New And Discouraged

[wax32]

Mary, take a few minutes and order the book Reef Invertebrates by Anthony Calfo and Robert Fenner.
It has AWESOME advice for a newcomer to the hobby and will help you through the "I just set up my tank and need help" phase.
It actually helps even before you buy a tank, but you are beyond that point.

 

[turningtim]

I have used cycle (FW) before and honestly can't say that it helped or hurt. As far as the crushed coral (CC) goes I have had both and I prefer sand. Detrius will not collect in sand the way it does in CC, which can cause problems down the road. CC takes a little more maintenance b/c you must vacuum it during water changes (WC's) to remove the waste before it can turn to trates. The idea with SW is to have ample flow and keep the waste suspended in the water colum for the filters and skimmer to collect. If it gets trapped then it will decay and problems will happen. There are many that use CC and have success with it but again they also keep it very clean.
I would also suggest keeping your heater on at all times! Yes your lights will add heat to the water but the heater will not run at those times. You DO NOT want a temp fluxtuation more than a couple of degrees. This will cause stress and you know what happens when you stress livestock.......
On a good note it sounds like you have the equipment that will work just fine!
Couple more Q's. What Gallons per hour (GPH) are the PHs and return pump rated for? The rateing should say right on the pump casings themselves.
Sorry for the poor spelling and grammer! I'm kinda hopped up on Day-Quil today.
HTH
Tim

 

[peter1215]

Mary
i used a product called bio-spira by marineland which is expensive , about $23, but the combination of this product and some, LS , my 125g tank cycled in two weeks. There is also another prodcut out there called fritzyme#7. my friend used it and said his tank cycled in about 10-12 days.

 

[wilsonreef]

If I'm correct you said your aquarium has been set up since the last of December. If so it most likely hasn't cycled yet. As said above don't put anything else in it yet. If you don't already have, invest in a marine test kit, you will need it now and in the future. I too am glad to see that your willing to hang in there. It's true this hobby takes a good deal of time, money, and a great deal of patience. If your getting live rock from your lfs and it's already cured simply smell it before you put it into your aquarium. I know this sounds funny because it will have some offense odor anyway, but if it is really bad you can mix some salt water and dip it in and brush it to clean off any dead things. We have all gone through this process of starting a new aquarium and most have probably been discouraged at one time or another. But you have found what I think is one of the best sites for honest and helpful people who really care about your problems. Stick with the hobby and stick with this forum you won't be sorry.....IMO..

 

[symon]

Unfortunatly i made the same mistake! Trusting any LFS to lead you in the right direction is Just silly, they generally just want to sell you somehting!
So rememeber to always take what they tell you with a bit of caution! Sound like you have been put on the right path now, Do the water change as recomended, let your tank settle for a few weeks and practice Patience ! You will be much happier with the results! :joy:
If you posted your lighting spec's i missed it, You would need halaides as a mininum to even consider keeping an anemone, Research research research, then ask lots of question!

Don't get discouraged, remember this is not a hobby, it is a pure Love

 

[sarwiz100]

Mary, take a road trip back east to a place called Aquatica in tinley park. We were just there yesterday and they have some real nice cured live rock. Also, test whatever water you are putting into the tank for ammonia, nitrites ,etc. Not all distilled water is safe. If it says "steam distilled" on the bottle, it is usually good, but the "distilled" water from walmart tested very high in ammonia, and is NOT steam distilled. Our 125 cycled in 9 days, but it has close to 75 lbs of precured live rock in it. And we use ONLY steam distilled water for changes. Did a 12 gallon water change about a week and a half ago, and got an ammonia spike from using the wrong "distilled "water.

 

[whitey]

Originally Posted by MARYD
I have crushed coral instead of the sand. I was told this was safer for the filter. I can't tell you right now but I have a rather large sump pump type deal with bio balls, a protein skimmer and 2 power heads. I have a few snails, some little crabs, the 2 clownfish,l about 18 lbs of live rock (but the mushrooms look pretty bad on the one), and that's it. I have some plastic greens and a shipwreck. (I like it). I am not using the heater because the light seems to warm the water just fine plus the tank is set up on an inside wall near the kitchen.

