I need all the help I can get!

[somethinfishy]

Alright, I've had fresh water fish for 5 years, and I'm FINALLY going to do a salt water tank.
I'm starting with a 20 gallon (Please don't tell me how I should get bigger, I have this to work with for now). I have An aqua clear filter, hydrometer, powerhead, and a great heater. I also have purchased instant ocean salt.
I will be settin up the aquarium in a couple weeks and I am just getting the supplies and reasearching for it now. I have a few questions:
First question is how to I mix the salt? Can I pour the water in the tank and then add the salt and allow it to mix with the powerheads?
and two, what can go with clown fish? I am only thinking about adding two.
also I will add live rock and sand.
Thanks! any and ALL help is appreciated!

 

[mboswell1982]

is this tank a 20g long?

 

[-tara33-]

the first initial setup you can add ro to the tank and add the salt and power head and heater, let it mix for a couple of days and then check the salinity level-1.023-26 depends, try to get a refractometer instead of a hydrometer, and then add the sand and rock, but never do this with livestock in the tank always mix the salt in buckets with an extra power head for a couple of days. a pj cardinal could go with a pair of clowns or a shrimp goby pair, but not much else as the tank is small

 

[somethinfishy]

Its a 20 high

 

[somethinfishy]

Originally Posted by -Tara33-
http:///forum/post/2866199
the first initial setup you can add ro to the tank and add the salt and power head and heater, let it mix for a couple of days and then check the salinity level-1.023-26 depends, try to get a refractometer instead of a hydrometer, and then add the sand and rock, but never do this with livestock in the tank always mix the salt in buckets with an extra power head for a couple of days. a pj cardinal could go with a pair of clowns or a shrimp goby pair, but not much else as the tank is small
Thanks! So I can't use dechlorinated tap water?
I didn't want to add a ton of live rock. Someone told me I could use some other porous rock that would eventually turn into live rock. Is this true?

 

[-tara33-]

i would deffinently use live rock or at least some along with white rock or dead rock so it can seed the dead stuff but it will take longer to cycle, and deffinently use ro water as tap contains nitrates copper and silicates that conditioner cant remove

 

[somethinfishy]

alright, and as far as cycling goes i was also told to use damsels. What do you think about that? I know this will spike the ammonia.

 

[mboswell1982]

damsels=big no no, lol, its just too rough on the fish, even if they do survive the cycle, what everyone on here recommends is getting a shrimp from the grocery store, one of the fresh shrimp, and using that to kick start your cycle

 

[-tara33-]

usually the live rock you buy will start a cycle due to die off, but you can just buy a dead prawn, but no damsel, you dont want them in a tank that small, in the end it will be all you will have

 

[mboswell1982]

for your stocklist, a pair of clowns, a firefish goby, and a yashia goby with candy strip pistol shrimp, and your golden, for the clowns, id recommend a pair of b&w ocellaris clowns, and for the firefish, im partial to the purple firefish myself

 

[somethinfishy]

Originally Posted by mboswell1982
http:///forum/post/2866243
for your stocklist, a pair of clowns, a firefish goby, and a yashia goby with candy strip pistol shrimp, and your golden, for the clowns, id recommend a pair of b&w ocellaris clowns, and for the firefish, im partial to the purple firefish myself

Sounds good. I just want a simple set up. Something pretty but not too much.
Generally, how long does it take to cycle? 2 weeks?
and as far as lighting, whats good?

 

[-tara33-]

4 weeks cycle if you use more dead rock you can let it longer, and if you are just doing soft corals t5 or pc are fine

 

[mboswell1982]

do you want just fish? or do you want corals? if you want just fish, current usa makes a very nice twin bulb feature of T5's that is perfect for you, just how long is your tank an ill get u a price on one that u wont be able to beat LOL, and as for cycling, it can take anywhere from a week to a month, or longer, but generally, 2 weeks should be good, u just have to monitor all of your parameters, an if you want, post em on here each day, an we can tell you if you've cycled or not

 

[culp]

Originally Posted by mboswell1982
http:///forum/post/2866243
for your stocklist, a pair of clowns, a firefish goby, and a yashia goby with candy strip pistol shrimp, and your golden, for the clowns, id recommend a pair of b&w ocellaris clowns, and for the firefish, im partial to the purple firefish myself
if you get a firefish goby you need to be careful because they are known to be a jumper.
you can either go with 20 lbs of live rock or you can buy 5 or 10 lbs of live rock than buy the rest as base rock which is the same rock as live rock but just dried so nothing living on it. at my LFS live rock cost 5.99 lb buy base rock is 2.99 lb.

