mixing water

[kclester]

ok i have an empty tank with nothing in it what should i do.....how do i mix the water to put it in....should i just let the tank circulate with just the salt water and nothign else then add then sand and lr a few days later or should i add the lr and sand the day i add the water ? im very new and this will be my first sw tank

 

[peef]

Originally Posted by kclester
ok i have an empty tank with nothing in it what should i do.....how do i mix the water to put it in....should i just let the tank circulate with just the salt water and nothign else then add then sand and lr a few days later or should i add the lr and sand the day i add the water ? im very new and this will be my first sw tank

As long as it is only the LR and LS you can put in the water and mix and circulate as you go. Leave it for at least 2 weeks before adding ANY critters. It will cycle for you. Ammonia levels go up high then down, Nitrite levels go up then down. Then it will even out and slowly the Nitrate levels will go up. But yeah you can add everything at once the first time

 

[mie]

2 weeks is a bit soon it should take about 4 weeks the number ONE rule is patience then research the hell out of this hobby welcome and good luck jeebs

 

[bexleyfish]

Out of curiosity, what size tank? Not to be mean, but before you invest too much money in creatures, it seem like you haver a little homework to do. lol and without further ado... Welcome to the hobby!

 

[kclester]

its a 40 gal long and i have done a fair bit of reading im just not sure how to mix the water cause on some threads i read it said dont add the water then salt and if this is the case how do i mis it to put it in

 

[kclester]

and i will not add any critters for about 3 months......thanks for the welcome

 

[michaeltx]

welcome to the board!!!
you can do it 2 different ways in your situation
1 put the water in the tank and then salt and let the tank mix the water then add the sand and rock. ** JUST remember that once you start doing water changes this method DOES NOT WORK**
2 mix the water in a seperate container and add the sand into the tank then add the water and then rocks. same things applys as above DO NOT DO THIS for water changes always mix in a seperate bucket once set up.
I find it easier on first setup just to put the water and salt in the tank and let it mix that way then add the sand and rocks.
Mike

 

[kclester]

thank you this helps so much......and i do realize when i do top ofss not to add salt water just gegular Ro water that is the same temp and my tank..................but when i do WC changes i should do in perhaps 5 gallon buuckets ?

 

[michaeltx]

yeah 5 gallon buckets will work just fine to mix the water up. just before adding it to the tank youll want to let it mix for 24 hours to get oxygenated real good and mixed throughly.
mike

 

[kclester]

will i need to keep some type of circulation in these buckets ? while the water is mixing

 

[michaeltx]

yes you will want to keep the water moveing for it to oxygenate and mix.
also I have a spare heater for mine so that the temp will be raising up to where the tank is at the same time.
Mike

 

[calikit]

I am new to this also. I have been doing exactly that..mixing water/salt and oxygenating the water with a bubbler and using an extra heater so it would not shock the fish when I added it to the tank. I figured that out on my own.. now, if I could only figure out why my fish are fighting with each other, when they all came from the same tank at the LFS, I would be even happier LOL

 

[michaeltx]

what kind of fish are they?
Mike

 

[calikit]

2 Percula Clownfish , yellowtail blue damsel and a damsel (stripped one or maybe called zebra) The Clown tries to keep the other one from eating. They all act as though they are starving all the time, but I feed them regularly. And they chase each other around.

 

[kclester]

damsel are notorious for being trouble makers....and are the clowns mated which it shouldnt make a difference

 

[calikit]

I don't know if they are mated or not. How can you tell? I read that the female, I believe, picks on the male, but I am not sure. That would be cool if they are.

 

[kclester]

i know you are suspose to use RO water or Di but we have fresh spring water behind out house that we pump to our backyard we use it for washing cars, swimming pool, our freshwater tanks.......do u think this would also be good to use in a SW tank ?

 

[calikit]

That would be basically well water right? I wouldn't think it would be good since there are "things" in the ground that could contaminate the water. We used to have a natural spring for our home water use, but had to have a purifier on it because it had alot of iron etc in it