Hello Everyone

[liquidattitude]

Hi,
I have always wanted a Salt Water tank....My Hubby and I just took the leap. 14 gallon bio-cube.....Right now we are sitting tight with just water, sand and live rock. Doing all our research. I love it already....
Thank you to everyone that has contributed to articles and posting to help the newbie! I have been reading everything. My head is spinning :blueflowe:
Look forward to chatting with you!

 

[chichimom79]

Welcome aboard!!

 

[fastrd400]

Hello and welcome to the site. Don't forget to start a build thread in the tank showcase forum.

 

[MikeG]

Hello and Welcome. :D

 

[Smitty]

Hello and welcome to the site...glad to have you aboard.

 

[little_fish]

Hello and Welcome!

If you have any questions, let us know!

 

[ZyberGoby]

welcome to the site I'm glad our mutterings here were of help to you hope that you get to enjoy all the wonders of the hobby :D

 

[liquidattitude]

Hello everyone,
Ok so before I came here and I read about tap water. We (on the advice of the LFS) used tap water and the drops. I only have sand and just added live rock in the tank. Should I dump it and start over..now? I have a protein skimmer; I read that it interferes with that also.....

 

[little_fish]

The dechlorinator will bother the skimmer, but there is no need to dump and start over. Just start doing water changes with RO/DI water. Over time the tap water will be diluted out.

 

[liquidattitude]

Thanks! I will get right on that. Was reading about the cycle, I'm feeling pretty overwhelmed I hope I can figure all this out..

 

[little_fish]

Feel free to ask us any questions, we are here to help! I would also highly suggest checking out the articles sections, especially the water chemistry one if you are reading up about the cycle.

 

[motorcyclereefer]

Welcome to the reef.

 

[liquidattitude]

New question after reading a bunch of info. We have no fish in the tank. How do we get the cycle to happen? I read somewhere to add ammonia(????) since we are doing a fish-less start. Somewhere else i read to put in a shrimp to start the process?
I read everything on this site and it didn't address a cycle without fish. Suggestions?
Thanks

 

[little_fish]

just toss in a piece of raw table shrimp and that will provide ammonia to start the cycle!

 

[liquidattitude]

Ok. Will do. Looking at the most economical way of doing the 40% water change that is required on a monthly basis. Looking at a RO unit....I am reading what it and what it does. I figure on a 14 gallon tank that is 6 gallons. Suggestions?

 

[little_fish]

its much better to do a 10% water change once a week, or a 20% biweekly than a once a month water change. On a tank that small, i would probably buy RO/DI water from the LFS or store.

 

[liquidattitude]

thanks! I wondered about doing it more frequently so it be part of my weekly routine.

 

[liquidattitude]

looking around at what i am going to use to do the water change, what is the best for washing/rinsing things out so i can use them. Like i bought a container that has the measurements on the side to make it easy, but i want to rinse it out well and i don't want anything introduced that can kill future living things in the tank.

 

[little_fish]

a vinegar and water solution works really well for cleaning stuff

 

[liquidattitude]

Thanks Little Fish. Just came back from my LFS and had our water tested. I also bought the testing kits to do it on my own from here on out. Bought RO.
Readings:
Ammonia =0
Copper=0
salinity=1.027 (high)
PH=7.8 (low)
Nitrate=20 ppm
So I am going to do a 20% water change and work on getting the PH up.
Let me know if there is anything else I need to do.