More ignorant questions

[Got Bait]

Ok folks, more of my ignorant questions. I feel real stupid not knowing any of this stuff, but that's why I am here. What is the cycling period for a SW tank, like what should I have in the tank at this time. Sand and liverock? Also, how do you do a water change with saltwater. I was reading alot of sites that talked about freshwater but not salt. I am so confused. If anyone could help, it would be great. Thanks everyone.

[blue_eyes53813]

Hey , no questions are stupid,,, Cycling can be a couple weeks or a couple months, You need to get test kits for ammonia, nitrites and nitrates. The cycle will start with ammonia rising and falling, than the same for nitrites and nitrates. all of these are very very harmful and no livestock should be added until all rise and fall back to 0. You will need to bait the tank or get dead decaying matter into the tank to start the cycle. I used deli shrimp from the grocery store. Put it into a nylon and hung it in the tank( it stinks phew) I left it in the tank for about 2 weeks and than replaced it . I also used new liverock with dead stuff on it.

In this hobby you need to go slow. Learn from other mistakes.And read read read........

I think I made a post on one of your other questions about water changes. And yes they should be done. I do 10% everyother Saturday. Doesnt take to long and is very beneficial. Good luck and keep asking questions.

[cracker]

Jay , There is a lot of info out there It's real easy to get confused in the beginning. Don't feel like your questions are ignorant. I like the term "uninformed" . Go ahead and ask you will either get advice or get pointed to where you can find the info you are looking for. 1st work out an idea of what you want. I assume you want to keep local fauna. 1st you gotta get the tank plumbing setup right. It will take a while but it will be worth it in the end. Are you familiar with internal overflow boxes? they enclose those pvc pipes you have in each corner. these pipes are called stand pipes. Go to your LFS and ask to look at "reef ready" or tanks with "internal overflows". This will give you an idea of what they look like. Your stand pipes, as is will work ok but can be improved greatly with a little work. The cycling process isn't all that tuff. once you get the filtering ,LR ,sand maybe in there. a small piece of cut bait or finger mullet. even a couple live bait shrimp will get the cycle going.

[Woodstock]

Yep, cycling can be 2-6 weeks. Please use a raw cocktail shrimp (or two) to cycle your tank and not a live fish. A shrimp works just as well and doesn't subject a helpless fish to horrible ammonia/nitrIte levels. Sand and rocks during the cycle is recommended since the good bacteria will need lots of surface area to grow on.

Depending on the size of your tank, you could use either a 5 gal bucket or a Brute trashcan for water changes. Plan on doing atleast a 30% change per month or more if you feed or have a heavy bioload. The water changes can be divided into weekly or biweekly changes. Using ro/di water will reduce the algae in your tank by eliminating po4/nitrAtes/silicates... but it is not an absolute necessity.

You should mix the salt and water in the container of choice using a power head and heater overnight. This is important to allow the water to reach its equilibrium. Be sure to test hte newly made salt water PRIOR to using it in your reef... test it for ph, temp, and possibly ca, alk, mg if you have corals.

Ohhh... no such thing as a stupid question.

[cracker]

Jay, If You plan on keeping local fish ONLY, You can use ocean water If you have access to CLEAN sea water. A boat maybe? If your going to collect Puffers or Look Downs at the jetties that water should be ok. Now this is for a local fish only tank ok? All kinds of issues involved when adding an imported fish and using natural sea water. Check out this sight about adding a sump to your system.
http://www.melevsreef.com/what_sump.html

[billyr98]

Cycling is very much not a stupid question... But if you want to hear someone talk about it.. talkingreef.com has just released a new podcast about cycling this week.. So if you don't feel like reading, you can always listen to Rob talk about the subject... Good Luck..

[Got Bait]

Thanks for all the comments so far. Yesterday I went and filled up my tank. Then I added around 35 lbs. of sand, and 2 lbs. of LR, (that was all I could afford right now. Especially with Mother's day.) I also added the salt. Today it is clearing up a bit but still a bit cloudy. I completely forgot to rinse the sand before putting it in the tank. I hope it will eventually clear up and not look like that forever.
To add, it was 15 lbs. of bagged aragonite for the sand and another 20 lbs. of some treated stuff with bacteria already.

[blue_eyes53813]

Good job,,, It will clear up, but it will take time. To filter out some of the junk from the sand you could run a hang on filter(if you have one) .