Noobie Tank owner

[Toro84]

Greetings Frome South Jersey...

Well my lovely family bought me a fish tank for fathers day and removed my piano from the corner of the living room. Although I was involved in the picking up of we purchased the following:

30 gl Oceanic Cube
Penguin 330 Dual Biowheel Filter
Best Heater they had
(carious "stuff" for freshwater)

I went out last night and converted to SW. Crushed coral, salt, hydrometer, Bio stuff in a bag

This am all looks good, salt content is a wee high (should I like cycle, will it come down?) Still somehwat cloudy....Air stone in it...should it be removed?

16 years ago (before first child) I had a 55 gallon salt. Seems I forgot all but my name since then....Any advice would be grand

Thanks so much

 

[Toro84]

WHen the time comes to add fish I hear they should be QT before adding. This is my only tank..what to do??

 

[blorkiemom]

Hi, Toro84! (Someone else will have to give you the cool welcome banner. )

I'll leave it to those who know to offer advice about the main tank, but I'm in the same position you are--trying to start a QT with no main tank to seed from. I've got a 20-gallon tank with just a sponge filter and a heater cycling right now, even though my display tank isn't up yet, so that it will be ready to take a fish while the main tank cycles. It seems like a pain because it's more $$ and space, but I've decided the risks of skipping QT aren't worth it.

I know the advice you will get from most folks here--don't skip the quarantine step! Lots of people can share horror stories about losing whole tanks thanks to a seemingly healthy fish from the LFS.

 

[Nitrate]

Welcome to AA

Salinity will increase with evaporation, if you need to lower it just remove some water from the tank and replace with RO. What are you reading?

Airstone is fine, but you will end up with excessive salt creep if you leave it in. When I had a closed loop filter I used one to make sure I had adequate aeration, but took it out when I went to a wet/dry.

The water is probably cloudy from the dust off of the CC, it will settle in a few days.

Throw a cocktail shrimp in the tank to get the cycle going.

You shouldnt ever put meds in your display tank, so you might want to go and get a 10 gal just for QT purposes.

Good luck and enjoy

 

[EL Diablo]

Welcome!

My tank has been up and running a few weeks.
I am no expert but I have learned a ton on this forum.

to get the SG down just replace some tank water with RO water.

I would add some LR for sure. about 1-1.5 pounds per gallon, maybe even some LS. that will get your cycle under way. With the LR you may only see a small ammonia spike.

You dont really need the air stone.

Get a protien skimmer, a few power heads(good flow is important) and pick up the Conscientious Marine Aquarist, best book for the Hobby I've found by far.

This hobby is a blast
Good luck!

 

[Toro84]

Thanks for the quick replies and great info...The 10 gallon tank...does water come from the main? Just start new? I am assuming what ever is wrong with the fish QT ing them is a form of taking that "bacteria" and putting it into tanks water instead of main?? I truly am sry for the noobness!

As for live sand....I have coral atm is this something I put on top of?? As far as powerheads, I hav no underground system. I used to on the 55 years ago but was told that on my 30 it wouldnt be needed.

RO water (tap?)

If anyone is getting a kick out of my questions than Im glad Im making your day

(Getting book today and shrimp)

 

[roadshow]

The QT keeps the baddies out of your system, and is a necessary step. Get a cheapo 10 gal tank and an airpump or powerhead from the LFS. After you do your initial setup, anything you buy goes in the QT for 4 weeks. Thats how long it takes most parasites and diseases to die off. They are also helpful if you have a sick fish. You never put meds in your main tank, so a QT is necessary.

Live sand has lots o' beneficial buggers that help keep your water stable. It is a substrate material that you put down instead of gravel. Get enough to cover your tank bottom 2-3 inches.

The powerheads are for water flow. You have to have a decent amount of water moving in the tank to keep all of the critters in the LR happy, as well as any corals you add later.

RO|DI water is purified water. RO stands for Reverse Osmosis, DI is DeIonized. If you use tap water, you are prone to a lot of pest algae. Use the filtered stuff. It's much better in the long run.

You will eventually want to toss the Biowheel filter, as the LS and LR will take care of your chemical filtration. The only thing you need is a mechanical filter (something to get rid of the suspended dirt and dust in the water) and a protein skimmer.

I would really take a few days and spend some time with a LFS guy that's willing to walk you through what you need to do with a SW setup. It will save you a lot of money and a lot of heartache down the road.

Basically, you need to decide what you want to put in the tank - fish only - fish only with live rock - corals - etc. That will determine a lot of what kind of equipment you need to get, as well as what needs to be in the tank before hand.

Hope that helps a little.

 

[Toro84]

All of this helps!! Stricly fish and some rock..nothing crazy as it's only a 30 gallon. LFS tells me I dont need QT but cant hurt...(actually its a 100% SW store) So conflicting stuff for a Noob hurts some lol Now your telling me I have to take out the CC and put LS into it...grrrrrr Frustrating as I was told to use CC...Thanks for the info

 

[Atari]

LFS tells me I dont need QT

Hey you don't have to replace the CC with LS.. it just looks prettier and is less maintenance, otherwise your CC is perfectly fine.

 

[fishfreek]

You should always QT. If not you will surly be wishing you did QT at some point.

I envy you with the 30 gal cube. I love that size. What do you mean by salinity a bit high? whats the reading? The only way to lower salinity is to take some saltwater out and add some freshwater back into the system. This will dilute the existing salinity.

 

[Toro84]

Ok all...Advice has been wonderful. Bought about 20 pounds of LR and 4 different types of damsels (sp) Tank looks great Salt is in line. Im a happy guy.

The guy at the LFS told be when the tank starts turning brown that its almost done cycling..is that true?

2nd..He told me NOT to put any type of shrimp or crab in it...is that ok?

3rd and last before I fall asleep at keys...If it should start turning does the crabs or shrimp kill/eat this or does it go on its own?

FYI 30 gl cube, Penguin 330 dual Bio Wheels, CC

Thanks again your all great....ANYONE in the SOUTH JERSEY area?

 

[Toro84]

BTW the reading is like .25 on the salinity

EDIT**
What happens with someone like me with a 30 gl cube? no more real room in back for a skimmer (have a penguin 330 dual bio wheel) Current is awsome..powerhead means undergraound system...ideas?

 

[fishman]

I have had the CC for about a year and as long as you do reg water changes and do not overfeed, the CC is great.
And yes do not do like I did and try and skip the QT. I was told by a very large SW store that I bought a regal tang from....."the regal is disease free"...dont worry about QT him...well I went against their recommendation and 2 weeks into QT the fish showed up with ick!! SO please QT..

 

[roadshow]

The brown stuff is called diatom, and is a algae that often shows up when you are mostly through the initial cycle. So the answer is yes, it does help indicate you are ready to go to the next step. However, since you added 4 fish, you will have to endure another spike, as the bacteria that process the ammonia and nitrite are not sufficient to take that bioload as well. Nothing can be done about that now, so you will just have to do lots of water changes until your bacteria load increases enough to support what you have in the tank.

There is a pretty prolific debate on the need for skimmers. Most say yes, some say no. Basically, they help a lot in maintaining water quality. If you can squeeze 6 or 8 inches between the tank and wall, you can get a decent HOB fixture, or plumb in a sump with a weir/overflow system. Here is a site that has some great info on how a sump system works. http://www.melevsreef.com/ That might solve your space issue!

Sounds like you are well on your way! Hope things continue to go well for you.

 

[Toro84]

Uggggggh Should I remove the fish?? Everyone has told me to add the fish.....

How often should water changes occur? and How many gallons?