Saltwater Tank

[cav]

Does this plan sound okay?

I put my rinsed sand in the tank (Not live, will add some live later). Fill it up with tap water. Let the chlorine remove itself from the water. Add salt. (Powerheads will mix it). About a week later start to add live rock and sand.

For water changes, I will use a bucket, powerhead, and heater to mix my salt water.

NO! Dont let tap water any where near your marine tank! This would be better:

1. Add all equipment needed
2. Add RO water to tank switch on all equipment and let it run for a day to make sure it's all working correctly
3. Make sure tank is up to correct temp (around 25 degrees) and add salt to correct salinity, let this run for around 24/48 hours
4. Add live rock(cured) to tank (around 1.5kg per gallon) allow to run for a couple of days checking ammonia/nitrite
5. Add sand (doesn't need to be live as the live rock will seed it)
6. Continue to monitor ammonia/nitrite till they spike and drop to 0 then check your nitrates(by this point you will notice a build up of brown diatom algae)
7. Do around a 30-40% water change to lower nitrates, let stabalize for a day or so then add your clean up crew members to help reduce the diatoms

Dont add the same type of sand you would use for your cichlid tanks, make sure its a marine aragonite based sand

 

[tarheels910]

Can I use tap water if I use stress coat or some chlorine remover?

 

[cav]

Can I use tap water if I use stress coat or some chlorine remover?

Negative my friend, you need to use RO as this will be nitrate/phosphate free, both of which are not good for marine tanks

 

[tarheels910]

Alright. Where can I get some RO water and what are the US prices?

 

[cav]

Alright. Where can I get some RO water and what are the US prices?

2 ways of getting it, purchase your own RO unit or go to a decent lfs that produces it and buy if from them, as for US prices someone from your side of the pond will have to help you there

 

[tarheels910]

My dad just told me he can get me some from his work in jugs. This means I will have to wait another week. :headshake2:

 

[cav]

Patience is the way forward in the s/w game lol

 

[tarheels910]

Seems like A LOT of work.

 

[cav]

Seems like A LOT of work.

Your right, not as easy as you thought it might be is it? Took me 2 months of reading before I started my tank and that still wasn't enough! There is always something you missed or you didn't realise you had to test for.

How are you setting you tank up again? Are you running a filter on it as well as heater, lights and powerhead?

 

[kay-bee]

Why are so many people such fans of these fish? They look kinda mundane to me, yet seem to have a huge cult following. What's the deal?

I'm also a keeper of both african cichlids and marine fish. Some marine fish may be more colorful or dazzling but african cichlids are far from mundane (in my opinion). Some may be considered comparable:

You will have to frequently test for(at least once a week) the really important params:

Salinity
PH
Calcium
Magnesium
Alkalinity
Nitrates
Phosphates

and of course the usuals whilst the tank is cycling

Ammonia
Nitrites...

A fish only set up may just require testing salinity, pH, and nitrates. The other parameters come into play when corals are kept.