Hello to all new to SW, and pics of my Swim Tank

trudawg · 04-17-2008, 12:19 PM

Hello everyone! I've been in the FW game for a few years with a hundred gallon tank, and a few African cichlids (sp?) I kind of neglected my last tank because the 4 most dominant fish kept eating everything introduced to the tank, even their 4x's as big Oscar preddasser. Anyway I was getting ready to move into a new place so I decided to sell the setup and seek out a saltwater set-up. I bought a used 100 gal wave tank from someone on craigslist for $500 bucks which came with stand, tank canopy, two power-heads (wave-makers), and a partial protein hang on skimmer (missing pump). The guy I bought it from had several tanks and assured me it was even simpler than FW to maintain, and he'd help me get started when I was ready. (he never returned my phone-calls after he sold it me….lol) So I had this empty tank sitting around for a couple months while I researched and read through numerous forums. It just seemed so over-whelming, there was SO MANY different types of setups, methods, and options I didn't know where to start. I even placed an add on craigslist looking for someone to come out, set it up and teach me the basics. I had several people respond, but one guy emailed me and recommended a guy who helped him, and I went with him. I only wanted a basic swim tank, no reef, live rock, corals or anything like that. I'm going to be moving again in the next year, and didn't want anything too complicated.
He told me all I needed was a powerful canister filter, power-heads, and a UV filter if I wanted to get it, but could wait till we got things optimized. He recommended Fluval filters, So I seen an add for a guy selling a brand new unopened Fluval FX5 for $200, I bought it, 100 pounds of crushed coral, Instant ocean sea salt mix for 100 gal., hydrometer, heater and that's it!
He came out, washed the crushed coral, mixed the sea-salt w/ tap water mind you (said not to worry about R/O, or filtered water at this time, that its mainly for more sensitive tanks), set up the Fluval and away we went. Once the water was clear he said I could add some damsels ( I know, I know!!) I just recently read about cycling the tank with dead shrimp. I got a little gung-ho and bought 6 yellow-tail damsels (they were on sale) and 2 striped damsels. Tank has been going for about 10 days now, and so far I have lost 1 damsel.
I read quite often, and people suggest that F.O tanks should add live rock for extra filtration, and more importantly for hiding places for the fish. My question is this: Do I really need L.R.? I only want fish, and not that many of them, I'm fine with the fake corals and rocks that you can buy from the LFS, and they seem to provide plenty of hiding places for fish. Can't I get away with just the canister filter, with bio media, and maybe a UV filter? At this point I'm only interested in a basic setup, If the damsels make it, I only want a couple yellow tangs, a lion and a dog-face puffer. Can I get keep these with my current setup?

I have sinced rearranged some things and made more caves and hiding places. I think I did a fairly good job because in the morning when I leave for work I cannot see ANY of the fish.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated,
thanks for looking
-trudawg-

AQTCJAK · 04-17-2008, 12:24 PM

Welcome Aboard

CREEPIN · 04-17-2008, 12:30 PM

hey man! easy to find you..welcome and take these peoples advice, they are smarter than the avarage fish lol

Frankie · 04-17-2008, 12:41 PM

Welcome to RS!
Your fine with that setup the way it is. you don't have to have LR. It's been a long time since i used a canister filter so i am not to sure if you can just use that. A bio ball filtration would work good on that tank. As for the fish, Just one yellow for the size is my recommendation. I would hold off on the other two fish until you see how the yellow tang holds up.
The tank looks good. Could you post some parameters like ammonia, nitrates, nitrites, salinity and temp? I would also recomend RO/Di water to top off with. Your tank could become an algae nightmare with tap.

trudawg · 04-17-2008, 01:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CREEPIN

hey man! easy to find you..welcome and take these peoples advice, they are smarter than the avarage fish lol

Hey man! Thanks for pointing me in the right direction

Quote:

Originally Posted by Frankie

Welcome to RS!
Your fine with that setup the way it is. you don't have to have LR. It's been a long time since i used a canister filter so i am not to sure if you can just use that. A bio ball filtration would work good on that tank. As for the fish, Just one yellow for the size is my recommendation. I would hold off on the other two fish until you see how the yellow tang holds up.
The tank looks good. Could you post some parameters like ammonia, nitrates, nitrites, salinity and temp? I would also recomend RO/Di water to top off with. Your tank could become an algae nightmare with tap.

