Looking to get into saltwater for the first time

[George9]

Hey all you salties out there!

Im looking to start my first saltwater tank (fowlr for now-we'll see about some corals when I get used to saltwater) I'm going to start with a 20 gallon L tank which is as big as I can go for now . I have a lot of questions.

Cycling-can I do the regular fishless cycling with ammonia?

Ph-could it be anywhere on the range like freshwater?

Anything special I have to do in a sw fowlr compared to a fw community? Just feed and make sure salinity is good? Or is there more to it?

Topping the tank off-do I make saltwater just to top the tank off? Or do you top it off with freshwater because the salt doesn't evaporate?

Live Rock- what does it do, anything special? I plan on getting 30 lbs of base rock and maybe 5 lbs of live Rock.

Corals- do you feed them? What do I have to test for with corals? Can you give me the jist on how to keep them alive and healthy?

Water-rodi water is best to use, I know. But my parents got a water filter for the kitchen. It looks like an rodi system, it has the 3 cylinder filter things. It hooks up to the tap and I just turn the water on and bam it's filtered. I'm going to list all the things it removes in a second. But, would I be able to use this water? Or would rodi water be best? Edit: this is what it removes:
Lead
Cyst
VOCs
Sand
Silt
Sediment
Rust
Particulates
Chlorine taste and odor


Phew that's a lot. Thanks in advance

 

[Gboy66]

Hey all you salties out there!

Im looking to start my first saltwater tank (fowlr for now-we'll see about some corals when I get used to saltwater) I'm going to start with a 20 gallon L tank which is as big as I can go for now . I have a lot of questions.

Cycling-can I do the regular fishless cycling with ammonia?

Ph-could it be anywhere on the range like freshwater?

Anything special I have to do in a sw fowlr compared to a fw community? Just feed and make sure salinity is good? Or is there more to it?

Topping the tank off-do I make saltwater just to top the tank off? Or do you top it off with freshwater because the salt doesn't evaporate?

Live Rock- what does it do, anything special? I plan on getting 30 lbs of base rock and maybe 5 lbs of live Rock.

Corals- do you feed them? What do I have to test for with corals? Can you give me the jist on how to keep them alive and healthy?

Water-rodi water is best to use, I know. But my parents got a water filter for the kitchen. It looks like an rodi system, it has the 3 cylinder filter things. It hooks up to the tap and I just turn the water on and bam it's filtered. I'm going to list all the things it removes in a second. But, would I be able to use this water? Or would rodi water be best? Edit: this is what it removes:
Lead
Cyst
VOCs
Sand
Silt
Sediment
Rust
Particulates
Chlorine taste and odor

Phew that's a lot. Thanks in advance

Hey bud haha! Ill help here!

1. Not sure. I havent heard of it being done in a sw tank, but you could i guess. I would just use a shrimp or mysis..

2. For a reef you want a higher ph

3. hmm..just feed i guess! Im trying to think os a difference. Just test like in fw and feed.

4. Yeah just top off with temp matched rodi water.

5. Live rock helps the cycle, and it also seeds tge base rock with its algaes like coraline. Fun hitch hikers too!

6. For the easy corals you will be doing, no feeding is requires. They get what they need from their lighting and the nutrients in the water. Just do water changes!

7.you already know im stumped on this one! Lol.

 

[George9]

Hey bud haha! Ill help here!

1. Not sure. I havent heard of it being done in a sw tank, but you could i guess. I would just use a shrimp or mysis..

2. For a reef you want a higher ph

3. hmm..just feed i guess! Im trying to think os a difference. Just test like in fw and feed.

4. Yeah just top off with temp matched rodi water.

5. Live rock helps the cycle, and it also seeds tge base rock with its algaes like coraline. Fun hitch hikers too!

6. For the easy corals you will be doing, no feeding is required. They get what they need from their lighting and the nutrients in the water. Just do water changes!

7.you already know im stumped on this one! Lol.

