# My first aquarium



## chain (Oct 19, 2011)

Hello everyone, been on this site for a while and until now I have just been checking stuff out and learning a little bit. Well I finally decided to dive in and get my first aquarium. The last time I have had fish I was probably 7 years old with a goldfish in a bowl. I do wonder if I am being a little ambitious making my first tank saltwater but I can't help it. Fresh water just looks boring to me. I am confident between help from the people here and my local fish store I will be good to go. 

Anyways I got a 28g NanoCube with a stand, salt, live sand, and 31 lbs of live rock. I have everything set up and power is going. Now just to wait and see what happens. Of course I am a newb so feel free to throw out suggestions. Here's my new tank. Of course I will update with new pictures and news as it comes. =)


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## Reefing Madness (Jun 26, 2011)




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## chain (Oct 19, 2011)

Figured I should add I just bought all of this earlier this afternoon. After all was said and done I had to laugh when I realized I just spent $360 on a box of rocks.


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## RSully (Nov 22, 2012)

You'll love it. Can't wait to see some pics when you're tank clears up. If you got cured live rock, you'll be up and running in no time. If it wasn't truly cured live rock, it will take a bit for you're tank to cycle. Welcome to SW!


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## chain (Oct 19, 2011)

It is all cured. I guess that's why it wasn't cheap lol. Plan on letting it do it's things for a couple weeks and then adding CUC at the end of the month. Will let them run for a month and then add fish. I am going on vacation in late March so I think I will be better off to wait on fish until I get back.


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## RSully (Nov 22, 2012)

Sounds like you have a good plan.


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## Big Dogs Little Pigs (Nov 10, 2012)

gotta love a person with patience!! you will love your cube. i started with a 14g a few months ago and i'm cycling a 29g now. 

do you have a selection of fish you're thinking about? lots of great information here about stocking your tank and liveaquaria.com has really good detailed descriptions of fish, etc., that can help guide you.

looking forward to watching your progress!


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## chain (Oct 19, 2011)

No idea what I want for fish. I know I want a Blenny but other than that not sure. Of course I don't even know if a Blenny will be happy in my tank. Originally I was thinking about a 75g tank and figured being my first time I should probably save a bit of money and make sure I am up to it first. My thought is that if things go well a 75g is in my future so I would like fish that will be fine where they are but could also do well in a bigger tank. Clown fish are cool and my wife likes them, so assuming they get along with others they will probably be in there too. I don't want to get anything that might not work in a big tank when the time comes. Once I get a big tank I want some kind of eel for sure, probably a snowflake. I like colorful and would prefer fish with personality. Feel free to throw out ideas. =)

Aslo here are pictures of my tank as of now. This is about 12 hrs after adding rock, water, and sand.


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## Big Dogs Little Pigs (Nov 10, 2012)

looks very nice!

royal grammas, clowns, firefish are all good choices. check out the "beginner fish" and "nano fish" at liveaquaria.com.


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## Reefing Madness (Jun 26, 2011)




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## RSully (Nov 22, 2012)

Cleared up nice.


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## chain (Oct 19, 2011)

I just bought a test kit today. My aquarium has only been going for 2 days now, should I test it yet or wait?


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## Reefing Madness (Jun 26, 2011)

I'd wait, no reason to test unless you just want to test your test. =)


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## chain (Oct 19, 2011)

Lol, how long would you wait? Is there a chance I might be able to get a CUC this weekend since it is all cured live rock and live sand? I know the numbers will affect fish but how picky are CUC on this stuff? 

The tank comes with a 3 stage filter, sponge, carbon, and biological (ceramic things for algae to grow on). Is this good or is there something I should change for some reason? If so then why? 

Lastly it didn't come with a protein skimmer but they do make one for it. I assume it would be good to buy one?

Lastly is there anything I am missing I should plan on getting?

Sorry if this is a lot of questions. Remember I'm a newb. =)


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## Reefing Madness (Jun 26, 2011)