Thanks for the advice with the topping off the water! It has already started to evaporate. Where should I get RO water? and I'm assuing Di means distilled?
Don't know the ammonia, nitrates, or nitrite levels yet. Havent' bought a test kit yet, but plan to soon. Salinity was 1.025, and temp is about 78-80

thanks again everyone for the positive comments and helpfulness!

kathywithbirds · 04-17-2008, 01:22 PM

Hi! Tank looks nice! I've got a fish only with SOME live rock. I've seen others with just "stuff" (fake corals, etc.) and a filter that did real well.

DI = deionized. Has something to do with pH, not sure what though. A good RO/DI filter is a great thing. Although I did darn good with distilled water from walmart.

tbittner · 04-17-2008, 02:02 PM

Distilled water from the grocery store would be fine to use. Try to get it to the same temp as the water in the tank before dumping it in though.

You should also get a 5 gal bucket, add about 4 gallons to it and add salt to get the salinity right. Keep a powerhead in the water to make sure everything is disolved good. Salt crystals are hard on the gills. The saltwater should mix for 48-72 hours before use. You'll use this water to do water changes and the time between water changes is pretty much dictated by your water quality.

If you're replacing evaporated water, add fresh water.
If you're changing water by siphoning it out in order to get the nitrates down, replace that water with the saltwater you made up in the bucket.

kathywithbirds · 04-17-2008, 02:05 PM

Get topoff the same pH as well! Regular distilled freshwater is around 7. You want 8.2-ish.

CREEPIN · 04-17-2008, 02:16 PM

i think he should get the proper test kit (nitrate nitrite ammonia ph and a hydrometer)

trudawg · 04-17-2008, 02:20 PM

are there chemicals that raise and lower the ph of the water that are specific to marine water? I used to be a amatuer botinist and had ph up and ph down to raise and lower the ph in my grow tanks

CREEPIN · 04-17-2008, 02:22 PM

don't add anything enless u can test 4 it

trudawg · 04-17-2008, 02:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CREEPIN

don't add anything enless u can test 4 it

well yea I know that, but I'm assuming there is something to balance the PH I can buy?

CREEPIN · 04-17-2008, 02:41 PM

yup there is

certainti420 · 04-23-2008, 12:49 AM

Hi,
I am also new to the world of saltwater. But I do know about the advantages of R/O (reverse osmosis) water and DI (deionized). A reverse osmosis filter removes around 95% of microorganisms, pathogens, chemicals, and other harmful ingredients found in most tap water especially If you live in a major city that has a water treatment facility chlorine and chloromine are almost guaranteed to be found in your tap water both of which are devastating to the chemistry of your water, your fish, and even worse your biological filtration. A good R/O filter will take care of these problems. Look to spend around $150 to $200 for a good R/O system. Or your LFS probably sells it mine sells fresh R/O water for $.75 a gal and premixed salt water for $1.00 a gal.

DI water is also good for your aquarium I am not 100% sure how it works, but it removes ions from your water, it is another way of purifying water. An Ion is an atom of an element that has taken on a charge either positive or negative by releasing or gaining an electron. If the atom releases an electron it will take on a positive charge because there are more protons in the nucleus, and visa versa if the atom gains an electron it will then have a negative charge because it has more electrons then protons. If the atom never releases or gains a electron it is considered neutral and more stable than a charged ion. DI filtration removes these charged ions producing a more stable environment for our fish. Another good reason to use DI water is that it is less conductive of electricity. Because electricity is nothing more than free flowing electrons It will be harder for the electricity to travel through the water because there are no positively charged ions for it to be attracted to.

