New tank questions

[Landy]

Ok so I bought the tank, live sand, sw, live rock, filter and uh I think thats it.

So I bought all the stuff and then my parents say I can't put it up, so I got pissed, its a 10 gallon but I think they'll cave, so I put the rock in the water so it stays active or wutever, so thats sitting in my garage with a lid on it in a 5 gallon bucket.

So I went to the sw fish store and this guys trying to sell me everything, I'm like no. He wanted to sell me this big *** tank cuz a small 10 galllon is impossible to keep the right balance, and my buddy had a 7 gallon so I'm like, no, then he wants me to buy all these lights, and a light that won't even fit my tank, then he wants me to buy, this stuff for filters, he said mech. filters are old and bad, I need live rock in the filter then this mesh stuff then this other mesh stuff then carbon, cuz it stops nitrates and all that stuff and I know that nitrates is algae. Then he wants me to buy a power head, I'm like, no. So all I bought was water sand and rock.

So, will my rock and sand and water be ok sitting there for a while in my garage? Does it need light? And how long can it sit there?

And, should I get all that crazy filter stuff? If it really works I could use that on my freshwater too, right.

And how often if at all should I clean the glass on the tank?

This is my first sw and I think I know a lot but I know I can learn more so any info would be appreciated.

 

[Ziggy953]

A few things...

You will need salt water test kits.

What the guy was telling you about LR being your filtration is correct and having it in your filter is a good idea. A 10g SW tank is very difficult to keep balanced because it is so small. You will be very limited on what fish you can keep. Power heads are a good thing to have and a small one in a 10g is a good idea for water movement. SW is not like FW, and you will need to have flow.

The LR will be fine in your garage for a while though from the cold temps you will probably lose most of the life that is in there.

My suggestion is to go to the article section of this site and read up on SW tanks. There is a lot of good information there.

You will find with a SW tank that you will be cleaning the glass more often the you would a FW tank. I usually run my magnets over the glass daily.

 

[Landy]

Ok I just put the LR in my room as well as everything else, SW, Live sand, and filter. Does the sand and rock need light and should I open up the bucket of LR and SW to give the rock light? How long can it stay in there till its no good?

I knew LR filters, does most of the filtering but I never knew about putting it in your filter, some certian kind of rock then the 2 different layers of netting, then the carbon, I knew you neede carbon though. LoL

Wut is in the rock that makes it live? and how exactly does it filter? Take in the nitrates and nitrites and produce it to the good bacteria.

Which, I know to let a tank cycle to get the good bacteria in your tank but wut bacterias are the good bacterias?

Sorry for all the questions but I'm just trying to learn.

 

[Ziggy953]

Cycling your tank

The bacteria that takes ammonia and converts it to nitrite and then to nitrate is what makes the rock "live", that along with any hitch hikers.

It is the above bacteria that you want in the tank.

Carbon is not actually needed. I only run carbon on my system when I need to and it is for specific reasons. My SW system has been up and running for almost 3 years now. In all that time I have had carbon running for maybe a month total with all the different times I've used it.

Any kind of mesh or sponge you put in your filter will require weekly cleaning. Keep that in mind. My system is very simple. I have a refugium packed full of macro algae. I have an acrylic sump I converted to a LR rubble tower, and I have a large sump with a very large skimmer. I also have about 280lbs of LR total in my system. Those things combined with frequent PWCs is what I do to filter my tank.

I wouldn't worry too much about the LR at this point. When you get permission to set the tank up follow the article I linked for you and you will be just fine.

 

[Landy]

Thanks a lot ziggy, I'll just wait it out. And read your article.