{"id":10990,"date":"2021-06-01T16:12:23","date_gmt":"2021-06-01T20:12:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nycphantom.com\/journal\/?p=10990"},"modified":"2024-06-02T20:46:56","modified_gmt":"2024-06-03T00:46:56","slug":"aquarium-setup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/nycphantom.com\/journal\/?p=10990","title":{"rendered":"Aquarium Setup: Saltwater\/Marine Tank"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

So, after many years, I am back to the aquarium business. The last time I had an aquarium, was in Flushing, before I got married. Fresh water small tank. And before that was the first attempt at Marine Salt water aquarium (likely 20 gal tank) back in St. James, the Stony Brook time, had my clown fish and anemonies thriving well, but had to give them all away to the next door tenant when I was moving to Central Islip doing Chinese Takeout.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, after Nadia bought the package deal of aquarium from Craigslist, around Feb 23rd, for I think around $100, 55 Gal. tank (48\" x 21\" x 13\") with lighting and cover and stand! and a wet-dry filtration equipment system, water pump (RIO 2100, 29W), heater, bio balls, and other minor stuff. Good deal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Took me a while to get up and clean the tank, and then took even longer time for me to figure out how this sump filtration system works. Very ingenious indeed. I had the tank filled with NJ tap water, cycled it with the filter for a few days now, awaiting for the test kits, salt and substrate sands to arrive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Aquarium first water test, using Tetra's EasyStrips (6-in-1 Aquarium Test Strips):
Nitrate = 10 ppm<\/strong>, though it's low and safe, I don't know why it's not white = 0? But ok.
Nitrite = 0 ppm<\/strong>, very safe, good.
Hardness = 75 ppm<\/strong>, soft, no clue what to do with this info.
Chlorine = 0 ppm<\/strong>, great!
Alkalinity = 0 ppm<\/strong>, according to the chart, for salt water, not desired, ideal=180-300 ppm.
pH = 6.8 - 7<\/strong>, according to the test chart, for salt water, it's too low, ideal=8.4<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The RIO 2100 pump is marked for 692 gph (Gallon per Hour) so that means it pumps 55 galon (the whole tank) every 5 minutes. So it's fair enough to give it 1 hour for the whole tank to balance out any changes. That's 12 times cycling the whole tank. This is useful to know for doing water test as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After much additions (i.e. Marine Buffer to buff up PH as well as Alkalinity, and water changes to tweak their levels), Here's my Tetra EasyStrip result:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nitrate=<10 ppm
Nitrite=0 ppm<\/strong>
Hardness=300+ppm <\/strong>(red-brown) but not for saltwater test anyway.
Chlorine=0 ppm
Alkalinity=309+ppm<\/strong> (blue)
pH=8.4<\/strong> (more pinkish than the matching color)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I received the Red Sea test kit as well to test for pH, KH, Nitrite, Nitrate, Ammonia.
Tested for pH = around 8.2-8.3
KH = 13.5-14 dKH<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is very ideal. I think I could afford another bucket of water change to get the kH to optimum value. But maybe not, since corals can reduce the KH. Although I don't understand why Nitrate isn't zero. I guess it's because my bioballs still have some bacteria from the previous owner, and I didn't wash them which I guess is a good thing, to nitrify whatever they could find, such as emptying Nitrite and convert it to Nitrate. If that's the case, I guess I should get the fish coming in soon, to produce the unwelcoming ammonia and nitrite so my nitrobacter won't be starved to death, if it is such as case.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Resources for online marine lives:
https:\/\/coralsanonymous.com\/<\/a>
https:\/\/www.reefs4less.com\/<\/a>
https:\/\/www.liveaquaria.com\/<\/a>
https:\/\/www.algaebarn.com\/<\/a>
https:\/\/www.tidalgardens.com\/products-on-sale.html<\/a>

