New 26 gallon

[Gti_Leo]

i'm new to the saltwater aquarium community, years ago i owned a fresh water aquarium, but i was 12 years old so i didn't care to really take care of it.

now, 14 years later after having done some research, i just purchased a 26 gallon bowfront aquarium kit to get a saltwater aquarium running. Aqueon 26 Gallon Deluxe Bow Front Aquarium Kit - New Year Sale - Holiday Sales - PetSmart

i purchases a new digital thermometer, a protein skimmer, i grabbed a head pump but i accitentally told the girl at the cash i didn't need it thinking it was just a regular pump for a bubbler :S, i was tired after a ling day of work sue me.

i also bought some live sand (not enough mind you). which brings me to my big question, the water in my area is pretty bad and we neeed a water softener to help soften and clean out our water, so i purchansed 5 gallon jugs of distilled water which i used to fill the tank up.

how i filled it is now worrying me, i put one jug of water in and added my salt to it, tested it and it was fine, i added another jug, didn't add any salt to it and then put in a small bag (i think 1lbs) of live sand, then i proceeded to filling the rest of the tank and it god very cloudy and foam formed on the surface from the sand. then added salt, testing it was bringing a low result, but i didn't want to add to much just incase all the salt hadn't disolved.
listening to my father i left the filter off to let the sand settle, but i resently turned it on as well as the skimmer and heater.

my question is, will i wake up to find my front hallway smells like dead live sand organisms or should i be alright with it?


if anyone can make some suggestions on if the filter is any good or if i should purchase another one, or just have suggestions on setting up the aquarium, feel free to let me know i'm open to suggestion and am anticipating a "you're an idiot" for my live sand incident.

thank,
Leo

 

[abdhalim2]

this is my suggestions...for start a new saltwater tank, u need this
1)hydrometer/refractometer - to measure the SG (specific gravity/salinity)..hydrometer much cheaper but inaccurate...better invest with refractometer..
2)test kits - its important for cycling process. u need to test your water for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate..
3)heater/chiller - depends where u are located, u need either heater or chiller..temperature can be varies depends on what type of tank..

that is the important kits u need to have....i might miss something which will be add by others here n i dont want to mention others need like salt, water etc...btw, better use RO/DI water for long term reason....

 

[Gti_Leo]

i forgot to mention i bought a hydroeter and a test kit.

what is a filter basically supposed to do? does it clean out particals in the water or does it also filter out ammonias an chlorine in the water?

also is the filter that comes in the kit a good filter for a salt water aquarium or should i buy another one

 

[mr_X]

there is probably nothing live in that sand now, and if there is, it's not enough that you would smell it if it died. you could mix water in a bucket and then add it when salinity is correct if you are worried about it. you would benefit immensely from reading the stickys the admins of this forum have supplied for all of us.
please read about properly cycling a tank before adding any livestock.
good luck!

 

[Gti_Leo]

there is probably nothing live in that sand now, and if there is, it's not enough that you would smell it if it died. you could mix water in a bucket and then add it when salinity is correct if you are worried about it. you would benefit immensely from reading the stickys the admins of this forum have supplied for all of us.
please read about properly cycling a tank before adding any livestock.
good luck!

how much would pose a problem to smell?

 

[cabezon]

You spilled water on the carpet.

Premix your water 24 hours in advance.

 

[Gti_Leo]

i just did some water testing (tested PO, KH, NO, and calcium) and everything comes back perfect except i have 40ppm of calcium :S looks liek i need to add calcium to the water

also did soem hydrostatic tests and its flutcuating, i'm using a plastic hydrometer and its moving around from 1.023-1.027

 

[abdhalim2]

bro.....i think for a starter test kits u should have ammonia, nitrites and nitrates test kit...phosphates or calcium not necessarily need for right now...

 

[mr_X]

your test kit is wrong. besides, if you add straight calcium to the water, you'll screw up your alkalinity. as abdhalim said, it's too early to be checking for calcium anyway, but when you are ready, you might invest in a calcium test kit by a company called "salifert". it's going to give you a more accurate reading.
you should also invest in a refractometer to check salinity. as you are quickly finding out, swing arm hydrometers are not accurate.

 

[Gti_Leo]

lol i had bought the wrong kit , i bought the reef testing kit, rather then the salt water one that i bought yesterday. which i ran some tests and all but the ammonia come out good, i guess i'll have to cycle the water for a few weeks to get it all out i also have pictures of my aquarium up and runnign with live rocks in it

 

[mr_X]

get rid of that big filter on the bottom of that aquaclear power head.
is that little thing your protein skimmer? the one with the wooden air stone? that's very good for aerating the water, but not for much else i'm afraid.
you can and should remove the air stone that's behind the rock. you don't need that and it will probably just cause salt buildup on your hood and lighting.
i would also try to leave the lights off as much as possible while cycling the tank. during the cycle the water is nutrient rich. that combined with light makes for a perfect environment for nuisance algae to grow.

 

[Gti_Leo]

hmm thanks i'll keep it off, i've had it on during the day to add a nice look, but i'll keep it off while its cycling.

how come i should remove the filter on my headpump, are they not required?

is there a better brans of skimmer i should get?

 

[melosu58]

Octopus brand skimmer is the best IMO.

 

[Gti_Leo]

mines an oceanic, once my tank starts to get bigger i'll look into changing it out for now its not even collecting anything so theres no point

 

[mr_X]

i mentioned removing the filter because it's obtrusive, and will probably just be a nitrate producing problem for you in a short time. why would you want to have to put your hands in the tank and freak out the fish to change/clean that thing weekly?

your tank is small. you could get away without a protein skimmer if you wanted. it's quite easy to keep that tank healthy and looking good with nothing more than weekly 15-20% water changes.
i would rather have more space inside the tank than that skimmer. generally, skimmers that are made for nanos don't really work very well. the oceanic model included.

 

[Gti_Leo]

has anyone used an LED light strip for their reef aquariums. i'm an electrician so i have access to LED strip lighing, and i know an LED strip can give of alot more light at a MUCH MUCH lower wattage.

 

[mr_X]

the LED strips you have access to will not support photosynthetic creatures. the ones that LED reef fixtures utilize are 1 and 3 watts a piece. i'm not saying you can't build a fixture, but it's not a series of LEDs that are the same ones used in standard applications.

 

[Gti_Leo]

hmm i was just thinking, that with my power head filteri could always put ammonia and nitrogeon media fill in it and add some extra cleaning to the water.

its not a big tank and i know this so i'm tryign to figure out ways that i can increase the filtration and cleaning so i can put more then 4 fish. i've got 19 pounds of live rock which i moved around so i have more space for more which i'm told helps with filtering also

 

[Gti_Leo]

after 2 weeks i did my test and the ammonian and nitrite came back at 0 ph came in at 8.1ish and nitrate at 5ppm so i figured i'd get a few hardy clownfish and some inverst, 4 snails 2 mexican turbos and 2 astreas and 3 hermit crabs( forgot what the yare called but they have blue legs, and aren't blue legged hermits lol)

 

[mr_X]

salt fish aren't like fresh water fish. you just can't put as many in a confined space, no matter how clean the water is. they will stress out, immune systems will get weaker, and they will get sick. either that or they will jump on you, or kill each other.
that said, it's never bad to have extra filtration.