Good Starter Saltwater Kit???

VivaLaVics

VivaLaVics

*blub bubble*
Oct 3, 2008
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Seattle, WA
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Hello! I post frequently on the FW areas, first time in the SW section here. A gal I work with wants to get a simple starter tank for saltwater fishes. Her husband is into them. Shes thinking somewhere around 10-20 gallons, something small and managable. (I'm thinking of something like this too in the future.)

I have heard of a "nano reef" before but have no idea what this is, and I myself do not keep SW fish of anykind at the moment.

Do ya'll have any suggestions on what types of kits are out there, or can you give me a general idea of the items needed to start off a small tank? Also where to purchase one would be good to know.

She is clueless about fish, so she came to me for help, and I am clueless about SW... now I need your help! Thanks for any info you can give me and I appreciate your time.

-Sara
 
Nano or biocube are good ... I likem both. Nothing to add yet till you decide what you want to do with the tank.
Corals? Fish and corals?

I dont know much about Nano but its similar to the Oceanic Biocube. I cant recommend many things on Nano modifications or additions ..

Ill read more if you like and comment later unless Mods or ACE beat me to it.
 
Any help is appreciated. Seems like going the nano or biocube route is a good way to begin keeping Saltwater tanks. I personally would want to keep corals and fish, but I am not sure about the gal I work with. She's looking to get a kit for her husbands birthday, so he would ultimatly decide.

This is good knowledge for me too, as my man wants a SW tank. Thank you, Toe!
 
Kits I dont know of...I do know those tanks are ready to go.

I recommend removing bio balls ...useless nitrate factories ...replace with live rock rubble...

basic marine tank things:
Live rock 1lb per gallon in general ..dont have to be exact
Substrate or no substrate up to you...caribsea argonite sand if you do go sand. I dislike crushed coral. We have a sticky about it to.
Heater that can fit in the intake chamber so it remains hidden.
Water- RODI water..no tap.. read sig about it.

Skimmers are limmited for nano..the larger nanos have skimmers that do fit in them. CPR makes a brand that fits right into the middle chambers of the large nano's.

Now if you dont get a skimmer...I recommend doing large water changes weekly...normally I say 10% but because of lack of skimmer you should go 15% or greater weekly.(especially if you have corals)

Salts im not an expert on like the mods. I use instant Ocean or what ever the store uses in premix..depending on my lazyness.
 
Thanks ToeJam, thats all good info! But now I have more questions lol.

What is the purpose of the skimmer? What does it do, and what is in the tank that makes it needed for Salt Water?

Why hide the heater? I've never had a heater hidden in a filter before... would this be a specific type of heater to be compatible? Are the SW fish extra sensitive to heaters? And would I just stick it up the intake, making sure, obviously, not to block it?

PS: Alread read the Coral / Cycling / Beginner fish Stickys thus far. I'll look at the tap water link you have here shortly.

Again, thank you for the time you are spending with me. I appreciate it. Don't want to dive in unless I know what I need.
 
Oo. read the tap water sticky. I use a dechlorinator now. I just need to make sure it takes care of chloramines (sp?) as well correct?
 
VivaLaVics said:
Oo. read the tap water sticky. I use a dechlorinator now. I just need to make sure it takes care of chloramines (sp?) as well correct?
Click to expand...

With salt tap water is just a bad gamble if you read further down there are other problems.



  • Phosphates, nitrates and silicates are elements that naturally occur in water, and it is not unusual for some tap water sources to contain high concentrations of these chemical elements. If these are not removed from the water before using it, you are just adding more of the unwanted elements that give rise to all types of algae blooms in saltwater systems, and that often contribute to persistant problems with higher than normal readings of these chemicals when testing the aquarium water.

  • Copper and iron are particularly detrimental to reef animals, and these or other metals can often be present in tap water as well.


In marine the first thing I think i should have said...you should buy a Marine Water Chemistry book.

We watch: Nitrate,Nitrites,High Range PH,Ammonia..here is where it is differ from fresh. We also watch for Alkalinity, Calcium , Salinity, Phosphates, and even Mag. with sps reefs.

Tap water besides having what you mentioned, the chances of having copper,iron, lots of phosphates, nitrates, and god forbid bacteria that got past there decontamination...are a recipe for losing expensive corals and fish.

Tap water= bad.. many folks have good sources but test there water before using it. Its a gamble in my book.

Sure way to know you are not adding what you do not want is to use RO/DI water. Reverse Osmosis systems can be purchased online at sites like www.marinedepot.com or at Lowes or Homedepot.

