Hello, I'm new to the game

E

ElevenEleven

Reefing newb
Hey guys. I just finished building A stand for my 40 gallon Aquarium. I didn't want to spend a lot of money on the stand so I went to home depot, purchased cinder blocks, put them at four corners and placed a peice of wood over it, then a black cloth over that. Now I have the 40 gallon tank on top of it and it looks decent for only spending 26 dollars. As opposed to some fancy stand that cost 200-300 dollars. I just finished putting tap water into the Aquarium. I know I didn''t want to use tap water either especially living in texas, but I am going to cure this water before I place fish in. It will be sitting for a while, and I will place conditioner and bacteria in the water. Right now all I have is the Aquarium with water in it, and two Powerheads that I am working on putting on the tank. Next I am going to buy live rock, then live sand. Then a mechanical filter. One step at a time for me, this is really PRICY starting off, and Im certainly not rich.. Im having to find nice economical ways of getting around expense, such as working at petco, I can get a 20 percent discount off live sand...as well as fish.

I would appreciate ALL the advice I can get from you Saltwater gurus. I'd like to hear your experiences, what tank you own, what fish you have, and what fish you suggest. All input is valuable right now. Although I am an Aquatics Specialist at Petco and I value giving my customers correct information, I have never done a saltwater tank before. I am well researched on it, but I am sure the learning experience for this hobby is infinite.
 
since you saved a bunch on a stand check for leaks then get rid of the tap water and buy the right water to mix with your salt. Better safe then sorry.:twocents:
 
Welcome to the site and hobby!

I'll let you know that even using a conditioner you'll still have problems using tap water down the line ... You'll most likely have large algae problems using it. If you want to save some money off the bat, check out craigslist to find people taking apart their tank and selling their rock. Or you can go some where and buy dry rock like this Marco Rocks The finest aquarium rock available, base rock, live rock, reef rock, marco rock, reef tank saltwater fish, live corals, Marco rocks, Fiji live rock, Tonga Live rock. It will save you a ton of money. Also, buy dry sand instead of live it's cheaper and your live rock will make the sand live over time.
 
Welcome to the site!

You can buy bottled distilled water at any Walmart or grocery store. Lots of cities have water stations that sell RODI water by the jug as well. Those are much better options than tap water, especially if you plan on keeping inverts down the line.

If you want to keep the tap water, it's not that big of a deal. It just may lead to problems later on with algae and keeping inverts. It would be a good idea at some point to buy an RODI unit (they go for around $150) to make your own RODI water, or start buying it for your tank.

Saltwater is pretty different from freshwater. Using a tap water conditioner doesn't help all that much.

Be sure to cycle your tank before you add any fish or other animals. You can cycle using a piece of raw shrimp from the grocery store, or some fish food left to rot in the tank.
 
Thanks alot for your replies so far. So what exactly is it that stays inside of tap water that can't be fixed? I just think it's interesting how many of you say "down the line". Do the chemicals in tap water not dissipate over time? I really don't want to start off wrong, But I also don't want to spend too much money. Is there a high quality product that can ultimately fix tap water? Also, can I place live rock in the tank after I put sand in? And How quickly does live rock turn sand into live sand? Is it really not worth it to buy live sand if you have live rock? Thanks a lot for your advice. Also what size mechanical filter is best for a 40 gallon, and what brand if any do you prefer?
 
There can be heavy metals in tap water. Namely, copper. Especially if you have copper or brass plumbing. Copper is fatal to inverts even at very small levels. The other main concerns are phosphate and nitrate, which can lead to continuous algae problems. You can't "fix" the tap water. Some tap water conditioners will neutralize chlorine and chloramines, but they won't do anything about the metals or algae fuel.

If you are worried about money, buying distilled water for a 40 gallon tank will cost around $30 at Walmart. The water you use is one of the most important considerations in a saltwater tank. I don't mean to sound blunt, but you may want to reconsider what you think is important to spend money on in your system. You will also have to top off to compensate for evaporated water on a daily basis. And you should be doing water changes once a week or two.

