New to Saltwater

C

CastorTroy2150

Reefing newb
Hello all, Im new to Saltwater and need some help here. I have done more then my share of Freshwater but as we all know they are pretty different. I got a complete set up from a lady who never got around to using it. 45 Gallon Hex, stand, rock, New Sand in bag, New salt in bag, Filter and Skimmer. The filter is a Fluval 404, should work all right, and the skimmer is a Seaclone. I know that most people say the seaclones are garbage, and plan to get another.... Any suggestions? Anyway, the Filter has 4 medium trays, any hints or advice on which trays to put which medium in and what if anything to use besides the spounge, carbon and ceramic discs or Biomax as stated on the box.... Never had a tank that was anything bout bought brand new and I really am unsure even though all the equipment is not used.... The seaclone has a top compartment that i think is supposed to full with water, I have seen talk on adjusting or "tune." What exactly is ment by tune? sigh, any help would be great....unsure of cycling rules for salt if the are different.... so any basic, good advice all around would be GREAT! thanks!
 
Hi and welcome!

If you are planning on hanging the skimmer off the back of the tank (HOB), the two best brands are Aqua C (the Remora Pro is a good HOB skimmer) and Octopus (which has a few different HOB models). The Fluval may lead to more water quality problems than it's worth down the road. Those types of filters generally don't do well for saltwater setups.

The top compartment of the SeaClone is supposed to fill with dirty brown foam, which is the gunk that is pulled from the tank. When it fills up, you empty the cup down the sink or toilet or whatever. Problem is, the SeaClone doesn't really do a great job of filling up that cup in the first place, but it will be fine for a new tank that is your size until you can upgrade skimmers.

I think the biggest thing you can do from the start to get your tank headed in the right direction is to NOT use tap water. Tap water is one of the worst things you can put in a saltwater setup.

You should only use RODI water. You can either buy a RODI unit to make your own water (they run about $100 and up), or you can buy RODI water from Walmart, the grocery store, the fish store, etc. Just look on the label that it is prepared using "Reverse Osmosis". Some grocery stores and Walmarts will let you bring your own containers and fill them up at a machine.

The cycle for saltwater is very different than freshwater. You're looking for 3 parameters. First, ammonia will rise. Then nitrite will rise. As ammonia and nitrite drop, nitrate will rise. Once ammonia and nitrite are both back at zero, your cycle is considered complete. Then you should do a water change to bring your nitrates down, and then it's safe to add your first animal/s.

Do not add any livestock to the tank until it has completely cycled. In saltwater, cycling a tank usually takes 3 weeks or more. So patience is key.

I think that's about it for the basics. What animals are you thinking of adding? Are you going for a fish only tank? Or a reef tank?

In either case, you will need some live rock. You can order live rock online or buy it at a fish store. 1 to 2 lbs of rock per gallon is the best. So you'd need 45 to 90 lbs. Live rock will serve as your tank's main source of biological filtration and it's one of the most important components of a saltwater tank, especially if the rest of your filtration isn't great.
 
Thanks! I do not have live rock, I have about 65 lbs of old live rock, I was hoping to purchase some live rock that actually is live and allow it to propigate or transfer to the other rock...that will work, right? And as far as the tap water.....welll....... to late for that...lol :( o well will that completely flop me or can I save it.... I have been told to add fish to cycle, this will help aid the production of bacteria....never did that with my chiclid tanks but I thought maybe saltwater may be different... I would like to have fish and some anemones but would like to stick to smaller fish and whant not. Would like some shrimp, small inverts. and the like. I would like to have severl fish in the tank that will remain small, if the priciples are the same as fresh this will allow me to have more fish without overloading the environment....The Ammonia and nitrite cycle seems to be exactly like fresh, that is the same as all freshwater cycles I have done.....Both rise and as the tank cylces they come back down(perferably to 0) and nitrates need to stay in the 30-40 range....

Ok well thanks for the info, so if you have to suggest a skimmer and a filter....Shoot, tell me your preference, I would perfer a sump but on a tank this small....the shap of the stand would make it a pain....I have a RO water setup and could use it but didnt, I always did in my water changes in my cycled established tanks....but started with tap and adjsuted untill the perameters were correct.... can I still save it? thanks!
 
instead of using fish to cycle the tank, you could do something called ghost feeding
get some frozen mysis and add some to the tank, let it decompose and this will start the cycle

or you could get some live rock that is not cured, put it in the tank and as its curing it will begin the cycle

i wouldnt use fish to cycle, since the fish that are usally recommended are damsels and most people end up not wanting them down the road because they get very agressive.

