New Tank and new to the hobby

[ooferret]

I recently bought a 29 gallon bio cube and decided to try my hand at salt water. I have had FW tanks around since I was a little kid but my parents never wandered past brackish water and so I have been hesitant to jump into SW because I have never been around it. I live about an hour from the closest pet store so I cant just run down the road and ask them a question. I have had my tank all set up and running for about two weeks (minus the heater, some kind of mixup at the warehouse has me still waiting so my tank stays around 72 degrees with the lights on). I have been ghost feeding the tank however I am not sure when would be the best time to add living creatures to the tank. I have a snail that was hitchhiking on my live rock and is still kicking strong but he also lived out of the water for about 36 hours so I'm not going to use him as a gauge lol. I am expecting to get the heater any day now and would like to add a crab or small fish friday. Is this ample enough time for the tank to cycle? Ive heard of using guppies or mollies to test it but didnt know they could go straight saltwater. Just so happens I have a bunch of guppies swimming around in one of my FW tanks would it be wise to use one of them as the tester prior to adding a more expensive SW critter? I am also going to get more live rock friday to add to the tank would this effect when I should add critters? Thanks for the help!

 

[mr. limpid]

The guppies would die if you just put them direct into SW, they would require time to adjust to SW over time and slow acclimation. Only seen with mollies. As for your cycling your tank 2 weeks is not enough time for that to happen takes about 4 to 6 weeks. Do you have the three basic test kits, when ammonia, nitrate and nitrite all hit 0 then you have completed the first cycling. As for adding a fish I would wait to get heater and testing. In the mean time you might want to make a list of fish you would like to keep, post it and let people comment on it.
And Welcome

 

[snakeblitz33]

Guppies are purely freshwater fish. Whoever told you that information was wrong. Mollies can be acclimated to a very mild saltwater range. Usually between 1.020 and 1.022 salinity.
Get your heater in. Buy a hydrometer and test kits. Then start looking at putting together a fish list.

 

[flower]

Hi,
Welcome to the site!
Get yourself a good beginners book...I used saltwater aquariums for dummies...the Robert Fenner book called "The conscientious aquarist" is an excellent book. The books will tell you what all the equipment is, what they do, and why or why not you would need it. You will learn the lingo, and from there be able to figure out what questions to ask.
The lab type test kits are essential. That is the ONLY way to really know when you can safely add a fish. You need to make sure the rock is on the bottom, and the sand around it. You need power heads to mimic the oceans wave, the life of the ocean... and your SW tank.
The best place to get advice is right here, and the best equipment is found on-line, most pet stores don't carry the good stuff. You need a refractometer or hydrometer to make sure the SG is always the same when you do water changes. You need to use RO (Reverse Osmosis) water to mix your saltwater and for top offs. Your own unit is best, but Walmart sells it for 37 cents a gallon. Most grocery stores have a water refill station where you can fill jugs of water to take home. Don't fill the tank or mix your new saltwater with tap water. If you already did, it isn't the end of the world...just from now on do top offs and water changes with RO

 

[ooferret]

They typically are purely fresh but mine actually came from my parents brackish water tank so I know they can be acclimated to a mild saltwater (doesn't mean they should be necessarily) however I am not sure the concentration so it could have just been very mild. I have the hydrometer but I do not have a test kit yet. Do you have any suggestions? I am in a geographical oddity 2 hours from anywhere big and an hour from any pet stores so my options are limited and so far the employees of said pet stores have not been much help. I will order one from online but am not sure who makes a good kit for the money. I did pick up a power head for the tank for really cheap and almost thought about picking up the other one they had on clearance but two power heads and the pump seemed a bit much for the 29 gallon cube. I did start the tank with Tap water but after reading about the water quality changes people have had I will be buying the water from walmart to protect my investment.
As for fish and critters this Friday would be 3 weeks do you think it would be to early for a emerald crab or a hermit crab? I plan on having 2 clowns (one black one orange) and a blenny or goby plus a couple small crabs or shrimp if possible. I like the flame angel but I think it will get too large. I want to stick to a few small fish and am not sold on any but one clown fish due to its hardy nature so any ideas would be nice. I would rather have 4 small fish in this tank than 2 large ones. I would eventually like to get a larger tank and therefore larger fish but until I get rid of a few more tanks I already have up and running my wife won't let me put anymore in the house not to mention I don't know where I would put them if she would. I had to put my catfish out into my koi pond to make room for this tank.
Thanks for all your guys help so far. you are already 1000k times more helpful than any of the pet stores I have tried to ask.

 

[mr. limpid]

API are ok test kits for the money (ammonia and nitrite) , as for nitrates I would go with seachem or sulfate. For PH I would go with a meter this will be the most used test kit.

 

[ooferret]

I will look into those I think walmart may even carry that brand and living in the south there is always a walmart......

