New to Aquarium Advice

[Saarmd]

This site seems really great. I recently joined. I have had a 55 gallon reef tank for a year and recently moved from Los Angeles to St. Louis, MO. Just got the tank up and running again. That was quite a lot of work. I ended up having local store house my live rock, coral and fish. I set up the tank and had the store overnight me the live rock and corals. Just arrived yesterday and now all set up. Surprisingly, the corals look great. I was planning on letting it cycle for a few weeks then having them send me the fish. My big problem is that the closest store I found is 30 minutes away, so I am contemplating mixing my own water. I would appreciate any advice. Thanks.

 

[M1cky69]

Hi there i'm new to this forum too but thought I'd give u my opinion, by the sounds of it your best solution would be to mix yourself, maybe invest in a reverse osmosis system and use a container with a heater in to heat the water up to tank temp, You can use a powerhead or air pump to help stir and airrate the water.

Add some salt mix to the water. Follow the directions on the salt manufacturers packaging. If no directions are available, the general rule of thumb is 1/2cup of salt mix for every gallon of water or summat like that, check the salinity is between 1.021 and 1.025 and leave overnight. Bit of a ball ache but to do regular changes like you say it's half hour trip every time, tot it up over a year and you'd be able to buy the ro unit twice over.

Plus you could always order your Salt in on the net so you'd never have to leave out for ya changes again. I'm not a saltwater owner but done tonnes of research as I not got a local shop in England uk either and saltwater setup is my next project! Research is always the key, hope u overcome your problem

 

[Homedog98]

Welcome to AA! I'm still figuring out freshwater, so I can't help you there, but try posting another thread in the salt water section! That way more people will see it! Good luck!

 

[melosu58]

Welcome aboard.