Good luck from your fellow new aquarist
I hope this helps you understand water filtration a little more.

~Jon

trudawg · 09-26-2008, 12:06 PM

update:.........I introduced a yellow tang to the tank about a month after I set it up, it died about a week later. I haven't added anymore fish since. The original damsels are still doing fine, and I'm satisfied with them, since I'll be breaking down the tank here in about 4 months to move

04-17-2008, 12:19 PM	#1 (permalink)
trudawg Tunicate Join Date: Apr 2008 Posts: 5 View Gallery Karma Komment	Hello to all new to SW, and pics of my Swim Tank Hello everyone! I've been in the FW game for a few years with a hundred gallon tank, and a few African cichlids (sp?) I kind of neglected my last tank because the 4 most dominant fish kept eating everything introduced to the tank, even their 4x's as big Oscar preddasser. Anyway I was getting ready to move into a new place so I decided to sell the setup and seek out a saltwater set-up. I bought a used 100 gal wave tank from someone on craigslist for $500 bucks which came with stand, tank canopy, two power-heads (wave-makers), and a partial protein hang on skimmer (missing pump). The guy I bought it from had several tanks and assured me it was even simpler than FW to maintain, and he'd help me get started when I was ready. (he never returned my phone-calls after he sold it me….lol) So I had this empty tank sitting around for a couple months while I researched and read through numerous forums. It just seemed so over-whelming, there was SO MANY different types of setups, methods, and options I didn't know where to start. I even placed an add on craigslist looking for someone to come out, set it up and teach me the basics. I had several people respond, but one guy emailed me and recommended a guy who helped him, and I went with him. I only wanted a basic swim tank, no reef, live rock, corals or anything like that. I'm going to be moving again in the next year, and didn't want anything too complicated. He told me all I needed was a powerful canister filter, power-heads, and a UV filter if I wanted to get it, but could wait till we got things optimized. He recommended Fluval filters, So I seen an add for a guy selling a brand new unopened Fluval FX5 for $200, I bought it, 100 pounds of crushed coral, Instant ocean sea salt mix for 100 gal., hydrometer, heater and that's it! He came out, washed the crushed coral, mixed the sea-salt w/ tap water mind you (said not to worry about R/O, or filtered water at this time, that its mainly for more sensitive tanks), set up the Fluval and away we went. Once the water was clear he said I could add some damsels ( I know, I know!!) I just recently read about cycling the tank with dead shrimp. I got a little gung-ho and bought 6 yellow-tail damsels (they were on sale) and 2 striped damsels. Tank has been going for about 10 days now, and so far I have lost 1 damsel. I read quite often, and people suggest that F.O tanks should add live rock for extra filtration, and more importantly for hiding places for the fish. My question is this: Do I really need L.R.? I only want fish, and not that many of them, I'm fine with the fake corals and rocks that you can buy from the LFS, and they seem to provide plenty of hiding places for fish. Can't I get away with just the canister filter, with bio media, and maybe a UV filter? At this point I'm only interested in a basic setup, If the damsels make it, I only want a couple yellow tangs, a lion and a dog-face puffer. Can I get keep these with my current setup? I have sinced rearranged some things and made more caves and hiding places. I think I did a fairly good job because in the morning when I leave for work I cannot see ANY of the fish. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated, thanks for looking -trudawg-

04-17-2008, 12:24 PM	#2 (permalink)
AQTCJAK Tiger Shark Join Date: Aug 2007 Posts: 7,213 View Gallery Karma Komment Add yours!	Re: Hello to all new to SW, and pics of my Swim Tank Welcome Aboard __________________ A Wiseman once said build a stage add a pole & they will dance - Jack 2007 www.aquaticaggression.com Projects & Chronicels http://www.reefsanctuary.com/forums/...car-buffs.html http://www.reefsanctuary.com/forums/...nts-tanks.html

04-17-2008, 12:30 PM	#3 (permalink)
CREEPIN Cabbage Leather Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Miami FL Posts: 355 View Gallery Karma Komment	Re: Hello to all new to SW, and pics of my Swim Tank hey man! easy to find you..welcome and take these peoples advice, they are smarter than the avarage fish lol __________________ Bio-Cube 14gal +Oceanic Protien Skimmer +36w 50/50 +hydro 1 power head +small Heater +chaeto -filter cartridge starting my 65 build (\___/) This is Bunny. (=O.o=) Copy and paste him into your signature (")__(") to help him gain world domination.

