another newbie

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katz

Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Joined
Dec 14, 2004
Messages
46
Location
windsor, ontario, canada
hello everyone,
i am new to the saltwater world, and am patiently excited. i have a 35 gal tank that is a week and a half old. i have about ten pounds of live base rock and two yellow tailed damsels to help cycle, they are doing well so far.
i have a 90 gallon tank with all the extra's coming in about a week. this will obviously be my main tank. just have a few questions, any help is much appreciated:

1. i top up the 35 gallon tank with freshwater every 3 days because salinity increases, with this continue to happen after cycling?

2. can i use the saltwater i take out to help start the new tank?

3. does anyone know if liverocks.com ships to canada (lfs want $10.00/lb) would it be wise at this time of year?

4. can this lr be used to help speed up the process of cycling or would the living organisms suffer or die because the tank has not cycled yet?

5. i would like a reef aquarium (who doesn't!), what are some beginner fish and how long before i could introduce some easier to keep coral.?

katz
 
I'm gonna let other, more experienced fishkeepers answer your questions, but I do like to take any ooprtunity to welcome new members. So....
:smilecolros: welcome to AA!

I would recommmend Robert Fenner's Conscientious Marine Aquarist for a good beginner book reference.

One thing I did note - I'd presume your salinity increases because of evaporation. Water evaporates but the salt stays. So, fresh (RO/DI preferably)water topoffs are gonna be needed in all SW scenarios. Post your lite info and there are those who can help you choose beginner corals. Eric Borneman's coral bokk is a good reference. Both books are availiable from this site's library.

Good luck!
 
I too am not as experienced as most found here. I would recommend going to the liverocks.com sponsor forum below. Zack will help you with questions about shipping, cycling and any other concerns with the LR. I say that LR does help cycle your tank and will survive just fine because not only does it carry critters but also the needed biologics to help in cycling. Now its time to let the experts chime in and follow up on the rest. Good Luck.
 
Hmm i'll take this post on. First off welcome to AA! :D


1. Top offs will always be done with fresh water ro/di would be helpful in the long run just like austins said. This is due to water will evaporate but salt does not so make sure that you add fresh water to the tank to correspond with how much evaporation you have daily.

2. Using the saltwater from your 35 in the 90 is not necessary. If your thought was because it would speed up the 90 gallons cycle this is not true. A fully cycled tank refers to bacteria in the tank that aids in breaking down nitrites and such. This bacteria is found in your sand bed and live rock so my opinion would be to just leave the 35 alone and start again with the 90 using the shrimp method of cycling which can be found in detail in the articles section of this site.

3. I'm not sure if LR.com ships but im sure someone will chime in on this one for you

4. The live rock will not speed up the cycle but it's always good to add it during the cycle cause the addition of the rock will cause an ammonia spike and have a cycle of its own so I always suggest adding the rock while your tank is cycling as well.

5. Some beginner fish include clowns, damsels, some tangs. I would suggest waiting 6 months before adding any corals though. You have to remember you are a beginner and are sure to make some mistakes the first 6 months to a year so going out and spending $50 on a coral for it to die would not be a good thing for you or the coral. Just do a lot of research and you should be fine but remember in this hobby PATIENCE is a virtue. I cannot stress it enough!

6. I hope I didnt scare you away with all this info haha sorry about the long post.
 
and two yellow tailed damsels to help cycle, they are doing well so far
Please take them back to the LFS until your cycle is complete. At a week in a half in your cycle is just getting started and those fish might not be doing so well in another week and a half.
 
3. does anyone know if liverocks.com ships to canada (lfs want $10.00/lb) would it be wise at this time of year?

If LR.com can't get the rock to you, check out http://jlaquatics.com

A 40lb box of Fiji LR is $4.39/lb ($175.60) + shipping $101.90 gives you a landed cost of $6.94/lb

Just be sure to ask for heat packs when shipped.

Cheers
Steve
 
As long as you have the right lighting you can start to add corals as soon as your levels have been stable for a while.

My tank is only 5 months old and I have a bunch of Corals thriving in my tank,

The biggest issue I came across adding corals soon in a new tank is that it goes through algea break outs that can threaten to over run your corals.

The key for me was to add them slowly. I added a fish and a coral every few weeks. Never add a lot of life at once.

I would start with some easy softies like shrooms or polyps and see how it goes. if that goes well after a month add another piece and build from their,

Good luck
 
thanks for all the replies.

i checked levels last night:
ph= 8.0
ammonia= 0.50
nitrite= 0
nitrate= 0

the tank was started on Dec 5, so i probably haven't had any significant spikes yet.

how often are you supposed to check?

katz
 
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