New to Saltwater

The friendliest place on the web for anyone with an interest in aquariums or fish keeping!
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.

Lilxxwojo1

Aquarium Advice Regular
Joined
Mar 11, 2012
Messages
61
Location
upstate New York
Hello everyone! I am new to the world of saltwater aquariums as of last month. Previous to that I have kept various freshwater tanks with a great deal of success so I decided it was time to finally try saltwater. I am currently waiting for my new tank to mature... I started off with a mix of live sand and regular sand, waited about a week to get my pumps etc working and then I added 63 lbs of live rock. (Which even though it isn't the coveted fish I desire was still very interesting to look at.) I am learning a lot as I make my way through the process and despite my excitement I am being patient and progressing through to process at a slow and steady pace. Currently much of my tank has accumulated a brown "dusting" of some sort of algae (I heard this is normal in a new tank) and I'm waiting for my levels to drop. I'm assuming once the Nitrates are under control this unappealing layer will change or disappear (when or how I'm not entirely sure but I'm just watching for now). I am debating what my first addition to the tank should be because like any good aquarist I do not water to endanger any fish by putting them in a tank that is not quite ready. I am trying to decide if I should add a heartier fish or if I should add some snails and/or hermits to clean house first. I find the entire process very enlightening and exciting and I hope to learn all I can from those of you so kind as to share your wisdom with me. Have a great St. Patty's Day everyone!
 
you should probably get some snails and hermit crabs first than wait at least a week before you add your first fish(try to get a hardy fish like a false percula or royal gramma), you can also go to your lfs and ask them to test your water for chemicals. hope this helped
 
Thank you every bit of advice is helpful! Perhaps I will bring my water for testing... I have a test kit but it doesn't have the ones that test water hardness etc, I have been testing salinity, pH, Ammonia, Nitrites, and Nitrates. I'm sort of wondering if I should purchase a power head to circulate the water a bit more too. If I do get snails etc I think I may order them because the prices are better online compared to the stores where I live. Any thoughts on an ocellaris as my first addition after snails?
 
So what size is the tank and have you properly cycled it and tested parameters or are you letting it just sit because without an ammo source you will lose your BB also what is your idea for a finished tank do you want corals or no...the best I could say is since you are still working with a blank canvas look around on all the websites and find something you absolutely must have (fish/coral/invert) and once you do that you can focus around that specimen

Edit* and are you using tap, RO, or Ro/Di water
 
You really only need to test for ammonia, nitrites, nitrates and ph right now. If and when you get into corals you will have to test for more things. :)

I would also highly recommend a powerhead for circulation. What size is the tank and what kind of hardware do you have? Also, are you thinking of corals now or in the future?
 
The tank is 65 gallons, I have 63 lbs of live rock, my sand is 50/50 live, I used my own tap water and mixed the salt,(a water conditionerwas also added) and I have been "feeding" the tank as directed by a friend.
 
First off let me just say buy a Ro/Di and don't look back lol tap water is just gonna cause you a lot of headaches later on down the road
 
You can get one for about $65 from ebay. or you can get a full size unit and mount it somewhere for like $150.

You will really see a difference using ro/di water. :)
 
RO/DI

What is a Ro/Di?

RO/DI is bascally highly purified water RO(reverse osmosis0 and DI(deionization). Using this water will ensure that you do not have impurities in your water like tap water will have. You can buy it from your lfs, I get it for .25 a gallon or you can buy an RO/DI unit. Either way do not use tap water if you can help it.

As far as your cycling goes you want ammonia and nitrites to be 0 and nitrates to be no more than 15ppm, some say you can go as high as 40ppm but I would aim for the low side.
 
Thank you everyone for the helpful advice! : ) The levels peaked a few days ago and I noticed the ammonia and nitrites are starting to go down! :)))
 
So... I made a deal with a friend and now I have an Ro/Di! He can't use it with his well due to lack of water pressure so he gave it to me in exchange for me making him buckets full when he needs it. : )
 
Moving right along... Ammonia and nitrites tested at 0 ppm today! Tomorrow I'll be doing a water change with my first 10 gallons of Ro/Di filtered water. I am hoping to lower my nitrates in the next few weeks with the better quality water and the addition of a refugium. I put together the refugium Monday but I'm still uncertain if my bed of mud is deep enough....
 
Oh I almost forgot! I added two peppermint shrimp on Sunday due to the massive amount of aiptasia present in my tank.. So far it looks like that have mowed down a few of them!
 
Back
Top Bottom