Just made the ultimate move. would love to hear your thoughts.

jewban

jewban

Member
So Ive been on and off this forum during my short career as a SW aquarist. I was previously in Miami but about 4 months ago I picked up and moved to Northern California. Due to my love for my money pit, i mean tank I broke it all down, cleaned and dried it and moved it with me. For the past three months my once live rock have been curing, first in tap water with daily scrubs for a week then out in the sun with a weekly scrub for the past 6 weeks. Soon i figure to start a SW culture and begin seasoning them so i can rebuild my tank. My questions are as follows.....because I have always had access to tropical fish stores I have never had to produce anything for my tank myself, water, nutes, saltwater, sand, whatever. Ive always been able to just go to the store and buy it. Will i be able to reproduce a quality environment and such for my fish and coral? All of my livestock is currently w a wholesaler friend of mine, under good care waiting to be shipped when my tank is up and running.
What do you guys think, is it possible?
the only thing within 100 miles of me that even remotely resembles a fish store is a *****. :-(
 
J

jstdv8

Guest
Well, you are still going to need to get some sand (Unless you do bare bottom) you've got the live rock. you'll need to get salt in buckets that you mix with freshwater. I'm assuming that when you said you bought it at saltwater stores you were buying the saltwater already mixed.
It would be nice to have your own water RO/DI unit so you can make pure water and mix with salt.
Other than that I don't see why you should have any trouble at all.
I'm sure Meowzer will chime in and tell you all about being a million miles form the nearest store.
 
teresaq

teresaq

Active Member
yes you can. you just have to be a buy on line kinda guy. you can get your salt and a few other things at ***** - but places like here and other on line stores will be your life line.
 
jewban

jewban

Member
Thanks for the advice, yea I figured I could get the basics there, ie salt, sand testers and what not, but i was more worried about specialized items like pumps and fans, skimmers, uv steralizers and what not but yea i guess i can just buy that all online. I happen to live in an area with incredible water, nearly RO quality. Is there a simple test? I have checked ppm and ph out of the tap and they are solid at 35ppm and 7.8ph. Trying to make this as DIY as possible.
Thanks for the input guys. I appreciate it.
 
jewban

jewban

Member
Another quick question, when I start to re cure the rock, i just drop it into saltwater under the sun with circulation, no water changes? how big a starting resovoir do i need? i was thinking with two 50gal i would be good to split my rock up between the two. Sound good?
 
teresaq

teresaq

Active Member
if its dry and clean, just set your tank up with the rock and let it cycle. if you dont have anything in the tank-then just treat it like base rock.
 
jewban

jewban

Member
Im not really comfortable with its cleanliness right now, I would rather let it re culture before i set up my tank again. Or am I just being stubborn and doing twice the work? I guess it wouldnt hurt to just cycle my tank with the dry base rock, even if it isnt 100%clean it should all work itself out correct?
 
teresaq

teresaq

Active Member
as long as its not been exposed to any chemicals then a good scrub with a new clean brush and a good rinse and into the tank. lol add a raw shrimp and your good to go. I have bought marco rock- which is base rock - and did the exact same thing, even adding to an established tank in small quantities.
 
jewban

jewban

Member
To lazy for pics, lol, but I guess treating it like base rock is my best bet. Itll save me some money too, I did scrub them well, and will give them another scrub, im just OCD and never satisfied. Thanks for the help. Ill probable track my progress on a new thread, would love all of your input throughout the process.
thanks again
ryan
 
J

jstdv8

Guest
Ryan,
Even 35 PPM is still pretty significant when you talk about pure water. ) 0 is prefered, 1-2 is probably ok, I have 10 (after my filter, need new filter) and I get cyano out the wazoo sometimes.
I'd still recommend an RO/DI will take care of any copper from the pipes too.
 
1guydude

1guydude

Well-Known Member
U can get a tds meter..i believe some ro/di units come with them. Its total disolved solids and usually tap water is high in phosphates. imo
I dont have a ro/di unit yet but i can get some ro water down at the grocery for 32cents a gallon

As far as the rock goes. One of the lfs cures it for a couple weeks in a heated tank before sell, u need flow too...
If nothings in ur tank i would cure it in their imo and than ud be ready for LS and water in awhile after testing. If u want i can PM u a good supply online place!
 
flower

flower

Well-Known Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by jewban http:///forum/thread/385989/just-made-the-ultimate-move-would-love-to-hear-your-thoughts#post_3387644
Thanks for the advice, yea I figured I could get the basics there, ie salt, sand testers and what not, but i was more worried about specialized items like pumps and fans, skimmers, uv steralizers and what not but yea i guess i can just buy that all online. I happen to live in an area with incredible water, nearly RO quality. Is there a simple test? I have checked ppm and ph out of the tap and they are solid at 35ppm and 7.8ph. Trying to make this as DIY as possible.
Thanks for the input guys. I appreciate it.
Hi, there is more in tap water than what you can test for, the water is heavily treated with chemicals, Fluoride for example. Don't use tap water...get your own RO unit or get jugs of water from food stores like Jewel or Wal-mart.
RO water has nothing in it except what YOU put in it, by way of your salt mix. Using RO water gives you control of what chemicals go into your tank. I got my RO unit from Culligan water...they replace my filters and do the water test to be sure my water is top quality. Last TDS test read 4 when out of the tap read 286 .....$39.99 a month trouble free and they install it with a little faucet at the kitchen sink (my choice of placement) with a holding tank.
If you decide to purchase your own unit (the best thing) be mindful of what filter replacements cost, some filter types cost more than others.
 
J

jstdv8

Guest
Quote:
Originally Posted by Flower http:///forum/thread/385989/just-made-the-ultimate-move-would-love-to-hear-your-thoughts#post_3388252
Hi, there is more in tap water than what you can test for, the water is heavily treated with chemicals, Fluoride for example. Don't use tap water...get your own RO unit or get jugs of water from food stores like Jewel or Wal-mart.
Agreed, but the flouride thing only applies to city water. My water at work is so full of Chlorine I can't drink it without feeling like I'll throw up within 1/2 hour. I definatley couldnt feed that to my fish.
 
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