Okay lol. I didn't want to keep bombarding you with PM's, so heres the thread

1. but wouldnt the shrimp just break down to ammonia anyway? so just adding pure ammonia save a few days waiting for the shrimp to make ammonia? I dont know, it could be different for sw.

 

[Gboy66]

Okay lol. I didn't want to keep bombarding you with PM's, so heres the thread

1. but wouldnt the shrimp just break down to ammonia anyway? so just adding pure ammonia save a few days waiting for the shrimp to make ammonia? I dont know, it could be different for sw.

Lol! Cool beans.

I think it would. Again, ive never heard of people cycling that way. We need another idea

 

[Retired_AF]

There is a lot of good info on the sticky with the articles to get started. They will answer a lot of your questions.

 

[George9]

I just checked some of those stickies out, helped soo much.

I just found this substrate and I was going to buy it for the tank. I just saw that it says that you can add fish right away? whats the deal with this stuff f anyone knows? Some of the reviews confirmed the instant cycle part, but I'd still be leery (sp?) of it. Aquarium Substrates: Nature's Ocean Bio-Active Reef Sand and Reef Substrate

found this promising review too: http://www.amazon.com/Natures-Ocean...dp_top_cm_cr_acr_txt?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1

 

[Supra]

Yes u can cycle with pure ammonia like freshwater. Not sure of the substrate but I doubt it would work.
Supra

 

[carey]

There isn't much benefit to using the "live " sand, you need to cycle the tank the regular way. I mean how long do you think bacteria can sit in a bag on the shelf?
lol

 

[George9]

Yeah lol. Scratch the live sand.

Will coraline (sp?) algae eventually grow on the bare base rock so it blends in with the live Rock?

Can someone name the absolute easiest couple corals to keep so I can do a little research in them a little?

 

[Gboy66]

Yeah lol. Scratch the live sand.

Will coraline (sp?) algae eventually grow on the bare base rock so it blends in with the live Rock?

Can someone name the absolute easiest couple corals to keep so I can do a little research in them a little?

Yes it will (coraline question)

Xenia. Mushrooms. Two veryveryvery easy corals,

 

[George9]

Yes it will (coraline question)

Xenia. Mushrooms. Two veryveryvery easy corals,

I'll look into some of those! What would 96 watts of t5 HO be for corals? I believe it's 2 18 watt 10k and 2 18 watt actinic. The numbers may be different but either 16 or 18 watts lol.

Edit-it's actually 24 watts each lol. Stupid math

 

[George9]

I've been looking at a ton of saltwater tank setup videos on YouTube. Every single one of the videos used a bacteria starter product and added fish after a couple days. I don't think they work though. What's the easiest and most used method to cycling a saltwater tank (besides using seeded media)?

And, how many pounds of base rock and live rock for a 20 g? I was going to do 30 lbs base and 5 lbs live, but it seems like a lot.

 

[George9]

Does anyone know anything at all about the water filter?

This is what I said from above :

Water-rodi water is best to use, I know. But my parents got a water filter for the kitchen. It looks like an rodi system, it has the 3 cylinder filter things. It hooks up to the tap and I just turn the water on and bam it's filtered. I'm going to list all the things it removes in a second. But, would I be able to use this water? Or would rodi water be best? Edit: this is what it removes:
Lead
Cyst
VOCs
Sand
Silt
Sediment
Rust
Particulates
Chlorine taste and odor

 

[AquaRick]

I've been looking at a ton of saltwater tank setup videos on YouTube. Every single one of the videos used a bacteria starter product and added fish after a couple days. I don't think they work though. What's the easiest and most used method to cycling a saltwater tank (besides using seeded media)?

And, how many pounds of base rock and live rock for a 20 g? I was going to do 30 lbs base and 5 lbs live, but it seems like a lot.

I've never bought into those bacteria cycling start ups. I used a couple and never noticed a major difference.

I'd reccomend doing a fishless cycle with pure ammonia:
The (almost) Complete Guide and FAQ to Fishless Cycling

As to how much rock, most folks go with 1-1.5 lbs of rock per gallon. So the 35lbs total seems good. If you're doing a sump, you can add more rock or put some of it down there.