NEW TO SW and need some advice

[urugly]

Just want to say Hello to everyone first of all!!!
I decided to surprise my 4 YR OLD daughter with a saltwater fish tank. I know...why not a fresh water and some goldfish? Well, I figure this is something that we can do together and develop some bonding time. Anyways-it's too late since I made an impulse purchase...hahahaa
What I have done:
I got a 12G NANO tank by Cubemasters.
Used tap water and put some drops in water.
Added salt and is currently set at right amounts.
Added live rock and about 15lbs of live sand.
(Per LFS recommendations)
After just that, I realize that this will be another money pit in my life, but all worth it right??
Now that I have done that, it has been cycling for 2 days now.
Questions:
Is this tank any good? Lighting and pumps that come with it?
Can I get a crab or shrimp yet?
What test do I need to run next to make sure I can put live things in?
There is so much different vocabulary going on in this site that it is hard to understand what to do next from what I read.
Any advice would be much appreciated.
I will attach picture of tank later today when I get a chance.
Thanks everyone.
Please excuse the noob questions.

 

[kzoo]

NO inverts (shrimp or crabs) they will die if you havent finished you cycle. Ro water would be much better that tap it will cause future problem. You need to test for nitrites first and when they are a 0, then test for nitrates they may not go to 0 due to tap water but if you can get them around 5ppm you can add fish. You may want to start with cheep fish and ask for small growing fish if you even want fish. No more than 1 or 2. Wait on the shrimp. m2c

 

[fgcu14]

kzoo is right on the money. With tap water, it usually runs through copper pipes and copper can be lethal to fish. Start with a few damsels (3-4 dollars each) they are hardy fish and can live through alot. If you decide to go with the damsels a word of warning they can get territorial and turn aggressive against other tank mates.

 

[opus18]

Chromis are a good alternative to the damsels... just as hardy, but won't start pushing every newcomer out...

 

[shiby1510]

Welcome!

I do not know about your tank and if the lights and such are good but if you can tell me the specifics such as the type of bulbs.. wattage... types of pumps... etc... then we can help you out!!
As far as things to get right now... you will need some test kits... right now I would recommend the basic ones... ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, ph and alkalnitiy.
These test kits will start you off on the right foot for now...
Okay so your tank is going to be kicked into a cycle.. and this is probably what you have been hearing about... this means that due to the lr (live rock) and live sand (ls) that you added into your tank there will be critters that will die... this will cause the ammonia to rise in your tank... once the ammonia rises to a certain level ... aerobic bacteria will begin to form and will oxidize toxic ammonia into nitrite... which will cause the ammonia level to fall but the nitrite level to rise... This is still very toxic to all life in your salt tank but not as toxic as ammonia. once your bacteria and such begin to really build up the nitrite will finally lower and the nitrate level will rise... once your ammonia level is 0 and your nitrite level is 0 it is time to remove about 1.5 - 2 gallons of water and replace it with fresh salt water... Your cycle should now be complete... you should wait a week or soo and continue to test your levels to make sure... once everything is in check it is now time to add a cleanup crew. Once you add your cleanup crew you should probably wait about 3 weeks and then add in a fish... make sure that you add everything in very slowly .. because when you add new livestock in such as crabs, shrimp, fish, etc... you will cause a small spike in the water parameters and it will add some toxicity to the water.. that is why you must do it very slowly.
As far as the lights... it is not too important unless you plan on keeping corals.. and the pumps like I said before if you list them we can help you out...
hope this helps a bit!!
Happy Reefing! :happyfish:

 

[urugly]

Thanks for all the info.
What are acceptable numbers for what you mentioned here:
"As far as things to get right now... you will need some test kits... right now I would recommend the basic ones... ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, ph and alkalnitiy."
**Can I get a packaged test kit anywhere for cheap on the internet?
Since I did use tap, should I go to my store and get some RO water and drain 20% of that? Or should I go to my LFS and just buy a couple premixed gallons to switch it with?
Is lighting that important right now? My tank comes with the following per box:
"Very cool 36 Watt high powered Super Actinic / Daylight and Super Daylight 7100K lighting (see specs below) perfect for Reef Nano Tanks. The mirror-like aluminum reflector enables many live corals, reef, and fish to live in a marine environment, or fish and plants too thrive in a gorgeous freshwater system. The choice is yours. Natural colors are vividly displayed by this lighting system."
As for the pump it does not tell me what kind it came with. It is the built in ones. Now how important is temperature for clown fish and Dora type fish??...ahahaha

