noob questions salt water 101

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jeepfish

jeepfish

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Hey everyone i have some super noob questions

1.do i really need ro/di water for a sucsessfull tank? also if i do what should i buy?

2.how should i store salt water,is there anything special i need to do or can i just keep it in a bucket?

3.where can i skimp my money and where do i need the good stuff. im a car guy so the best way i can explain this is in car terms so you should defenitly not skimp on your oil (ie mobil 1) but cleaners such as brake clean or car wash cheep out it dont matter.

4.how much live rock will i need for my 14 gal bc ?

5. in my bio cube i have heard alot of things about getting rid of the bio balls and filling that up with lr rubble good or bad?

6.how important is my punctuality of my lights. right now i get up around 6:30 and hit my actinic leaving for work around 8 hit my day light work till 6 home at 6:30 hit the actinic again and moon glows at 8 all times are give or take 30 min is that ok or do i need timers

7. i hear the lighting in the bc is inadequate for coral do i need to upgrade?

thanks so much guys:D
 
Again, welcome.

1. Yes, you can buy your own RO/DI unit or you can get some cheap from Barrier Reef Aquariums in Renton.

2. I am not sure of any particular situation but I would make sure it is very close in temperature, Specific Gravity (Salt content), and pH to your tank before it is added.

3. In this hobby "skimping out" will only bring bad results. Best thing to do is research equipment, foods, and such as decide what fits your needs and budget best.

4. General rule of thumb here is 1lb of live rock for every gallon of water. So in your case a 14G tank should have 14lbs of live rock (LR). Same goes for live sand. 1lb of sand per gallon as a general rule. You can always be a little under but being over wont hurt. I run 23lbs of Ultra LR in my 26G with 20lbs of sand.

5.Personal choice. Bio balls are great but can become Nitrate traps if not careful. LR, I would think, would be best.

6.There is no set time frame for lighting. It is best to limit some light depending on what you have. Again, I run a 150w Metal Halide from 8am to 5:30pm with an Actinic T-5. My Lunar LEDs take over from 5:30pm to 8am. You need to provide enough light for corals. Fish can live in the dark for weeks on end without light. Too much light can be a bad thing for corals, same with too little. Its a delicate balance. I suggest looking into a cheap timer like the Coralife timer.

7. Depends on your lighting and what you want to house in your tank. This isn't a standard but 1w per gallon for LPS and softies should be ok, 3w per gallon for SPS. Again, I run a 150w Metal Halide, 18w actinic which equals out to 168w total over a 26G tank. That rouhgly equals out to 6.5w per gallon.

Fish, Softies, LPS & Anemones can run under Compact Flourescent, Power Compacts, T5, Metal Halide and LED's with proper watts per gallon.

SPS, and most clams require high power lighting such as T5HO, Metal Halide and LED's

-Derrick
 
"Hey everyone i have some super noob questions

1.do i really need ro/di water for a sucsessfull tank? also if i do what should i buy?

Our water locally is better than most so you can postpone this untill budget allows. With our cleaner water, the filters also last longer.

2.how should i store salt water,is there anything special i need to do or can i just keep it in a bucket?

Covered buckets are great.

3.where can i skimp my money and where do i need the good stuff. im a car guy so the best way i can explain this is in car terms so you should defenitly not skimp on your oil (ie mobil 1) but cleaners such as brake clean or car wash cheep out it dont matter.

Water changes, quality food and temperate control are two biggies

4.how much live rock will i need for my 14 gal bc ?

The amount of rock will be determined by your bio load which is a fancy way of saying fish/tank size ratio. The less fish, the less filtration and rock you will need.

Start with a few larger very porous pieces and add more aged rock as you find good deals.

5. in my bio cube i have heard alot of things about getting rid of the bio balls and filling that up with lr rubble good or bad?

Unless a fish only tank with no corals, the balls will do little good and can trap food and pollutants

6.how important is my punctuality of my lights. right now i get up around 6:30 and hit my actinic leaving for work around 8 hit my day light work till 6 home at 6:30 hit the actinic again and moon glows at 8 all times are give or take 30 min is that ok or do i need timers.

This is fine. Can add a cheap timer if you need to cut hours back for algae bloom or whatever

7. i hear the lighting in the bc is inadequate for coral do i need to upgrade? Soft corals will do fine.

Most hard corals will require better lighting
 
jeepfish,

Welcome to RF!!!!!

1.do i really need ro/di water for a sucsessfull tank? also if i do what should i buy? Yes, otherwise you will have an algae nightmare in your tank.
2.how should i store salt water,is there anything special i need to do or can i just keep it in a bucket? Keep in bucket with lid tightly closed, otherwise you will have a large block of hard salt.

