i just bot a 12 gallon starter kit from petco i have a 12 gallon with bio wheel filter a heater 20lbs sand 3lbs of live rock a back ground for the tank a tank light chemechls bio coat helps maintain ph level stress relife for fish hydro meterit has the right ph level marine flakes 2 fake plants one reaches to the surface of the water and the other one is under water a net and i want to no if their is anything alse i need because im going to get fish
Answers:
You should get about 10 or so more lbs of live rock. the rule of thumb for a marine tank is 1-1.5lbs of live rock per gallon. You should get a master test kit for pH amonia nitrite and nitrate. the live rock and live sand will help maintain the pH at the right level. As for fish i would reccomend green chromis. get like 3 of them and they are great fish to cycle the tank with. 12 gallons isnt much and 3 green chromis wont be able to stay in there for their entire lives but once the tank has cycled most places will take them back so you can get nicer fish that you will want on a more long term basis. They are very hardy and arent agressive so if it were a larger tank id say keep them but im sure you had other fish in mind. You will want more live rock and i like having a lot of little pieces so you have more surface area in the tank. When the tank is almost through cycling you will get algae blooms and thats where the surface area will pay off and it also allows better water flow through the rocks. there is a lot to know about marine aquariums and id be happy to help so if you have any other questions feel free to email me
oh and do yourself a favor and stay away from damsels especially if they dont take fish back after your tank cycles. They are extremely agressive and make it near impossible to add any delicate fish in the future.
Addition: there are many little things living in there that you havent discovered yet they hitch hike there way into the system via the live rock and live sand. No need to worry these creatures are harmless for the most part. It is important however to get familiar with anything new you find in the tank for some may be condisered parasitic. You will find worms of many shapes and sizes and a list of many other things growing in the tank the best thing do is not freak out and try a sundry assortment of chemicals to erradicate them all befor IDing them. most of these thing will be beneficial to the system the worms will provide food for some species of fish that you may keep and they also stir up the sand bed which is good to keep a healthy tank. Again feel free to email me if you have any questions or concerns. You will have problems that will arrise and there are always methods of dealing with them. Hope this helped and good luck,
Well, for starters, you need some periods and commas in your sentences.LOL!! Then, to answer your question, I think you need some Dechlorinization liquid? Did you get that? It takes the chlorine out of the water. If you did, then you are set. Oh, go and buy some of those little aquarium books they sell at Petco. They are worth the money for all the answers they have in there for you.
Set your tank up and wait two weeks before you get the fish. The tank needs time to stabilize before fish are added!!
sounds like you got everything covered.have fun with your new pets.
Sounds like you got everything covered. When you buy fish, just ask the people selling the fish, they usualy know what each fish needs. Tell them what you have, and see if they tell you that you need anything else. Just be careful and don't let them do a sales job on you...
One, it sounds like you're starting a saltwater tank, but two and more importantly, it doesn't sound like you know very much at all about starting up an aquarium in general, let alone a saltwater tank. Be advised that saltwater is the most difficult of aquariums and it not recommended as a beginner project. Before you ever buy any fish, you need to do a lot more research on what you're getting into, starting with how to cycle the water. Saltwater fish are very, very expensive and if you go into this without a full knowledge of what you're doing, you are going to lose some very expensive pets.
first of live rock is saltwater so ill assume that's the kind of tank you need more live rock like 9 lbs. You need to let the live rock sit for at least 4 weeks then take your water to get tested.this is a great web site for research or questionshttp://www.wetwebmedia.com
Do you have a hydrometer to measure the salinity? Saltwater should be mixes so that its between 1.024-1.026 specific gravity.
I'm not sure what pH the bio coat is meant to produce (this is usually to relieve stress by adding minerals and vitamins), so before you add any thing else, I would suggest that you get a saltwater testing kit to make sure the pH is 8.2-8.4, or the stars, organisms on the live rock, and fish could do very poorly. You should also test the ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate in the water. Some of the organisms on the live rock will die, and this isn't any fault of yours, it's just something that happens from shipping and being moved. As these die and decompose, the tank will cycle, meaning it will produce ammonia, then nitrite, both of which are toxic. You'll need to monitor both of these to see when the ammonia and nitrite both go down (they should be zero before you put ANY animals in the tank) and the nitrates start to go up. That's when you should add animals, about 1 per week in a small tank like yours.
See this link about the nitrogen cycle and using live rock:
http://www.fishlore.com/nitrogencycle.ht...
test kits fr ammonia nitrate ph etc.
