newbie needs helpppppp

[keith burn]

Originally Posted by brenda5826
http:///forum/post/2636334
do you think my 2 fliters and powerhead will be enough
also could i just change the blub from my fw light to a brighter blub like coral sun ???
Not a good filter on s/w, the Canister Filters that is, it's ok for flow (but you must remove all if not most of the insides) thay stop up fast.
L/r (live rock)it's the beat filter for s/w (salt water).
2nd is a skimmer
3rd fuge (refugium)
You have time but imo add l/r and remove the 350's filter .
And all the insides of the 404 fluval .

 

[brenda5826]

so no carbon or porcleian disc take them all out and the foam as well

 

[nwdyr]

Read...Read....read.......o yea I forgot to say READ!!

Don't over think it though, takes the fun out a little. I have been in and out of SWF for 20 yrs and all I know is..well I don't know!! LR is great and if you buy it cured and local, you wont have any die off. A wet/dry filter is not always necessary, after all what most people do is put LR in it ...hmm kinda like the tank itself huh? your tank can also act as the "filter" A good sponge on the HOB and maybe a bag of carbon and you can have A adequate filter. I found allot of water flow never hurts!! I started my 24gal nano with LR and Live cc and never saw a cycle, i don't "ghost feed" or god for bid throw any "dead" shrimp in any of my tanks and never had a prob with the cycle. Everyone here is very helpful and they know allot about this stuff, but remember just because someone tells you about their experiences, that don't mean it is written in stone!!! have fun and welcome to a addiction that is harder to kick then Heroin and probably just as expensive

 

[keith burn]

Originally Posted by brenda5826
http:///forum/post/2637303
so no carbon or porcleian disc take them all out and the foam as well

Yes
It will hold the junk out of the tank and stop up fast.
As for the carbon imo use it if water lvl are off and w/c do not fix them.
After the tank is set up you can use it after w/c for like a day or two to help.

 

[brenda5826]

okay

thank you will do
and will keep warch on the filters for flow rates

 

[fishygurl]

Originally Posted by brenda5826
http:///forum/post/2636422
thank you i am now relaxed knowing my trial seup could work
now i can move on to more relaxing reading like what kind of thing i want to
add when time comes
lol imo almost nothing is relaxing other than looking at the final product or things you have accomplished there is always that excitement and anxiousness to learn more or do more or go bigger etc etc

 

[mr.m]

Well the best advice i can give you is. read the forms and ask ?. and if someone tells you you can do something and 99% say no then i would lesting to the 99% of ppl. This hobby is not cheap so go slow and reserch everthing.
SW is not hard it just slow and no short cuts

Mark
PS welcome to the hobby and forms

 

[brenda5826]

lol

i have a good idea how i will be hooked into this hobby already feel the need to go bigger and better
as i already feeling the crowed space lol
and i have nothing in there yet loll but as i look around here and see all the different setups
i know i for sure want a peaceful tank with as many different lifes that will live togethere

 

[brenda5826]

WELL ITS BEEN A WEEK AND SO FAR SO GOOD NO ISSUES EXCEPT LOW PH
GONNA TAKE ANOTHER SAMPLE TODAY TO MY LFS TO SEE WHAT THEY GET
FOR A READING ALSO I WAITING FOR LEVEL SPIKES NONE HAVE ACCORD YET

ITS IT TO SOON

ALSO I HAVE 3 FOAM LOOKING THINGS ON MY LIVE ROCK YELLOW TO BROWNISH IS THIS OKAY ?

 

[brenda5826]

 

[slt wtr stupid]

Brenda,
Your foam looking things are probably sponges as far as good or bad i have no idea someone will though never fear this is the land of the all knowing (collectively)

as to your question about your freshwater equipment i bought a stock 55 setup for freshwater from walmart and started my tank FO in January and have just now started to add the live rock for a FOWLR freshwater equipment does work but i wouldnt use it on a reef and i'm thinking about adding a hang on fuge down the road. Good luck with your tank just remember to make time for your hubby mine has a cow (would you quit looking at that tank and you spend more time with the fish than with me)

havent got a clue what thats supposed to mean

Robin

 

[oceansidefish]

Welcome to the hobby and congradulations on your new tank. The best advice I can give is go slow, don't worry too much and never buy a damsel.

