Beginner with many questions and pictures

[agallegos]

Hey everyone, this is my very first post here on Aquarium Advice and I'm looking for a very enjoyable experience here . I've been reading about saltwater aquariums for a few weeks now and decided that I would like to take on this hobby and create one. I've got a few questions and a few pictures, so hopefully that will aid you in helping me out. Thanks

Well here's my story:

Last week while I was visiting my girlfriend, her dad was nice enough to give me his old saltwater aquarium with various equipment that he used years ago. I would like to know what some of the stuff does, where it goes, and what else I will need to make sure I have a suitable habitat for my fish I will get later on. I know I sound really new to this, and well, I am. I don't plan on setting the aquarium up for another two or three months though. I'm waiting for my mom's lease on her apartment to end so that she can move and I'll have a more permanent home for the fish and the aquarium.

Notes:
-I live in Florida
-I plan on making a fish only tank
-I'm going to get a bigger tank for the sump
-Please escuse the crappy picture quality; I took them with my phone
-I am planning on getting tank decorations such as rocks and stuff later on when I actually set up the tank
-I know about cycling the tank and the nitrogen cycle and stuff
-I know the proper pH, salinity, ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate levels

Pictures:
1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

Questions:

1. I do not know what pictures 4-7 are, nor what they do or where the go.
2. I have old sand that was used before. Should I replace it or keep it?
3. What type of lighting will I need?
4. Should I clean the sump/filter thing?
5. What's a protein skimmer and do I need it?
6. Am I going to need more vinyl tubing?
7. What do I connect it to?
8. Is there anything else I need to go out and get?

Please help! Thanks to anyone who actually read that whole thing.

-Alex

 

[j_a_wickstrom]

I'm a newby myself, but I can answer a few of these.

4 is a water pump of some variety. I'm not sure which. (Maybe used to pump back from the sump or for enternal water flow.)

5 and 7 are powerheads (water pumps). You place these in the tank to circulate the water.

6 is an air pump. I'm pretty sure that conventional wisdom says you don't need this now. You get air exchange by circulating water, making the surface of the water move, and don't need to add air.

What kind of sand is it, do you know? If you drop a little bit into vinegar, does it fizz like an Alka Seltzer? If so, keep it. If not, then it won't hurt your tank or fish, but it's not as good as the fizzie (aragonite) kind.

Yes, clean the sump.

A protein skimmer cleans excess protein from the water. You won't need one right away, but within 4-6 months after starting.

Vinyl tubing, I assume you mean airline tubing, would connect to to the air pump (#6) and to an air stone. Don't need the air pump (unless you want to use it to make a quick sponge filter, maybe), so don't need the tubing. I find it dread useful stuff though, and have a constant supply on hand. Of course, I also have a freshwater tank...

Even if you do Fish Only, you should probably get some live rock. It's great for biological filtration, hiding places for fish, and cool coriline algae.

What size is the tank?

Joleen

 

[agallegos]

Tomorrow I'll check and see if it fizzes with vinegar. It's a 55 gallon. Could I put the powerheads inside of the sump? If so, where and how can I connect tubing to it to circulate the water to the tank.

I think #6 is for the undergravel filter that he also gave me (not pictured). I probably will get some live rock or live sand. If it fizzes does that mean it's live? Thanks

 

[Blazeherd2306]

Do not use an UGF they are nitrate factories. You use the powerheads inside the tank.

 

[agallegos]

Oh yeah I wasn't going to use the UGF. He just had that too and gave it to me. So how exactly do the powerheads move water from the sump to the display tank? Or are they just there to circulate the water?

 

[j_a_wickstrom]

The powerheads go directly into the tank. You probably want to point the flow from them at the return flow from the sump, each other, walls, etc. This breaks up the flow of the water, which is better for the fish. They're just there to circulate water.

Is there a pump already in the sump? I'm just assuming that #4 is for the sump, but he might have used it for extra water circulation within the tank, too. If it is for the sump, then there should be a return line somewhere that hooks into the outflow of the pump and goes into your tank.

If the sand fizzes, it means it's made of aragonite, which buffers your pH (keeps it up). Snails, 'pods, and other things supposedly like it better, too. "Live" sand just means it already has 'pods and bacteria. Any dead sand will become live over time, and you can help it along by getting a couple of cups of sand from an established tank or buying a product like GARF's Gunk.

As for lighting, the general rule of thumb, if I'm remembering correctly, is 5 watts per gallon. That's good for most corals and inverts. If you want a FO or FOWLR, less light should be OK. I'd go with the better lighting (probably Power Compacts, since you're just starting) because if you're anything like me you'll start admiring the pictures in the Showroom forum and will want to add corals and such.

You should probably check out www.wetwebmedia.com for more information on saltwater tanks before you buy anything. There's so much information out there that you can quickly get overwhelmed, though. After about 3 months, I've finally learned enough to know I don't know near enough. At least now I now FOWLR is not a strange brand of aquarium...

