new tank started, some basic questions please...

[cyndl]

i have just started my fisrt SW tank. it is a 44 corner pent with a very large hob filter, two light strips with reg florescent bulbs, and two power heads. it is going to be a FOWLR tank as i've read it is easier for the beginner. i have had FW all my life so not new to fish tanks in general, just to SW.
my salt water has been mixed , in the tank and circulating since thursday with reg. argonite (sp?) sand. Sat we went and bought 6.5 lbs of live rock. we added 3 blue leg hermit crabs, 2 scarlet hermit crabs, one emerald crab, and one camelback shrimp to the tank. so far everyone is doing well. i will wait now and make sure the cycle is ok before we add anything else.
couple of questions. one, what is the best temp for a FOWLR tank? mine is at about 82 F right now. is that ok? also to check the levels, do i have to have special tests for salt water tanks? or can i use the same strips i was using for FW tanks? and at what point can i had one or two fish to start off? ive read that some people actually cycle thier SW tanks with fish, but i thought that that might not be such a good idea. that's why i started out with a small amount of very small critters. should i wait till the tank is cycled completely? will it cycle completely without fish? how different is cycling in sw from cycling in FW??
thanks for letting me pick your brains!!
hugs!
cyn

 

[zoie2]

They do have test strips that test BOTH fresh and salt water, but you would have to check to see if the ones you have do both. They have 2 different charts. The amonia test I'm assuming would do both, but I'm not sure. I use both the dip sticks and the liquid lab tests. I find the lab to be more accurate, but takes 15 minutes so I alternate every other day.
I cycled my tank with a raw, peeled shrimp. My tank only had LR and LS, no critters. In 3 days the shrimp was gone and amonia was off the chart. In a week everything had spiked and dropped down. Since then I have had 3 mini spikes. Amonia goes to .25 then to 0, Nitrites go to .05 then to 0, nitrates goes to 40 then to 10. My nitrates have not gone to 0 yet and I started my cycle exactly a month ago. I have slowly added a couple hermit crabs and snails but I'm waiting for my amonia, nitrites and nitrates to be 0 for about 2 weeks, then I'll add a fish. (a lemon goby, or a clown) I can't wait!
Anyway, hope this helps. Watch your LR. I didn't think I had any cool hitch hickers, but after a week things started comming to life. It's really cool! I have feather dusters, 2 different kinds, a little clam, and other things.

 

[cyndl]

thanks for the quick reply! we seem to both be at the very beginning of this. thanks for answering. i'll have to check my boxes, now that you mention it i think at least my amonia one is for both fw an sw. i'll have to check the others.
i have to admit that the lr is one of the things i've been looking forward to!! i hope, hope, hope that i have some cool hitch hickers!! specially feather dusters! i LOVE them!!! so far nothing incredible, but it'll probably take longer than 2-3 days to show up, LOL *wink*.
hugs,
cyn

 

[irish rage]

82 is a bit high for the temp. There is a range of temps that most people go with, but I think 76-78 is about right. I have a heater in my tank, but have never used it because the ambiant temp in my house keeps my tank in the 76-78 range. I spike in the summer to 78-82 but there is not much I can do about it except crank my air conditioner (not gonna happen) or by a chiller ($$$).
Anyway it was probably a bit premature to add the inverts to a new tank, but they may end up being ok. I would definitly not add anything else though (fish) until you have gone through your main cycle. Concentrate on aqua-scaping your tank and adding more LR.

 

[birdy]

I would highly suggest you invest in some good quality test kits for your tank, those test strips are horribly inaccurate as well as a lot of the cheaper reagent test kits.
For a first time FOWLR tank, I suggest you get either Salifert test (my favorite) or Sea Test and Fast Test (cheaper and still pretty decent tests for the basics).
I suggest you get tests for, Ammonia, Nitrite and Nitrate, during the cycle, after the cycle you will want kits for pH, alk, Calcium and you might want a test for phosphates.
It is best not to have any livestock in your tank during the cycle, The shrimp and inverts you put in may not make it. I suggest you keep water change water ready if your ammonia levels get too high you will need to bring them down so things stay alive.
You haven't really said how you are going to cycle the tank, you need to introduce a sorce of ammonia, since you already added livestock you are going to want to do it very slowly, feed the tank as if you had some fish in there, or even add a couple hardy fish, but be ready to do those water changes.
A lot of people are going to tell you to return those inverts and cycle your tank with no livestock in it, that is probably the best way, but you can do it with livestock you will just need to do water changes so the levels dont' get too high. Your tank will still cycle just fine, it will just take more water to do it.

 

[lion_crazz]

Originally Posted by cyndl
couple of questions. one, what is the best temp for a FOWLR tank? mine is at about 82 F right now. is that ok? also to check the levels, do i have to have special tests for salt water tanks? or can i use the same strips i was using for FW tanks? and at what point can i had one or two fish to start off? ive read that some people actually cycle thier SW tanks with fish, but i thought that that might not be such a good idea. that's why i started out with a small amount of very small critters. should i wait till the tank is cycled completely? will it cycle completely without fish? how different is cycling in sw from cycling in FW??
82F is okay as far as temp if that is what it needs to be, but I would lower it to about 79 or 80. If your room is that hot or if your lights give off that much heat, 82 is fine. The most important thing is make sure you have no fluctuation.
Definitely do not add ANYTHING else to the tank as far as fish, inverts, or corals for another 4 or 5 weeks! There is a high possibility that everything you have in there now may die, but if they do, do not think it is because they were sick or bad. You just added them way too early. Rather than spending the money on inverts, you should have bought another 35 lbs. of live rock. That is what you should have cycled your tank with.
The best thing you can probably do at this point is return all of your inverts, tell them that you want a refund because they did not properly warn you not to add animals during your cycle, and then use the store credit they give you to buy more live rock. It will pay off GREATLY if you get more live rock. It will help with your filtration and it will help keep your fish healthy and happy when you are ready to add fish.
The poster who posted previous to me, Birdy, gave you a lot of excellent advice. One of the main things I would like to highlight from this post is
Originally Posted by Birdy
I would highly suggest you invest in some good quality test kits for your tank, those test strips are horribly inaccurate as well as a lot of the cheaper reagent test kits.
Could not be more true. Go with Salifert and you will be glad you did. They are MUCH MORE accurate and you will get more tests than a standard kit.