brilliant or lucky

swninja

Reefing newb
morning, so yep, i'm a newbie. woke up yesterday, cleaned up the 50 in the garage, went and dropped some money at the lfs, came home and bam, got a sw tank setup. then i decided to look up some info on it. got to go back today for the skimmer, and to start buying some rock. (already got 50 lbs ls)

anyway here's my first of what will probably be an endless string of questions. i used tapwater. i read 500 posts last night about the horrors of it, however comma, that was after i had already done it. so i wake up this morning, the tank had cleared, so i started testing. everything tested good. and i mean perfect. calcium, hardness, phosphate, nitrate. long post for a short question. Will everything go crazy and start cycling after a few days, or is it possible that i just got really lucky with the faucet? (and yes, go ahead and talk smack, i deserve it)
 
the water has nothing to do with it, its about the bacteria on the rock, throw some fish food in there and let it sit, youll have one of two things happen. 1. youll start a cycle, or 2. you wont have a cycle and you can start adding fish
 
add a blue and yellow damsel 3 dollars they poop ammonie is added live rock starts eating yum yum tank cycles week or two goes by ,, perameters stay stable.. youll have a algea bloom in 5 months probably and fish will get ich woopty doo.. add refugium... cheato macro algea for nitrates... use ro water for coral i don't think fish mind so much
 
add a blue and yellow damsel 3 dollars they poop ammonie is added live rock starts eating yum yum tank cycles week or two goes by ,, perameters stay stable.. youll have a algea bloom in 5 months probably and fish will get ich woopty doo.. add refugium... cheato macro algea for nitrates... use ro water for coral i don't think fish mind so much

:frustrat:NO DONT LISTEN TO THIS POST! :grumble: That is probably the worst advice you are going to get on how to cycle a tank. If you put damsels in the tank they will surely die, you can get the same effect by simply adding a couple cubes of frozen mysis shrimp or a raw table shrimp. Put it in an old nylon and let it sit for a couple of days. You can use tap water but it really isnt good for your system, it will raise your nitrate and phosphate levels. Nitrates are poisons regardless of what you are keeping, fish are more tolerant of them but they can be kept very low or untraceable by using RO/DI water, a skimmer and live rock.

:frustrat:PLEASE DONT FOLLOW THE QUOTED ADVICE as it is not the proper way to do things. Check out the articles section or google BERLIN METHOD to learn how to set up your salt water aquarium the RIGHT way.
 
Hello fellow Tucsonan!

I'll tell you this from experience: If you are going to any other LFS besides Southwest Saltwater, stop and go to Southwest Saltwater instead. I've shopped around all the Tucson stores for the last 3+ years, and SWSW is the only one that gives (usually) good advice, doesn't try to sell you stuff you don't need, and doesn't try to sell you animals that they know will die in your tank. They always listen to your problems and try to help you find a solution. It's the only store in Tucson that I will give my business to.

Tucson tap water is BAD. My TDS is usually 400+ out of the tap. Sometimes, on a good day, it's between 300 and 400. Ideally, for a saltwater tank, you should have your TDS under 10.

That said, lots of people started their tanks with tap water. It's by no means a death sentence. Just do water changes and top offs using RODI water from now on. You can buy your own RODI unit, buy the water from the grocery store or Walmart, or get it from the LFS.

Dustin is right that it's not the water that will start a cycle -- it's whatever is on the rock and sand and in the tank creating waste products. Sometimes live rock will start a cycle, but if it's well-cured, sometimes it won't.

I also don't recommend adding a fish to start a cycle. You'll either end up killing the fish or having a fish you don't want in the tank. Neither is a good option. Instead put some fish food in the tank and let it rot -- it creates the same results as adding a live fish.

I have a 240 gallon tank with an additional 90 gallons worth of sump and fuge space. I've been trying to downsize lately. I'm trying to sell off most of my live rock. If you want some, shoot me a PM. I'm selling it for cheaper than you can find in any of the LFSs around town. I'll throw in some free "starter" corals for you too, when you're ready for them.
 
that'd be great. I've only lived here like 6 months, still trying to find my way around. i'll probably swing up there tomorrow and check them out.
 