3.where can i skimp my money and where do i need the good stuff. IMO, don't skimp on skimmer or lighting...think of the skimmer as the brains of your tank...you will thank me later.

4.how much live rock will i need for my 14 gal bc ? depends if you plan on getting a skimmer or not..most say 1 lb/gallon of tank...I would think 20-25 lbs is good.

5. in my bio cube i have heard alot of things about getting rid of the bio balls and filling that up with lr rubble good or bad?
Personally preference, but bio balls can be a nitrate trap, so I would not use them IME.

6.how important is my punctuality of my lights. right now i get up around 6:30 and hit my actinic leaving for work around 8 hit my day light work till 6 home at 6:30 hit the actinic again and moon glows at 8 all times are give or take 30 min is that ok or do i need timers

Timers are definitely needed...6-8 hrs of total light is sufficent for a reef.

7. i hear the lighting in the bc is inadequate for coral do i need to upgrade?
Don't know what current lighting you have so need more info.


For anyone just starting the hobby, I HIGHLY recommend reading the following book:

Amazon.com: The Conscientious Marine Aquarist: A Commonsense Handbook for Successful Saltwater Hobbyists (Microcosm/T.F.H. Professional) (9781890087999): Robert M. Fenner, Matthew L. Wittenrich, Scott W. Michael: Books


It will answer a majority of your questions. The first half of the book talks about tank setup, live rock, water parameters, diseases/treatments, aquascaping, etc..; the second half of the book is devoted to all the fish species. I own a copy and still use it even though I've been in the hobby almost 15yrs. :)
 
Thank you guys for the help i am amazed at how it seems everyone in this hobby just wants to help others and not ridicule dumb questions
nc2wa i am ordering the book tonight and the lights in the cube is a 24watt 10k and a 24 watt actinic. now one more question do i have to do any thing special with the buckets(i was told that if i went that way i would have to buy a crappy heater and keep it in the bucket and keep the water circulating) and how long will the water be good for in the buckets? again thanks you guys are awsome:D
 
It is a matter of simple chemistry. The saltwater in a closed bucket does not need heat, nor does it need circulation to stay saltwater. Before using it, some good airation could help to balance Ph, but other than that it is fine. No reason to keep much mixed saltwater on hand except for water changes. Evaporation will be done with non-salt water. Keep it as simple as possible...
 
alright last one for awhile do i need a skimmer? i will be running 20-25lbs of live rock and rubble live rock in the bio ball section of my cube. i plan on haveing 3 fish or so with some coral. how do i determin if i have good flow in my tank and if i need a power head or not?
 
Again depends on what you want to keep coral wise. Basically with a fish only tank you want enough water movement inside the tank to keep the detrius (sp?) AKA poop from settling in the rocks and on the sand. You want to keep it suspended to be mechanically removed. With that said you don't need a category 5 hurricane in there either. Also be sure to have a good size community of a clean up crew (CUC) to help with keeping thw tank clean.

If your tank is not heavily stocked and is under 30 gallons then you can get away with performing water changes weekly. Otherwise you will need a decent skimmer to remove the build up of dissolved protiens in the water.
 
If your tank is not heavily stocked and is under 30 gallons then you can get away with performing water changes weekly. Otherwise you will need a decent skimmer to remove the build up of dissolved protiens in the water.
Click to expand...

Jeepfish, FocusST said it best and should be the key takeaway.
 
jeepfish,

I am unloading live rock and have an extra RO (not RO/DI) unit (Kent Bare Bones) .... if interested just let me know, willing to discount to unload as I have too much accumulated unused items. You will see a post on the LR on the classified page.
 
by the way guys i just picked that book up at barrier reef and so far it is awsome , and riemannp i wish i had checked in a little sooner just picked up a whole bunch of live rock and no budget for a ro yet
 
I'm a noob to. I just got the book on my cell. Way glad I decided to listen to this thread. Even happier I did a lot more research on sw tanks. As I'm a fw tanker wanting to make the switch. Thanks for the info even though I didn't start the thread. Great ? By the way jeepfish
 
Josh,

First, Welcome to RF !!!!

FWIW. When i made the transition from FW to SW, I researched SW for 6 months before I put one drop of water in a tank. I read the first half of the book at least twice and then asked LFS question after question. Once I "understood" the concepts, it was time to get a tank wet and learn.

if you have any questions, let us know.
 
Yeah I was kinds thrown into on my bad judgement call a little over 5 months ago. I bought two f8 from Walmart without proper research. But I Have been doing it a lot of it. I lost one that I had got but the other f8 is doing great. He's only a juvenile. 3/4 an inch long. So he's in brackish water right now. For another 3 to 4 months in which ill start converting him to straight sw. But in knowing that is why I've been doing all the research. I did start my own thread in the newbie forum. If ya want to give it a look. And help me out a bit.
 
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