1st SW Tank

probably not yet. right now its just LR/LS. probably just going to have two fish and a small cleaning crew. im going to put more LR in before it gets to far into cycle. down the road id like to build a custom hood and put in some nice lights. right now its just the junk florescent

 

Quick update - waiting for cycle to start.

Temp: 79
pH: 8.2
NO2: 0
NO3: 0
Ammon: .5
Salt: 1.018

 

So... Have about 15 lbs of LR, 40 lbs LS - 37 Gallon bowed tank. Water params are in check, tank is absolutely crystal clear...

Two Mexican Turbo Snails seems to absolutely loving life, however; the single damsel in the tank seems to have a very dull dark blue color and just hides up behind the filter return (its just an emperor 400 hang on at the moment). If I chase him outta there or feed he comes right out and swims around fine but within minutes is back up hiding.

Is this a fairly normal behavior? I thought they weren't very elusive little fish. I just wanted to double check against the wealth of experience at this awesome forum to be sure there isn't something else I should be doing.

I do think that my alkalinity is pretty high, would that make him act different? I'm waiting to get an ALK test for aquariums, the one I have is for pools...

TIA

 

I had a jeweled damsel and he hid alot....

 

Ok, so maybe I'm not crazy? Thanks!

 

Not going to be a happy fish, for good while. Looks all conditions ok for cycle start.

LR should be enough to get going.

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Fish in great danger. Can you take it back to LFS until cycle complete?


:-/

 

Sure is !!

Good luck with the tank.

ps: Your salinity is a bit low. Bring it up to around 1.025 gradually so you don't freak-out the fish. Also, the snails aren't going to like the cycling process so if you can take them out.... do so.

 

illushinz Looks good! Where in cfla do you go for your supplies? You definitely need more live rock. Like you said, you need to get it in there before your cycle gets too far. If you don't, you'll be waiting on another cycle when you do add it.... keep us updated with the pics and leave the damsel in, you got the right one(IMO)!

 

ditto on leaving the damsel in, he probably wont be happy but it will speed up cycling...... you probably already know this but make sure you premix your salt when your adding it in, and by pre mix i mean take a little jug of water dissolve all the salt in the little jug THEN add it to you tank, good luck and keep us posted

 

Thanks for all the info and tips.

- sssnake - I did raise the salinity up to about 1.023 before anything was in there, temp holding steady about 79

- cuttingras - So far I have been using a store in Leesburg, surprisingly enough called Leesburg Pet Center, there are also two stores in Apopka called Aquarium Inc. and Sea Life. Both seem very knowledgeable and have a good selection, fair prices and good looking tanks.

Leesburg Pet Center

Aquarium Inc

Seven Seas Aquariums


- godbert - When I first filled the tank I just mixed in the tank, since then I bought a 10 gallon container that I'm going to use for pre-mix and maybe for curing one day. I have a powerhead and a heater that I can use in it.