newbees29 Posted January 7, 2009 Share Posted January 7, 2009 We have just began the process of setting up a new sw aquarium; we are needing guidance to ensure we are doing everything appropriately; any feedback would be greatly appreciated. We have a 40gallon aquarium and have put the water in and have the salinity perfect; we did however use tap water but dechlorinated it as well as adding the salt mixture as specified. I have the heater, filters, and will be getting my skimmer and water pump in this week. Could someone please advise what I should do now? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nano_Steve Posted January 7, 2009 Share Posted January 7, 2009 Firstly, WELCOME!!! There are plenty of folks here with lots of great info and willing to be helpful. The first suggestion I would make to you is that if you plan on having corals in your tank I would recommend completely draining the tank and filling it with saltwater made from RODI water bought either at an LFS or using an RODI unit. Tap water has alot of trace elements and minerals that can be harmful to corals (and fish sometimes) even after dechlorination. Second suggestion is to find someone with some live rock and live sand and get that culturing and allow the short cycles to do their thing and get your water levels all evened out. And definitely good luck! It's always such a great experience to finally dive into saltwater, there is ALOT of info out there to learn and use so get ready for some reading! Haha! -Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newbees29 Posted January 7, 2009 Author Share Posted January 7, 2009 Firstly, WELCOME!!! There are plenty of folks here with lots of great info and willing to be helpful.The first suggestion I would make to you is that if you plan on having corals in your tank I would recommend completely draining the tank and filling it with saltwater made from RODI water bought either at an LFS or using an RODI unit. Tap water has alot of trace elements and minerals that can be harmful to corals (and fish sometimes) even after dechlorination. Second suggestion is to find someone with some live rock and live sand and get that culturing and allow the short cycles to do their thing and get your water levels all evened out. And definitely good luck! It's always such a great experience to finally dive into saltwater, there is ALOT of info out there to learn and use so get ready for some reading! Haha! -Steve Thanks for your reply; could you explain the RODI, LFS; also on getting live rock and sand; should we set that up in another tank while our water is getting evened out? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nano_Steve Posted January 7, 2009 Share Posted January 7, 2009 RODI = Reverse Osmosis De-Ionized in otherwords seriously clean water! LFS = Local Fish Store like River City Aquatics, Aquatek, Amazonia, Aquadome, etc. around town. I would say to get the liverock and sand and put them into the tank however you would like it to look (aquascaping) and then fill it up with the new saltwater! -Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GKarshens Posted January 7, 2009 Share Posted January 7, 2009 I second what Steve said about using RO/DI water. Here is a great quick break down of getting started: http://www.melevsreef.com/tanks.html After that I would recommend reading as much as possible before really jumping in. There is a lot of bad information out there as well as good so the more you read the more you get a sense of what really works for the majority of people. The best piece of advice I can give is be patient! It is the hardest but most necessary quality you need in this hobby. Welcome to the addiction! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nano_Steve Posted January 8, 2009 Share Posted January 8, 2009 If you are using rocks that have not been used in a previous tank then you will need to wait quite awhile (usually a month, sometimes upwards of two months) to let the rock fully 'cure.' If you do this you will also need to get some 'seeding rock' from someone with an established tank and put at least a moderate piece of liverock from an established tank in order to seed the curing rock. If you want to skip this step and make the wait considerably less (to about a week or two) then wait for someone to sell some liverock from their existing tank. The rock is the most important factor in your new tank imo after water quality. The healthier and more abundant in life the rock is, the more diverse and established your tank will become and it will help to maintain water parameters as bacteria, algae, and microlife begin to thrive. Patience definitely is a must in this hobby, I've learned that over the years the hard way, and the slower you take to setup your tank and the better planned you make it the better! Good luck!!! -Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.