Joleen

 

[mykpoz]

btw,

since your in clearwater

one of this boards (and mine) favorite places to get Live rock is right by you in Tarpon Springs... right off Alt 19

Check them out,and you will be able to hand pick your rocks with them.

They are bunch of great people.

 

[AndyH5512]

Welcome to the world of saltwater aquariums! Be careful, it can be very addictive. LOL.

 

[agallegos]

Thanks for the help everyone!

Yeah but there's no pump in the sump yet... could I use #4 for that? I'll have to check out that place with Live Rocks

 

[fishyrican]

#4 looks like a Hagen AquaClear powerhead.

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=4644&N=2004+22788

http://www.bigalsonline.com/catalog/product.xml?product_id=27209&category_id=3193&pcid1=2181

 

[agallegos]

thanks for those links. so i guess that powerhead is for the ugf. sorry for the really newb questions but how can i get water from the sump to the display tank? i use #6, but how do i connect the tubes? thanks very much for all your guys' help

 

[agallegos]

alright ive got some news. unfortunately the powerheads and the other pump looking thing dont have things to latch on to the tank and #6 has a thing that you turn on it, but its really stuck and i may need a new one.

1. where and how much will a decent pump cost (one to move water from the sump to the tank)

2. where and how much will decent powerheads cost?

thanks again everyone.

 

[fishyrican]

Some of the parts may be available so that you can hang the power head off the tank rim with a clamp or on the glass with a suction cup.

http://www.bigalsonline.com/catalog/parent_category.xml?category_id=1971;subcats=1

There are parts for several different brands of powerheads.

 

[agallegos]

hey nevermind, theyre not broken (yay). and i also figured out how the pump moves the water to the tank. its a lot easier than i thought, so thats good. all i need now is some tubing that i can just go pick up at lowes or home depot. i do have a few more questions though.

1. when cleaning all the things inside of the trickle filter thing, what should i use? should i use water or should i mix some bleach in with it?

2. i can put the heater in the sump, right?

3. theres some flat rocks use for the walls (stacking rocks) at lowes and home depot. would they be a good idea for forming hiding places and stuff inside the tank? what should i use to clean that?

4. where do you guys get all your large rocks. they look really cool and give it a very tropical look. if anyone could point me where to get one or even a fake one (which would be even better), id really appreciate it.

hey thanks for that link

edit: sorry for the double post. where can i delete one of them?

 

[agallegos]

hey nevermind, theyre not broken (yay). and i also figured out how the pump moves the water to the tank. its a lot easier than i thought, so thats good. all i need now is some tubing that i can just go pick up at lowes or home depot. i do have a few more questions though.

1. when cleaning all the things inside of the trickle filter thing, what should i use? should i use water or should i mix some bleach in with it?

2. i can put the heater in the sump, right?

3. theres some flat rocks use for the walls (stacking rocks) at lowes and home depot. would they be a good idea for forming hiding places and stuff inside the tank? what should i use to clean that?

4. where do you guys get all your large rocks. they look really cool and give it a very tropical look. if anyone could point me where to get one or even a fake one (which would be even better), id really appreciate it.

hey thanks for that link

 

[j_a_wickstrom]

1 -- You can use water or water with a little bit of bleach. Just make sure that you rinse it out really well before using it in the tank. If you smell any bleach at all, then it still needs to be rinsed. If there's hard water deposits, you can use vinegar and elbow grease to get rid of them.

2 -- I don't see why you shouldn't be able to. I say this having never used a sump like that. Is there a place for the cord to stick out? If the sump is acrylic you probably want to make sure the heater doesn't touch the sides. While it shouldn't melt anything, why take the chance? Incidetially, most people here recommend using 2 heaters, one set slightly below the temp of the first. That way, if one fails, the other takes up the slack.

3 -- I wouldn't. If you really like them, then you probably need to set one in a bucket of salt water, leave it in there for several weeks, and constantly test for anything and everything that can be tested. Seems like a lot of work to me.

4 -- The rocks you see in everyone else's tanks are the live rocks (well, base rocks + live rocks in some cases). Lots of places sell LR, including your LFS, liverocks.com, the list goes on and on.

LR is expensive, but by all accounts worth it. Like live sand, LR is just rocks with critters, coraline algae, and bacteria. Lots of people buy the less expensive base rock and seed it with a few quality pieces of LR. The base rock eventually becomes live. You need approximately 1.5 lbs of live rock per gallon of tank. More porous is better, since it has more surface area, which means more bacteria. Or, you can choose based on the amount and color of coraline algae, hitchhikers attached, etc. LR is as varied as the life you find around it.

You can also make your own base rock. Check out the DIY sections at www.garf.org.

Joleen