10 gallon

[kwandrsn]

Ok I'm going to pet store to get a book. Is there another way to cycle the tank I read it stinks and the aquarium is going to be in our bedroom

 

[kwandrsn]

and after it is cycled do I do a water change? if so can I get by with using tap water to cycle with?

And how do I rinse sand?

 

[kwandrsn]

Ok I called the lfs and asked if I could buy ro water and he asked why and told meto use tap water and he doesn't know where I can get ro water I live in the, middle of nowhere

 

[jmay33]

Ok I'm going to pet store to get a book. Is there another way to cycle the tank I read it stinks and the aquarium is going to be in our bedroom

You can buy straight ammonia and put it in there. Just make sure that there aren't any other ingredients and that it really is pure ammonia.

and after it is cycled do I do a water change? if so can I get by with using tap water to cycle with?

And how do I rinse sand?

Tap water really isn't a good thing. It promotes the growth of algae that you do not want.

Ok I called the lfs and asked if I could buy ro water and he asked why and told meto use tap water and he doesn't know where I can get ro water I live in the, middle of nowhere

Is there another lfs you can call? Most of the time you can get RO water from the water machines like the ones in Walmart.

 

[kwandrsn]

Called Walmart and it is 11.50 for a 5 gallon jug of water. That's like $70 bucks for water I can't afford that

 

[CorallineAlgae]

Hopefully you should be able to find another grocery store or roadside machine that sells it. Most grocery stores have it for 25¢ a gallon. I've never heard of it being that pricy! Honestly, this is an important requirement for these systems. Saltwater is an expensive hobby.

The only fish stores that don't recommend using RO water are the ones that are either ignorant or just don't sell it.

You can rinse the sand in normal tap water in a "tank only" 5 gallon bucket. Don't use one that was used for anything like mopping floors.

 

[kwandrsn]

Never seen a roadside machine lol. I have a under counter water filter system that was in my house that has its own tap for like drinking water says it removes chlorine and stuff

I've got a 5 gallon bucket I use for my water changes on my freshwater tank

 

[kwandrsn]

Distilled water work? I can order 5 bottles from crystal springs and get 2 more free for 35$

 

[CorallineAlgae]

Is that distilled or spring water? Distilled is ok but spring water often has a high TDS. Are those 5 gallon bottles or one gallon jugs? Honestly, for that much money it may be worth looking into a cheap eBay type RO filter. BRS makes some of the best but they may be out of the price range you're looking to spend. The eBay ones are made cheap but are very low cost. If you don't have any good local places to buy water then a small RO can save you a whole lot of money, time and gas.

 

[kwandrsn]

Yea 5 gallon distilled not spring. The guy I got aquarium from has a 5 stage system he said he would sell for $100 but he won't be back from army for another 14 weeks

 

[CorallineAlgae]

Yea 5 gallon distilled not spring. The guy I got aquarium from has a 5 stage system he said he would sell for $100 but he won't be back from army for another 14 weeks

You can get a new one for about that much from BRS. They're really the best company to get one from. I've setup two for family members and many others from another company. Mine is from Custom Aquatic but it isn't quite as nice as a BRS (lasted 10 years and still going though!).

 

[kwandrsn]

I got my saltwater aquarium today very very nasty its going to take forever to clean here is what all I got for 150$

36 gallon bow front aquarium without lid

Coralife deluxe series 30" double linear compact (bulbs need to be replaced both are bad) 130watt

Coralife 65 super skimmer setup

Unknown power head has magnetic bases that say hydor

penguin bio wheel 200

Stealth heater (I've gotta get it replaced due to recall)

Tsunami 2 speed battery operated air pump with air stone (not sure what it is for)

Brand new coralife aqualight digital power center new in box

Bucket of gravel and bucket of sand (probably gonna get new sand)

Thermometer, fish net, custom feeder made from old magnetic glass scrubber and plastic webbing
Thermometer

 

[ktomminello]

Still a good deal for all you got. Plus salt tanks get dirty, lol, and will forever need cleaning, but they are so much fun!!

 

[kwandrsn]

Still a good deal for all you got. Plus salt tanks get dirty, lol, and will forever need cleaning, but they are so much fun!!

Well the person I got it from neglected it bad everything has a thick layer of white stuff on out. The bucket of rock is full of dead snails. IM thinking I'm gonna have to buy new rock

 

[CorallineAlgae]

The battery operated air pump is for power outages. It's a very important piece of emergency equipment. I'd say you hit a good buy. You can either shelve the HOB filter or take off the bio wheel and use it to run carbon until you get a reactor. You may be able to still use the rock as long as the original owner never used copper to fight ich.

 

[kwandrsn]

You mean take out the round filter looking thing inside the filter?


Not understanding air pump. I thought air pumps are.bad for saltwater tanks

 

[Ingy]

They are bad generally. But if you are suffering a power outage they will help keep the water aerated. Otherwise a calm surface water will loose oxygenation.

 

[Ingy]

Follow up.

In other words don't use it unless you have too

 

[kwandrsn]

I understand

 

[CorallineAlgae]

You mean take out the round filter looking thing inside the filter?

Yes, that's what I would do anyway. The round rotating bio wheel is really good at converting ammonia to nitrate but they are often too good at it and can raise the nitrate levels in the tank higher than they would be without the wheel running. You can definitely keep it and experiment with it. It's almost always better to use live rock and sand as your biological media rather than biological "filter" media. The filter will still be fine to use for mechanical and chemical filtration. Plus you have a protein skimmer which is wonderful to have. I don't know anything about that specific model skimmer, though.