Matching Anemones for clownfish to host<\/a>:
Cinnamon, Red and Black (Amphiprion melanopus) Clownfish<\/strong>
Host Anemones:
Bubble Tip Anemone (Entacmaea quadricolor)
Leathery (Sebae) Sea Anemone (Heteractis crispa)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Cinnamon<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Clark's Yellowtail (Amphiprion clarkii) Clownfish<\/strong>
Host Anemones:
Carpet Sea Anemone (Cryptodendrum adhaesivum)
Bubble Tip Anemone (Entacmaea quadricolor)
Beaded (Aurora) Sea Anemone (Heteractis aurora)
Leathery (Sebae) Sea Anemone (Heteractis crispa)
Magnificent Sea Anemone (H. magnifica)
Sabae Sea Anemone (H. malu)
Corkscrew (Long Tentacle) Sea Anemone (Macrodactyla doreensis)
Giant Carpet Sea Anemone (Stichodactyla gigantea)
Haddon's (Saddleback Carpet) Sea Anemone (S. haddoni)
Merten's Carpet Sea Anemone (S. mertensii)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Clark's<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Maroon, Spinecheek, White-Stripe, Gold-Stripe (Premnas biaculeatus) Clownfish<\/strong>
Host Anemones:
Bubble Tip Anemone (Entacmaea quadricolor)
Corkscrew (Long Tentacle) Sea Anemone (Macrodactyla doreensis)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Maroon<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Ocellaris, False Percula (Amphiprion ocellaris) Clownfish<\/strong>
Host Anemones:
Magnificent Sea Anemone (Heteractis magnifica)
Giant Carpet Sea Anemone (Stichodactyla gigantea), Merten's Carpet Sea Anemone (S. mertensii)
May adapt to Bubble Tip Anemone (Entacmaea quadricolor) in aquariums; also known to host the Haddon's Saddle Carpet Anemone (Stichodactyla haddoni)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Common<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Orange Skunk (Amphiprion sandaracinos) Clownfish<\/strong>
Host Anemones:
Leathery (Sebae) Sea Anemone (Heteractis crispa)
Merten's Carpet Sea Anemone (S. mertensii)
May adapt to other anemones in aquariums<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Orange<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Percula, True Percula, Clown Anemonefish (Amphiprion percula) Clownfish<\/strong>
Host Anemones:
Leathery (Sebae) Sea Anemone (Heteractis crispa)
Magnificent Sea Anemone (H. \u200bmagnifica)
Giant Carpet Sea Anemone (Stichodactyla gigantea)
Merten's Carpet Sea Anemone (S. mertensii)
May adapt to Bubble Tip Anemone (Entacmaea quadricolor) and other anemones in aquariums
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A.<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Pink Skunk Clownfish (Amphiprion perideraion) Clownfish<\/strong>
Host Anemones:
Magnificent Sea Anemone (Heteractis magnifica)
Leathery (Sebae) Sea Anemone (Heteractis crispa)
Corkscrew (Long Tentacle) Sea Anemone (Macrodactyla doreensis)
Giant Carpet Sea Anemone (Stichodactyla gigantea)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Skunk<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Red Saddleback, Fire (Amphiprion ephippium)<\/strong>
Host Anemones:
Bubble Tip Anemone (Entacmaea\u200b quadricolor)
Leathery (Sebae) Sea Anemone (Heteractis crispa)
Continue to 9 of 12 below.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Red<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Saddleback (Amphiprion polymnus) Clownfish<\/strong>
Host Anemones:
Haddon's (Saddleback Carpet) Sea Anemone (S. haddoni)
Leathery (Sebae) Sea Anemone (Heteractis crispa)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Amphiprion<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Sebae, Seba's (Amphiprion sebae) Clownfish<\/strong>
Host Anemones:
Haddon's (Saddleback Carpet) Sea Anemone (S. haddoni)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Sebae<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Skunk (Amphiprion akallopisos) Clownfish<\/strong>
Host Anemones:
Magnificent Sea Anemone (Heteractis magnifica)
Merten's Carpet Sea Anemone (S. mertensii)
May adapt to Bubble Tip Anemone (Entacmaea quadricolor), and other anemones in aquariums<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Pink<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Tomato, Red (Amphiprion frenatus) Clownfish<\/strong>
Host Anemones:
Bubble Tip Anemone (Entacmaea quadricolor)
Leathery (Sebae) Sea Anemone (Heteractis crispa)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Tomato<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n


<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

So, after many years, I am back to the aquarium business. The last time I had an aquarium, was in Flushing, before I got married. Fresh water small tank. And before that was the first attempt at Marine Salt water … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10990","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-biology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/nycphantom.com\/journal\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10990","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/nycphantom.com\/journal\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/nycphantom.com\/journal\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/nycphantom.com\/journal\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/nycphantom.com\/journal\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10990"}],"version-history":[{"count":20,"href":"http:\/\/nycphantom.com\/journal\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10990\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15992,"href":"http:\/\/nycphantom.com\/journal\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10990\/revisions\/15992"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/nycphantom.com\/journal\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10990"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/nycphantom.com\/journal\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10990"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/nycphantom.com\/journal\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10990"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}