First time salt water tank

scot959

scot959

New Member
I've had freshwater tanks before (Still do) and the other day the LFS had a sale on 10G cube tanks and they had one on display set up as a saltwater, pretty neat. So I bought one.
I've been reading everything I can on saltwater upkeep.
I bought live sand, premixed saltwater and a 5 lb live rock (which I bought a few days later after water cleared up).
What should be my next step?
Oh, and here's the question of the day, someone's gonna wet their pants reading this one. Without any fish or inverts in the tank yet, for a lack of better wording....do I need to feed the live rock anything?

Thanks
 
ginarox

ginarox

Active Member
welcome to the board....you will get alot of info from this web site,,,,good luck, and have a great day.
 
shogun323

shogun323

Active Member
Hey there. You are off to a great start. The next crucial step is to let your tank go through the nitrogen cycle process. It works like this. Dieoff produces Ammonia(toxic) which converts to Nitrites (toxic), which converts to Nitrates (non-toxic). At this point your tank has estiblishment its neccessary bacteria. I would read as any threads as you can here on this site as well as buy a book called the conscientous marine aquariast. Do not purchase and fish or invertibrates yet!!
Feel free to ask away with questions. Everyone is here to help!!
 
sepulatian

sepulatian

Moderator
Originally Posted by scot959
OK, thanks for the info. Looks like I got some waiting to do before adding the fancy stuff.
Welcome to the boards!!!! Patience is very important in the saltwater hobby. Your tank is very small and is going to require you to be on top of testing. Have you bought a master liquid test kit yet? Small tanks have less water mass and therefore fluctuations are more likely. Saltwater fish need very stable water conditions. You will probably need to test daily for now and everyother day once your tank cycles for things like temp and salinity. At least every 3 days for ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate. Any questions or concerns you may have, please feel free to post. Again, welcome to the boards!!!
 
ice4ice

ice4ice

Active Member
Another one trying to start SW with a small tank.

If this is your first try in SW, I strongly advise you to start with larger tanks before even attempting a 10G SW tank. Too many people see these small tanks and say "WOW !! I can do that!" And guess what - they do it and they end up crashing their tanks. Small tanks are best left with experienced aquarists.
Invest yourself in RO/DI unit, better lighting, skimmer, powerheads, etc ... and start with a larger tank instead. Once you experience the trials and tribulations, both good & bad, and total understanding of SW set-up and care, go for the Nano aquarium set-up.
 
scot959

scot959

New Member
A test kit is my next thing to buy. It's a really cool tank with the filter system built into the back. I don't plan on putting to much stuff into this tank untill I'm well versed in saltwater care, dealing with tank conditions and the what not. This is a great board and any problems I may/and will have it looks like, I'm sure you experts can help me out.
Thanks
 
sepulatian

sepulatian

Moderator
Originally Posted by Ice4Ice
Another one trying to start SW with a small tank.

If this is your first try in SW, I strongly advise you to start with larger tanks before even attempting a 10G SW tank. Too many people see these small tanks and say "WOW !! I can do that!" And guess what - they do it and they end up crashing their tanks. Small tanks are best left with experienced aquarists.
Invest yourself in RO/DI unit, better lighting, skimmer, powerheads, etc ... and start with a larger tank instead. Once you experience the trials and tribulations, both good & bad, and total understanding of SW set-up and care, go for the Nano aquarium set-up.
Many people have great sucess with nano tanks. I would not consider it an expert only system. They do need more attention and care than larger systems, but they are not any more difficult. The physics are the same, they just don't have the larger body of water to dilute. Patience and understand of the science of closed systems are still the key essentials.
 
sepulatian

sepulatian

Moderator
Originally Posted by scot959
A test kit is my next thing to buy. It's a really cool tank with the filter system built into the back. I don't plan on putting to much stuff into this tank untill I'm well versed in saltwater care, dealing with tank conditions and the what not. This is a great board and any problems I may/and will have it looks like, I'm sure you experts can help me out.
Thanks
We are all here for you. We want your saltwater experience to be wonderfull. Be warned, this is an addictive hobby. You will want a larger tank sooner than you may think!!!
 
boutwellk

boutwellk

New Member
im buyin the stuff for my first salt water tank and i cant figure out how to make a post on here to ask questions...im sure its easy but i cant figure it out. can you please tell me how to so i can get started.
thanks
 
kas2247

kas2247

Member
boutwellk,
at the top of each forum (like once you click on New Hobbyists, Classifieds, Clownfish & Anemones, etc.) there is a little box that says New Thread. Just click it and type away :joy:
and welcome to the board... the people here are very helpful. i've been reading here for probably 2 years and am finally getting ready to set up my first sw tank. good luck to ya!
 
barchtruong

barchtruong

Member
Get a piggy bank and start putting in $10 aday.
SW hobby is costly and a serious commitment and endless time dedication to it.
I've had fresh water tank for almost 2 decades and the cost is nothing comparing to SW tank that I just started.
Just a good metal halide light costed me $800 (48"long)
LiveRock, Aragonite sand, filters, skimmer, DI water ($2.5/5gal, 10gal water change weekly), Thermalmeter, good lighting timer, salt, powerhead, heater, water test kit, frozen food, dried food,.....just those costed me over $1000.
So, no coral yet, no fish yet, didn't have to pay for the tank cux I owned that 55g tank awhile ago, I already paid almost 2grants.
By the time a 55g tank is mature, I think it's worth at least 5grants and the cost will go on and on.
So, there's a good and bad side for starting out with a small 10g tank.
That way, you can get a feel of how costly it it. And if it's too much, you still can stop without harm.
And last but not least, this is so very important, so don't skip this advise:
"Find a local friend(s) who has done SW tank or owns a mature SW tank and visit them as many times as you could and ask ask ask lots of questions", trust me, I learned so much hands on experience from my SW tank owner friends and all the headsup mistakes. I made so minimal mistake, almost none with my new 55g tank.
Good luck and don't forget to post lots of pictures of your SW tank accomplishment so we all can cheer!! ***)
 
scot959

scot959

New Member
Yeah, I can tell it's a costly hobby....just from setting up this little 10g. The people at the LFS are super helpful, I had a freshwater tank problem about 8 months ago and they offered at no cost to come to my house to see what was going on, not a common service offered. It just turned out to be alge overgrowth which through modern chemistry was cleared up in a day.
I'll take more pictures as my little cube gets more interesting.
Thanks
 
daninct

daninct

Member
Originally Posted by scot959
Thank you, that makes me feel better and not like I just threw away 200 bucks
$200 for a 10 gal setup? Wow... save a few bucks for a few books as well. Read up while it cycles.
 
sepulatian

sepulatian

Moderator
Originally Posted by scot959
Yeah, I can tell it's a costly hobby....just from setting up this little 10g. The people at the LFS are super helpful, I had a freshwater tank problem about 8 months ago and they offered at no cost to come to my house to see what was going on, not a common service offered. It just turned out to be alge overgrowth which through modern chemistry was cleared up in a day.
I'll take more pictures as my little cube gets more interesting.
Thanks
We would love to see the pics!!! Don't forget to any and all questions you may have along the way.
 
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