Got a few questions.......

[Ordovician]

Hi. I have been doing FW for around two years now, and I recently moved to a new place across town and decided to start a salt water tank. Well.....I thought I new everything so I just left my emperor 280 on my 29 gallon tank, added some instant ocean to my tank and waited for the tank to cycle.......It recently cycled and I got three zebra damsels and three of the blue and gold ones. The fish are doing great, but after reading this board........I feel like I skrewed up majorly. Firstly, I have quartz sand instead of aragonite, and I don't have any live rock in the tank. I want to do this right, but it seems like there is so much that I did wrong. And as usual I'm financially handicapped here......However, I would like to have a plan to right this thing......So I'm guessing that I should do the following:

1. Replace the substrate from qtz. to aragonite
2. Get some live rock
3. Get a protein skimmer
4. Lose the emperor 280


Does this sound like a good plan of action? I would eventually like to get rid of the damsels, increase my lighting, and add some invertebrates.......but that will probably be awhile away.

[OrionGirl]

The substrate can be play sand from Home Depot--way cheaper than aragonite. Buy live rock a few pieces at a time, as you can afford to pick them up. A protein skimmer will help, and you can leave the filter on, for water movement. It will help provide a place for bacteria until you can get enough live rock. For lights, check out hellolights.com It's the cheapest place I've found. Decide what you want, and then just save up for it.

And, don't feel bad. The change from FW to SW seems pretty straight forward on paper, it's just in the tank that it falls apart. ;) Not many of us had really good guidance when we first started, and made some mistakes along the way.

[Ordovician]

Thanks for the reply....just wished I had done some more research before I got the fish. The best lfs in town has live rock going for 3.95 which I think is a pretty good price correct? Can you stack live rock or does every piece have to sit on the substrate?

[DeltaUguy]

Originally posted by OrionGirl
The substrate can be play sand from Home Depot--way cheaper than aragonite.
Just make sure it is Southdown brand play sand. Southdown is aragonite based, not quartz based. Its available only at Home Depots in the north east.:( Not in the south or midwest. Quartz based sand will give you algea problems later on in the tank's life. Has alot of Phosphates and stuff like that.

And I would take the zebra damsels back as well. A 29 gallon won't give them enough room and the black and white ones are alittle more mean than the blue ones. As far as skimmers go, you don't necessarily need one. I don't run one on my 25 gallon, but I have a light bioload and have a powerhead for circulation. Many people go skimmerless. If you don't plan on keeping corals any time soon, I would hold off on it.

Hope that helps!

[OrionGirl]

No, regular play sand won't cause problems--where would it get phosphates? Myth. Argonite is useful because it will help buffer the tank, but that's it. You'll find a lot of people here have regular ole' sand, and are very happy with it, no algae issues.

$3.95 is a good deal--does it have lots of stuff on it? Sponges and coralline algae and such? Wish I could find a good deal like that locally!

Stack away. I recommend getting some base rock, or using tufa rock to form a shelf, and then covering that up with the more attractive live rock, though it doesn't matter too much. Just a shame to find a great rock and then bury it. It still is effective filtration, though!

[Corax]

"Just make sure it is Southdown brand play sand. Southdown is aragonite based, not quartz based. Its available only at Home Depots in the north east.:( Not in the south or midwest. Quartz based sand will give you algea problems later on in the tank's life. Has alot of Phosphates and stuff like that."

mmmmmmmm no, not accurate.. Southdown is the BEST choice if you can get it. It is great stuff.. However, using the silica based sand is not the end of the world. I know MANY people that have used it and have done jsut fine with it, myself included. I used the Bonsal playsand at HD for $2.49/bag..


"And I would take the zebra damsels back as well. A 29 gallon won't give them enough room and the black and white ones are alittle more mean than the blue ones."

I personally would take ALL the damsels back as they seriously limit ever putting more fish in the tank. Look at clowns, dwarf angels, cardinals, some gobies and blennies. Damsels get big and mean, not at all apropriate.

"As far as skimmers go, you don't necessarily need one. I don't run one on my 25 gallon, but I have a light bioload and have a powerhead for circulation. Many people go skimmerless. If you don't plan on keeping corals any time soon, I would hold off on it."

Actually, some people say just the opposite. Skim a FO tank, but leave it off a reeftank. The reason for this is that it lets you have a bigger bioload (more fish) and they kill the microscopic organisms that corals need.. I personally, skim me FO 55, but not my FO 29... Someday I'll skim both, but the $ isn't there.

Don't worry about making mistakes on your startup, we've all been there. Learning from and realizing your mistakes though, that's the key. I think yer on yer way =)

Take a look at these 4 steps. It should help you tremendously. Some of the info is a bit dated and I need to work on it, but it is mostly accurate.

The Oscar Spot (http://www.theoscarspot.com//cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi?board=General)

HTH!

[Boogiechillin]

Just to clarify, using silica-based play sand won't contribute to algae growth. People have historically gotten confused on this because of the distinction between inert silica in sand and the silicate found in most tapwater, which contributes to diatom algae blooms.

[DeltaUguy]

Originally posted by Boogiechillin
Just to clarify, using silica-based play sand won't contribute to algae growth. People have historically gotten confused on this because of the distinction between inert silica in sand and the silicate found in most tapwater, which contributes to diatom algae blooms.
Thanks for sharing the info, to simply tell me its a myth doesn't do much with out the info to back it up.

I guess I'll shut up now, newbie trying to give newbie info. Kinda like "the blind leading the blind"!:D

But I still think the skimmer can wait. I'm currently setting up a 75 gal "RR" that will be fish only, but will become a reef tank at the end of the summer. The skimmer is the last thing I'm going to buy. I have money constraints as well.

$3.95 is a good deal on LR! Where are you getting it? That's almost worth the drive to Lexington to get it, if it has plenty of life on it!

[OrionGirl]

Sorry--if I don't provide the full reason, it usually means that it's been covered in other threads.

I'll try to provide links in the future. ;)

[Boogiechillin]

Originally posted by DeltaUguy


I guess I'll shut up now, newbie trying to give newbie info. Kinda like "the blind leading the blind"!:D



I remember a big debate about a year and half ago over on Reef Central about this - lots of extremely experienced people had it wrong, and a few *still* will argue against the use of silica sand because of some mysterious potential for future algae blooms. It's by no means an obvious mistake, and you should definitely keep contributing! ;)

[DeltaUguy]

Then how about this:

Since play sand is silica based, if it gets caught in your algea scraper, it can scratch your tank. Is that true?

[OrionGirl]

It's true of any sand. Might not happen as often, but I can honestly say that we've never scratched a glass tank with the sand. Acrylic is a different story. It scratches more easily, so care to avoid getting sand, or other hard bits, in the scraper are a must.

[Ordovician]

Thanks for all the replies........I'll definately get rid of the damselfish eventually, but I'll work on the live rock for now. As far as the skimmer goes.......how much should I pay for one? Seems like they have a wide price range.........

Delta, the store here in Lexington is Regency Pet Center. I'm going there tomorrow to make sure that I was seeing things right, and I might pick up a pound or two while I'm there. I'll let you know how it all works out.

[BrianH]

Since you don't mention having a sump I'll give you my opinion on HOT skimmers. My rankings below are in the order of highest quality and price for you size tank.

1) Aqua C Remora
2) CPR Bak Pak
3) Red Sea Prizm

All three of these skimmers will do the job in your tank but remember that you get what you pay for. IMHO the Remora and the Bak Pak are much better skimmers than the prizm. But if you can't spend the money for the 1st 2, the prizm can handle your tank.

Brian