I'd wait til the 4th day, then you should get a good reading, and it should be a good reading. Inverts are more suseptable to bad water than the fish are. But Cured rock will give you a head start, and you should be ready to go in a couple more days.
Skimmer for a 28g, na, not really, but your on the bubble there, I say anything under 30g and you just need to watch your water parameters and do your weekly water changes.
Heres the list of thing to have:
#1-Dry Rock, there are a few hitchhikers on Live Rock that people want to stay away from, so they opt for using Dry Rock, or Dead Rock. Macro Rock is a good place to start looking for that. Either way you go you will need a minimum of 1lb per gallon. You can use Fully Cured Live Rock, and have the tank cycled in just a few days also. Other way is to use just a couple of pounds of Live Rock and the rest Macro or Dry Rock. 
#2-Replacement filter media like filter floss and activated carbon (if you get a filter) Which is really not necessary. 
#3-Multiple Power heads (2 or 3) 10x your water volume for just a Fish Only With Live Rock, and at least 20x your water volume for a Reef Tank. So lets say your going reef, and you have a 100g tank, you would need flow in that tank at minimum of 2000gph, or 2 1000gph power heads. 
#4-Protein Skimmer, rated at 2 times your water volume. Unless your tank is under 30g, in which case you can do 10% water changes a week to rid the system of detrius. But, you'll have to watch the water parameters close, if things go haywire, you'll have to do more water changes. 
#5-Saltwater Test Kits. Reef Test Kit. Test for Ammonia, Nitrites, Nitrates, PH, Phosphates, Calcium, ALK and Magnesium. 
#6-Saltwater fish food. Mysis Shrimp, Squid, Cyclopease, Algae Sheets, Romaine . Flake food is not really a good food to feed your marine fish. 
#7-Aquarium vacuum. This one is iffy. Most don't use one, if you have enough flow in the tank you won’t need one 
#8-Rubber kitchen gloves 
#9-Fish net 
#10-Two, clean, never used before, 5-gallon buckets 
#11-Aquarium thermometer, digital being the best. 
#12-Brush with plastic bristles (old tooth brush) - needed for cleaning the live rock if you don't get Fully Cured Live Rock. 
#13-Power Strip, possibly GFCI outlets by the tank. 
#14-Optional but definitely recommend getting a Reverse Osmosis or RO/Deionization filter for the make-up water, and a barrel for storing the water. 
#15-Possibly a Quarantine Tank for your new fish. They sit in here for a few weeks to kill off parasites and bacteria, to keep it from getting in your main tank 
#16-Heater rated for your size tank. 
#17-Saltwater Mix. Marine Salt. Instant Ocean is the cheap Salt that beginners and Advanced use alike. 
#18-Saltwater Hydrometer or even better a Refractometer, which is more accurate. There is also a Digital Meter that is way advanced if you have the cash. 
#19-Aquarium filter (not absolutely necessary if running with adequate amounts of live rock, but nice to have if you need to use a mechanical filter or activated carbon, or GFO and such) 
#20-Aquarium substrate such as live sand or crushed coral. Some go bare Bottom, others choose the 2-3" bottom, others, more advanced will try the Deep Sand Bed, which is over 6" deep. 
Volusion Demo Store 
Aquarium Nitrogen Cycle and Cycling. Methods for Ammonia, Nitrite Removal. 
aquarium heater in Aquarium & Fish | eBay 
power heads | eBay 
NEW | eBay 
MarcoRocks Aquarium Products 
Bulk Dry Live Rock & Live Sand - Bulk Reef Supply 
Live Rock and Live Sand: Live Saltwater Aquarium Rock and Sand 
Fish & Aquarium Supplies: Marine Substrates, Sand, Crushed Coral, Live Sand 
Aquarium Lighting, Light Information; Reef & Planted, PAR, Watt, Kelvin. 
http://live-plants.com/ 
What Your Coral Needs | Successful Reef Keeping 
t-5 lighting | eBay 
cree led aquarium | eBay 
Aquarium Salt Mix: Salt for Saltwater and Freshwater Fish Aquariums 
Aquarium Water Testing: Aquarium Pharmaceuticals Reef Master Liquid Test Kit 
Reef Aquarium Care: Kent Marine Liquid Calcium Supplement 
Saltwater Aquarium Buffer: Kent Marine Superbuffer-dKH pH Buffer and Alkalinity Builder


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## Reefing Madness (Jun 26, 2011)

