Hello, I am new to the forum and also new to marine tanks, and need a lot of help. Basically my back story is: I won a goldfish for my girlfriend at a fair... fast forward some and we now have our own tropical freshwater community tank. Not with the goldfish though... we were new to fish and didnt know about chlorine. Anyway the point of that being that I do have some experience with freshwater fish I have none with saltwater. Now to the point that will provide details for what I need help with. My family has a 30 gallon saltwater tank that is in our dining room at our home. After the initial newness wore off for my family, no one was taking care of the tank. After feeling confident enough to try and take it over I asked my father and he said I could. So my question is (and sorry for rambling, this is the first time I have ever posted on a forum besides my one online college class) how do I rescue this tank. It has two clown fish living in it, one that has been there for about a year and the other for about 5 months. Then tank's water and filter have probably not been changed in 6 months. Light green algae covers the gravel bottom and a yellow brown algae is growing on the glass walls. There are 3 small structures (one fake coral, one triangle rock with a hole in the middle, and another fake rock with plastic plants on it) that are also covered in the green algae. Also when looking at the water from above there is small green brown specks floating in it. The entire top of the tank and filter is covered in a salty residue. And finally there is an adjustable heater in the tank but it is set to the lowest setting and there is no thermometer in the tank so i do not know if the heater is working. As you can see the tank is in pretty bad shape, but the two fish in it are very active, though they both swim at a 45 degree angle, no idea why. The only care the tank has been given is the fish are fed once a day, besides that nothing. The tank itself receives a mix of direct and indirect sunlight for about 8 hours each day. So basically that is all there is to know about it. With so much seaming to be wrong I am overwhelmed at where to begin and what to do. If you can please offer any help I would greatly appreciate it. One goal I have (though I do not know if it is possible) is to have the tank cleaned, presentable, and ready to add a few more fish by August 8th, because my local ***** is having a 30 percent off sale on all fish. The main things that I feel I need to do are change the water and filter and control/clean the algae. If you could please offer guidance to assist me with these and also assistance in anything else that I would need to do I would greatly appricate it. Thank you.
New to saltwater, but need to rescue a tank
- Thread starter Jusron
- Start date
flower
Well-Known Member
Hello. welcome to the site! I don't know what you may already know, so I will assume nothing at all, so we don't miss a step.
First purchase... a good beginners book. The only thing saltwater tanks and freshwater have in common, is the fact they are both tanks with water in them. One does not prepare you for the other.
Next...you need live rock, the only thing that has kept your fish alive is the algae, it feeds on the phosphates, ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates, that pollute the water, and uses it to grow, and that keeps the water parameters pristine. You also need a good CUC (Clean Up Crew) of snails and maybe a few shrimp and a brittle or serpent star, maybe even a pincushion urchin. Unlike freshwater cleaners, saltwater cleaners really do an awesome job, the only thing you need to clean, is the algae from glass with a gizmo called a mag float. The CUC takes care of the rest.
You NEED a test kit, and an Hydrometer or better yet, a refractometer to measure the SG (water saltiness) Once you have a way to read the SG...get premixed saltwater, or mix your own using RO (reverse osmosis) water, not tap water. Get you own RO unit, or go to any large grocery store with a refill station, (the refill station is making RO water with an RO unit). Walmart by me sells RO for 37 cents a gallon. Then take out 1/3rd of the water, and replace it with new mixed saltwater, this is called a water change. Water evaporates, but the salt does not, so to maintain the right SG level, replace the evaporated water with FRESH RO, no salt, back to the original water line level.
Now, as for *****'s sale, you can add only add one fish at a time, and it should be quarantined for 4 weeks in a quarantine tank, before it goes into the display tank. The good bacteria takes time to grow enough to accommodate the new fish, adding too many fish too fast is the #1 way people crash the tank and kill all the critters.
This site is a gold mine of information and help... Do not trust any pet store to sell you anything until you have checked here first. We don't want to sell you anything, we just want you to have an awesome happy saltwater fish aquarium. Many stores sell you stuff you don't need, and this hobby is expensive enough.
We are here to help, don't be afraid to ask lots of questions.
First purchase... a good beginners book. The only thing saltwater tanks and freshwater have in common, is the fact they are both tanks with water in them. One does not prepare you for the other.
Next...you need live rock, the only thing that has kept your fish alive is the algae, it feeds on the phosphates, ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates, that pollute the water, and uses it to grow, and that keeps the water parameters pristine. You also need a good CUC (Clean Up Crew) of snails and maybe a few shrimp and a brittle or serpent star, maybe even a pincushion urchin. Unlike freshwater cleaners, saltwater cleaners really do an awesome job, the only thing you need to clean, is the algae from glass with a gizmo called a mag float. The CUC takes care of the rest.
You NEED a test kit, and an Hydrometer or better yet, a refractometer to measure the SG (water saltiness) Once you have a way to read the SG...get premixed saltwater, or mix your own using RO (reverse osmosis) water, not tap water. Get you own RO unit, or go to any large grocery store with a refill station, (the refill station is making RO water with an RO unit). Walmart by me sells RO for 37 cents a gallon. Then take out 1/3rd of the water, and replace it with new mixed saltwater, this is called a water change. Water evaporates, but the salt does not, so to maintain the right SG level, replace the evaporated water with FRESH RO, no salt, back to the original water line level.