In regards to the canister filter, they dont work well because of the nitrate buildup in them, however if its all you have it will work for now . Just keep in mind that you should upgrade to a sump in the near future, i know some poeple that use hang on back filters also. I think it really depends on what will be in your tank.

ask away on this site
great people
lots of knowledge
and nobody trying to sell you anything
 
That will work perfectly. If you buy a few pieces of live rock, it will seed the old rock and soon enough that will be live too.

Using tap water to set up the tank initially isn't a death sentence. If you do all your water changes with RODI water from now on, you'll eventually get rid of the initial tap water.

Do not cycle a tank with fish. There's no reason to. The only fish that are able to survive cycles are really mean and nasty and will later on try to kill any other fish you add to the tank. People are told to cycle the tank with damsels, but you do not want to be stuck with a damsel in your tank if it survives.

You can just as effectively cycle the tank by adding some fish food to the tank and letting it rot. It achieves the same effect and is more humane and smart.

Anemones are some of the most challenging animals to keep in this hobby. They require very strong light, and very mature, established tanks. It's usually not recommended to add an anemone until your tank is a year or so old. They require stronger light than most corals, so if you have it in your budget to buy proper lighting, you can definitely get anemones down the road. Regular tank lighting will not be enough to keep them alive though.
 
Welcome to the site and the hobby.
Theres a lot of us thats started tanks with tap water.Its not a kill all mistake,but its one that can cause you to pull your hair out.Just from here on out,use RO/DI for top offs and water changes.
Allow the tank to run and mature for 6 months to a year before adding an anemone.They require prestine water conditions that are stable.
For stocking fish,figure 1 inch of adult sized fish per 10 gallons of tank size.
 
I cycled with some damsels. They lived through it and now I still have a Blue Devil which I have never been able to catch after two years.

BTW Welcome to the site.
 
i cycled with green chromis still have them very docile. At the time was only way I knew how to cycle a tank.
 
dcantucson said:
I cycled with some damsels. They lived through it and now I still have a Blue Devil which I have never been able to catch after two years.
Click to expand...

I haven't been trying for two years, but have the same problem :frustrat:. That annoying little bastard stressed out and killed a pair of Anthias I tried to add, which wasn't the smartest move on my part in the first place...but still :grumble:
 
Ok, thanks for all the info...Tank is up an running, now, where do I go from here besides waiting on the cycle....??? I need to ensure the salinity is correct I believe a Hydrometer is used for this? What should the water salinity be when tested with a Hydrometer? Also, as far as water temp where sould I be shooting for? I am jsut looking for my next steps....as far as cycle time 4 weeks Is about right,correct? Any particular type of food to add to cycle. And also what is the difference between cured and non cured live rock, someone mentioned that as well...Thanks!
 
You can test your salinity with a Hydrometer, but you should use a Refractometer. Hydrometers are cheaper but unreliable. Your salinity should be around 1.24 (+/- .01).

Water temp depends on live stock, I keep mine at 78/79, some people keep their at 76 other at 82...it depends what you're keeping, but anywhere in that range, (76 to 82) as long as it is consistent should be fine I believe

Cycle time of 4 weeks is average, but you should be testing your water to verify that cycling has completed.

If you're tank has already started cycling then you don't really need to add anything except for R/O Fresh Water as the water evaporates, but if you still have yet to have an ammonia SPIKE, you could really thow in any type of fish food you have as it will decompose and cause the spike.

Cured rock already has healthy bacteria on it (as well as other goodies depending where you buy it from) where as non cured is really just rock.
 
dcantucson said:
I believe Kid meant 1.024 on the Salinity.
I keep mine at 1.025-1.026
Click to expand...

:shock:....uhhhh, ya...that' what I meant....haha, damn zeros...there's just to many numbers...let's just call it .7% by volume or something, then again, I'd prefer 40% by volume but that has nothing to do with salt content :mrgreen:
 

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