 

[brenda5826]

okay after a week my levels are working them self out except p.h went lower p.h 7.2 lower last week 7.8
amin 0 lower last week 0.5
nirate20 lower last week 5.0
nirite1.0 up last week 0.25
and thank you all for the warm welcome i so glad this site is here
i am reading all i can and learning all that can and proably will go wrong with sw tanks

 

[sjk2840]

Hi Brenda, and welcome to the forum. I'm sort of a newbie. I did a FO salt water tank about 9 years ago. It was a 125, had to sell all of it 'cause I moved. Well here I am again. I've got my 10 gallon "starter" tank set up. It's my sons old freshwater tank. You had mentioned you were concerned about the filtration- this is what I have- a 20 gallon Aquaclear hob filter- I only run the foam and bio beads in it. Carbon as needed. I have a heater-dont use it now, live in Arizona LOL!!! and my son and husband rigged up some PVC and a pump for water circulation, the powerhead was heating my tank up. I have a 15 watt aqua rays light bulb for fresh or saltwater, 10 pounds of CC and about 10 pounds of live rock.
I set my tank up over spring break, it took about 7 weeks to cycle. I kept doing water changes to control the ammonia spikes-duh!!! and didnt have any live rock yet. I did a lot of reading and forgot a lot of things-I put my live rock in about 4 weeks ago and its starting to "bloom" its beautiful.
I have 2 small clown fish, a lemonpeel angel fish(a small one) and a royal gramma. I seroiusly could sit there all day and watch them. Hopefully by early fall I can set up a 75 gallon or larger tank. Short term goal

 

[kellenr]

Throw some dkH Buffer in there. Not only will it stabilize your pH it will also be sure that hardness and alkalinity are proper and gives a good base to sustain vital levels such as Calcium. This stuff is cheap and you only use like a teaspoon or so, this $6 jar will last you 6mos or so. Use as directed.
mod edit= linking to other stores is against board rules please do not link to these sites.

 

[brenda5826]

okay i will order some
but should i wait for the cycle to finish before i try to add addives to tank
tank has only been up for 1 week today ??
let me know and looks like all my other levels are doing what they should be doing right going down except for nirite should be going up as weel as the p.h ?

 

[oceansidefish]

You want your nitrites and amonia to be at 0....I use B-Ionic 2 part, however make sure you have the test kits so you can check the levels. The BEST advise is to never add anything to your tank without a test kit for what you are adding. *** this is a great website to check the balance in your tank. You can put in one level and it will tell you what your other should be to have a balanced tank. Calcium and alkalinity need to be in balance with each other not so much in a fish only but a must with corals. However new tanks will run with a high calcium level for about the first 6mnths to 1yr depending on what you have in it. Sounds confusing now but it will get better. We are not as smart as mother nature

 

[brenda5826]

okay i know i am way ahead of myself here but what kind of lighting do you think i need to buy so i could keep these awesome coral also would it be better to start with frags ??? so i could see and learn from their growth??
radioactive dragon eyes
growth rate~fast
other~med light and flow
Pete's Passion
growth rate~medium
other~low - med light
low - med flow
candy apple pinks
growth rate~fast
other~lighting medium, polyp size medium
Purple death
growth rate~fast
other~low to medium lighting, medium polyp size
Envy Orange
growth rate~Palythoa
Green Hearts
Shark Tooth paly
growth rate~moderate
other~Moderate light,good flow and feedings
Red people eaters
growth rate~mod to fast
other~Med-low light,moderate flow
and something orange and yellow

 

[brenda5826]

 

[brenda5826]

well i think my cycle is done noe
1.023
amo 0
nirites0
nirate0
p.h still low 7.4 has gone up a little ?? should i add a buffer at this time or wait it out ?