new saltwater aquarium owner...

[proverbs]

hello. i am a new owner of a 40 gallon JEBO saltwater aquarium. i'm also new to the whole aquairum thing in general. i was looking for some cool fish sites and ran into aquariumadvice. this site seems to be the coolest out of all the ones i saw.
i just finished setting my tank up today. it was actually pretty easy since it's one of those all-in-one aquariums with the heater, filter, and lights. i put the NovAqua and AmQuel and mixed the salt in the water. i used my salt meter and it says that the salt level is perfect.
i am planning to put my live sand in about 5 days later and some fish a few days after i put the sand in. is there anything else that i NEED for the aquarium? is there anything else you guys would recommend me doing?

i've been waiting a long time to get an aquarium and i finally saved up some money and made some room for the aquarium so i'm damn excited!

thanks for any advice.

 

[flame82]

The live sand should be put in asap with the water and all equipment. Also have you cycled the tank, i assume you have not. If you have not you need to drop a raw shrimp in and wait at least three weeks and then test the water. After you have done this you can add one fish and see how it goes and more marine life slowly. Also do you have any lr or are you using biowheels for the bio load? There is more to know than this but its a place to start and then go from here to there.
good luck.

 

[flame82]

Oh i forgot did you use tap water to fill the tank or ro/di water ?? also do you have a test kit?

 

[mastershake]

although the advice above is decent, i reccomend going to a book store and pick up a copy of "the conscientious marine aquarist" thsi book is really well written adn easy to understand for the beginner, it discusses the cycling process and will help a whole lot when you wanna know what kind of equipment does what and how to start and stock and maintain a tank...its a lot of work at first but once you get things rolling its fairly simple. welcome to the hobby, the site, and hope people here can help as much as possible. but the book is well worth the money and the sooner you get it and start reading the better off you will be. HTH

 

[proverbs]

thanks for your replies.

flame - i did not know i was supposed to put the live sand in asap - so i will do that tonight or tomorrow morning. i also used tap water - does this matter? i know i have to change about a 1/4 of the water every month - and when i do this, i will buy the water at my LFS. i am planning to get some live rocks in the upcoming week.

mastershake - i will order that book online when i get a chance.

 

[DragonForce]

You need to purchase a RO/DI system, or buy your saltwater/freshwater topoff from the local LFS like I do.


You should do a couple hours of researching and reading online each night till your tank cycles. Search and read through as many articles and posts on here as you possibly can.

 

[flame82]

I have not read that book but i did read " The Aquarium" lots of good info. You can also look on this site they have the good books to read, so you dont waste your time on books that are senseless.

 

[Gatorfreak]

As someone who has been in SW for a year, I've probably saved $5 per hour of time spent reading these forums by not killing fish and not buying unnecessary equipment. Be patient and research every step. It will really save you time and money.

I didn't see any mention of LR. Do you know what you want your tank to look like? Reef, FOWLR, just fish and live sand?

 

[austinsdad]

mastershake - i will order that book online when i get a chance.

I'd recommend you get it beofre you take another step. As you understand more, you'll minimize headaches and a bad experience. From your plans in the first post (although you have been advised differently now/above), you were almost headed for a disaster. Take your time, it'll be well worth it.

Good luck... and of course, Welcome to AA!

 

[melosu58]

I agree that the first thing you need to do is figure out what kind of tank you want and then research the daylights out of it. It will take a while for your tank to cycle so you will have plenty of time. Alot of good advice has been given to you.

 

[joeybuzz2006]

Is your budget limited???? If not I would suggest purchasing Cured live Rock right away....around 40lbs....Then also add A powerhead for water movement. After that if your really want fish in your tank and do not want to do a fishless cycle, add only one blue, or domino damselfish, and leave your tank be for 6-8 weeks.....After that if all your levels are fine then only add one fish per month because it will take at least 6-8 months for your tank to become fully established.....Also since it is only a 40 gallon, adding more than one fish at a time ( even after 6-8 weeks) will be a heavy bioload for your tank and will throw your levels off at that point.. Also in my opinion look into the emperor 400 filter..
Good luck....

 

[joeybuzz2006]

I forgot...Cured live rock is expensive...If you cant afford 40 or more lbs all at once you can start slow and add maybe 10- or 20 now, and add more as you go...

 

[melosu58]

I would advise against cycling the tank with a live fish. Someone earlier gave some good advice and said put a small raw shrimp in the tank and just let it do its job in cycling the tank . It is cruel to put a live fish in the tank and go through the cycle that will happen. Most fish will not make it through the ammonia spike and those that do will be mean and overly agressive. One thing about this hobby is that you need to show compassion to all forms of life including aquatic life. Save a life and cycle your tank right.

 

[joeybuzz2006]

I see your point, but i've used my domino damsel to cycly my first 29 gallon, then my 55 gallon, and he's going to cylce my 150 also....he is the biggest healthiest damsel i've ever seen at almost 4 inches.... At that time i was told to start with a damselfish, Nobody told me about fishless cylcle when i was a noobie... I suggested that to him, beacause with one fish cycling his system maybe he wont get new tank syndrome after his fish less cycle and go add 2 or 3 fish at once which in a 40 gallon tank would just throw it into a cycle again.....

 

[melosu58]

If its cycled it is cycled. I just know that if you were that fish you would not want to go through those cycles. I`m sorry but that`s just bad advice

 

[joeybuzz2006]

yeah...I just read an article on fishless cycle, I am definatly going to fishless cycle my new tanks in the future

 

[JohnS]

Hi proverbs and welcome! Like all of the others have said, you need to be patient. That was absolutely the HARDEST thing in the world for me. I was so desparate to see fish swimming it was insane. Fortunately, I read, read, read and read some more during the seventy-five months my tank cycled (that's how long it felt, anyway ) and when I finally was in a position to add fish things went quite well. I've been in the hobby one year today and continue to learn more everyday.

Listen to the people here. They are absolutely the best. They genuinely have the best interests of you and the critters you bring into your home in their heart.

Good luck!

 

[proverbs]

i noticed that there are white dots that look like water spots in my tank, is this normal? and the residue from the sand is still on the surface. do i just leave everything - or can i manually clean some stuff? its been 2-3 days since i put the water in.
i'm planning to get my live rock tonight.

 

[runway1]

You also mentioned a 25% water change monthly. For a FOWLR tank, I would say 15% every two weeks. For a reef tank, I would say 10%-15% weekly.

Especially for a smaller tank. Smaller, more frequent PWC's are far healthier than a 25%/month shocker.

This forum is steering your well. Have you decided on what type of tank? FO, FOWLR, reef, partial reef? It's very important to have your tank reasonably focused. It will define your equipment requirements; Lights, skimmer, etc.

 

[dianeww]

partial reef

What's this mean?