Starting off..

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I'm also doin as the lfs said..and put my live sand in first and premixiung salt, stress zyme, stress coat... is this right?
and is it ok to put ph 8.2 in after the tank gets turned on?
 
Put your live sand in, make sure you rinse it first.....then place a pop corn bowl or something of the sort on top of the sand. Then, get a bucket and pour a few gallons of water into it (I used spring water, 3 gallons for 2 bucks at the super market). Mix in the salt, wait 10 minutes, check your SG.

If it looks good, pour the water into the bowl, fill til your tank is full. Don't mix in your tank, you may end up with more salt content than needed.
 
ok.everything is in..I didn't rinse the sand first though.. it was the bags of aragalive sand.. I prolly added too much salt.. I'll just have to take out water later.. should I add the ph 8.2? or wait?
 
1. don't use stress coat
2. don't use stress zyme
3. don't use 'pH 8.2'

You're adding all this un-necessary stuff before you even have the tank going. its a waste of money and a detriment to your future fish.
If your pH isn't 8.2 after your cycle is finished, then your alkalinity is low and you need a plain Alkalinity buffer...not some junk that claims it'll give you a perfect pH. Trust me, it won't.

Stress coat isn't needed or desired. There are no salons in the ocean that provide fish with aloe vera...you don't need to either.
Stress zyme isn't going to instantly cycle your tank...in fact I think it's for freshwater use, not saltwater.

Have you done any research on fishless cycling?
 
Do you have a refractometer or hydrometeor? What is you salinity/SG?
you just dont add salt to water without checking the SG of the water. And all water should be mixed out of the tank from now on. What size tank? like the others have said don't add any of that stuff to the water. Salt has a buffer in it and should get you up to or near a pH of 8.2. Don't worry about the ph being perfect in a new tank with no fish. Read up on keeping a SW tank and keep asking questions.
 
oh well.. already added it.. I did what my LFS told me to...:( I did read and just saw only add shrimp and sand and live rock... I'm gettin the sinking feeling that my lfs doesn't know diddly...:) will I be ok anyway? The more I learn the more I feel I don't know... so I guess today I need to buy a shrimp and get my lr that I bought from the lfs(11lbs) and put it all in the tank.. I have some deadrock coming and will order lr after the cycle...I'm assuming this is ok
 
so I guess today I need to buy a shrimp and get my lr that I bought from
Click to expand...

Make sure the shrimp is raw (not precooked) and toss it in. It'll smell a bit, but not too bad.

YOu may need more than one. Treat yourself to some frozen ones, use a couple over a period of time in your tank, and eat the rest!!
 
seaham358 said:
Do you have a refractometer or hydrometeor? What is you salinity/SG?
you just dont add salt to water without checking the SG of the water. And all water should be mixed out of the tank from now on. What size tank? like the others have said don't add any of that stuff to the water. Salt has a buffer in it and should get you up to or near a pH of 8.2. Don't worry about the ph being perfect in a new tank with no fish. Read up on keeping a SW tank and keep asking questions.
Click to expand...
I have a hydrometer, my salinity is holding at just under 1.022. I mixed everything in a bucket first.. put my sand in the tank and used a bowl to minimize sand movement..my tank is 55gal I have a sump for a 75 gal.
 
just got off the phone with another lfs.. and he told me to do a partial water change (about 10 gal) to get some of that stress coat out...I think I'll take about half of the tank out... and just put water conditioner in..no stress coat..
 
first off...dont use any chemicals in your water..
2nd..i like gravity at 1.024 (and i keep it there..all the time)
3rd...dont trust LFS..(u will get stung)
4th...dont use tap water
5th...decide how you want to cycle your tank (shrimp is fine...or....
use live rock and sand to do it(and chuck in flake once a week)..approx 1.5 pound rock per gallon ) u dont need both..
personally i threw away my hydrometer the first time i used it !
get a refractometer off ebay or something) (u will not regret it)
mix up your water and salt in buckets and get the gravity right BEFORE u put it in tank
confused yet ? i trying to make it easy for u ere and SAFE for the fish

now buckets is a different issue all together..cause you cannot use any old bucket!
use a food safe bucket.. example..use a bucket you would eat your dinner out of !
as for PH...dont even worry about that yet ) it should be there naturally..or a buffer can be added when it is fish ready !
what i am trying to get at mainly is try to keep away from puttin any chemicals in a marine setup!
if you do it right..you will have a trouble free..healthy marine environment..
2 words...RESEARCH and PATIENCE
could be 2 months before you put any fish in..so you plenty of time )
good luck and enjoy the hobby) :mrgreen:
 
yeah.. I figured it would be awhile before I add fish.. if I do it this way with tapwater and conditioner, will all the chemicals be leached out eventually? I'm gonna let my tank sit with lr and sand without anything for awhile.. while I learn..I just want to get it setup first
 
thats a good start )
problem with tapwater is the phosphates r really high...causes bad algae problems in the long run....
while your tank is cycling ..look into gettin a RO unit...there is soo many to choose from )
 
any way to remove the phosphate? I plan on getting a cleanup crew as soon as my cycle is complete... and any water changes I do from here on out I will buy some RO water from walmart... and just look into prices with ro units..
 
i use a phosphate remover media in my fluval if phosphates creep up....
also water changes
good luck
 
I have some carbon in my sump.. could I put phosphate remover media in sump also? I have a wet/dry sump protein skimmer combo.,
 
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