 

[premilove]

have you decided on lighting? are you planning on keeping any corals?
no damsels. u will regret it later.
+1 on using RO water only
when you get live rock, make sure it is cured. what is really beneficial and produces a smaller cycle(sometimes) get live rock that has been in someones tank already. when you do get the rock, fill up the bucket with water and ALWAYS keep live rock wet. if you dont, you will have die off and extreme ammonia spikes. id craigslist it if i was you. t-5s should be fine even if you decide to house zoas! just be careful, some zoanthids like more light, just do some research. everyone on this site is really helpful.
what media are you keeping in your aqua clear?
have you ever seen a aqua clear 70 with a mini fuge? google DIY aqua clear 70 fuge. its pretty cool my friend tried it and he has massive amounts of pods.
try to get some koralia #1's for some flow or some aqua clear power heads.
i bought LS and LR from an established tank and it really helped my tank out. you can easily find LR and LS from swf.com or other forums.
everyone will tell you, TAKE IT SLOW!
good luck! cant wait to see some pics!

 

[somethinfishy]

Thanks for the help so far everyone!
I'm kind of deciding against live rock in the beginning.
Would it be okay to do just fish and then add live rock later on? I've heard its REALLY hard to cycle and keep the rock alive, and I do not want to waste money.
I have a aqua clear 50 gal filter. With the bio-bag, carbon, and the filter sponge that goes on the bottom.
And I am not doing corals.

 

[subielover]

You will definitely want some live rock. It is your filtration, even if you only have fish. Go for around 20 pounds and let it cycle for about a month. After that you can add a clean up crew. After you add the live rock, just keep testing your water for ammonia, nitrites and nitrates. Once all of them rise and fall back to zero, you can add a small clean up crew i.e. snails, etc. As long as everything goes swimmingly and your water parameters(testing) are still good, you can do a water change and add your first fish.
Remember nothing happens fast in this hobby. You have to be patient or you are going to waste a lot of money.

 

[madwabbit23]

+1 to live rock - think of it as a filter that doesnt need to be plugged in. And theres no threat on keeping it "alive" as you mentioned -as long as your tank has salt water and light I wouldnt worry about the rock. Its called "Live rock" because of the bacteria and itty bitty organisms that thrive and survive on and inside of it.
To answer your question about how to mix the salt, I add 1.5cup of Instant Ocean salt per gallon (as the box says...maybe its 1cup) to RO water in a plastic bucket and mix it thoroughly, then I add to my tank.
By the way - Distilled water from your grocery store can be bought for like 75cents a gal, and is a good 2nd choice if RO filtered water isnt readily available for ya. While some perfectionist with a 500gal reef setup will argue the differences, I've used distilled in all 3 of my tanks at some point or another with no negative results. Bottom Line: Avoid tap water at all costs.
Good luck, and post pics and water parameters when you start the cycle!

 

[somethinfishy]

Originally Posted by Madwabbit23
http:///forum/post/2866729
+1 to live rock - think of it as a filter that doesnt need to be plugged in. And theres no threat on keeping it "alive" as you mentioned -as long as your tank has salt water and light I wouldnt worry about the rock. Its called "Live rock" because of the bacteria and itty bitty organisms that thrive and survive on and inside of it.
To answer your question about how to mix the salt, I add 1.5cup of Instant Ocean salt per gallon (as the box says...maybe its 1cup) to RO water in a plastic bucket and mix it thoroughly, then I add to my tank.
By the way - Distilled water from your grocery store can be bought for like 75cents a gal, and is a good 2nd choice if RO filtered water isnt readily available for ya. While some perfectionist with a 500gal reef setup will argue the differences, I've used distilled in all 3 of my tanks at some point or another with no negative results. Bottom Line: Avoid tap water at all costs.
Good luck, and post pics and water parameters when you start the cycle!
Its tough making decisions on this stuff! Haha. Everyone keeps telling me different things so idk what to do.
A co-worker of mine has had salt water tanks for years and has always used tap water and says its fine.
I guess maybe I heard Coral caused some trouble?

 

[barry cuda]

The problem with tap water is you don't have any control over what's in it. Yes, you can get chemical treatments to neutralize the chlorine that the city adds, but there are other additives (fluoride, anyone?) as well. A bigger problem is that drinking water isn't purified to the same standards that are desirable for saltwater aquaria. You'll probably be putting nitrates *into* the tank with water changes instead of taking them out, just as one example. At the very least, you should try and get a copy of the latest water quality survey from your water utility so you know what's going into your tank.