Mary,
May I ask, what fish store are you going to? I live right down the street from Yorkville, and am curious what store you've been going to as it doesn't sound like a very good one.
None of them are great, but I may be able to reccomend a better one.

 

[jmick]

I'd like to know which shop she has been going to as well. If you are willing to do a little driving there are a lot of good shops to check out.

 

[maryd]

I've been going to Land & Sea in Montgomery. They sold me the tank and my 2 clowns. Recommended the crushed coral andd said the anemone would be just fine. I asked about lighting for it and was told what I had was just fine.
I plan to replace the cc with sand but need to research what type of sand to get. Saw some at Petsmart today but not sure if that's the right stuff. I saw a couple posts about getting sand at lowes.

 

[maryd]

There is a salt water fish store around South Elgin which would be a little drive from Yorkville but it might be worth it. We might check it out over the weekend but I will not add any more fish to the tank for a while now.
I got a big piece of LR at Petland last night, It was almost 15 lbs and I don't know if that made the big diff in lowering the ammonia or not. I also removed the rock with the mushroom polyps since they looked dead and I did not any more pollution and another rise in ammonia.

 

[maryd]

Originally Posted by sarwiz100
Mary, take a road trip back east to a place called Aquatica in tinley park. We were just there yesterday and they have some real nice cured live rock. Also, test whatever water you are putting into the tank for ammonia, nitrites ,etc. Not all distilled water is safe. If it says "steam distilled" on the bottle, it is usually good, but the "distilled" water from walmart tested very high in ammonia, and is NOT steam distilled. Our 125 cycled in 9 days, but it has close to 75 lbs of precured live rock in it. And we use ONLY steam distilled water for changes. Did a 12 gallon water change about a week and a half ago, and got an ammonia spike from using the wrong "distilled "water.
I have been using the steam distilled water in my tank.

 

[jmick]

Not familiar with them, going off the info they gave you it’s clear they are greedy or are lacking in knowledge. If you don’t mind spending a little extra $$, then I recommend you get very fine Oolitic, I bought it in 50lb buckets (if you wanted a dsb in your 90 it’d take you about 3 buckets to achieve a 4-6 inch sand bed—it’s a little pricy but well worth it).

 

[jmick]

Not sure what Petland you went to but the one in Naperville is actually rather nice.

 

[maryd]

Originally Posted by Jmick
Not sure what Petland you went to but the one in Naperville is actually rather nice.
Yes, I go to the petland in Naperville, near the Sam's, Walmart and Outback. I've gotten some nice live rock there. It's a bit more expensive that the live rock from Land & Sea but it's actually prettier. I think they charge 8.99 a lb. Buy I usually get a free snail, or crab in the deal.

 

[maryd]

My husband just talked to a lady at another pet store and she said NOT to change the CC for sand, not to use distilled water but drinking water. I would think I could change the cc with the sand a little at time and it should be fine. I've gotten bad advice from another pet store so I don't know if I should believe this woman or not. The books I have say to use distilled water or tap water which has been treated to remove chlorine, etc.
She also said to just leave the tank alone and not do the water change at this time. I don't know if changing the water would improve the ammonia or not. The ammonia this morning read .50 so it's improving. the fish seemed fine.

 

[whitey]