04-17-2008, 12:41 PM	#4 (permalink)
Frankie Angel Girl's Daddy Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: The End Of The World Posts: 8,497 View Gallery Karma Komment Add yours!	Re: Hello to all new to SW, and pics of my Swim Tank Welcome to RS! Your fine with that setup the way it is. you don't have to have LR. It's been a long time since i used a canister filter so i am not to sure if you can just use that. A bio ball filtration would work good on that tank. As for the fish, Just one yellow for the size is my recommendation. I would hold off on the other two fish until you see how the yellow tang holds up. The tank looks good. Could you post some parameters like ammonia, nitrates, nitrites, salinity and temp? I would also recomend RO/Di water to top off with. Your tank could become an algae nightmare with tap. __________________ If we ignore the environment maybe it will just go away....

04-17-2008, 01:22 PM	#6 (permalink)
kathywithbirds Social Darwinism victim Join Date: May 2007 Location: The Hood, NJ Posts: 5,784 View Gallery Karma Komment	Re: Hello to all new to SW, and pics of my Swim Tank Hi! Tank looks nice! I've got a fish only with SOME live rock. I've seen others with just "stuff" (fake corals, etc.) and a filter that did real well. DI = deionized. Has something to do with pH, not sure what though. A good RO/DI filter is a great thing. Although I did darn good with distilled water from walmart. __________________ (\_/) (\__/) ( . .) (^.^) (")(") (> <) Bunny and Bunnina have worked things out. Bunny was mistaken after all, Bunnina was not having an affair. "Besides the noble art of getting things done, there is the noble art of leaving things undone. The wisdom of life consists in the elimination of non-essentials." ~Lin Yutang

04-17-2008, 02:02 PM	#7 (permalink)
tbittner Watch this Ma! Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Northern VA Posts: 5,562 View Gallery Karma Komment Add yours!	Re: Hello to all new to SW, and pics of my Swim Tank Distilled water from the grocery store would be fine to use. Try to get it to the same temp as the water in the tank before dumping it in though. You should also get a 5 gal bucket, add about 4 gallons to it and add salt to get the salinity right. Keep a powerhead in the water to make sure everything is disolved good. Salt crystals are hard on the gills. The saltwater should mix for 48-72 hours before use. You'll use this water to do water changes and the time between water changes is pretty much dictated by your water quality. If you're replacing evaporated water, add fresh water. If you're changing water by siphoning it out in order to get the nitrates down, replace that water with the saltwater you made up in the bucket. __________________ Terry 150g predator tank full of killers. Soon to be upgraded to a 360g. 450g reef 300g sump.

04-17-2008, 02:05 PM	#8 (permalink)
kathywithbirds Social Darwinism victim Join Date: May 2007 Location: The Hood, NJ Posts: 5,784 View Gallery Karma Komment	Re: Hello to all new to SW, and pics of my Swim Tank Get topoff the same pH as well! Regular distilled freshwater is around 7. You want 8.2-ish. __________________ (\_/) (\__/) ( . .) (^.^) (")(") (> <) Bunny and Bunnina have worked things out. Bunny was mistaken after all, Bunnina was not having an affair. "Besides the noble art of getting things done, there is the noble art of leaving things undone. The wisdom of life consists in the elimination of non-essentials." ~Lin Yutang

04-17-2008, 02:16 PM	#9 (permalink)
CREEPIN Cabbage Leather Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Miami FL Posts: 355 View Gallery Karma Komment	Re: Hello to all new to SW, and pics of my Swim Tank i think he should get the proper test kit (nitrate nitrite ammonia ph and a hydrometer) __________________ Bio-Cube 14gal +Oceanic Protien Skimmer +36w 50/50 +hydro 1 power head +small Heater +chaeto -filter cartridge starting my 65 build (\___/) This is Bunny. (=O.o=) Copy and paste him into your signature (")__(") to help him gain world domination.

