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Katsafado's first ever 10g SW tank(nano)

post #1 of 4365
4/25/09 at 1:40am
Thread Starter 
Saturday April 25 2009

Finally got my stand today and set up my 10g tank. I have a 45g XP1 Filter running on it with a modded spray bar. Decided to put the spray bar vertically in the left of the tank, and I drilled more holes into it in various directions so I have a spray in all sorts of directions for water movement. I also bought a 50watt submersible stealth heater. Lights are soon to come! So I set up the tank bought 8lbs of live pre-cured Figi rock from the LFS and 20lb bag of live Caribbean sand. I'm currently waiting for the sand to settle in the tank still. I also have to move the heater up a bit once the sand settles because there was more sand in the tank then I expected and it is currently partially covering the heater. The current temperature of my water is 75 deg, and specific gravity is 1.018. Everything seems to be going good thus far from what I can see! There was lots of foam produced from the sand but I’m not worried about that yet, also lots of “stuff” floating in the water Like sticks and parts of worms I think.


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post #2 of 4365
4/25/09 at 2:01am
That stuff may be die off from the rock...you should skim it out. Are you going to raise the salinity? 1.018 is a little low. The next time you have to add water you can top off with SW. The sand will settle in a day or two...

The cloud looks good
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post #3 of 4365
4/25/09 at 2:06am
Thread Starter 
Yeah the saltinity is low because i had to takesome of the salt water i made out to replace it with the sand. I added rock then water then sand. I'm in the process of making a nice big batch of salt water in a bucket for water changes ect. Ill be skimming the top 2morro most likely when I have to clean my freshwater tank. Too lazzy now. So this pre-cured rock, anything special I need to do for it? Or just leave it as it is. I think i need a seriouse sand bed CUC due to the depth of the sand. Depth is 2.5-3 inch.
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post #4 of 4365
4/25/09 at 2:10am
Nothing to do yet except for tests....test your water tomorrow, and see what you have..i am sure you have read about cycle and all that right?

If the rock is really pre-cured, you may not have much of a cycle...
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post #5 of 4365
4/25/09 at 2:17am
Thread Starter 
Well the guy advised me to use sraight tap water and salt mix(tapwater for the ammonia) and then I asked him if i should put a piece of cocktail shrimp in there to help the cycle and he said no the rock should do all of that. Dont really know what that means. What does precured rock usually look like? Mine was tan in colour and some spots had a little slim like pieces, and the purple algea spores every so often(but not much). I was going to wait untill the water was completely unclowdy then start testing. Yes I do know about cycling the tank, seems like the same tests and method for cycling freshwater tanks. Also If i use prime and tap water will that be okay for making the new batch os salt water rather than using r/o or distilled?
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post #6 of 4365
4/25/09 at 2:24am
Originally Posted by Katsafados View Post
Well the guy advised me to use sraight tap water and salt mix(tapwater for the ammonia) and then I asked him if i should put a piece of cocktail shrimp in there to help the cycle and he said no the rock should do all of that. Dont really know what that means. What does precured rock usually look like? Mine was tan in colour and some spots had a little slim like pieces, and the purple algea spores every so often(but not much). I was going to wait untill the water was completely unclowdy then start testing. Yes I do know about cycling the tank, seems like the same tests and method for cycling freshwater tanks. Also If i use prime and tap water will that be okay for making the new batch os salt water rather than using r/o or distilled?
IDK why the guy told you to use tapYou need to look into ro/di units....for a 10g it won't cost that much to buy ro from Walmart or somewhere else...Don't use Prime...When your water clears test it...do nothing else...You should not have to add any detox chemicals

let your tank run it's cycle naturally...Test ammonia, nitrite, nitrate....daily...know what your p.h. is,
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post #7 of 4365
4/25/09 at 2:31am
Thread Starter 
Okay:) I didnt use any chemicals I just saw the prime in the salt water section at the LFS and wondered if i could have just used that. Since im familiar with the product because I use it for my freshwater tank. That and stability.
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post #8 of 4365
4/25/09 at 2:40am
Originally Posted by Katsafados View Post
Okay:) I didnt use any chemicals I just saw the prime in the salt water section at the LFS and wondered if i could have just used that. Since im familiar with the product because I use it for my freshwater tank. That and stability.
I have had fw tanks for years....take my word for this..THEY ARE NOTHING ALIKE

If you have fish, and you have an ammonia or nitrite spike, I belive you can use prime to detoxify your water but it messes up your tessting...The only thing it does is detox the water so your fish won't be poisoned..

I hate putting stuff in the tanks
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post #9 of 4365
4/25/09 at 2:49am
Thread Starter 
Originally Posted by meowzer View Post
I have had fw tanks for years....take my word for this..THEY ARE NOTHING ALIKE

If you have fish, and you have an ammonia or nitrite spike, I belive you can use prime to detoxify your water but it messes up your tessting...The only thing it does is detox the water so your fish won't be poisoned..

I hate putting stuff in the tanks


Yeah I see lots of people do. My over stocked 20g cichlid tank is doing great though I use prime and stability and a little dose of freshwater aquarium salt + 20% water change every week and clean the filters every 2 weeks. The only thing I always have to keep an eye on is the filter media id gets used up quickly.


Off topic but yeah.


Of course salt water is totally different! You can do pretty much ne thing to freshwater fish and nothing really happens to them, but from what ive been reading for salt water is that if soemthing changes slightly everything pretty much goes into shock.. Kind of intimitating but im up for the challenge
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post #10 of 4365
4/25/09 at 2:54am
Originally Posted by Katsafados View Post
Yeah I see lots of people do. My over stocked 20g cichlid tank is doing great though I use prime and stability and a little dose of freshwater aquarium salt + 20% water change every week and clean the filters every 2 weeks. The only thing I always have to keep an eye on is the filter media id gets used up quickly.


