first saltwater. help lol

[exhumed07]

well I just got a whole 40 gallon saltwater setup off craigslist and it's all up and running. well kinda. I couldn't lift the tank with water in it and could only save 10 gallons for the ride home so I pretty much started from scratch.

here is whats been done so far,
1. filled the tank with 80 degree water.
2. added instant ocean till I hit a gravity of 1.022
3. let it sit for half an hour to make sure gravity stayed.
4. put in all live rock
5. put in the 2 surviving fish and hermit crab.
6. watched for instadeath
7. clapped hands cause there was no instadeath.


and that is where I sit now. I have checked my ph and it's at about 8-8.5 no point in testing ammonia or nitrites yet. the tank came with alot of buffer chems and not sure how to use them or if there are test kits to check the buffer?

if there is anything I need to do please let me know. and if there is anything u want to know about whith the chems again let me know cause I want this tank to work out.

 

[exhumed07]

figured I would post a pic of the tank as it sits now. I plan to rearrange the rocks, and run the airator hose better and eventually get a different filter. also if anyone can tell from the crappy pic, what kind of fish is this?

 

[tom91970]

Looks like some kind of goby from that angle.

You still might want to check for ammonia. Bacteria dying due to taking the live rock out can cause an ammonia spike. I switched mine from a 10g to a 29g back in June and had to do water changes for several days.

If you ever plan on having corals you might want to take down the filter (nitrate trap). I run two powerheads across the LR for filtration (though I do have a Aquaclear HOB filter with no media providing current at the top).

Good luck with the tank!

 

[TAL]

Dude...awesome p/u! Glad there was no "instadeath" !

First things first though...

Update your sig to show that salty 40g !

 

[exhumed07]

day 2 and no death. but the gravity did drop from 1.023 to 1.021. so I'm took some water out of the tank and into a bucket and upped the salt and it's sitting at 1.022 now. also got some nutrafin cycle today after work to help the cycle along since I cleaned all the sand that was in the tank with plain well water. (sand was NASTY). but at least so far the tank seems to be going well. but I"m going to need another filter as tom said and I also plan on buying new lights so I can grow coral when I get experianced enough. but anywho thats my update for the day lol

 

[Lotus]

Saltwater tanks don't really need a filter, they need powerheads. Stay away from conventional filters.

It's a bad idea to add salt directly to a tank with anything alive in it. The salt is caustic when you first add it. Hopefully, your live rock will make it through without to much die-off. Mix the salt in a bucket outside the tank, get the salinity right, then add it. You can slowly raise salinity by topping off with saltwater, otherwise, always top off with fresh water.

 

[exhumed07]

I added the salt in the bucket of tank water I took out and reintroduced it to the tank

 

[exhumed07]

ok. I used the test kit that came with my tank, well come to find out some tests were expired in 1-06 and some were 6-05. needless to say they were useless so went out and got new ones (API master test). so far tests read as so.

PH: 8.3
ammonia: 0ppm
nitrite: 0ppm
nitrate: 20ppm

so things are looking good so far. I know the nitrates are up but not bad. and most the algea that was on the rocks when I got the tank has died.

 

[exhumed07]

ok since the tank seems to be in good shape thus far I figured I would list what I have in the tank as well as what came with the tank as far as chems go and such.

in the tank:
whisper internal filter. lotus told me a filter is not needed in salt water, so what cleans up the solid waste?

simple all glass aquarium 35 watt hood, plan on replacing when possible.

zoo med power sweep, not sure on size but it don't push alot of water

visitherm heater

chemicals:
Amquel+ nitrate, nitrite, ammonia, chlorine& Ccloramines remover

seachem marine buffer

red sea success buff

red sea success marine trace

kent liquid calcium

kent nano reef parts A&B

kent iodide

kent strontium & molybdenum


Ok with all that listed what should I possibly stay away from or what will I not need or what should I make sure I do? this stuff mostly seems like stuff for coral to me but I'm not sure. so any info would be great.