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Something live and visibly moving in a new tank...

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mantis32

So my tank has been cycling for about 3-4 weeks now.

While I'm trying to get my tank temp to lower than 81 degrees, waiting for my auto top-off, and upgraded lighting...Is there anything I can put in my tank, so that I have something to look at when I come home other than just LR, LS, and flowing water? I understand my tank isn't ready for fish and/or coral until I get my temperature, lighting, and salinity fluctuations under control, but there has to be something out there I can put in.

I can't shake the itch.

My Ammonia is 0 and I'm sure if I test my Nitrites today it will also be 0.
 
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Subliminal

NJRC Member
You can put whatever the heck you want in there. Maybe go to Petco or something and get one of those huge hermit crabs I've seen there so many times. They're like a dollar and are really fun to watch move around in the tank.
 
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Subliminal

NJRC Member
Let me clarify...

It's your tank, you can put anything you want in there because it's yours and you just have to be able to live with yourself if it goes south.

If I may impart something I learned: Stay away from damsels...you'll never get them back out. Maybe a chromie or something.
 
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mantis32

I realize I can put whatever in there. I just didn't know what my options were at this point considering the current issues I have. I didn't want to put something in there and have it die b/c the tank is too hot, or b/c lighting isn't right, or salinity keeps fluctuating whenever I top off the water.

I have heard problems of not being able to catch the damsel, so I'll keep away. I figured I wasn't going to put in fish until I took care of the issues and saw steady tank test results over a two week period.

'you just have to be able to live with yourself if it goes south' - Thanks for scaring me.
 
M

mladencovic

Hermits and snails certainly can go in. However, your tank is not optimally cycling, it is more like curing right now (assuming you did put live rock in and not a base rock). Only with something that is massively producing amonia, you can start full throtle nitrogen cycle.

So, pick any hardy fish and start feeding it, so that it can start ... :)

While damsels are usual choice for cycle (very hardy), I agre with the previous post that they are hard to get rid-off, once introduced. That is if you do want to rid of them becuae you will have not so large tank and you would like to put in some more docile species.

Personally, I went with clown fishes - Percula and False Percula are extremely hardy, beutiful peacefull fish and you can get rid of them easily if you ever really want to.

Some, on the other hand, prefer chromis.
 
S

Subliminal

NJRC Member
mantis32 said:
Thanks for scaring me.
Click to expand...

You're welcome!

You're asking about putting livestock in an environment that isn't optimal yet. I'm just saying things could die, that's all. Happens to the best of them (and to the rest of us, too).
 
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mantis32

What's a good resource to research the various fish and what fish they get along with.

I'm assuming from what I've read so far Damsels are aggressive, and chromis and clowns don't get along. So before I go ahead and get a chromis and a clown, etc...would like to look them up.
 
C

Candi

As long as you're toping off daily your salinity shouldn't be changing all that very much... just put a dot w/ a sharpie on your tank side or a line on your sump if you have one and you'll know where to keep it full to. As for the temp, granted it's a very argued thing sometimes, but I don't think 81 is an issue as long as it's consistant. The only things that care about your lighting are corals, any clean up crew/ inverts/ fish don't care what type of lights you have.

Oh and clowns and chromis are fine together :)

But I'd just start with some snails & hermits (if you're using hermits).
 
M

mott768

liveaquaria.com is a good place to check requirements for fish or pick up a book called marine fishes by scott w michael
 
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mladencovic

a) Those fish discussed and clenaup crews can withstand realy big swings in those parameters (and they did in my previous tanks). Hey, even corals vere surviving the 84 degees I found in my tank few days ago when I discovered heater stuck on on in all this heat. As for lights, fish and cleanup crew definitively do not need them, and algae that will probably start showing soon will trive any small amount of light they can find. And salinity can fluctuate really wildly with those fishes and cleanup crew. Remeber, not everyone here has an automatic top-off systems.

b) Things in your tank will allways die. Some becuase of your mistake, and some because that is how it is supposed to be - Live, eat, die and be eaten.

c) By gradually adding different types of live creatures, you are building the coomplexity of your ecosystem. You could have introduced some creatures, like hermits, on day 1. They would have defintively helped curing the rock and consequently cycling the tank. They would be also good indicator if there is a dangerous chemical leaking out of your rocks/settup. After a week or two, there would certainly be some algae growing, even without strong lights, and you can introduce a snail or two then. After a week, you introduce first small fish, and so on and on. Of course different people might have different approaches.

d) Strictly speaking Chromis family is part of the Damsels, so, as in general damsels are considered aggressive, that goes for chromis too. However, the spieces what is in general considerd a Chromis - Chromis viridis, is considerd pretty peacfull, and I have never heard of them having problems with perculas or false perculas, and I have never heard that those clowns attacked anything. What is ussually recomended, if not sure about crossspecies aggressivenes, is to keep and odd number of specimens (3 or more) if they do not show interspecies aggression. Sometimes, interspecies aggression is also cured by this method and a larger number of specimens.
 