Now, as for *****'s sale, you can add only add one fish at a time, and it should be quarantined for 4 weeks in a quarantine tank, before it goes into the display tank. The good bacteria takes time to grow enough to accommodate the new fish, adding too many fish too fast is the #1 way people crash the tank and kill all the critters.
This site is a gold mine of information and help... Do not trust any pet store to sell you anything until you have checked here first. We don't want to sell you anything, we just want you to have an awesome happy saltwater fish aquarium. Many stores sell you stuff you don't need, and this hobby is expensive enough.
We are here to help, don't be afraid to ask lots of questions.
jay0705
Well-Known Member
Well the clowns are living lol. I would reccomend getting some fully cured live rock. A good cuc"clean up crew" snails, crabs, certain stars, ect. What type of filter is it? How do u test the sg"specific gravity" or amount of salt in the water?
Watch what u buy at *****! If u don't qt ur fish then do buy any from *****. Cheap isnt good in sw.
Welcome btw, and fire away if u have ???
Watch what u buy at *****! If u don't qt ur fish then do buy any from *****. Cheap isnt good in sw.
Welcome btw, and fire away if u have ???
Teresa Quick
Member
Hi and welcome,
first there are several good articles in the arhives that will help you understand saltwater chemistry and how to regulate it -
understand that not everyone sets their tanks up the same but there are some set rules. lol some fish just don't it into small tanks. in the saltwater world, a 30 gal tank is very small.
saltwater tanks rely on biological filters as well as mechanical.- live sand and rock -
freshwater gravel isn't or saltwater. plastic plants are freshwater - there are some nice artifical decorations that can be used as the will also grow bacteria on them but a few pieces of cured live rock should also be added
what type of filter do you have, what type of other equipment do you have on the tank.
you do need test kits and some way to measure the sg of the saltwater. also fresh ro water for toping off the tank,
read read read and educate yourself
first there are several good articles in the arhives that will help you understand saltwater chemistry and how to regulate it -
understand that not everyone sets their tanks up the same but there are some set rules. lol some fish just don't it into small tanks. in the saltwater world, a 30 gal tank is very small.
saltwater tanks rely on biological filters as well as mechanical.- live sand and rock -
freshwater gravel isn't or saltwater. plastic plants are freshwater - there are some nice artifical decorations that can be used as the will also grow bacteria on them but a few pieces of cured live rock should also be added
what type of filter do you have, what type of other equipment do you have on the tank.
you do need test kits and some way to measure the sg of the saltwater. also fresh ro water for toping off the tank,
read read read and educate yourself
pegasus
Well-Known Member
Hi Jusron, and welcome to the forum. The most important piece of information I can give is to do as much research as you can... without your head exploding. A lot of things can be confusing in the beginning, but trust me, it'll make sense after awhile. The first thing you need to do, and you are correct, is water changes. Plural... water changes. If the tank has been neglected, and water changes haven't been performed as needed, then you want to slowly and gradually change the water out. Sudden changes in water parameters can be harmful to your pets. Changing a few gallons daily will be less traumatic than doing a large exchange. You will definitely need a couple of thermometers, one for the tank, and one for the fresh mixed saltwater. A small heater for the fresh mixed saltwater, because you want the new water to match the temp of the tank. I would highly recommend getting rid of the gravel, and replacing it with live sand. This should be done gradually as well. Remove a small section of gravel, siphon the bottom clean, and fill the area with sand. It would be ideal to wait a week, or at least a few days, between changing out sections. It can be risky doing it all at once, because you'll find there's a lot of nasty stuff that accumulates under the gravel, so it's best not to release all of it into the tank at once. Adding live rock will be extremely beneficial, as it provides natural filtration in conjunction with the live sand. If live rock isn't a viable option, then you can use dry base rock. As long as you have live sand, the bacteria in the sand will colonize in the rock, and over time, the rock will become "live" as well. The benefit of buying live rock is it's ready to go to work much sooner... if not immediately. Hydrometer or refractometer (recommended) to measure salinity during mixing. Elbow grease. If the structures in the tank are plastic, take them out and soak them in a vinegar and water solution for about an hour, and give them a good brushing under tap water. Try to remove as much tap water as possible before putting them back in the tank... provided you want them back in the tank. If possible, it would be great if you added some macro algae, as these marine plants consume a lot of the nasty stuff that fish food and fish waste creates. Macros compete with the film algae for food, and help reduce (or eliminate) this nuisance algae. Test kits have already been suggested. Most of us don't like or us API, because they're notoriously inaccurate. Water parameters are the life of your system, so it's best not to skimp on the test kit(s). That said, if you want to monitor ammonia and nitrate, the simple multiple test strips will be adequate. You don't need to measure exactly how much is present, because once the system has enough "matured" substrate (sand and rock), neither should be present.