New Tank Orca Tl-450 - Help Pls

[BigC]

First off what is your SG reading at the moment.
You could mix up a strong saline solution in a small amount of RO (mixed well) and add that slowly or
If your gonna do external waterchanges (enevitable) you'll need a few more bits n bobs
This is my list.
Cheap weighing scales (ability to measure out your salt perfectly each time) but still check the SG (if under add a little more salt if over add a little more RO.
Plastic ladel (for scooping salt from bucket to scales)
2x 2 gallon plastic mixing buckets
Sml spare powerhead (for salt dispersal in bucket)
Sml spare heater (heating salt in bucket)
Syphon hose
Plastic measuring jug (replacing water)
The backup apparatus is sometimes as important as the tank itself.
Regards
BigC

 

[Sapphire15]

Thanks, I will mix up the solution as you suggested and add it slowly, the SG reading is currently at 1.018, guess the next job to do once the SG is correct is to check the ammonia,nitrite & nitrate then presumably if these read ok I can start to add snails, shrimps etc I was thinking towards the end of next week? I will also look towards getting the other items you mentioned - Thanks

 

[BigC]

There's no telling how long your tank will take to cycle.
First thing when you get the SG right is test for Ammonia. It will steadily rise and rise until it peaks at a certain point (could take days or weeks) then it will fall to zero. Next you'll test for Nitrite, this too will have its own mini spike and will eventually fall away to zero. Then you need to do a fairly large waterchange (40%) and test for Nitrate. If your Nitrates come in under 10 then its safe to add your CUC. Please dont rush this as your tank needs to cycle properly.
Regards
BigC

 

[Sapphire15]

Sorry for being a bit stupid, but what is the reason for doing a 40% water change when it would seem you have just got everything right? sorry for so many questions but I really want to get everything right

 

[BigC]

I too often wondered that, but its the natural progression to setting up a marine tank. I was told to do this by various Gurus on tis site and who am I to argue. I'd suspect it gets the Nitrates down to a managable level and then you carry on performing smaller weekly changes to try and keep them from rising too high.
Regards
BigC

 

[Sapphire15]

Having got the SG right, thought I would just have a little play and test the Ammonia, I have an Interpet 'Easy Test' liquid test kit which I bought along with the tank, I have followed the instructions and have my results but find it really hard to decide which colour it is!! Are all the tests like this or is there any easier way to check? It's either a light yellow which is perfect or is a light green which is 0.8? I thought it was the yellow but maybe that was just wishful thinking but now I am not so sure???

 

[BigC]

For accurate marine testing use Salifert test kits, I have used others and they have been absolute crap to say the least. The Salifert test kits are sold seperatly and varied prices.
I would buy
Ammonia
Nitrite
Nitrate
pH
Alk
Magnesium
Calcium
for starters.
You get a lot of testing out of a kit so you wont need to buy these too regularly.
Regards
BigC

 

[Sapphire15]

Thanks again Big C

 

[Sapphire15]

Bit worried as everything is going brown!! have tested the water today, everything looking good wanting to add CUC next but just wondering what's going on with the brown, if this because I need the CUC to help!!

Also, sorry if I have asked before but what is the best CUC to get and how many 'creatures' should I be getting??

 

[xxBarneyxx]

The brown stuff is just diatoms (spelling?) and you get it in all tanks when they are just set up. Don't worry about it as it will burn itself out in a short while and go away.

Whats is your ammonia and nitrite readings at the moment? If these are zero then you can get your CUC.

The choice of CUC is up to you. In my orca I didnt have very many (when compared to others). I had 1 dwarf red legged hermit and 2 blue legged hermits. I tried having snails as well but they either died within the first day (rubbish LFS stock) or the hermits killed them.

Keeping snails and hermits in a small tank can be difficult. Personally given the choice again I would pick snails over hermits as they are better at keeping algae under control. Hermits will eat left over food and sometimes pick algae off rocks but thats about it.

Nassarius Snails are good sand sifters and will eat left over detritus on the sandbed.
Turbo snails are good for general algae control but can get to big for this size of tank (though you could always swap them out as they grow).
Astraea are also good algae eaters but they have the problem that if they fall on their back they cant turn themselves over and die. these are all my LFS ever gets and they have always died on me as well. I'm not sure if its just my LFS that gets really bad stock or if the species as a whole doesnt transport well.
Trochus Snails, again a good general algae eater and scavenger.

You could go for hermits as well. The most common ones I see around are blue legged ones.

In terms of stocking I would maybe start with around 3 snails (turbo snails or Trochus) then get 2 or 3 Nassarius and maybe a couple of small hermits (if you want to risk mixing them). That will probably do but if you find you get a lot of algae then get a couple more snails. You want to make sure that you dont get too many and then they dont have the food available to keep them going. Also if you get hermits make sure you get plenty of spare shells to put in for them (they will swap shells ALL the time).

Tanks looking good so far have the fans in the hood starting getting really noisy yet?

 

[BigC]

Once the temps up and the salinity is within range, test for ammonia, it will rise and fall away to zero, then test for nitrites, this will do sililar to ammonia, then when nitrites are at zero do a large waterchange and test for nitrates if below 10 then you can add your CUC.
What you are seeing is Diatoms, Perfectly normal event at this stage.
Cuc Astrea snails, Nassarius snails, cerith snails and hermit crabs, Try half a dozen of each to start with.
Include extra shells for the hermits
Regards
BigC

 

[Sapphire15]

Tanks looking good so far have the fans in the hood starting getting really noisy yet?
[/quote]

Not yet. is this something that is going to happen then??

thanks for all your help, fell a lot happier now!

Thanks Big C, great to hear from you feel much happier now, readings all ok so will see what I can find over the next couple of days with regards to snails & crabs!!

 

[xxBarneyxx]

Yeah on mine the fans ended up getting really loud. Normally it was only for the first 5 minutes they where on and then they went back to normal. I also had issues with the moonlights on mine (seemed like a short circuit sometimes they worked, sometimes not).

 

[BigC]

Take things nice and slow, you'll get there in the end.
Regards
BigC

 

[Sapphire15]

IMG]http/i363.photobucket.com/albums/oo71/Sapphire1/Photo0249-1.jpg[/IMG]

Have added 3 Red Hermit Crabs and 3 Blue Legged Hermit Crabs, didn't have any snails so this was all I could get!

d Have added 3 Red Hermit Crabs and 3 Blue Legged Hermit Crabs, didn't have any snails so this was all I could get!