A few questions from a newb

[Jmck]

Hi everyone, first post here, sorry its gonna be a long one haha.

ive currently got a saltwater tanking. Amazingly, it was setup fairly quick with salt levels reaching optimal quickly along with the nitrate and other levels balancing within 2 weeks of placing the live rock in.

I had 2 sea horses in the tank, but 1 has died due to an injury sustained from a rogue crab that came with the live rock that ripped the sea horses tail up and caused it to be unable to swim.

over the past 3 weeks I have topped up the tank with fresh water (as told by my local pet shop) as the sump was a bit low on water. He said this was fine due to water evaporation and that salinity levels wouldnt change, I get a feeling the levels have changed and am unsure if the remaining seahorse is acting unusual or if its acting normally and im being paranoid.

Is there anywhere that i can go to pickup a testing kit to test the salinity of the water and all other tests that are required?

I was also wondering what other fish I can place with the sea horses, because I was also considering changing him out before I buy more and putting other fish in there, because i heard sea horses cant be placed with many other fish, is this right?

thanks
josh

 

[mikewurtz]

As far as I know, Seahorses only do well with Pipefish. They are very slow eaters and most other sea creatures will eat their food before they have a chance to eat it.

 

[Jmck]

Thats a little shattering, might be worth it to look into exchanging these sea horses for something else, are there certain fish that would work better together? or fish that need to be kept independant like the seahorses?

 

[SeaBee]

you're using r/o water right? (reverse osmosis)

 

[Jmck]

I wouldnt know what reverse osmosis is?

I just put water in, the recommended salt, the local fish shop tested my water for ph and salt levels and told me that i can put it in, I definitely plan on having corals but seahorses limit that as well.

 

[BL1]

Basically he wants to know if you are using tap water, if you are, you should stop. Tap water has many impurities and minerals that could end up killing livestock (if your tap water has copper in it for example) or cause massive algae outbreaks. Two things you definitely need to have are a refractometer (to measure your salinity) do not get a hydrometer as those can be very inaccurate. They were right though, when you are replacing water due to evaporation you want to use pure water but, when you are doing water changes use water that has had the proper amount of salt pre-mixed in.
And a test kit for your water, this one Aquarium Pharmaceuticals Saltwater Liquid Master Test Kit is a very good test kit for the money, and allows you to test for some of the more important things.
As far as the seahorse thing goes, most of the time they like being kept in groups or "herds" and having just one isn't recommended. Also, you must be extremely careful when selecting corals for seahorses because many corals are aggressive by nature and may sting the seahorse if it tries to grab on with its tail. Unfortunately, seahorses are usually a species only tank if you are wanting fish you should really think about exchanging your seahorse for one.
If you decide to go with just fish, you would be limited (in both size and quantity) by the size of your tank,
Hope this has helped some. Welcome to the site!

 

[Jmck]

Hey, thanks for the reply, helped a lot.

to start with, yes, im using tap water, but that seems to be fine? the fish shop said my water met all the standards to have the animals in it?

what purified water do I use instead? or should i just buy it from them with the salt already premixed and ready?

Ill get onto buying the kits and salt water testing, i just wasnt sure what i was searching for, thanks for that.

I think i might be exchanging the seahorse, I was either going to get a large herd of them, or move towards a few more exotic creatures or a basic reef tank, after having them, i got turned off by the idea of ONLY having sea horses and limited corals, little annoying.

another thing with the tap water, melbourne water is generally quite good, so im not sure if that makes a difference.

and thats good that im replacing water correctly with clean water, so thats a good start, at least im listening :D

thanks again for your help

 

[BL1]

Hey, thanks for the reply, helped a lot.

to start with, yes, im using tap water, but that seems to be fine? the fish shop said my water met all the standards to have the animals in it?
I'm guessing that when they tested the water they only tested for pH, ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates. Unfortunately if your tap water has any copper in it at all, that is fatal to most inverts. So yes, you can use it however there are drawbacks and possible downsides to it.
what purified water do I use instead? or should i just buy it from them with the salt already premixed and ready?
you can use distilled water from a food store, or you can buy an RO/DI filter(a little expensive at first but it will be the cheapest option in the long run), or you can buy it straight from your LFS but, that would be the most expensive option.