I would empty the tank and put new ro water in there instead since the cycle hasnt even begun.

+1 Ryan


EXACTLY what I was gonna say. It will take a lot of water changes to get rid of the tap water contaminants, you'd be much better off draining the tank (I know, all that salt to waste), it'll be worth it in the long run. You will have algae problems out the yin yang with the tap water to start. Also, I'd advise against adding a damsel to get you cycled. A piece of shrimp will work the same, plus you won't have to struggle to catch the damsel that becomes Damien and attacks all your other fish later on.
Take it slow and have fun, looks like Biff's lookin' out for ya!
 
that'd be great. I've only lived here like 6 months, still trying to find my way around. i'll probably swing up there tomorrow and check them out.

Are you with DM by any chance? I saw you were with the military in your profile. I work on DM 2 to 3 days a week.
 
yep, i work on the base.... i don't think i'll do a 100% water change, but now that it's been 24 hours, the salinity's a little high, i'll probably start at 50% with the ro. it's gonna be awhile before i start adding anything anyway, so i figure between 2 and 3 more water changes i should be close. appreciate the advice everyone.
 
dont get any blue and yellow damsels thay suck! i had them in my tank and that are killers other fish and each other, thay lived through the cycle and started killing each other i had to get all my rock out to get them.
 
not trying to play fetch a fish, i'll probably just set it up with the ls and lr, then with the "algae crew" and work my way up from there.... slowly. all i have to do is keep my daughter from driving me nuts everytime we walk into a pet store "can i have that one....pllleeeeaaassseee"
 
How old is your daughter? Age permitting, I'd try to get her involved. Make her write down the name of the fish and help her research it back home. Then she can learn why some fish don't work out with Corals and some will hurt each other.

Then again if she is 3 like my niece, she just wants DORIs and NEMOs. :)
 
On the subject of tap water, how can you test your tap water, and what do you test for? I've been buying RODI water from my lfs, but some books say you can "cure" the water by mixing it and aerating and stirring it up for a week. I hate to spend another $300 on an RO filter, but it sure would be nice to make water at home.
 
yeah awol, she's still on the nemo thing, but she's 6, so i've already explained to her a basic idea of how everything relates and in what order we do things. Hell, she explained it back to her mom pretty well the next day. and she was there mixing salt with me and scrubbing the tank, and setting up filters.... definitly turning into a family project.
 
On the subject of tap water, how can you test your tap water, and what do you test for? I've been buying RODI water from my lfs, but some books say you can "cure" the water by mixing it and aerating and stirring it up for a week. I hate to spend another $300 on an RO filter, but it sure would be nice to make water at home.

I believe you can get a yearly water report on your city/county. Google it and see what you find.
 
On the subject of tap water, how can you test your tap water, and what do you test for? I've been buying RODI water from my lfs, but some books say you can "cure" the water by mixing it and aerating and stirring it up for a week. I hate to spend another $300 on an RO filter, but it sure would be nice to make water at home.

Pure Water Club has a decent RODI for around $100. For people like myself, ie. those who have limited funds, it is a great option.
 
welcome to the site! thats cool about making it a family project! :) mine started off as a semester long term project and now its turned into the local hangout for the entire family, moms constantly bringing home new little friends (which is sometimes not a good thing haha) or is home when i'm off at school to make sure everything is okay, in fact, i think my tank in my room gets more attention than the TV LOL.

Nows the time to get her majorly involved :) kids at that age are like sponges, my boyfriends youngest sister who is 8 knows about just as much as I do now just from listening to me talk about it and shes even getting ready to setup her own at their house (with help from me and the man that is lol) tons of fun :) if you're ever in the cali area come to the monterey bay aquarium and check out Splash Zone (or even check out the site for it!) its actually what i themed my tank around and totally got me hooked with the whole nemo and dory stuff but theres lots of other cool critters there :)
 
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