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mott768

If your tank is running at 81 High temp that is fine mine runs 78/79 at night and 81/82 at the end of the light cycle. when your temp gets upward of 85 or more that is when it's time to start taking action... fan/turn lights off and so on.
 
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mantis32

It's good to hear where your tank temp is and that not everyone has an auto-top off. I will surely mark my tank and put in water every day to keep it steady. I felt like conditions need to be perfect in order for anything to survive, so I thought I was the only one with close to a high temp after reading about DIY home depot fan projects, chillers, etc...

I read some reviews about the book and saw a used on on Amazon, that I'm picking up in addition to reading all that I can about the various hermits, etc... at liveaquaria. Thanks for the info.

Side note: I thought corals start to die off soon after you shut off the lights? Or was that as soon as the flow stops?
 
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mladencovic

mantis32 said:
Side note: I thought corals start to die off soon after you shut off the lights? Or was that as soon as the flow stops?
Click to expand...

What is a "soon" ? Remember that they do survive nights and cloudy days :) . So, they will survive a few days without any light (or you wouldn't have mail order shipping of them ;) ). Not to mention that many corals (LPS) need dark lights as an integral part of their feeding process (when they extend their feeding tentacles).

And, they certainly can survive a few days without any water flow, under the condition that there is no buildup of harmfull chemicals in the water surrounding them (lack of O2, amonia, CO2 buldup etc).

You usually would not stop the water flow, except when you are target feeding, medicating or something similar.
 
blange3

blange3

So what is the plan for your final tank?

You can minimize needless losses by thinking ahead. Also a lot of extra work can be avoided by planning out now what the final tank will look like.

I prefer to add fish after I've started on the coral population. And depending on the corals you want, you'll need to adjust your fish selection. For example, I knew I didn't want clowns in my 75 that was going to be stocked with a lot of frogspawns and hammers. I didn't want hosting clowns causing the corals to close up.

To be safe I'd add a few snails first. Think hard about crabs, but scarlet reef hermits are usually cool to watch and safe for most environments.

I watched my cleanup crew and various pods run the tank for 5 months before I added the first corals. I waited another month for the first fish. It's normal to be anxious, but patience pays off in the long run.
 
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mantis32

Good question. I've always just said mixed reef probably not fully understanding what that was all about. I definitely want a lot of movement, so if it's non venomous and it moves, then I'll probably want it. Here is some eye shopping I did to be a bit more specific of what I plan to pick from.

Various Sponges
Various Polyps: Button, Colony, Yellow Colony, Green Fluorescent Mushroom, Bullseye Mushroom, Hair Mushroom
Various LPS: Candy Cane, Brain, Purple Short Tentacle Plate
Soft Corals: Toadstool Mushroom Leather, Fiji Yellow Leather, Cabbage Leather, Cauliflower Cult
I don't see myself getting many Acropora's.

Fish/Invertebrates (non aggressive):
Sand Sifting Sea Star, Fancy Serpent Sea Star, Sea Cucumber
Blood Red Fire Shrimp, Scarlet Skunk Cleaner Shrimp
Anemones (Bulb and will put in first, and hope it doesn't move later)
Pincushion Urchin, Longspine Urchin
Clown, Mandarin, Blenny to remind me of the Benny's, Pseudochromis, blue tang, goby, and that scarface guy from Nemo - Foxface Lo I think he was.

I have 50lbs of LR that is not dense, but I plan to buy more to arrange some dense spots, some hideouts, some bridges and tunnels.

I just had to scratch the itch, so I figured I was safe to pick up at least two hermits. The itch is satisfied for now. Lighting will be a fixture with 2 MHs, 2 T-5's, lunar lights, 15k and I believe from PA it ships with 175W. I don't mind adjusting the lighting to handle the corals. For flow I have two model 3 Koralia, one powerhead, and some flow from that Custom Flow setup kit and can take out or add flow at anytime.
 
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