HII new here and to salty fish

[Adrastos]

With a fish only tank you don't need to keep it that high... you can keep it around the 1.018 to 1.020 range with no worries for most species

[Massey]

just checked it again this morning (I stirred up the sand again before I went to bed last night) and the salinity is 1.023 and I cant see any salt on the sand nor the heatwave looking patters of the salt disolving like I could when I first put the salt in the water. I am going to be getting some rock here in a little while Thanks for all your help guys I really appreciate it.

Massey

[Bifferwine]

Okay, that sounds perfect. Good luck and keep us posted.

[Massey]

OK got 2 clowns They seem to like my tank they are playing in the currents of the pumps. Watching this makes me wonder if my pumps are too powerful. How can I tell? They are able to swim "upstream" but when they stop trying to go upstream they get pushed back kinda fast. I have a powerhead that is rated for 29-55 gallon tanks and that is the main pusher of my currents. My output for my canister filter (rated for 55 gallon tanks) is alot less than the powerhead. Should I turn the PH down some or ya all think this is OK. Oh and the PH is on the left side of the tank pushing at about a 30ish degree angle to the right of the tank, the filter out is about 45d going to the right as well.

Oh and I bought my fish a new light I got a Coralife, Lunar Aqualight. This thing really lights up my tank and makes everything inside look alot nicer. I need to get new timers now cause my old ones didnt have a grounding plug. Should I use both the blue and white lights or differ the times for them? I was planning on having the LEDs stay on at night but off durring the day.

Ok last question for now: As I build up my baserock and live rock should I keep them away from my heaters, or leave the heaters totally exposed? I have seen both at my LFS but I keep forgetting to ask some one there. I am currently using 2 submersable 150W heaters set for 79 Degrees F. My tank stays right about 79-80.

Massey

[Adrastos]

Don't be too surprised when your fish die. Sorry to be hard on you here.. but you basically did the opposite of all the advice given to you.

Your tank needs to be cycled before adding fish. Unlike a freshwater tank, this takes more time. Actually, even a freshwater tank takes more time than you gave it.

So...Cross your fingers... most people don't use clowns as tank cyclers...

[Bifferwine]

Hmmmm... Ad is mostly right. The fish may not survive. Depending on what kind of clowns you bought. Some are hardier than others.

The current is probably fine for them, a lot of current is good. If they can swim against it with no problem, I'd say it's not too strong.

For the lights are you talking about actinics and daylights? If this is what you mean, then yes, they stay on at the same time. If you want to mimic sunrise and sunset you can program the actinics (blue) to come on an hour before the daylights (white) and then have the actinics stay on for an hour after the daylights turn off.

You can hide the heaters behind the rocks if you want it to look better but it's a good idea to not let the heaters come into contact with the substrate or rocks. So if you can hide them without having the rocks touching them, that's fine.

Good luck. Keep us updated. Get ready for your new live rock and fish to start the cycle and check the water parameters regularly, you may have to remove the fish and take them back to the store if things get ugly .

[Massey]

I went with the Percula Clowns on the advise of my LFS. According to them these are hardy clowns that sould be good for starting the cycle on my tank. They did not have any live rock for me to purchase today but said they should have some by tuesday but that I should not get any until the weekend if I get the fish today. Either way according to them I would be OK. I dont really want my fish to die I am not here to kill fish. If I were I would get my pole and bait and head out to the Chessepeak bay and catch some for dinner.

Is the advise that they gave me ok, good bad or really ugly? The guy that I have been talking to has been pretty much right on the same page as you guys have been when asked the same questions. Another associate there said that this was also a good starter fish for a tank. These 2 have been the ones that have helped me set up this tank from the beginning and they know exactly what I have and have done and how long it has been since starting.

Should I wait till next weekend for the liverock or should I put some in the tank as soon as I can get some?

Massey

[Adrastos]

Here you go.. try to read something.. here is a great article from about.com

10 Easy Aquarium Set Up Steps - Step 6: Let the Tank Cycle

here is a link to the full site:
10 Easy Aquarium Set Up Steps - Introduction

At this stage.. I'd ask yourself a simple question... how many of the steps listed did you do?

[Massey]

Askin myself that question brings me to this:

I have completed steps 1-5 skipping step 4 because I am not using live rock, I may add some later I know I am going to have to wait on that one. I am now on step 6 letting the tank cycle. I did this by adding fish which the little guide says is one way to do this. Now what I choose for fish to start this cycle is not a damsel like the guide says I went here with the LFSs advise and bought clowns. So far I am doing what the guide says with the exception of the breed of fish.

Massey

[Massey]

Originally Posted by Adrastos

Don't be too surprised when your fish die. Sorry to be hard on you here.. but you basically did the opposite of all the advice given to you.

No I didnt, I just didnt use live rock like I thought I was going to.

Your tank needs to be cycled before adding fish. Unlike a freshwater tank, this takes more time. Actually, even a freshwater tank takes more time than you gave it.

First off my books and my LFS both say I can start a cycle with fish, even the little guide you linked for me says that (thank you for the guide).
Secondly how in the world do you know how long I cycled my freshwater tanks? I have never posted anything about them here other than I have had them on and off for over 10 years (closer to 20 years now but about 10 years total uptime on tanks). I have had alot of success with my freshwater tanks and have had fish that have lived for many years in my tanks.

So...Cross your fingers... most people don't use clowns as tank cyclers...

Yes I am crossing my fingers and hoping the LFS did not give me bad advise here.

I dont think that I know everything about fresh or salt water tanks, that is why I come here and ask questions for helpful people to answer and help me out here. I know that everyone here has their own prefered method of cycling a tank and setting up their stuff, does that mean your method is the only way? (no) Does that mean that I am wrong in what advise I followed (maybe but only time will tell) and does that mean that there are no better ways? (If not then why are there new products offered all the time?) Being new to saltwater I am asking questions here and at my LFS and getting about the same answers on everything asked. So why should I not follow the advise given to me? Or is is written some where in stone that I have to do things only one way?

Massey