Off topic but yeah.


Of course salt water is totally different! You can do pretty much ne thing to freshwater fish and nothing really happens to them, but from what ive been reading for salt water is that if soemthing changes slightly everything pretty much goes into shock.. Kind of intimitating but im up for the challenge
I hope so...it's a lot more work...from what I understand with a smaller tank you have to watch your water parameters a lot closer
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post #11 of 4365
4/25/09 at 2:59am
Thread Starter 
Yeah thats what I've been reading also. But I am addicted to fish tanks so I have no problem always testing. But I'll admit that I dont have a test kit yet but 2morro I'm going to the LFS to buy one. Any recomendations? Oh yeah also I saw 2 types reef and a normal one(ammonia, nitrate ect.) I belive do I need to purchase the reef later on when I get corals? Or is it not necessary
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post #12 of 4365
4/25/09 at 3:04am
Originally Posted by Katsafados View Post
Yeah thats what I've been reading also. But I am addicted to fish tanks so I have no problem always testing. But I'll admit that I dont have a test kit yet but 2morro I'm going to the LFS to buy one. Any recomendations? Oh yeah also I saw 2 types reef and a normal one(ammonia, nitrate ect.) I belive do I need to purchase the reef later on when I get corals? Or is it not necessary
I have the api sw kit...it has ammonia, nitrites, nitrates and p.h.
I have purchased tests for calcium, phosphates, alkalinity, magnesium...I you can get a kit with all of them go for it...They say Sailfert brand is the best I don't have any of them...I have red sea and api...DONT BUY NUTRFIN

Also do you have a refractometer for testing salinity or a hydrometer...if you have a hydrometer..you really need a refractometer...they are much more accurate
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post #13 of 4365
4/25/09 at 3:08am
Thread Starter 
Yeah I bought a hydro for now since my cerdit card is maxed out at the moment. I will be getting a refract. when I have money on the card since i found a cheap one on a website.


On a side note Ijust found an emerald crab (looks to be) in the tank:| its tiny though and he went into a crack in the rock. Should I keep it or sell it back to the store when I go 2morro. My water paramaters arnt up to par i dont imagine so wont it just die if left in my tank?
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post #14 of 4365
4/25/09 at 3:11am
Originally Posted by Katsafados View Post
Yeah I bought a hydro for now since my cerdit card is maxed out at the moment. I will be getting a refract. when I have money on the card since i found a cheap one on a website.


On a side note Ijust found an emerald crab (looks to be) in the tank:| its tiny though and he went into a crack in the rock. Should I keep it or sell it back to the store when I go 2morro. My water paramaters arnt up to par i dont imagine so wont it just die if left in my tank?
hmmm....IDK about the crab...sorry...maybe before you go to the store you can call and ask them what they think....if your ammonia gets high it may not be able to stand it.....I'm just not sure
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post #15 of 4365
4/25/09 at 3:19am
Thread Starter 
Hmm.. yeah I guess I'll call and ask. I cant seem to find him anymore he was really tiny and had a green tint so I'm assuming that it might be an emerald? well see 2morros when the cloud is partially gone! Seems to be clearing up quickly. I'm not running my filter either because i dont want it to get filled with sand floating around
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post #16 of 4365
4/25/09 at 10:04am
Take the following for what it is worth.
You LFS did you wrong telling you to use tapwater for the ammonia source, especially with your live rock. Did you at least treat it to get the chlorine out?
For your salinity you want to be up to at least 1.021 minimum for a fish only tank, and if you plan on doing coral get it to 1.025-1.026.
Most people run their temps at 78-79.
Good luck with this and keep posting and asking questions. Good peops here ready to help.
If your LFS suggests something to you, ask here first to get other opinions on what they are saying because remember they are out to make a sale first and may not give you the best, of all the advise you need.
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post #17 of 4365
4/25/09 at 11:39am
Thread Starter 
Would the tap water kill all of the things growing on the rock?
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post #18 of 4365
4/25/09 at 1:20pm
Thread Starter 
So I just took out 5-10lbs of live sand because I added way to much and it covered most of the live rock. Im going to do a 10% water change just to get the saltinity level up to par and in hopes of getting rid of some of the foam produced from the sand.


What are the slimmy mucus/mud like substances on the live rock?
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post #19 of 4365
4/25/09 at 1:43pm
Originally Posted by Katsafados View Post
So I just took out 5-10lbs of live sand because I added way to much and it covered most of the live rock. Im going to do a 10% water change just to get the saltinity level up to par and in hopes of getting rid of some of the foam produced from the sand.


What are the slimmy mucus/mud like substances on the live rock?
It's not that the tap water will kill the stuff....the low salinity isn't great, but you can raise that. Do you have a pic of your muddy mucus

COuld be stuff dying off...

AS SPANKO said...ask here first...a lot of LFS's are out for a buck, and really don't do the research ...LIKE WE ALL DO HERE
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post #20 of 4365
4/25/09 at 2:44pm
Thread Starter 
Okay=) Im currently trying to raise the saltinity by doing a 10% water change. I also took out some sand because it was covering most of the LR. The saltinity is at 1.019 and im currently adding doses of higher concentrated SW in intervals of 30 mins. The cloud of sand has dissapeared greatly so I decided to run my canister filter now. I'm really pleased how the modded spray bar is working. Some places have vortex's though due to the spray in different directions. I still dont have a jet in the tank but I'll be getting that soon! One thing at a time lol
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