I think i might be exchanging the seahorse, I was either going to get a large herd of them, or move towards a few more exotic creatures or a basic reef tank, after having them, i got turned off by the idea of ONLY having sea horses and limited corals, little annoying.
seahorses definitely aren't for everyone
another thing with the tap water, melbourne water is generally quite good, so im not sure if that makes a difference.
[COLOR="RED]no matter how good your water is it'll never be able to be as pure as RO/DI or distilled.[/COLOR]

thanks again for your help
[COLOR="RED"]your welcome![/COLOR]

.......

 

[Jmck]

alright, ill get it checked for copper and ill see how it goes, if needed ill do a complete water change and cycle. are there any downsides to tap water i should look for?

ok, so ill have a look at the filter, or ill buy the salt water from him in some big drums, might work as well.

and im thinking they might not be for me, but ill see what happens and ill work on getting purer water :)

thanks again for your help, really has helped me a lot.

josh

 

[BL1]

No problem, you should also start a build thread and post pics of your tank for everyone to see, we love pics here!

 

[Jmck]

hahaha ill definitely start on it :) thanks for the advice. i just gotta work out the size of the tank, i forgot :P dam noobs haha

 

[Bifferwine]

You will need to by your own instrument to measure the salinity of your water, as this can change on a daily basis in your tank. It's very unwise to rely on a store to do all your water tests for you. What if you have an emergency and the store is closed?

You need to buy a hydrometer or refractometer. Refractometers are better and more accurate, and hydrometers need to be replaced every 6 months or so.

Also, seahorses are not a good animal to start off with. They are difficult to keep and have special requirements that other saltwater animals don't have. If you are unable to measure your own water parameters at home, which is the most basic aspect of taking care of your tank, you probably shouldn't have any animals yet. And other people were right when they said that in general, seahorses need to be kept in their own tank without any other fish.

 

[yote]

Sounds to me like it might be time to try a different LFS.
To really get started,just pick up the API brand kits for PH,ammonia,nitrite,nitrate,calcium,and KH along with either a hydrometer or refractometer.If you go with the hydrometer,have the LFS test it againt their refractometer and note any difference.
BTW
Welcome to the reef.:D

 

[Jmck]

Thanks yote and biff, I realized that i would need to test myself and from the posts i got yesterday i have ordered a refractometer and a testing kit from API so ill start doing that when they arrive to check it all again. I dont want to be reliant on the LFS but for me to go somewhere else its at least an hours drive. this place is 10 minutes away.

The sea horse doesnt seem to hard to keep, but as you might have read, one had an issue with a crab in a rock, and now that crab is gone so no issues. But I am thinking that ill take that seahorse in tomorrow and exchange him for some nice fish and buy a few corals. Other than that, it's all going quite well.

and how do you check for copper? will that be in the API testing kit? because I had no idea that might be an issue until this thread.

thanks for the welcome :D

 

[yote]

Copper kits are sold separate,so that wont be in your kit.But your LFS should have one.
Its alright to buy from that store,just dont completely trust them ( that goes for ANY LFS ). Arm yourself with the knowledge of what your looking at and how its gonna settle into your tank.If your not sure about something,ask here before you buy it.
Were not here to stay in bussiness,but the LFS is.:D

 

[Jmck]

haha very true, thanks yote. I only found this place a few days ago, quite a while after i bought my tank, ive learnt more in 2 days here than from them. So im satisfied :D

Because ill exchange this seahorse, should i get a cleaning crew first before i put fish in? and what animals should i put down in my sump?

 

[coolhandgoose]

What kind of corals are you planning? What kind of lighting do you have?

I'd maybe start with something like mushrooms or zoa's since they are very hardy beginner corals. When you start getting into LPS and SPS corals then you have to start testing alkalinity, calcium and magnesium.

What kind of fish are you planning on having? You definately want to think about if they are compatible with eachother and if they are compatible with corals.

 

[Jmck]

Ive picked up a zoo (i think thats what it was) coral and a torch coral. I no longer have the sea horses so filling this tank will be easier. I also have 2 clown fish in there now and some cleaning crew started up.

The lights are fine, ive got it all setup for corals and i believe the guy set me up with a T5 light.

Im thinking i might get a leather coral this afternoon as well

 

[Bifferwine]

Those sound like great choices. We want pictures!

 

[Jmck]

pictures going up in the tank section in about 5 minutes :D