Please Help

[kraziekris]

Hi just inherited a salt water setup

Tank
Lighting
Filtration
Skimmer
30kg live rock!

1 fish
1 lobster

I need to know what to do as a daily thing i have checked the salt levels which seem ok!

What else must i do i have a nitrate and PH kit not sure what to do with it yet!

Also food? they gave me tropical fish food? Should i feed something else and how often?

I know theres alot of questions and i have started reading but just dont want to kill the fish!

Thanks a lot

Chris

 

[Musho3210]

dont want to sound harsh but if you dont even know how to feed the fish why did you get them? Do you know what fish you have and what lobster you have?

 

[OscarWilde]

Ease up Musho. It's the guys first ever post.



I suggest you take some photos of your livestock and then the peeps on here can help identify them.

 

[Musho3210]

my fault, been a hectic day (exams are coming up).

 

[n3ont3tra]

Oh yeah... finals. I should study.......

Anyway, I agree with Oscar, pics would help.

 

[kraziekris]

The guy next door was getting rid of it and im a fast learner and love marine fish aqauriums i just need to learn it quick!

The lobster hides behind rock but is a little small lilac lobster who apparently never comes out all the time the other fish is like a little zebra!

I fed them flakes today, i will take a picture when i get home! I have tested PH and nitrate which seem fine the salt level is a little below average, whats the best way to add in the salt!

this is my setup:

1 Prizm skimmer

2 Eheim 2217 filters

1 vecton UV 15 sterilizer

3 maxijet powerheads

T5 lighting (1 white & 1 blue tube)

Approx. 30 kilos live rock

Thanks

 

[Sea Turtle]

First things first. You should probably make sure that you have an aquarium Hydrometer or refractometer which you can buy online or at any lfs. You should test this weekly to keep the salinity around 1.025 to 1.026. Did he give you one with the tank?

Also, you should have test kits for PH, Alkalinity, Amonia, Nitrate, and Calcium if you plan on adding corals. Not really sure if you need to test for calcium with a FOWLR system. Maybe someone esle could comment on that.

Keep the tank temp. 76 to 81 degrees. Try to limit the feeding so that you only give them what they can eat so that you don't polute the water. As far as the PH, Alk, Amonia, nitrate, etc... a little research on the internet an you should be able to find all this quickly.

I am alittle new to the hobby as well and still need a lot of help myself, but this should get you going. This forum is a geat help and usually solves most of your problems and questons quickly.

 

[ox5477]

Turtle is right. Hopefully your neighbor gave you all this material. If not, it is esential that you get atleast these testing tools. For the calcium... good to keep it at adequate levels as any inverts will need the calcium for their shells/ exoskeletons to stay healthy and grow.

If you dont know how many gallons/liters your tank is, if you can give approx dimensions this would help to know the size of the tank for any future advise towards buffering, filtration and stocking

 

[Sea Turtle]

One more comment that you should definently keep in mind right now, depending on where you live. Recently there has been a lot of posts on here about the temperature of their tank getting too hot due to the abnormally hot weather we are experiencing. Make sure that you keep your eye on the water temp. Also, if you have A/C in your house, KEEP IT ON!!! If your tank goes above 86 degrees you could lose everything. Just a thought to concider.

 

[kraziekris]

Thanks for all the responces i got the hydrometer its justr below what it should be, what the procedure for adding salt?

As for the rest the only thing is amonia seems to be 0.25??

Cheers

 

[jeasko]

salinity should be around 1.024 - 1.025 (if your using a hydrometer), the amonnia is not good any amonnia is bad for the tank, best way to reduce this is by way of regular water changes, this is the only time you will need to add salt as water that evapourates will not contain salt so any top up water will be added without salt.

to make up water for water change you should use a large clean container and fill with water you intend to use ( best to use disitilled water or RO water if its available from your LFS as all unwanted substances will be removed) salt should then be added until you approach the desired level (an old powerhead is useful here to aid with the mixing of the salt and water) then you should add a heater to ensure the water is at tank temp (along with keeping the powerhead going) this will likely take a day but is important as temp has an effect on salinity, once its been left a day check salinity if its to low gradually add salt until its at desired level and leave for a short period to make sure its dissolved, if its to high you will need to dilute until its at the desired level.

from there you need to remove the correct amount of water (usually 10% weekly or 20% bi weekly if its a reef but not sure of frequency with FOWLR hopefully someone else will let you know) then fill up using the freshly made up water.

A quick word regarding refractometer, best if its an old one to calibrate it against a known value or at you LFS as you will be able to see what their readings are against what your refractometer is reading, you would be surprised at how in accurate they can be

OOOPs glaring mistake i was refering to hydrometer in the above statement, but also refractometers should regularly be checked as well seeing as im on this subject!

 

[garybuk]

Would loved to see pics of this set up. wish someone would get me a setup like that!!

 

[kraziekris]

Hi thanks for all the posts you have been so helpful

Special thanks to jeasko that was so helpful