Fish Tank question

trancedshr

trancedshr

New Member
Hello everyone I am new to the website and would just like to say hello first off. Hopefully I can get my questions answered.
Anyways, I have had an aquarium that I purchased from walmart(yea I know) and it is the 10gal kit, with the carbon filtration unit, heater and a very very bright flourescent light/hood, and two 20 gallon pumps.
My question is, is this adequete(the equipment that came with it) to run a SW awuarium and if not what do I need to buy(I am a college student with not a lot of money, just something to entertain me in my small dorm).
Also about cycling. Dont quite know for sure what it is, but I have an idea and the water I used is straight from the ocean and the salinity is set at 1.022.
Basically I need the basic start up knowledge of asll materials needed and ph, nitrites, nitrates, and anything else that is going to maintain a liveable environment. I also read that putting a coctail shrimp and letting it decompose will put the required amount of nitrates in the tank.
Thanks
 
jenny_rs

jenny_rs

Member
hi there. i'm just a novice, and u have the right idea about the shrimp. just drop him in and let him do his job. once all of your tests for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate read 0, (the nitrate has to be lower than 20 ppm i believe it is) then you are safe to start adding fish. that is the cycle. you also have to do regular water changes to keep your nitrates lowonce you have added fish. also, cleaner shrimp, snails and other invertabrates (sp) are a must have. but be careful as they are very sensitive to your water quality. they should be added after your fish. as for your filtarion, i say it is adequate, but i am sure there is someone who will disagree with me. i have a 5 gal (used to be a ten but i had to downsize) and i am not using any special stuff for filtration, just a bio-wheel filter with carbon insert, heater and flourescent light. i wasn't sure if it would hold up, but so far it is. i haven't had to do anything to adjust my salinity and it's been staying steady at 1.022 :) i have yet to add in my air pump (i'm off to the pet store to get the one i am looking for) and thats a must have for circulation. definately invest in Live Rock (one pound per gallon) the live rock acts as a filter as well for the water and is also great for the fish and the cycling of your tank. some people will say a wet/dry system works well, and that you should also use a protein skimmer. those are really expensive, i know because i bought one...
and i'm sure other people will say the same. but i have heard nothing good about protien skimmers, besides the fact that they are pricey. i'm pretty sure there are other ppl who have better tips for you than i do though. GL.
 
jenny_rs

jenny_rs

Member
Cycling is the process of breaking in your new tank. it lasts about 4-6 weeks, and you only have to do it once. once your ammonia, nitrites and nitrates are down to zero, your safe to add fish. please, don't cycle your tank with anything but the raw shrimp. i have accidentally had 2 percula clownfish durring the cycle period and they died from the spikes of ammonia, nitrite and nitrate. once your tank is cycled and fish have been added using the acclimation process, you have to keep up with regularly scheduled water changes and testing just to make sure that all your levels are within the normal peramiters.
 
trancedshr

trancedshr

New Member
SO as far as the water changing goes...simply do the samething again and the put new water in and the old out? How has your experience with this gone? Like what was your schedule of water changing?
Thanks Jenny for the answers.
 
jenny_rs

jenny_rs

Member
no problem. well, i have more experience with freshwater, but for now i'm pretty sure you don't have to do any water changes. probably if you see any increase in ammonia, nitrite or nitrate then you need to do a water change. depending on the size of your tank, you might have to do water changes as often as every other day, or as little as a few times a month. just take water, treat it to remove the nasty chemicals from the water, mix in your salt, and slowly add it to the tank. you would proably use a siphon for this process.
 
trancedshr

trancedshr

New Member
Would there be any natural occurances or any signs from the aquatic life if the ammonia or nitrates or nitrites get to high? I am sure it would get rather expensive if you kept having to buy test kits after another because you you use it everyday.
 
jenny_rs

jenny_rs

Member
oh you don't have to test your water everyday. during your cycle i would say every week you should be testing your water. but once it's done the cycle every 2 weeks is fine. generally, you would see signs in the fish, inverts, or corals if you had any. but in my experience you are more likely to prevent a problem by testing your water every 1-2 weeks than not testing it at all. if you don't test your water regularly, you would most likely be too late in curing the problem. also, these tests come in boxes that can have 50 tests or more, so if you are testing every two weeks, that would take you probably just over a year to use up. mine come in boxes with 90 tests. and yes, they can be quite expensive, but if you want your tank to thrive it's well worth the cost.
 
jenny_rs

jenny_rs

Member
Yes, I use a product similar to that one, but it is not enough. You still need to cycle your tank. Right now, your aquarium has no Bio-Load. What is Bio-Load? The demand placed upon the life-support system in the aquarium as a result of the metabolism of all the living organisms present in the tank. Everyone starting a new aquarium experiences New Tank Syndrome. New tank syndrome is the term used when ammonia produced from the bio-load placed on a system begins to accumulate in an amount that is too great for the nitrifying bacteria population established in the tank to consume, and if the build-up of ammonia is substantial enough, nitrite will most likely begin to show up as well. I really think you should read this: http://saltaquarium.about.com/cs/bio...a/aa073199.htm It will explain to you what the cycling process is about and why it's important. The shrimp acts as decaying feces and left over food and increases your bio-load so that the beneficial bacteria grow, and therefore will be able to handle the waste produced by fish. that is why we use a shrimp, because a) its already dead, and b) if you were to use fish they would die. i know because it has happened to me. my two clowns died from the accumulation of ammonia and nitrite because i had not cycled my tank fishless first.
 
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