i hate to sound dumb but...

[bubbymac]

i'm new to this saltwater thing and have a quick question. When i do the water change this weekend how much do i take out and then can i reuse the water or do i sust get rid of it. i have a 29g biocube. I bought 30gallon pre mixed sw at the lfs. i have 10 gallon left. can i put that in a rubber made container with a ph and heater on it and keep it instead of haning to buy new all the time?

 

[austinsdad]

Can't use the old salt water. Dump it.

How old is your setup and what's inthe tank?

 

[roka64]

If you are willing to go the pre mixing (awesome idea!), buy your own salt mix and premix with a ph and heater for at least 24 hours. You want to match the temp and salinity to your tank's.
I have a 32G plastic trash can and keep it constantly mixing. Remember, the water will evaporate so yop off with FW. RO/DI is the best.
And no, you don't sound dumb. I had some of the same questions!

Welcome to the site!

 

[melosu58]

Yeah as Ray said you just get rid of the old water. The trace elements have been stripped and it`s full of excessive nutrients. That`s the purpose of PWC`s to relenish trace elements and take out excessive nutrients like nitrates and phosphates. I would do 25% PWC`s.

 

[bubbymac]

i started my tank on sunday. Right now the only thing that is in it about 14# live rock, 20 pound live sand and some crushed coral/seashells. There are a couple of snails and crabs that where on the rock.

 

[austinsdad]

What do you mean "started"? Cycled? How?

 

[bubbymac]

i bought tank on saturday, put water, substrate, rock in on sunday that is what i mean by started

 

[want2findnemo]

Um.. So did you just buy a tank put salt water in it....

.. and then just threw rock and inverts in there right away?

 

[roka64]

Bubby, sorry if we seem impolite, but the previous are standard questions.
I think the question is what did you use as an ammonia source, to kick off your cycle?

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

Sounds like a little reading on cycling the tank might come in handy. Here's a good article...

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/articles/articles/3/1/Cycle-your-salt-tank/Page1.html
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/artic...ks-for-your-fastest-fishless-cycle/Page1.html
Before you start stocking the tank with critters, you need to make sure there's a population of bacteria living in the tank. That bacteria is really important because it's going to do the job of converting the ammonia (from fish poop, fish breathing, leftover food rotting away, etc) into something harmless to the fish/coral/crabs/etc. Ammonia is toxic to live stuff, but the end result (nitrates) is NOT toxic. And that's where the water changes come in... to get rid of the nitrates.

Read over that article, and also the ones in roka64's signature block, and hit us with more questions. We've all been down this road and have asked "dumb" questions ourselves.

 

[bubbymac]

yes i did

Um.. So did you just buy a tank put salt water in it....

.. and then just threw rock and inverts in there right away?

Basically that is what i did. I really didn't mean to get the critters that jsut kinda happened. I don;t think your impolite. i'm sorry to sound stupid. i have been ready as much as i can believe me.

 

[melosu58]

Everything is right on track. Start cycling your tank right now and you`ll be good to go.

 

[want2findnemo]

I dont think you really need to do water change until tank is cycled.

Cool how your tank came with all those inverts!

 

[austinsdad]

We've all been down this road and have asked "dumb" questions ourselves.


Oh really Kurt??? I resemble that remark.

Bubbymac, around here, there is no such thing as a dumb question. What is dumb IMO is not asking.

 

[ellisz]

Water changes might help the crabs and snails have a chance to live but it will prolong the cycle. If the Rock was cured and live, you might be in decent shape as well.

 

[bubbymac]

the tank didn't come with them the rock i purchased did. another rock i pruchased has a bunch of little shrimp looking things working on it. it is kinda cool watching them. I never thought it would be so cool just to watch rock....

 

[lindsaylaw]

Bubbymac
I agree that even the rock is cool. I have been watching neat little things emerge from the LR - button polyps, tiny snails, sea stars, serpent stars, a feather duster and a couple of bristle worms (arghh!). If you can enjoy even these small developments the time will pass quickly until you add more to your tank. Have fun and good luck!

 

[bubbymac]

thanks