Saltwater Newbie in New Mexico

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Eventually, I would love to expand into a sump/skimmer system, but at the moment am severely limited in space and resources. I never clean everything at once, and haven't ever bleached. Was told to clean a few bits at a time to not disrupt bacteria. But this advice is still handy just in case. :) I also cheated picture wise. Couldn't get it figured out, so I photobucketed. Lol
 
Take your time Amber. You can have a very successful aquarium without either a sump or skimmer. There are lots of very knowledgeable folks on RF if/when you want to learn more about sumps and skimmers. Faithful water changes go a long way toward maintaining good water quality and being mindful not to stock too many fish.
Keep us posted. Dawn
 
The more I read and research, the more I think I poisoned my fish, the tank was over stocked and a lack of oxygen probably contributed, as opposed to a disease. But I still Don' t understand why my emerald passed just 24 hours after his first molt or if it is ok to replace him. Which water do you recommend in marine tanks?
 
I am not a good one to ask about that. I live in a municipality where the water is pretty good right from the tap ( and I know that is definitely not the case every where )so I confess that is what I do. You can't go wrong with an RO unit but they are not cheap nor are the replacement cartridges that you need to maintain. Perhaps other RF members could answer this one better than I.
 
Sometimes we don't know why something happens like your crab. I could speculate but I might steer you wrong so I'd rather not.
 
The more I read and research, the more I think I poisoned my fish, the tank was over stocked and a lack of oxygen probably contributed, as opposed to a disease. But I still Don' t understand why my emerald passed just 24 hours after his first molt or if it is ok to replace him. Which water do you recommend in marine tanks?
 
I am getting my water at a water store, so I have the option to get ro, or distilled. I also live in the desert and we have Horrid water! You can' t even drink the tap water here. It is definitely Hard water.
 
Go beyond ro water and get your self an ro/di filter when you can. You DO NOT have to buy one aquarium specific. If theres something to do with pets, there is almost always a big markup. Instead, look at a ro/di filter for your house. Much bigger, you and your family can drink the water, and the same water goes into the fish tank. Right from the tap. What do you mean "water store"? Sometimes you cant trust when the filters have been changed. There may even be cooper tubing in their machines. Something you definately dont want in the water.
 
We have water stores here, like Culligan that supply distilled and RO water. I Don' t have the ability to put in an ro system where I live. So I need to know what I can be doin instead.
 
Amber, distilled or RO from one of these stores should be just fine for your system. You may ask them if they have a TDS meter (to read total disolved solids) in their water and what the readings are before and after treatment. I to am blessed with very clean water 16-21 TDS before and a big 0 afterwards going through my ro/di, even only reads 0 TDS before DI. Do you heat your water before adding salt ? this makes it much easier and disolves all ingredients.

Cheers, Todd
 
You don't have to do a whole house RO. I have a portable RO unit that hooks up to a sink and I can save the water in clean garbage can with a tiny Rio to keep it circulated. The only concern there might be space but you could just make 5 gallons in an old salt bucket. You'd have to watch that you don't over fill the bucket unless you install a float system or set the bucket near a drain if there is one handy to your sink.
 
I was just pointing out that if she could get a household filter, she could save money from mot having to buy water and drive to get water so she could drink it also. She did mention she cant drink her water.
 
Lol, lugging around the water is a pain :) But it is good to know what I can be asking the people at the water place. They are really nice and know I am only using it for fish. We use a Brita filter for drinking, would that also be a way to use your sink water for tank filling, or would you still want to know TDS in that situation as well? My big concern is probably my inverts, because we have such harsh water, we have a lot of calcium, maybe even copper in the regular water here. it is extremely Hard water. Inverts need calcium and trace elements, but what additives do you choose to keep craps capable of a healthy molt? I am looking into a hanging skimmer too, as I think it may be the most accessible until I can add live sand and another live rock piece. in the meantime, aside from the SeaChem Purigen in my filter box, should I have something else, a cotton or carbon filter too?
 
I haven't been heating the water before hand. Right now, being that it is cold I see that as being helpful. Especially because I am worried the water may be a smidge cooler than usual. In the summer here, it would be unnecessary, I would think, because it is naturally so hot here and the water was warmish to the touch, already about 78 degrees.
 
With a 30 gallon tank if your water change is 5 gallon or less, don't worry about the temperature of it. It would probably only lower the tanks temp a degree and that won't hurt.
Iodine is the additive that helps with molting but its a tricky one and you don't want to overdose. Most marine salts add iodine so for a fish only tank with crabs, shrimp and serpent stars there should be plenty of iodine being replenished with your water changes.
 
Have you figured out yet, water changes...very important!...lol. I wouldnt dose iodine into the water. Theres enough in the salt. I used to dose it, but stopped over a year ago. It doesnt take much to over due it, then you have to do water changes anyways to get the levels back to normal. Bulkreefsupply.com. Check out their website. They have good deals on stuff. I got my TDS meter that also reads temperature for $25. Nice rock also. I dont think your britta filter would get your water clean enough for your fish, i could be wrong though. Have to check it with the tds meter.
 
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