Helloooooo Peeps

Hi there i'm new to all this and when i saw this sight I got quite excited, you all look really haelpful and friendily.

On i've had my tank now for 2 months I let it settle after about 3 weeks I but in a live rock and a few synthetic plants, this weekend I finally but in 'Steve' my cleaner Shrimp and Bonnie and Clyde my clownfish.

Steve seems to have set up shop on the live rock, and occasionally has a wander around the tank.

Bonnie and Clyde seem to stick together by the synthetic plants.

Now I leave my lights on for roughly 12hours (white and Blue) then I turn them off is this right?? I'm a little unsure whether they should have no light at all??

Also when I feed them they dont seems overly fussed and the food has started to build up at the bottom, and i've noticed that my nitrate and nitrite levels are slightly white/pink which i understand as not good, is there anything I can do???

Also is there any good to no tips, for general running as I'd hate to be the reason my guys (& girl once they decided whose gonna play that role) are unhappy.

Cheers peeps
B!ue

 

well if the food is settling in the bottom the you are overfeeding or are the not eating at all. what kind of lights do you have? my lighting runs just over 12hrs from first light on to last light off. my biggest advice go slow nothing good hapens fast it take a lot of time to keep a nice tank.

 

nutrafin max - marine complete food, was the suggested food from the shop??

My lights came with the tank they both work manually one on/off switch they are a blue light and a white light.

B!ue
xx

 

Well, there are so many questions that need answers in order to put you on the right track. Most important: do you know what you want to have in the tank in the future? Since you are a beginner it is likely to be either fish only (e.g. no corals) or beginner-friendly soft corals like mushrooms. What size is the tank? What kind of bulbs are on it?

 

Our tank is only a nano tank and we can't home anymore than what we have in it 2 clownfish and our cleaner shrimp so i've been told it 10 gallon. As for the lights they are white and blue light that run on the same switch.

 

Howdy and welcome to 3reef!
I would advise you to decrease your feeding as you don't have a large bioload!
Their is no reason to leave your lights on for that long a time frame either since you have no corals or clams. I would just turn them on for you to see your tank during the day!
Best of luck to you!

 

brilliant thank you.

 

Give just a little pinch of food, 2-3 times a week. They should eat all the food within 1 minute. Anything more will cause nitrate problems and algae growth. It sounds like you have a JBJ or Oceanic 12G nanocube with CF lights. Monitor your phosphates in the tank. Ornamental plastics tend to deteriorate in saltwater and will leach contaminants in the tank. For that reason, I try to stay away from rubber suction cups on my powerheads, and if I do use them, I replace them once a year before they fall apart.

 

to 3reef.

 

I like peeps. The little marsh mellow candy things that originated around easter time. Yeah. Good stuff

Welcome to 3reef! Have you ever thought of getting a small cleanup crew? Some blue leg hermits, cerith snails, and Nassarius snails will help alot with algae and "Detritus" (food, poop, etc) buildup in your tank. Plus it was really entertaining the day after we introduced our CUC, the Nassarius snails would climb the back glass (they're not very talented at glass climbing...) and the clowns would poke them and down they'd fall. With a CUC you don't have to worry about over feeding because every body has to eat something.

A protein skimmer helps a TON with excess bio stuff as well. Anything that dissolves while decomposing that hasn't been converted to nitrates yet will get sucked up by the skimmer. It smells terrible emptying the collection cup, but just imagine all of that gunk was originally in your water. They help out immensely. Going without one is like driving without power steering.

I'd check out Reefcleaners.org for a Clean Up Crew. John is very helpful and the service is excellent, along with the critters.