 

[reefdude37]

for corals, you will be able to keep soft corals and a few lps

 

[shiby1510]

You may want to change the 7100k light to a 10k light in the future.. but not too necessary right now. You will need a heater also if you do not have one... set to somewhere around 80 F.
You sure can get test kits that come in a package.. just search around... acceptable numbers until you can add anything else in your tank must read...
ammonia = 0
nitrite = 0
nitrate = once nitrite and ammonia are 0 then you do a water change to lower the nitrate... you will always have a little nitrate.
ph = ~8.3
salinity = ~1.025
temp = ~80 F
depending on your water some tap is okay... people will tell you to go out and buy an ro system but that is all up to you. Since you have a small tank you could always just get gallon jugs of RO from a place like walmart. Let the water just cycle with what you put in... and then for now on with water changes its recommneded to use RO water. If you choose not to use RO water... atleast use a tap purifier to get rid of the chlorine and some of the other contaimnents.
Pump should have a rating of gph (gallons per hour) that is somewhat important but more important if you want to have corals.
One last thing... you can have a nemo.. but sorry no dories... or pretty much any of the other guys in nemo.. besides the cleaner shrimp.

 

[urugly]

Oh what..nemo but nor Dorie...she will be upset.....hahahhaa
Thanks for all this great info. I will print these out and get testing and hopefully get 1 fish in by this sat.
Last quick question.
When you guys say just put RO water in...is that assuming that you have the right salt balance in your water already???
or
do you mix salt with that NEW RO water and then put it in???
Last here is my set up for now.....
Can't wait to show my daughter and see something swimming in it...

 

[drose]

Please don't buy your fish on Saturday! Your tank will not have finished cycling. That will take several weeks. It will be very stressful on the fish and possibly life-threatening with the chemical imbalance of the cycling tank. Please reread the good advice given above on the tank cycling process. This hobby is not like freshwater, it takes patience. Please go slow.

 

[dchec2100]

What DRose said.

 

[cagrn]

Okay so your tank is going to be kicked into a cycle.. and this is probably what you have been hearing about... this means that due to the lr (live rock) and live sand (ls) that you added into your tank there will be critters that will die... this will cause the ammonia to rise in your tank... once the ammonia rises to a certain level ... aerobic bacteria will begin to form and will oxidize toxic ammonia into nitrite... which will cause the ammonia level to fall but the nitrite level to rise... This is still very toxic to all life in your salt tank but not as toxic as ammonia. once your bacteria and such begin to really build up the nitrite will finally lower and the nitrate level will rise... once your ammonia level is 0 and your nitrite level is 0 it is time to remove about 1.5 - 2 gallons of water and replace it with fresh salt water... Your cycle should now be complete... you should wait a week or soo and continue to test your levels to make sure... once everything is in check it is now time to add a cleanup crew. Once you add your cleanup crew you should probably wait about 3 weeks and then add in a fish... make sure that you add everything in very slowly .. because when you add new livestock in such as crabs, shrimp, fish, etc... you will cause a small spike in the water parameters and it will add some toxicity to the water.. that is why you must do it very slowly.
Does the 1.5 - 2 gallons apply accross the board or is it a recommendation based on the size of your tank?
I have a 26 gallon that I just started cycling, so I am very greatful that I read the above info.
Thanks

 

[shiby1510]

Good question

It is based upon the size of your tank. When most hobbyists do a water change it is usually about 10 - 20% of the total volume... Also everyone does their water changes differently... some do them more than others. With time you will begin to see what works for your tank. Depending on the filteration and protein skimming and all of that stuff depends on how much you need to change your water. Another reason why you need to change the water is to replenish nutrients that are given with the new fresh salt. You can search around and see how often everyone performs their water changes... as for Urugly I am not quite sure how often with a 10g esp. with no protein skimmer... I would suggest looking in the nano reef section and asking other ppl with 10g tanks.
Remember... do not perform a water change until your ammonia and nitrite are at 0 and your nitrate is really high.
You need to continue to test because all cycles take different times.. mine unfortunately took 7wks I think.. if I remember correctly.. don't worry yours shouldn't take that long... but you need to remain patient or you will just lose money.
Happy Reefing ! :happyfish