Saltwater Tank

[fishrookie]

I am getting a free 75 gallon saltwater tank. It is an established tank. The couple who owns it is getting a divorce and neither person wants it. I honestly don't know the first thing about salt water tanks. I know it is a complete set up with lights, filters, etc... What should I go out and purchase? Should I just buy the salt from a LFS or is there a place online to buy supplies from? Are salt water tanks just like fresh...do a water change every week?

More importantly how should I transport it? How much water should I aim to save, 50%?

I WILL go out and buy some books but just thought I'd start here for some basic advice.

 

[strout]

Are you getting just the tank and all of the equipment or are all the fish and everything in the tank coming with it? The only thing that I would buy at this point would be a few good books and read all of the stickys at the top of this page. This is JMO here and the pros in here might not agree, so keep that in mind. If the live stock is coming along with the tank, I think that would be a bit to much to handle right off the bat not knowing anything about SW Tanks. Ifs it just the equipment, get it all to the house and then post what you have and the pros in here can help you along from there.

 

[fishrookie]

Everything...fish included. I think it's either me or the fish go down the toilet. I'd like to keep everything alive. Will read all of the stickys. What is JMO?

 

[Newman]

you should also talk to the previous real owner of teh tank and find out the basics of how that owner cared for the tank. then post up what he/she said up here for validation becuase not every SW tank owner is doing it right

 

[TRe]

i would save as much of the old water as possible and get new sand since the old sand will no doubt cause a cycle when disturbed....reuse at least 1/2 of the water

 

[fishrookie]

Owner of the tank is gone. ex-wife just wants it gone from the house. She doesn't know how to take care of it.

 

[Lotus]

Transporting is going to be a pain. You'll need to take everything out of the tank. You'll need to bag the fish and put the rock in buckets or trash bags. You'll need to try to keep the rock wet/damp. Don't try to move a tank with stuff in it. If you can, get some friends to help. Ask the seller if she has the water-making setup, that will help you out. If there's a ton of accessories and buckets she has, take them, too (I'm sure she wants it ALL gone).

With saltwater, you should do water changes every week or every two weeks. You need to make the saltwater up in a separate bucket a day or two before the water change--never add dry salt directly into a tank, it's caustic and will kill fish.

 

[susieq728]

Listen to the pros here, all of these guys know their stuff and have taught me a lot! <3 I agree with both TRe and Lotus try to keep as much as the water as possible initially and do steady water changes. I knew little to nothing about saltwater until I joined this forum. From this site I truly learned the amount of love and dedication that it takes to maintain a saltwater habitat. I do my water changes in a 32 gal. trash can with a pump in it. I let my salt dissolve for as long as possible to warm up the water as well as dissolve the salt. (I have a 55 gal. I do approx. 18 gal. changes per 2 weeks as my sump holds a few gallons as well) What kind of filtration do you have?

 

[quaddity]

75 gallon is not that hard to move. Go to Home Depot or similar and buy 30 gallon rubbermaid containers. I'd take all the water you can and keep the rock submerged in the containers. Move it quick if you are going prerinse new substrate have it already done and ready. Have saltwater premixed/heated at the same salinity as the tank. Save a few cups of the original tank's substrate to mix in with the new. I've always moved fish in a cooler. You didn't mention if it has a sump or not but if it does pay close attention to how all the plumbing hooks up.

 

[susieq728]

I agree with quaddity, the move won't be too hard as long as you do good water tests and changes for the next few weeks. Personally, I kept all my substrate and just introduced another 10+ lbs. of livesand I got shipped via ebay, BUT (big, BIG but) everything in my tank can stand a decent spike in nitrates so you may want to listen to quaddity re. substrate. You wouldn't happen to have an ER tank for your live sand eh? And paying close attention to the plumbing is a MUST! If you don't know how something works, you can make a post in the equipment forum, the admins. and more experienced members will happily help you if you run into any snags.