Mary,
I live in Montgomery and the only thing I'd buy from Land and Sea is dog food.
They keep tangs and angels in those cubes meant for crabs and clowns. Half the time the fish are covered with ich as well.
The Petland in Naperville occasionally has nice stock, but again, you gotta watch for ich. I was there Monday and half the tanks had a disease in the tank.
DO NOT buy anything from the ***** in Oswego. That store should not allowed to sell anything saltwater as they kill most every fish that comes through.
The closest store that I can reccomend is Reef Plus in N Aurora. Right on Randal and Oak St. in the shopping center with Tommy's sports bar. Ive been going there for about a year and the guy that runs it is decent. Lots of corals if thats what youre looking for.
Sea Escapes is the store in S Elgin on Randal. Nice little store. Pricey. But beware, they will sell you ANYTHING and say it's okay. (most stores will do the same but this one notorious for selling sharks to a 55 gallon etc.)
There's actually a little store right in Yorkville in a small shopping center right off 34 past Rte. 47 going west, on the left hand side. Not sure what it's called, but they sell a very limited amount of saltwater fish. I wasn't impressed when I was in there last spring, but maybe they've gotten better.
Other than that, the store mentioned in a previos post in Tinley Park is nice. Small, and expensive but decent. Not sure if it's worth the drive if you're not in the area.
Scotts Pet Shop in Westchester is another one that's a little bit of a drive, but they have quite a bit of stuff.
Bottom line, no fish stores are great. If everyone stocked their tank and nothing dies, they would never sell new fish, medications, filters etc. You just gotta do the research yourself, and be patient. It is different from freshwater but MUCH more rewarding, so hopefully you'll continue to work at it and not give up. But it is expensive, and there will be nights when you feel ike you'll never get it right.
If money is an issue, just add things slowly. You'll have more success doing this thing slowly anyways.
Read up on cycling your tank, and research what you eventually want in the tank. Impulsive buying in saltwater will generally lead to trouble. Have a plan and work torwards completing it.
Hope this helps. And good luck.

 

[maryd]

My husband went to the Yorkville store today (fin & feathers) and that's the lady who said I should not replace the CC with sand, should not use distilled but drinking water and I should not change the water at this time due to the higher level of ammonia.
Land & Sea does keep their fish in very small cubicles. I got a black clown there and he's doing well and I got one at ***** in Oswego and so far so good with that one. I guess from now on when I get a new fish, I'll keep it in the small tank until I can see if it is healthy. If I notice a lot of dead fish on display I don't buy there. ***** seemed pretty good the last time but I think they['d just gotten a shipment of fish in that day.
Thanks for your input.

 

[turningtim]

If the CC is your perference then stay with it but you must keep it clean. I don't why anyone would say not to change if you wanted to. Bottom line is CC takes more work. As I said before I have had both substrates and prefer the sand. I think it looks better and I believe that it works better too.
You should test all water for phosphates and nitrates etc before use. Tap water may contain heavy metals and there is no conditioner that will remove these. I buy Culligan RO water, yes it is made for drinking but its not spring water either. It costs a little more but when tested it comes out better than the RO water from my LFS. The best thing for water is to get your own RO/di system. These are fairly inexpensive and you will pay for the unit rather quickly. The down side is the waste water when producing RO. This is up to you though.
I also see no reason to NOT change the water. You already have fish in the tank which are producing waste everyday so why not try and get rid of the extra ammn. I don't think that having extra ammn in the tank is doing anything but stressing the fish. Their waste should be enough to kick the cycle and breed the bact that you need.
JMO
Tim

 

[milomlo]

I agree with Tim. With the fish in the tank it is VERY important to keep your ammonia down. Do water changes. Your tank has to cycle there is no way around it, but you can keep the ammonia down by doing the water changes and this will help your fish some.
I did have a very small tank with CC in it before I started this larger tank and the CC was very hard to keep clean IMO. It smelled very bad also. If you like it, just keep it clean. If you don't then change it. I used Aragonite sand by CaribSea. I have also heard of folks
buying the Playsand at Walmart. BUT there is some sort of test you do to it with Vinegar I think to make sure it is safe to use.
Someone will know about that soon I am sure. I read it on here. I think if it bubbles alot it is OK to use. But lets see what others say.
Also for water - I get my RO water from Kroger (grocery store) at the Culligan machine. Only .29 cents a gallon. When I get a larger tank I will invest in a RO/DI unit. They have some on the big auction site really cheap.

 

[wax32]

Just make sure to not use plain old "drinking water" or "spring water". It is likely LOADED with phosphates, way worse than your tap.