Our Journey To The Salty Side - Part One

[Trod]

Hi Thought I would introduce myself, I am seffieuk's sister and I am a complete novice, unlike seffie who has been keeping fish for a number of years.
We have decided to start our nano tanks together, I have been reading the info on here for 3 days now, the infomation available is amazing, I am learning so much, its all so exciting I can't wait to get the tank (have a week to wait).
Eventually I am hoping to stock my tank with coral, just a few fish and a cleaning crew. Will keep you up to date with my progress.

 

[seffieuk]

Welcome to the forum my dear sister everyone is really helpful and friendly

Seffie x

 

[BigC]

Welcome to you both.
I think you will find the Nano Forum both interesting and informative.
And I hope both your tanks end up being everything you imagined them to be.
Although I cant help thinking there will be a bit of rivalry along the way.
Lets see how these turn out
All the best
Regards
BigC

 

[seffieuk]

Thank you Big C, you are of course right - there will be a lot of rivalry, a lot of window shopping, a lot of laughing and I hope no crying - but as you say, you learn from your mistakes but with you guys help I hope there will not be too many of those made.

my next question is about the chambers at the back - I have read several posts talking about taking out the bits (technical term lol) that come with the tank and putting in rubble, rowphos (sp) etc. what would be your suggestions please?

We are going shopping thursday or friday.................yipee - Trod has been sneaky and already managed a lfs trip grrrrrr

We have bought the rock from the chap in kent

thanks for all your help guys

Seffie x

 

[seffieuk]

Trod has bought the orca stand to go with her tank however, to me there is not enough storage with the stand - anyone got any suggestions for another brand of stand - am having difficulty finding one to fit the tank? (of course it would be good if better looking than the Orca one as well )

510mm x 570 mm

Seffie x

 

[SkiFletch]

Yup, get some rowaphos and LR rubble in those back chambers, much better than the mechanical stuff. You can stick the rowaphos in a women's nylon

 

[Trod]

Thank you for welcome

Yes I'm sure there will be some good hearted rivalry
Seffie does have a slight advantage having kept fish before, I am a total newbie.
I am so looking forward to starting the tank, its so frustrating having to wait for delivery, using the time wisely though and reading everything I can, although rowaphos was a knew one and I had to google it to understand what you were talking about
We will be out on our shopping trip soon.

And I'm sure my stand will be best

I have also decided to start a journel, I have been reading the ones on here and they have been so helpfull, I have registered with photobucket so I will be able to post my photos.

 

[BigC]

And I'm sure my stand will be best

There you go, its started already.

 

[mutantbigman2000]

stand envy rofl

 

[seffieuk]

Tuesday is fast approaching, it is with both fear and excitement that I await the knock on the door signalling the arrival of new tanks!

Question: just reread this thread, my plan HAD been to to fill the tank up with conditioned/salt tap water and leave for a few days to come up to temp. etc. before adding the live rock on saturday. For some reason I thought I had read that this would be ok, but now realise I have been told to start off with RO water.

So, just to clarify: is that what I should do, or can I fill tank with tap water?

Seffie

mad dash to camping store for water containers.........instead of planned visit next week lol??

Seffie X

 

[kj23502]

I'm thinking you can do either of those three!! Some people mix the water and then add it, some mix it right in the tank and some people even use tap instead of R/O water.

Some people fill the tank up w/tap water and let it sit for 24-48 hours to check for leaks and turn equipment on and make sure everything works. Then they drain the tap water.

What you could do is fill it up w/R/O and check everything and then start adding the marine salt to bring it up to the desired sg. I've heard to mix it on the light side. It's easier adding a little more than have to lower the sg. in the end.

 

[BigC]

Seffie what I did was to fill the new tank with RO water first, get the temperature up to where you desire and mix in enough salt (mfg instructions) to bring the SG up to spec (1.026 for me at 82'f) Let this mix in thoroughly over the comming few days. If the solution is too weak then add more salt. (you'll have to wait again for this to mix properly and test) If the solution is too strong then add some more RO water (you can measure this straight away as the RO will mix straight away with the salt already in). After everything squares out add your Liverock. (you may have to remove some water to allow for displacment by the rock.
All electrics should be switched on by this stage.
Next stage is the cycling, Depending on the amount of DieOff on the Liverock will determine the time it takes to fully cycle your tank. Firstly you should be testing for Ammonia, keep testing on a regular basis it will spike and then gradually drop away until you get a zero reading, then you can start testing for Nitrite this too will spike and begin falling away to zero. After both the Ammonia and the Nitrite have fallen to zero you can then test for Nitrate. If your Nitrate levels are below 10 you can then begin to add your CUC (Clean up Crew).
Dont forget to acclimatise these slowly (see my thread if your unsure)
Certain other processes including some algal issues will crop up after this but both I and other members will guide you over those bridges as we come to them.
For subsequent mixes of saltwater its a good idea to have these pieces of equipment on hand.
Buckets
Spare (sml) heater/stat
Spare (sml) powerhead
A set of cheap plastic weighing scales (argos)
A plastic ladle
A plastic measuring Jug
A plastic Funnel.
A syphon
The night before I measure enough salt (for 12ltrs) into the weighing scales (using the ladle) this is usually around 1lb or just under 500g for me.
add to 12lts of RO water in bucket and heat and aggitate using the heater/stat and the powerhead mentioned above
I usually do a 12ltr waterchange weekly (almost a bucket full). I turn off the pumps etc drain off 10-11 ltrs of tank water.
Then I add back the new freshly made seawater to the correct level of the tank and switch everything back on.
Finished
I hope this provided you with some initial hints on the start up proceedure.
Regards
BigC

 

[seffieuk]

Thank you SO much that is really helpful, I really appreciate all the help

Seffie X

 

[BigC]

Anytime
Regards
BigC

 

[john.o]

Question: just reread this thread, my plan HAD been to to fill the tank up with conditioned/salt tap water and leave for a few days to come up to temp. etc. before adding the live rock on saturday. For some reason I thought I had read that this would be ok, but now realise I have been told to start off with RO water.

So, just to clarify: is that what I should do, or can I fill tank with tap water?

Seffie

Tap water or RO
Most water utility companies treat their water with chlorine and/or add chloramine to prevent potential bacteria outbreaks. The problem here is that a lot of dechlorinating products on the market will remove basic chlorine elements, but may not break the chloramine. Therefore you need to make sure you are using a dechlorinate that "specifically" states it will remove chloramines. Also it is not unusual for some tap water to contain high concentrations of Phosphates, nitrates and silicates, and If these are not removed from the water before using it, you are just adding unwanted elements that give rise to all types of algae blooms in saltwater systems, and it can also often contribute to persistent problems with higher than normal readings of these chemicals when testing the aquarium water.

At the end of the day it depends on what your keeping really Fish Only WLR tap water or RO or Fish & Corals WLR RO water ONLY !! IMO