I'd wait til the 4th day, then you should get a good reading, and it should be a good reading. Inverts are more suseptable to bad water than the fish are. But Cured rock will give you a head start, and you should be ready to go in a couple more days.
Skimmer for a 28g, na, not really, but your on the bubble there, I say anything under 30g and you just need to watch your water parameters and do your weekly water changes.
Heres the list of thing to have:
#1-Dry Rock, there are a few hitchhikers on Live Rock that people want to stay away from, so they opt for using Dry Rock, or Dead Rock. Macro Rock is a good place to start looking for that. Either way you go you will need a minimum of 1lb per gallon. You can use Fully Cured Live Rock, and have the tank cycled  in just a few days also. Other way is to use just a couple of pounds of Live Rock and the rest Macro or Dry Rock. 
#2-Replacement filter media like filter floss and activated carbon (if you get a filter) Which is really not necessary. 
#3-Multiple Power heads (2 or 3) 10x your water volume for just a Fish Only With Live Rock, and at least 20x your water volume for a Reef Tank. So lets say your going reef, and you have a 100g tank, you would need flow in that tank at minimum of 2000gph, or 2 1000gph power heads. 
#4-Protein Skimmer, rated at 2 times your water volume. Unless your tank is under 30g, in which case you can do 10% water changes a week to rid the system of detrius. But, you'll have to watch the water parameters close, if things go haywire, you'll have to do more water changes. 
#5-Saltwater Test Kits. Reef Test Kit. Test for Ammonia, Nitrites, Nitrates, PH, Phosphates, Calcium, ALK and Magnesium. 
#6-Saltwater fish food. Mysis Shrimp, Squid, Cyclopease, Algae Sheets, Romaine . Flake food is not really a good food to feed your marine fish. 
#7-Aquarium vacuum. This one is iffy. Most don't use one, if you have enough flow in the tank you won’t need one 
#8-Rubber kitchen gloves 
#9-Fish net 
#10-Two, clean, never used before, 5-gallon buckets 
#11-Aquarium thermometer, digital being the best. 
#12-Brush with plastic bristles (old tooth brush) - needed for cleaning the live rock if you don't get Fully Cured Live Rock. 
#13-Power Strip, possibly GFCI outlets by the tank. 
#14-Optional but definitely recommend getting a Reverse Osmosis or RO/Deionization filter for the make-up water, and a barrel for storing the water. 
#15-Possibly a Quarantine Tank for your new fish. They sit in here for a few weeks to kill off parasites and bacteria, to keep it from getting in your main tank 
#16-Heater rated for your size tank. 
#17-Saltwater Mix. Marine Salt. Instant Ocean is the cheap Salt that beginners and Advanced use alike. 
#18-Saltwater Hydrometer or even better a Refractometer, which is more accurate. There is also a Digital Meter that is way advanced if you have the cash. 
#19-Aquarium filter (not absolutely necessary if running with adequate amounts of live rock, but nice to have if you need to use a mechanical filter or activated carbon, or GFO and such) 
#20-Aquarium substrate such as live sand or crushed coral. Some go bare Bottom, others choose the 2-3" bottom, others, more advanced will try the Deep Sand Bed, which is over 6" deep. 
Volusion Demo Store 
Aquarium Nitrogen Cycle and Cycling. Methods for Ammonia, Nitrite Removal. 
aquarium heater in Aquarium & Fish | eBay 
power heads | eBay 
NEW | eBay 
MarcoRocks Aquarium Products 
Bulk Dry Live Rock & Live Sand - Bulk Reef Supply 
Live Rock and Live Sand: Live Saltwater Aquarium Rock and Sand 
Fish & Aquarium Supplies: Marine Substrates, Sand, Crushed Coral, Live Sand 
Aquarium Lighting, Light Information; Reef & Planted, PAR, Watt, Kelvin. 
http://live-plants.com/ 
What Your Coral Needs | Successful Reef Keeping 
t-5 lighting | eBay 
cree led aquarium | eBay 
Aquarium Salt Mix: Salt for Saltwater and Freshwater Fish Aquariums 
Aquarium Water Testing: Aquarium Pharmaceuticals Reef Master Liquid Test Kit 
Reef Aquarium Care: Kent Marine Liquid Calcium Supplement 
Saltwater Aquarium Buffer: Kent Marine Superbuffer-dKH pH Buffer and Alkalinity Builder


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## chain (Oct 19, 2011)

Thanks for all the help. I really appreciate it. I think I have some reading to do. =)


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## chain (Oct 19, 2011)

I take it from reading your post that while I may not need a protein skimmer it would help keep my water parameters better?


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## Reefing Madness (Jun 26, 2011)

Yup, pretty much.


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## chain (Oct 19, 2011)

Well an update on my tank. Water seem to be doing alright. Ammonia had gone up to around 1ppm and now it is back down with the nitrites and nitrates going up some. PH has been good around 8.4, temp has been at 79, and Sal has been at 1.023. Things seem to be moving along. Looks like I have a bit of pods all of a sudden, little tiny white guys throughout my tank. Think these are the copepods. I have a couple feather dusters. One is a little guy who I just noticed. The other is a little bigger and doesn't seem to be the happiest. He has his plume but it isn't open, kinda closed and he has left his tube and landed on another rock. Maybe he is just waiting for the water to fix itself up? Not sure about him being without a tube. I think I found a bristle worm. Also have a tiny shell dude with red hairs sticking out. Another tube has two antennas sticking out. Also have a brown blobbie looking thing that looks as though it might give birth to something. Kinda looks like the center section is buldging out. Have two baby star fish that were hitch hikers. It's not much I guess but to me it's cool seeing all this stuff coming to life. I did have a rock with aiptasia on it but it had so much and I wasn't confident a shrimp would be able to get to all of it I decided to pull the rock and kill it. Note this was a cured live rock (concrete crap sold as cured live rock that I feel ripped off about) so it didn't have all the cool stuff on it. All the cool stuff came with some real live rock I added to what was there. I know it was long winded but that's my update. =)


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## Reefing Madness (Jun 26, 2011)




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