Protein Skimmer?

[Guest suzeliza]

Hi all,

 

I'm brand new to this...the "we'll set up a saltwater tank someday" turned into "let's do this now!" after an enthusiastic pitch from a petco employee a couple weeks ago.

 

Anyway, I think I've already made a number of mistakes (I'll describe my setup in a minute...) but my main question right now is if I really need a protein skimmer for a 20 gallon tank?  I've got two filters going on it now - both are the 'hang on the back' style; one is a new bio-wheel, and one is the old one from my freshwater tank.  With those, there's quite a bit of flow and movement in the tank, so I'm also wondering if I really need an air pump and/or a power head?

 

On to my setup -

I put in my water and substrate (a black crushed something-or-other [not coral or sand] that petco sold me) and filtered it for about 3 days.

 

I then went to a fish store - very nice people and great customer service, but I'm wondering about their advice - and came home with about 10lbs of liverock, a molly(sp), a chocolatechip starfish and a serpent star. They reassured me  that this was fine even though I had just set up the tank, saying that they were all hardy and should be fine.  Oh, they gave me 2 bottles of "bacteria" too, and I put one of those in the water along with everything else.

 

Yesterday (about 3 days after putting everything else in) I added about 12lbs more liverock, and I've been feeding the molly formula one.  Everyone is still alive for now, although I realize I am just at the beginning of cycling the tank.  I'm also planning on doing a 15% water change every week for now.

 

So, I guess the questions I have are:

Will the bottled bacteria help in anyway?

Should I be adding anything else to the tank, or taking anything away?

The fish is eating pretty much all the food I'm putting in, so not alot is leftover for the starfish - so do I need to do something special to feed them?

What are the chances that everyone will survive the cycle?

What's the next thing I should add?

 

That's all I can think of right now.  I realize I probably have started out on the wrong foot with my tank, but any advice would be much appreciated.

Thanks.

[Guest Kimo]

Well, You did the right thing by asking some questions!  

 

As far as your questions go:

 

Will the bottled bacteria help in anyway?

 I'm not sure, IMO it's unnecessary.  The rocks, sand, fish, air, etc have all the bacteria you need, you just need to let them get established.

 

Should I be adding anything else to the tank, or taking anything away?

 Well, personally, I would not have added the molly or the starfish when the tank is so new, especially the starfish.  I usually start with just liverock, sand and water, and let it mature for a while.  This allows some of the life on the rock that would otherwise be subject to predation by fish, etc. to get established, as well as allowing the tank to stabilize chemically.  The chocolate chip starfish WILL eat your corals (if you decide to go that route) if it runs into them - they are opportunistic omnivores.  The serpent star is a fine choice for a tank but it may not survive the cycle.  The molly is not necessary for cycling the tank - the rock will do that all by itself, IMO.

 

The fish is eating pretty much all the food I'm putting in, so not alot is leftover for the starfish - so do I need to do something special to feed them?

 Well, the serpent star will appreciate some feedings - the chocolate chip star will eat anything it finds and should be fine for the time being (but you can feed it too).

 

What are the chances that everyone will survive the cycle?

 Depends on how much of a cycle there is and how cured the live rock is.  

 

What's the next thing I should add?

 Time.  It'll pay to just wait a while and let the tank mature.

 

As far as the skimmer goes - It is a good idea to use a skimmer, even on a 20. You can try one of the smaller HOB models.  Or just change water often (5%, 2xwk).

 

<edit>

 Also, about the biowheel - You probably won't need it.  Liverock and sand make great bio filters.  You won't need bio balls, a bio wheel, or bio- anything.  Also be careful about using your freshwater stuff with the reef tank - copper kills inverts, so if you ever used copper with that filter there is that danger.

</edit>

 

And if there is one piece of advice that you should remember (IMO) it's READ EVERYTHING YOU CAN!

 

This board is great, also www.reefcentral.com and www.reefs.org.

 

I hope I helped, and good luck!

 

Jamie

[michaelg]

Save your money on the skimmer and get a couple books.  Will be much more valuable.  Also- feel free to post any and all questions for opinions here prior to buying anything.  Guess the other question is what you want to keep down the road.  MY 10 gallon tank has no filtration other than some rock and sand- certain corals seem to like higher nutrients and those particular corals have done very well over the past 3 years.  Again- looking through some books (Get borneman's for corals and perhaps mike paletta's for general tank stuff for starters) will give you some visual ideas of what you might want down the road.

[Guest andrejka]

The best $15 I've ever spent on my tank: The New Marine Aquarium: Step-By-Step Setup & Stocking Guide by Michael S. Paletta

[AquariaUSA]

If you get a book, offer it to the store employee too!

Welcome to WAMAS!!! Please keep posting if you have any questions The club is a great asset to new hobbyists, and they will help you save money!

[Sph2sail]

Welcome to the hobby.

 

When you purchased the system, did they sell you a marine test kit for your water?  When you purchased the live rock, was it already fully cured?  Are you using tap water or are you using highly filtered water (i.e. RO/DI filter system)?

 

The key to salt water systems is patience.  Rushing things is often a recipe for disaster down the road.

 

Most of us use a combination of Live Rock and a deep sand bed (fine crushed coral = aragonite sand) and some crushed coral mixed.  The LR and DSB act as your natural biological filtration system and they take a while to "mature" into a fully operational system.

 

Most of our members offer donations of live sand to help seed a system.  The live sand contains worms, bacteria and sometimes tiny starfish, copepods, etc., and is part of the bio system that helps manage the nitrogen cycle.

 

You may want to consider adding the deep sand bed in place of the black stuff you have, as that will assist in running the tank.  This is not the only way to do it, but a majority do use the DSB.

 

And ASK Questions!  Never be shy to ask for what you think you need.  You will get a LOT of help from the members (oh yeah, don't forget to join as a member, not just on the boards)!

 

Steve