Local fish stores that have marine will make there own water and salt mixed water to if you desire to lug a 5 gallon jug or 2 around once a week to the store.

I pick up 5 gallons a week and look at the stuff in the frag tanks =).... 5g week in my 72 is shy of 10% but hey my tank is doing great so im all good. Though against generald advise I give...i think I have a very well maintained tank ..only reason I can get away with it.
 
As far as my co-worker goes, as this was set up for her originally, I want to just make sure I've soaked up this information.

A SW Chemistry book is needed and an extensive range of test kits. (I assume API is good for SW as well)

For the water- testing the tap before adding it and using a good conditioner is a minimum requirement for the safety of marine life. Picking up water from an LFS or aquarium is best.

For the smaller tanks, if you do not have a skimmer then you need to make up for it with higher percentage of water changed weekly. (what is a skimmer?)

I want to confirm that the setup I am looking at is good. No heater comes with it, so we'll need that. I also assume that 5 watts p/gal is acceptable lighting and that the 100ish g/p/h filter is good enough for the 12 gallon tank size.

Also- if one were to do corals- would you need to purchase a powerhead? I know they have sizes that fit the nano-tanks, and I've heard people sayign you need a powerhead for the corals.

Thanks again- i know this is an over load of questions. I should probably just go buy a couple books lol.
 
VivaLaVics said:
As far as my co-worker goes, as this was set up for her originally, I want to just make sure I've soaked up this information.

A SW Chemistry book is needed and an extensive range of test kits. (I assume API is good for SW as well)

For the water- testing the tap before adding it and using a good conditioner is a minimum requirement for the safety of marine life. Picking up water from an LFS or aquarium is best.

For the smaller tanks, if you do not have a skimmer then you need to make up for it with higher percentage of water changed weekly. (what is a skimmer?)

I want to confirm that the setup I am looking at is good. No heater comes with it, so we'll need that. I also assume that 5 watts p/gal is acceptable lighting and that the 100ish g/p/h filter is good enough for the 12 gallon tank size.

Also- if one were to do corals- would you need to purchase a powerhead? I know they have sizes that fit the nano-tanks, and I've heard people sayign you need a powerhead for the corals.

Thanks again- i know this is an over load of questions. I should probably just go buy a couple books lol.
Click to expand...
You probably need to understand how those tanks work. There are 3 chambers hidden behind the black wall of that tank. (ask all the questions you desire don’t worry that’s why we have forums here)

Chamber 1 allows water to flow into it and overflow into chamber 2.
(good spot to hide a heater inside just get one that fits)

Chamber 2 is where the bio balls are. Replace with Live rock Rubble because they contain the two bacteria needed for bio filtration.
(they sell filter pad sheets in fish stores, looks like a flat sponge in sheet form and get the one that says phosphate or activated carbon on the label vs the plain ones. Cut a piece to fit over or under this grill plate that rests ontop of chamber 2. that’s your debris filter)

Chamber 3 is where the return pump sits. It returns the water from chamber 2 to the main tank itself. The pump itself creates the flow in those tanks. You can modify that in the future to improve flow if you like. For now that isn’t a concern.

API test kit is fine. Be sure you have Nitrate, Nitrite, Ammonia, Phosphate, Calcium, Alkalinity, High Range PH test kit (8.0 range), and Salinity measurement test.

Salt is measured by hydrometer (cheap not very good but works some) or refractometers which are 50 bucks but accurate.

As for keeping corals later down the road…It requires another thread =). Reason is corals demand pristine environment. Good water parameters and good lighting. The nanos can support soft corals and select Lps and Sps with the stock lighting. For beginner I suggest soft corals in this case. The tank has all you need to support soft corals. Don’t worry about stock at this time. First worry about setting up and learning maintenance.

Im sorry if I overloaded you … Lets take it a step at a time. There is plenty of time to learn the other things.

So lets worry about setting up first and getting the cycle started.
Heater, Test kits covering what I mentioned, Water chem. Book, Salinity measuring tool.

Inside the display: Sand or not up to you and live rock

Water source:
Make your own with RO unit then you need to buy salt to mix in with it.
Buy the water from water store: Mix your own salt here
Local Salt wate fish store: Buy your salt mixed water and RO top off water there.
*remember when salt water evaporates the salt doesn’t…so replace evaporated water with RO water. Not salt water. Or you raise salt levels and kill things*

Don’t be afraid to fire questions away… I just wanted to not lose you in too much info and keep the focus on getting started and cycling. While cycling come on back to discuss stocking and what to do with feeding and other things you may want to know.

You asked about skimmer: My signature has a link that explains Skimmers…[FONT=&quot][/FONT]
 
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