04-17-2008, 02:20 PM	#10 (permalink)
trudawg Tunicate Join Date: Apr 2008 Posts: 5 View Gallery Karma Komment	Re: Hello to all new to SW, and pics of my Swim Tank are there chemicals that raise and lower the ph of the water that are specific to marine water? I used to be a amatuer botinist and had ph up and ph down to raise and lower the ph in my grow tanks

04-17-2008, 02:22 PM	#11 (permalink)
CREEPIN Cabbage Leather Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Miami FL Posts: 355 View Gallery Karma Komment	Re: Hello to all new to SW, and pics of my Swim Tank don't add anything enless u can test 4 it __________________ Bio-Cube 14gal +Oceanic Protien Skimmer +36w 50/50 +hydro 1 power head +small Heater +chaeto -filter cartridge starting my 65 build (\___/) This is Bunny. (=O.o=) Copy and paste him into your signature (")__(") to help him gain world domination.

04-17-2008, 02:41 PM	#13 (permalink)
CREEPIN Cabbage Leather Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Miami FL Posts: 355 View Gallery Karma Komment	Re: Hello to all new to SW, and pics of my Swim Tank yup there is __________________ Bio-Cube 14gal +Oceanic Protien Skimmer +36w 50/50 +hydro 1 power head +small Heater +chaeto -filter cartridge starting my 65 build (\___/) This is Bunny. (=O.o=) Copy and paste him into your signature (")__(") to help him gain world domination.

04-23-2008, 12:49 AM	#14 (permalink)
certainti420 Limpet Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Fayettehell, NC Posts: 125 View Gallery Karma Komment Add yours!	Re: Hello to all new to SW, and pics of my Swim Tank Hi, I am also new to the world of saltwater. But I do know about the advantages of R/O (reverse osmosis) water and DI (deionized). A reverse osmosis filter removes around 95% of microorganisms, pathogens, chemicals, and other harmful ingredients found in most tap water especially If you live in a major city that has a water treatment facility chlorine and chloromine are almost guaranteed to be found in your tap water both of which are devastating to the chemistry of your water, your fish, and even worse your biological filtration. A good R/O filter will take care of these problems. Look to spend around $150 to $200 for a good R/O system. Or your LFS probably sells it mine sells fresh R/O water for $.75 a gal and premixed salt water for $1.00 a gal. DI water is also good for your aquarium I am not 100% sure how it works, but it removes ions from your water, it is another way of purifying water. An Ion is an atom of an element that has taken on a charge either positive or negative by releasing or gaining an electron. If the atom releases an electron it will take on a positive charge because there are more protons in the nucleus, and visa versa if the atom gains an electron it will then have a negative charge because it has more electrons then protons. If the atom never releases or gains a electron it is considered neutral and more stable than a charged ion. DI filtration removes these charged ions producing a more stable environment for our fish. Another good reason to use DI water is that it is less conductive of electricity. Because electricity is nothing more than free flowing electrons It will be harder for the electricity to travel through the water because there are no positively charged ions for it to be attracted to. Good luck from your fellow new aquarist I hope this helps you understand water filtration a little more. ~Jon

09-26-2008, 12:06 PM	#15 (permalink)
trudawg Tunicate Join Date: Apr 2008 Posts: 5 View Gallery Karma Komment	Re: Hello to all new to SW, and pics of my Swim Tank update:.........I introduced a yellow tang to the tank about a month after I set it up, it died about a week later. I haven't added anymore fish since. The original damsels are still doing fine, and I'm satisfied with them, since I'll be breaking down the tank here in about 4 months to move

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