Suggestions for a starter

[njbluefish]

I am purchasing a 65 gallon tank this weekend used. It has 65 gallon tank with (2)double bulb light fixtures, a 403 fluval canister filter and a skilter 400 filter specially for salt water, brand new bulbs=2 ocean sun, 2 Coral sun, these bulbs are designed for salt water fish as well as for reef setup. Also a brand new power sweep 223. Aslo comes with all the coral and crushed shells in the tank. Has a 150watt heater, air pump, all tubes and all kinds of medication and treatments, along with some marine salt.
I am new to all of this and need some suggestions as to were I should start. The tank is being drained this weekend on Sat. and I will pick up the whole thing later that afternoon. What should I do to set the tank up? Should I clean the coral, tank, and equipment? It was sitting for a month with no fish in it....running I think? I just do not want to make any mistakes my first time out.
Your help would be much appreciated.
Mike

 

[s_l_pugh]

If the tank has been running then you should be ok. Ask the person if you can keep some of the water, better yet, help him take it down. He should be able and willing to answer questions and would appreciate the help in the move. Take several (as many as you can) 5 gallon buckets to hold the water. Don't clean everything, start with what you get. If there is a cycle it will not take very long. Set it up, add inexpensive fish first, slowly add other fish and rocks and you should be fine. Get as much information as you can from the person that is selling it, about the tank history.
Do you know how to test the water for salinity, pH, nitrites, nitrates, etc.?

 

[birdy]

First, welcome to the Forum. I would recommend you get a good book on saltwater aquariums and start browsing these forums for a while before you really get started.
You need to decide what type of tank you want to keep. Fish only with live rock or Reef. If you have not kept a saltwater tank before you probably should start with a FOWLR.
I would completely start over with the tank, get rid of the crushed coral and coral skeletons. Use deep sand bed of 4-6" and live rock about 1.5lbs per gallon of water.
You can use the filters but I would replace all the media and start over.
The key to saltwater is research and patience. Good luck,

 

[timo]

Be very sure that where you put is where you want it to be. Moving it full is not an option. Also avoid direct sunlight.

 

[njbluefish]

Thanks all for the info.....the tank was cared for by a college student who went back to school. His parents did not know how to run the tank so it went down hill after a month and here we are today. The reason why Hector...that is his name, is selling the tank is that he no longer lives in his parent’s house. I figure that it would be a good opp for me to pick up a nice tank. The tank has little scratches on the glass. I understand that his intentions were to set up a reef tank, but never got around to doing so. From the sound of it....it seems like the tank comes with an abundance of coral......the picture that was shown showed signs of algae and discolored water.....this could happen real fast if the tank was not looked after. I have a place between two windows that will not get that much light....no direct light. It is on an outside wall so that there is plenty of support. My question is ........start over of keep excising setup? I want to keep the cost down in the beginning as much as possible. I was told that it would take up to a month before I can put some fish or plants in the tank. Is this true? I just want a semi-aggressive tank .......a reef setup would be great, but I do not know if it would be the best for me being a starter. I am willing to put in the time because I know in the long run I will have a tank that will bring me hours of enjoyment. I just thought I would give you as much information that I know about this tank. Thanks for the info and I will keep posting as my progress occurs.
Thanks for the info......any further info would be much appreciated.
Mike

 

[jcsurfn]

Well welcome to the board. This is a great place to learn, read and ask questions.
I would start over with the tank. You mentioned in your post above theat the pic looks like it has a lot of coral? I take it there is LR in there then?
I would also switch out the crushed coral and use sand. For a DSB. That with LR will be you best filtration.
If LR does come with the tank it probably needs to be scrubed off a bit. You might want to get someone else to help you with that answer.
Then yes the tank needs to cycle. Use a raw shrimp or 2 from the store and put them in the tank. Get yourself a test kit for ammonia, nitrits, nitrats and ph. You will need to test reguarly. You will see you ammonia spike then when all readings are at 0 you are ready to add a fish. This should tke about a month.
i hope this helps a bit. Please ask questions there are many way more capible of answering your questions than me.
Good Luck.