Newwww

BlueSi4

Reefing newb
Hey everyone!

Well this is my first time having a saltwater aquarium, and so far, i'm not as lost as i thought i would be. I have everything up and running, had the tank for a couple days already, and i just have a little problem besides the typical high levels of ammonia. The water in my tank is at a constant 85-86F, and i have no idea why. The heater is set to 78F, and when i put the water in the tank, i don't think it was that warm. What is wrong? or how can i lower the temperature of the water?
 
Your water parameters are gunna change a lot over the next 2-4 weeks. First your ammonia will be high, then your nitrites, and finally your nitrates will spike and your tank will be covered in algae. Its called cycling. As for the temp issue heres a very helpful post from the coolest guy on this site
https://www.livingreefs.com/forums/newbies-reefing/3301-sky-rocketing-tank-temperatures.html
And BTW welcome to the site..... You will find everyone here is pretty helpful. It sounds kinda corny but theres no stupid questions here..... learn from our expensive mistakes.
 
haha, thanks!
i stumbled across that post and i put a fan in front of the tank and it seems to work, so far it has dropped about a degree, which is not bad. around what temperature should the tank be at?
so for these couple of weeks, what should i be doing with the tank? when do i add fresh water? do i premix if first or do i just put tap water and then add the conditioner and then the salt?
any advice is welcome...i read a couple of books but i'm still not sure on what to do and stuff
 
NO TAP WATER..... mix your saltwater in separate containers the night before you add it. You can buy/make DI or RO water and add salt if you like or you can buy premixed salt water from most LFS. Don't plan on adding anything cool for the next 3-4 weeks. I know it kills but your tank has to get established before anything can be added. In two weeks or so you can add some snails and hermit crabs (a cleaning crew). Your tank should sit around 78-80F degrees in the summer. Be patient.... again learn from our expensive mistakes.
 
Ok, so what is DI or RO? I can't put tap water even if there's the conditioner? I mean so far all my parameters are good except the ammonia levels which are too high, so i guess tap water isn't working that bad.
Also, i know now to put any fish or anything like that for a couple of weeks, but i've started with 15lb of live rock that i purchased at store that just deals with saltwater fish (the rock was taken out of one of their aquariums, and it's got algae all over, so i'm guessing this will speed up the cycle process?)
as far as the setup goes, how much lb of live rock should i be at before i put any fish in, or what is the recommended amount. i also wanted to put an anemone or a xenia in when i put my clownfish, but i've been hearing that anemones are really hard to maintain?
 
Tap water contains heavy metals, nitrates, phosphates, all that bad stuff you definitely don't want in your tank. RODI water is Reverse Osmosis De Ionized. You can buy it at your LFS (Local Fish Store) or even Walmart. You can also buy an RODI unit that hooks up to your sink to make your own.

Plus, if you plan on having a protein skimmer, you won't be able to use water conditioner anyways. Conditioner will make the skimmer not work.

Plan on having one to two pounds of live rock per gallon. So in a 46 gallon tank, aim for about 50 to 100 lbs.

Anemones are really hard to maintain. You need the correct lighting and pristine water conditions. It's recommended that you add an anemone after your tank has been up and running and stable for at least a year.

As for your temperatures, try to keep it between 76 and 80 degrees. Heaters are weird. If your water is too hot, lower your heater setting even if you think it's already at 78. Just keep lowering it until you get your tank to the temperature you want it at.

Water that evaporates out of your tank is freshwater, the salt is left behind. Always replace evaporated water with freshwater (it should still be RODI). When you do water changes, you take water out and replace it with new saltwater (also RODI).
 
thank you for all the input guys, it's really helping me a lot

here are a couple of pictures i took this morning of my setup

632s1tl.jpg



53k94pe.jpg
 
Biffs got you pretty well covered as far as water goes.
Is that real drift wood or the plastic stuff?If its real wood,it may not be very good for your tank.If its plastic,then coraline will eventually cover it.
Since you already mentioned that you want some corals,you'll have to upgrade your light.You'll want 5 to 6 watts per gallon to support most soft corals.More if you decide to add large polyp stonies (LPS) and small polyp stonies (SPS).
Is that a 3 stripe damsiel I see in there? Just so you know,They become little demons spawned from the deepest darkest reaches of hell.
 
Whoa!I hope thats the fake driftwood and not the real thing.The real thing is not saltwater safe.If its the fake wood then make absolutely sure its safe for saltwater.Not all decoration is saltwater safe.Besides that everything looks nice.I would continue to add additional live rock til you get to the 1-2lbs per gallon.

BTW,welcome to the site!
 
As far as the wood thing goes, YES it is fake wood lol. It came with the tank when i bought it, and i was told it's safe for saltwater, and as so far, my damsel loves it!!
Now, the fish is a damselfish with 3 stripes like you said. I went to the place where i bought my live rock and they told me i should put in a hardy damselfish to help get the cycle started and everything, and even though the first day she was very shy, she's getting a little bit more comfortable. Is this a good fish to have in the tank? Or will i have problems when i start adding the other fish, such as clownfish, tangs, etc.
Thank you for all the help guys!!
 
You might have problems because can get very aggressive, but then you night luck out he could be nicer one. If he is a mean one he will be extreamly hard to catch and you might have to take everything out to catch him, because they are very fast and manuver very well. That is why alot of people wont buy them. You could also cycle your tank with a dead piece of table shrimp, a pinch of fish food, but weres the fun in watch those.LOL Well good luck and welcome to the site.
 
Bobby's right, damsels are super aggressive and you might have problems down the road with yours when you start adding more fish. I wouldn't recommend a tang for a 46 gallon tank, they need a lot more space than that.
 
Whew!Glad to hear thats fake driftwood.In your pic,the damsel looks like a Three-stripe Damsel.Well,any case,they are aggressive and probably may give its tank mates hell.
 
Congratulations on selecting the salt side of the hobby. you will have a lot of fun with it. welcome to the site.
 
so yes, i'm pretty much covered, althought i have one more question!
how long should i have the lights on?? today i bought a timer (finally!) and i was wondering how long should the lights be on, and i guess why? up till now i've been doing manually and htey've been on for about 12-14 hours a day
 
Most people leave them on for 8 to 12 hours a day, depending on what animals they are keeping (corals and anemones need more light) and if they are having algae problems (if you have algae, you should keep them on for a shorter period of time).
 
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