New To The Salty Side Of Life

[kevlardawg]

I have had a FW tank for about 10 years now. Started with a 29 gallon and after I married upgraded to a 65 which I have now. About 2 weeks ago visited the LFS and the man said what I have now would be fine to change everything over to SW. I have a HOB Penguin 350 filter which will be changed over to a Marineland 350 Canister filter in a few more weeks, 2 Power Heads and a 300 watt Titanium heater. He recommended the crushed coral for my substrate since I had a Under Gravel Filter. I only have 12 lbs of live rock right now since this is going to be a work in progress I will end up getting about 55 lbs once it is all said and done. Set it up and let it run for a week and the LFS man let me purchase some Blue Leg Hermit Crabs and my first fish. I got a Yellow Belly Blue Damsel which the wife fell in love with and was a cheaper fish to start out with in case something went wrong. A couple days later added 4 more Blue Leg Crabs and Percula Clown. I am eventually going to have corals in this tank but not in the first year of setup. I am shooting to have everything the way I want it and ready for corals by Halloween. So guys any help would greatly be appreciated. The one quiestion I have right now is on the water changes. How much would you guys recommend me changeing at one time and how often. I have been researching alot of this online and got several different ideas. I have been visiting here for a few days and seen that alot of you guys know more then I do and thought I would ask a few quiestions and see what you think.

Thanks for the help and sorry I was long winded.


kevlardawg

 

[sunnymittu]

to fast is to slow in this game of fishing SW
go slow
add some flame scallops and clams

 

[Lorna]

Whoa, slow down. No clams, no flame scallops......

If your long term goal is to maintain corals....then you will definitely need to change up a bit of your set up. To start with I would seriously consider changing the substrate to aragonite sand and no undergravel filter. Both crushed coral and ug filter are nitrate traps and will pose all kinds of issues with algae etc later one.....best to change it now before you have a full blown reef in place. Get some more live rock and get rid of the canister filter and put in a good protein skimmer. Adding the hermits and damsel at this point is probably a bit premature as your tank is probably not fully cycled and when you add another 55 lbs of live rock you will no doubt start another cycle. Damsels are notoriously aggressive and this one you have will no doubt harass any other fish you try to introduce. You should probably try and catch it now before you add more rock as once you do you may not be able to catch it very easily and by then you will want to get rid of it.... good luck, read all the stickies and go slowly. Welcome to the salty side.

 

[BalaShark]

I agree with Lorna. (I remember when she was still a Little Fish )Take those damsels out. Trying to catch them in an empty tank is hard enough. Getting them with LR in the tank is nearly impossible. Little bastards ..........

I think you way to in a hurry adding fish and cleaners in your tank. Let it cycle and settle with all your LR and sand. Give it 2 or 3 months to stabilize, then you can consider adding fish. Cleaners earlier, but you have to feed them if you don't have fish.

Water changes, I do every 2 weeks 30 gallon (25% of the main tank) on my 150G, just added a 30G sump, and am topping up daily, as I have 3 x 250W MH's running 9 hours a day. I have never in the 2 1/2 years vacuumed th bottom, no need with my white & blue legged hermit crabs, sand shifters and snails. Never top up with salt water, as only the water evaporates, and the salt stays behind. Only use SW if you do a water change. For the water change, the water should be the same temperature, with the same salinity.

Consider using at least RO water, get a system from Lowes, just as good as a "fish dedicated" RO system. You'll need a protein skimmer, and depending on who you talk to, you'll get a different "best" skimmer. Personally, I like the Remora C HOB skimmers, but tank size will determine the skimmer size.

Also, I implemented the http://www.myfishtank.net/forum/sal...nitrate-phosphate-remover-diy.html#post522870 with very good results. Cost me about $15 DIY.

 

[kevlardawg]

Well after reading what you guys have to say and researching a little bit I have decided to change over to the Aragonite sand. I kinda jumped into things a little too fast. I guess I got a little excited about setting the tank up. I guess you live and learn from time to time. It's better to change everything now like you said Lorna. I guess I will just loose what I have in the Crushed Coral. It's better then losing my money now instead of later when I add corals and they die out.

I have another quiestion about a sump. I have been reading a little on these as well. Not sure that I have the room to run one right now or not. I am kinda of limited on space in my stand. If I did do one I was wondering what size would be best for my tank. Thanks for all the info and didn't mean to ruffle any feathers with my excitement of wanting a SW tank.

 

[strout]

Belive me, you didn't ruffle their feathers, they just want to get you started on the right foot. I just started a SW tank a few months ago, without the people in this forum I would be no where, they are very helpful and give sound advice. I am not sure if not getting a sump is an option, with a 65g tank there may be other options, the pros in here will let you know.

 

[Lorna]

A sump isn't essential but it will definitely help as the more water volume you have the more stable your system will be. Measure the space under your tank in your stand, you should probably be able to have a 20L under the tank but not much else. This sump tank will hold your protein skimmer, heaters and return pump with a section set aside for a refugium. The refugium will house some macro algae which will help control any nitrates and phosphates along with being a place where copepods can populate. These pods are a natural food source for much marine life and are a good thing. Here is a site that will give you some idea on sumps and how they work. Actually Marc's whole site is amazing and full of information...

Melevsreef.com | Acrylic Sumps & Refugiums

 

[kevlardawg]

One step closer to changeing over to Aragonite Sand. I ordered my substrate tonight from Pet Solutions. So if everything goes ok and it comes in I should have it changed over this weekend and on the way to a fresh start again.

As far as a sump goes I am not sure right now if that is going to work. My stand underneath my tank is pretty full and I don't have anywhere else to put everything. Unless I can make room somewhere else for storage then a sump is out of the quiestion for the time being.

 

[Lorna]

As I said it isn't essential just a nice addition. You should really consider a good protein skimmer as your goal is to maintain corals. Without a skimmer you will need to do good sized water changes weekly to keep nutrients under control. Without a sump you can get a good hang on skimmer such as a Aqua C Remora