Newbie Build....26g Bow Front FOWLR

thanks Doratus...I appreciate the insight

I am using Coralife salt at about 1.023 and the PH is hanging around 7.8 without adding the PH buffer. I will see where it lands now that the cycle is over and see if it will rise on it's own.

I am prepared for bumps since I chose a smaller tank for my fist salty. My wife made a deal with me that if I can keep this one up and running for a year, I can go for the 90 gallon I want to do behind a wall in my basement. So I hope to learn a lot with this tank and feedback from veterans in this forum.

I cannot wait to see a couple fish hanging out soon...neither can my 2 year old son who loves Nemo ;-)

 

To be honest I didn't pick up the on the fact that this will be a fish only tank. I told you to remove your mechanical filtration because it can cause unwanted nitrates, but with a fish-only tank, it's not such a big deal, the fish can handle a low level of nitrates. Still, you'll want to clean it often.

The biggest piece of advice I can give you (because I want to see your future 90 gallon) is to focus more on stability rather than some magic numbers. Like I said before, if you can keep you pH at 8.0, that's much better than constantly fluctuating between 8.0 and 8.2. Salinity is something you do have precise control over. Spend the money to buy a refractometer so you know exactly what the salt content of your system is. 1.023 is suitable, however NSW (natural sea water) is about 1.026. It is my belief that the closer we can get to replicating natural conditions the better.

Just a few more random thoughts to add. When you stick your hand in the tank the protein skimmer will seem to stop working. This is because of the oils on your hand. The same is true if you add new equipment or if you do a water change. I always thought my protein skimmer was poor quality until I learned that I just need to leave the tank alone and stop messing with it.

The other thing is impulse buying. When you go to the store you will be tempted to buy all kinds of fish, you've been doing good so far. Don't screw it up now, lol. The reason for this is two-fold. First, your tank can only hold a limited number of fish (which I know you know). Secondly, I don't care how rich you are, the less money you can spend the more your wife will accept the hobby.

 

Doratus gave you some good advice. Your tank is looking good. It's refreshing to read a thread where a newbie has actually done their research, which its very apparent that you have Keep up the good work and keep the pics coming

 

While I originally planned for a fish only, I have since decided to try maybe a few mushrooms and/or zoas. I will keep my bio load low though, as this is just a 26g tank.

current plan:
2 clowns
1 goby with shrimp pair
few shrooms and frags of zoas
maybe add a pajama cardinal a way down the road if my tank appears to handle that load. But that would be max.

I will definitely add the fish and livestock slowly over time to allow for my rock to keep up.

I did spring for a good refractometer (Marin Depot branded one)....and will try my best to keep my salinity stable. I will see where the PH lands after a few weeks of dead cycle and try to maintain it with just where the Coralife slat lands it. Thanks again for the advice. I love this place!

 

Looks like u have a great plan, pretty conservative. I don't see any problems with it at all. Other than you wanting more and more corals

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went ahead and put my first fish in yesterday.....originally planned on the pair of clowns first, but decided to keep it cheap and see how this pajama does for a few weeks before adding the pair of clowns.



So far I can only get him to eat mysis (which is what the LFS was feeding him). Any tips on getting him to eat my pellets. So far he has only picked up the elos and spit it out. Do you always turn off the filters and powerheads when feeding?

 

Just keep presenting the pellets and eventually he will eat them. Be careful not to overfeed, do you have a CUC?

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CUC from John is on the way. Should be here tomorrow. Even after three days of uneaten shrimp on the floor, my A and NO2 is at zero....bacs are doin their job so far.

 

looks awesome!

 

sad day!....my yellow watchman goby I added last weekend leaped to his death last night. I should have known better with an open top. I still have the pistol shrimp though...I will just avoid gobies since I do not want a lid.