can't really rush it especially if we lack the fundemental.

Like most, I needed to balance my interest against budget, and I usually run on a very thight budget To be able to do that, I need to understand what I require to substain a marine aquarium and whats my limitation (with respect to my budget).

My foray into my second marine setup cost me about $600 dollars. $10 for a second hand 1' by 1' by 1' cube, $18 of an eden internal filter and $10 for 10Kg of fine sand (size 0), 10Kg of Tropic Marine sea salt for about $40 and about $12 of live rock from some bro from this forum who had them after he decom. The most expensive investment is an Hopar 4 x 24W HO T5 lights, that is because my main focus is zoa, clams and Mushrooms. Cost of the light is about $95 after I change 2 tubes to 20K temp.

I setup the tank with the sand, rock and artifical sea water and let it run. If the live rock is good you should see fan worms, worms and pods swimming in your tank after a week. Within this waiting period I made the best and most important investment for my marine interest. I went to Amazon online and ordered 7 books from them, two of the books which are "The Conscientious Marine Aquarist: A Commonsense Handbook for Successful Saltwater Hobbyists" and "The New Marine Aquarium: Step-By-Step Setup & Stocking Guide" which might be useful to you. To be honest, I have not seriously go into this two books yet as I am still reading on invertebrate and coral propagation and care. That took up over $360 of my budget.

Once the books arrive, I spend some time reading and started to populate my little tank. Story is "take your time". Read about the need of the LS before you get them. Read about what it eats (some fishes sold do not eat process food) who it compatable with, what the environment it require, it's character (many fishes can't tolerate another of the same kind in the same tank), etc, etc.

From the looks of you tank, I would recommend more sand (1" or 2" deep) reason is because you don't seem to have much bio-filtration and the sand helps in that department and more rocks, alot more. Good rocks not only convert ammonia if also convert nitrate, and they give fish a feel of sercurity which keeps them healthier due to less stress. I would remove the corner cotton filter and maybe add an internal filter for more current. In a week time you will have a diatom bloom and after you'll see pods scurrying around, thats the time to add LS. Start with a CUC, like turbo snail. Then when the tank is stable and clean of diatom, then start to add LS slowly. With a hang on skimmer your tank can probably support 6 or 7 little fishes. Don't over stock unless you've alot of time and your maintainance routine is tip top or else the fishes will die.

Hope this helps.

[Underwater]

Bro,

i think you may have added too many fish in too short a time. Since you only started the tank over the weekend, you need time to cycle the tank. At minimum for new start up, there is a need to measure the SG, ammonia, nitrite and nitrate level. Since yr friend is a pioneer, ask help to help you test the water on these parameters...

the setup is similar to freshwater but not suitable to marine. You may want to invest in more liverock, 2nd hand skimmer and maybe a canister filter since you have no sump tank.

there is a member tank thread where some bros actually detailed down every step in their start up. Eg is bro jervismum and there you can learn very much from the sharing of his start up.

cheers...