You will want to put the rock in before the sand. Or at least, have the rock directly on the glass, not sitting on the sand. If you place the rock on top of the sand, the sand will shift and it could cause a rock slide.

It is not worth it to buy live sand. Just buy dry aragonite sand. You'll save money on it, and as long as you use a few pieces of live rock, the sand will become live over a period of a few months.

Mechanical filters are not really for saltwater. They tend to lead to high nitrates and poor water quality. They do work fine if you keep them clean and change the cartridges regularly. It's bad if you let stuff build up on them. With a 40 gallon tank, you could also either get a protein skimmer (not a SeaClone or Red Sea Prizm -- those are some of the worst performing skimmers out there) or just going without a filter altogether and doing larger water changes more frequently.

Are you planning on keeping any photosynthetic animals such as corals, clams or anemones? If so, you will need special lights to keep those animals. Regular lights will not be strong enough.
 
Bifferwine said:
There can be heavy metals in tap water. Namely, copper. Especially if you have copper or brass plumbing. Copper is fatal to inverts even at very small levels. The other main concerns are phosphate and nitrate, which can lead to continuous algae problems. You can't "fix" the tap water. Some tap water conditioners will neutralize chlorine and chloramines, but they won't do anything about the metals or algae fuel.

If you are worried about money, buying distilled water for a 40 gallon tank will cost around $30 at Walmart. The water you use is one of the most important considerations in a saltwater tank. I don't mean to sound blunt, but you may want to reconsider what you think is important to spend money on in your system. You will also have to top off to compensate for evaporated water on a daily basis. And you should be doing water changes once a week or two.

You will want to put the rock in before the sand. Or at least, have the rock directly on the glass, not sitting on the sand. If you place the rock on top of the sand, the sand will shift and it could cause a rock slide.

It is not worth it to buy live sand. Just buy dry aragonite sand. You'll save money on it, and as long as you use a few pieces of live rock, the sand will become live over a period of a few months.

Mechanical filters are not really for saltwater. They tend to lead to high nitrates and poor water quality. They do work fine if you keep them clean and change the cartridges regularly. It's bad if you let stuff build up on them. With a 40 gallon tank, you could also either get a protein skimmer (not a SeaClone or Red Sea Prizm -- those are some of the worst performing skimmers out there) or just going without a filter altogether and doing larger water changes more frequently.

Are you planning on keeping any photosynthetic animals such as corals, clams or anemones? If so, you will need special lights to keep those animals. Regular lights will not be strong enough.
Click to expand...

Thankyou very much for your advice. I think I will just go ahead and buy the proper water....I really dont want my fish to live in water with radiation in it. How much live rock do you think is truly necessary to start out with in a 40 gallon if im budgeting. I think I am not going to buy live sand. I need to save the money. Thanks again. And yes I do want to keep corals and anenomes.
 
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You want to aim for 1 to 2 lbs of rock per gallon. But you can start slow and gradually add rock over time.

If you want to keep corals and anemones, the lighting is going to be your biggest expense. A new set of lights for a 40 gallon tank will cost a couple hundred to several hundred bucks. On a budget, it's best to stick with fish only, and slowly save up money for the proper lights. You can get some great deals if you buy used lights as well. Craigs List is a good place to find them.
 
Also look at that link I posted you can buy dry rock for $2 a pound and I believe they still offer free shipping, where as live rock will cost you any where from $6-10 a pound
 
Hello and welcome to the site...glad to have you. You've been given some great advice, we're here to help you get started in the right direction.
 
No, that's not possible. Deionization is the process of removing ions from the water. Salt is an ion. Which means if you try to deionize saltwater, it will turn it into freshwater. You don't want to deionize your tank water. You want to start with pure, deionized water and then mix your salt into it before you add it to the tank. Deionization is simply a way to remove impurities from water.
 
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