 

[flower]

Quote:
Originally Posted by ooferret http:///t/395155/new-tank-and-new-to-the-hobby#post_3517394
I will look into those I think walmart may even carry that brand and living in the south there is always a walmart......
Wow...No Walmart in Illinois or Wisconsin, ever carries anything saltwater.
I get Master test kits, it's cheaper then getting them all separate. I personally order SeaChem on-line, and I like the Salifert brand as well. The Instant Ocean were the easiest to read, instead of a color chart the Instant Ocean has little colored tiles that sit in a chamber next to your test result...so you wouldn't have to be concerned with how much ink was in the manufacturers printer. The only problem I ever had with Instant Ocean is that they were always on back order, in 3 different stores....so when it got to the point that I absolutely needed a kit, I had to go with a different brand

 

[ooferret]

False alarm it was just freshwater test kits. We don't have anything salt water anywhere close to where I live. Luckily I work in Memphis for the time being so I get to go to several saltwater stores there i just learned there is a nice store an hour from my house though so Friday I will be hitting them up on my way home to see what they have. I'm going to order a test kit tomorrow so I will look into all of these and decide then. I'm ready to get a fish in there but I've come to far to risk failure I suppose

 

[flower]

Quote:
Originally Posted by ooferret http:///t/395155/new-tank-and-new-to-the-hobby#post_3517430
False alarm it was just freshwater test kits. We don't have anything salt water anywhere close to where I live. Luckily I work in Memphis for the time being so I get to go to several saltwater stores there i just learned there is a nice store an hour from my house though so Friday I will be hitting them up on my way home to see what they have. I'm going to order a test kit tomorrow so I will look into all of these and decide then. I'm ready to get a fish in there but I've come to far to risk failure I suppose
LOL...I purchase everything for my tank on-line, except frozen fish food.

 

[snakeblitz33]

I buy local and from hobbyists when i can. We have all been there.

 

[ooferret]

I finally got the heater in and have it running right around 80 (78-80 depending on the lights on or off) and I found a good deal on a new API test kit so that is on its way now. In a slightly different direction my used bio cube has 3 led lights that came with it but do not work. Any ideas as to how check and see if it is the light or wires or power cord etc? Led light live forever so I wouldn't think they would be the problem then again I bought the tank used so there's not telling how long he ran them. Is it worth my time to even play with them? I don't mind spending some money to fix them but if I am going to have to buy bits and pieces of it all would it be better to just upgrade the lighting situation up front? They are my moon lights but I have the 2 normal compact fluorescent (one actinic and one 10k) that work just fine. Is moon light vital or more so just so that I can watch the tank after hours?

 

[ooferret]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Flower http:///t/395155/new-tank-and-new-to-the-hobby#post_3517484
LOL...I purchase everything for my tank on-line, except frozen fish food.
I do the same for my freshwater aquarium. I just spent more money on drift wood than I ever thought I would spend on some sticks.... The things we aquarium people will spend money on. If you had told me 20 years ago that I would willingly spend large amount of money on sticks and rocks I would have called you nuts.

 

[sweatervest13]

Quote:
Originally Posted by ooferret http:///t/395155/new-tank-and-new-to-the-hobby#post_3517581
I do the same for my freshwater aquarium. I just spent more money on drift wood than I ever thought I would spend on some sticks.... The things we aquarium people will spend money on. If you had told me 20 years ago that I would willingly spend large amount of money on sticks and rocks I would have called you nuts.
If you include SPS corals, aka "sticks"... You ain't lying brother.

 

[mr. limpid]

Depends on what you want to keep in the tank. The light fixture that comes with the tank is nothing more than light it will keep no coral a live other than leathers which do not require special lighting. If you want to keep other corals Apollo Reef has a fixture on sale $99 that will work great on your tank.

 

[mr. limpid]

Quote:
Originally Posted by ooferret http:///t/395155/new-tank-and-new-to-the-hobby#post_3517581
I do the same for my freshwater aquarium. I just spent more money on drift wood than I ever thought I would spend on some sticks.... The things we aquarium people will spend money on. If you had told me 20 years ago that I would willingly spend large amount of money on sticks and rocks I would have called you nuts.
I just got 9lbs of LR for my birthday. Try explaining that to a 10 year old.

 

[ooferret]

I think I want to start out with just fish and keep them going for awhile before I start adding any corals or anything with special lighting. Chances are I will upgrade to a larger tank in the quasi near future so I may just live without the led lights for now or buy some of the ones that sit inside the tank lid if I start feeling frisky then. My live rock is starting to get a lot of its colors back so thats a good sign that my lights are at least good for what I'm wanting to do with it now.

 

[ooferret]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Mr. Limpid http:///t/395155/new-tank-and-new-to-the-hobby#post_3517586
I just got 9lbs of LR for my birthday. Try explaining that to a 10 year old.
I have a hard time explaining it to myself sometimes so a kid would have to get the good ole "go ask your mother". My wife is good with my hobby as long as I don't tell her exactly what I spent the money on and I don't spend crazy amounts in a week so at least I don't have to try explain it to her....

 

[ooferret]

Ok so I've gotten all my levels checked and added a few snails and hermit crabs and all seems to be going great. I am going to add a fish Tom if all goes well with the testing tonight. I'm going to start with a fire fish and a clown( not together ill add one of them next week) I'd also like a goby at some point. Is there any order I should add them or one to avoid adding them in? It's my first go around with saltwater fish so any advice would be appreciated. There's a big difference in a dollar snail and a 20ish dollar fish

 

[flower]

Quote:
Originally Posted by ooferret http:///t/395155/new-tank-and-new-to-the-hobby#post_3518399
Ok so I've gotten all my levels checked and added a few snails and hermit crabs and all seems to be going great. I am going to add a fish Tom if all goes well with the testing tonight. I'm going to start with a fire fish and a clown( not together ill add one of them next week) I'd also like a goby at some point. Is there any order I should add them or one to avoid adding them in? It's my first go around with saltwater fish so any advice would be appreciated. There's a big difference in a dollar snail and a 20ish dollar fish
20ish....LOL...$20.00 is a cheap price for a SW fish...