Well, the tank is up!

[SaltWaterN00b]

So far so good, I picked up the sand, salt and heater yesterday, clean the sand a bit and dumped it in the tank added water and salt, pumps, filter and heater and so far so good.

Go to sleep, wake up in the morning and theres a snail just making his way across the sand (Wife named him Gary). Will he be ok in the tank while it cycles? I didnt notice him while i was cleaning the sand Im going to pick up Nitrex today, put it in and ill keep everyone updated.

I bought salt and according to the package its good for 50g I mixed it in and the salt seems a little high should i just add freshwater to it? I have a 55g tank

 

[Reefer420]

if the salinity of the water is high just add RO/DI water or distilled to bring it down...

 

[masterswimmer]

Congrats on taking the plunge. I know it can be a daunting task.
Snails are very sensitive to changes in water parameters. Depending upon the severity of your cycle, it might make it, it might not. Either way, believe me when I tell you it won't be the only snail to bite the big one if it does not make it.

Hopefully you're measuring your salinity with a refractometer, not a hydrometer. If you are, and you find that it's still high, just add RO/DI water to lessen the concentration. If you don't have enough capacity in the tank to add more fresh water, you'll have to take out some H2O that's already in there.

Remember, your tank WILL have evaporation loss every day. The replacement water for evaporation must be fresh water. Salt does not evaporate. So to keep your SG (specific gravity) stable, you should topoff daily.

swimmer

 

[SaltWaterN00b]

Ok here are the first tests 24 hours after setup

PH 7.8
Saltwater Ammonia .50
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 5.0

Hydrometer
31ppt 1.023

Does this seem about right for a new tank? Just wondering

Going to pick up a refractometer this paycheck.

 

[marrone]

Did you put Nitrex in filter yet? It will mess up the Ammonia, Nitrite & Nitrate readings for a couple of days. Outside of the live sand what else do you have in the tank.

The Ph is a little low as it should be about 8.0-8.4 range. For a Fish only tank 7.8 is ok but you need to get it at 8.0.

The ammonia reading of .50 that is what level on the test kit?

 

[House of Laughter]

NooB,

Amonia will kill the snails for sure - get more circulation in that tank and more oxygen exchange

House

 

[nycitaliano9]

noob ill hold the snail with the 3 damsels im going to give you untill your tank is ready

 

[SaltWaterN00b]

Did you put Nitrex in filter yet? It will mess up the Ammonia, Nitrite & Nitrate readings for a couple of days. Outside of the live sand what else do you have in the tank.

The Ph is a little low as it should be about 8.0-8.4 range. For a Fish only tank 7.8 is ok but you need to get it at 8.0.

The ammonia reading of .50 that is what level on the test kit?

No Nitrex yet, im waiting for it to deliver. Other then the live sand, some shells and fake coral, 2 pumps, the heater and a thermoeter.

Im not understanding your question on the ammonia. If you mean what color level on the test indicator its the 2nd down from 0 so its 0, .25 then .50.

NooB,

Amonia will kill the snails for sure - get more circulation in that tank and more oxygen exchange

I have 2 pumps going, do i still need more circulation? I have an air pump, will a bubble wall in the back be sufficient?

 

[marrone]

Outside of the snail you don't have anything in the tank to worry about. Once you place the Nitrex in everything should be fine so don't worry about anything right now.

The 2 pumps and filter that you're running are fine, what you want to do is make sure you have water breakage. So if you can angle the pumps up so they break the water that would help raise the Ph and put Oxygen in the water.

 

[SaltWaterN00b]

Should i raise the pumps a little out of the water for breakage or should i just aim them at each other?

Right now I have one pump on the right side towards the back with the flow going across the back of the tank wall and one pump on the left side towards the front with the flow going across the front of the tank wall.

 

[marrone]

The way you have the pumps are fine, what you want it to make sure that you see water movement and breakage at the top of the tank. So it looks like the water is boiling on top.

 

[SaltWaterN00b]

Well i can definitely see the water movement on top but no breakage, i'll lift the pumps a little higher when i get home. Thank you!

 

[Tonyscoots84]

so far 2 pages on this thread and no pics :banghead: watcha waitin for lolz...

 

[SaltWaterN00b]

Ill have them up in about an hour and a half, its far from finished and looks very plain, kinda embarassing:tongue: . Ill get them up tonight though. I'll try and get a pic of Gary the snail too! :splitspin

 

[SaltWaterN00b]

as promised

 

[marrone]

It looks good, you probably want to get a couple pieces of rock or more pieces of coral in the tank for some hiding spaces and to make it look not as empty. The tank also looks very clear, which is good after you placed the sand in it.

You may want to paint the back of the tank as it will look nicer and the fish will stand out better.

Also what type of heater is that, it's not one of those Visi-therm heaters is it?

 

[SaltWaterN00b]

Visi-therm heater? Im having to problem with the heater at all in any case.

I spoke to a pet store guy, family owned business forever and he said for a fish only tank avoid live rock, it will make unwanted bacteria, any truth to that?

What color should i paint the back of the tank?

As i said its not finished, and i ran out of cash lol it will look like that for a little while.

 

[masterswimmer]

I spoke to a pet store guy, family owned business forever and he said for a fish only tank avoid live rock, it will make unwanted bacteria, any truth to that?

I would not shop at that LFS anymore. Well, I wouldn't take ANY information they offer you at least. LR is probably the most widely accepted form of natural filtration in the hobby worldwide. Your LFS guy seems clueless.

What color should i paint the back of the tank?

That is a matter of preference. I like black. I find that blue backgrounds take away from the fish. For instance, if you put a Hippo Tang in a tank with a blue background, the fish blends in with it. Not what you really want to see IMO.

swimmer

 

[Reefer420]

i used a dark navy blue on the back of my tank... though I would worry about painting it now that its all set up. I think Deanos had a link to a press-on background that he uses (or used)- you might want to PM him.

its not going to matter too much in the loong run - it will become purple coraline eventually unless you clean the back of the tank as often as the front- and I have only seen a few tanks that have!

 

[marrone]

Visi-therm heater? Im having to problem with the heater at all in any case.

I spoke to a pet store guy, family owned business forever and he said for a fish only tank avoid live rock, it will make unwanted bacteria, any truth to that?

What color should i paint the back of the tank?

As i said its not finished, and i ran out of cash lol it will look like that for a little while.

The Problem with Visi-Therm heater is that they can break pretty easy.

People use LR for filteration but you will get some die off on it. You can buy pieces of dead coralite rock for about $1 a lb. A couple of pieces will do or get some more of the dead or plastic coral.

Painting the tank now isn't going to be a problem at all. Pick up a small can of paint, water based, and just brush it on. Paint now a day dries very fast and wouldn't cause any problems with the tank.

I personally like the blue paint and you can actually put it on so that you have some areas that are light and some areas that are dark. Creates a nice effect. I don't like black as unless you have heavy lights it makes the tank look dark.