beldarfish
New Member
Hiya guys & gals,
Like it says,I am a greenie,newbie or w/e ever you call us begginers.
My girlfriend wanted a tank & we decided to make a project making a FOWLR tank.
so, Saturday, we picked it up ,also a maple stand & canopy.nice equipment,so I thought(more later).
here is my list & things I have done.
1 BOOK basic marine Aquarium set-up & maintenance.
55 gal tank.stand & canopy.
40 lbs of aragonite.
20 lbs of puka shells.(hawiian if it matters)
1 bak pak 2 w/protien skimmer.(lfs guy talked me out of wet/dry)
1 penguin 360 duel bio wheel filter (carbon)
1 820 gph powerhead
1 case of instant ocean salt water mix(3 bags of 50 gal each)
1 brand new 5 gal bucket.
what I did,the Important stuff I guess.
I washed out my tank after setting it on the stand & rinsed the Aragonite, ALOT.
Then rinsed the puka shells & mixed it all up in the tank.I proceeded to mix my water in
the bucket to the correct specs(2 & 1/2 cups per 5 gals)made sure it was dissolved &
Added it to my tank.
Needlees to say it was pretty cloudy in there at first & I plugged in BOTH my filters.
The next day after work it was pretty clear. I figure,I have a sterile tank,well as sterile as they come, it's brand new set-up.
So,Monday,I excitedly go to my lfs & grab 62 lbs of live fiji rock, here is where I sorta get lost & conflicting Advice, the rock looks pretty pourous ,lots of holes & space, I am quite Amazed,not hard being green & all,but it also has ALOT of dead stuff on it & in the crevaces.. the guy said "it's ok just add it to your tank", it smells pretty clean,like ocean,not, like, rotten...again green, but I think I would know rotten if I smelled it,I THINK.
Thing is there is ALOT of Die off on it & I ask about "curing it & scrubbing it",like
my book says,& again he says,"brand new tank,it's ok just put it in".
So,I bring it home & drop it in my brand new tank.The temp is A-OK & the salt content/grav is reading 1.023.....I am like SWEET,AWSOME!! & start looking for any,what you guys are calling 'hitchhickers'.nothing
& I looked for like an 1/2 hour or more.
The next day (Today ,Tuesday) I ask around at work & one guy , "oh, you got to scrub it,get it out ASAP,& scrub it in a 5 gal with your water & put it back in",so after work I drive 25 miles to a non-LFS,this place was marine ONLY place ,unlike the 1st place,it was a "pet shop" with birds,pups,cats,etc,ect....that guy says ,oh your doing well & no need to scrub the rock , as the die off will get "eaten up" when I get my cycle going.I also notice he has A 55 gal.tank with overflow for $25 more than I paid for my tank.
Needless to say I was releived that I didn't,or don't think I polluted my
pristine tank set-up,so he asked what fish i picked up & I said none yet cause I was a little confused about the rock thing & I was Advised to "drop in " a piece of "raw shrimp" to get the nitro-cycle stared & he was like, "naw just get some fish ,Damseles" to start it up,I was for that!Because I would rather watch those than A decaying piece of meat floating in my new tank, I bought 4 for $13.00,got them acclimated & netted them in,dumping out his water,I was told not to mix the waters.
supposedly the Damsels are hearty (book) & should survive the cycle jump start &
even if they die,so I don't want them anyway ,I read they will harrass any new fish I put in ,like in 3 or 4 months from now.witch I will do once I get used to taking readings &understanding how"stable" my tank is,No need to waste $50 or more dollars on dead fish.
OH! 1 last thing, I used tap water for my intital fill & today when I went to the REAL shop I saw someone buying water & they sell DI water,So I think i will be using that from now on!!! BTW I found these boards Monday & had to wait one day to start posting
So, (whew) the Questions are As follows,I am REALLY trying to do this right the first time
1) did I do right about the Live rock stuff?
2) what about the Aragonite? thats not Crushed coral is it?
3) I know I wanted wet/dry...was it a Mistake to get the bak/pak2 with the penguin 630?
4)why,oh why didn't I find these forums sooner? reading some posts helped,But also scared me ,as I didn't educate myself so good on these matters Before I started this project
If you read this Far thanks!!! & I will update this thread with pics I took during assembly ASAP for bette understanding for you & to keep a log of OUR project.
Total spent $1300
Hours of lost sleep worrying: 15
seeing my 4 damsels swimming around,NOT outright dyingriceless
updates soon & THANKS for ANY advice,
Beldar~
Like it says,I am a greenie,newbie or w/e ever you call us begginers.
My girlfriend wanted a tank & we decided to make a project making a FOWLR tank.
so, Saturday, we picked it up ,also a maple stand & canopy.nice equipment,so I thought(more later).
here is my list & things I have done.
1 BOOK basic marine Aquarium set-up & maintenance.
55 gal tank.stand & canopy.
40 lbs of aragonite.
20 lbs of puka shells.(hawiian if it matters)
1 bak pak 2 w/protien skimmer.(lfs guy talked me out of wet/dry)
1 penguin 360 duel bio wheel filter (carbon)
1 820 gph powerhead
1 case of instant ocean salt water mix(3 bags of 50 gal each)
1 brand new 5 gal bucket.
what I did,the Important stuff I guess.
I washed out my tank after setting it on the stand & rinsed the Aragonite, ALOT.
Then rinsed the puka shells & mixed it all up in the tank.I proceeded to mix my water in
the bucket to the correct specs(2 & 1/2 cups per 5 gals)made sure it was dissolved &
Added it to my tank.
Needlees to say it was pretty cloudy in there at first & I plugged in BOTH my filters.
The next day after work it was pretty clear. I figure,I have a sterile tank,well as sterile as they come, it's brand new set-up.
So,Monday,I excitedly go to my lfs & grab 62 lbs of live fiji rock, here is where I sorta get lost & conflicting Advice, the rock looks pretty pourous ,lots of holes & space, I am quite Amazed,not hard being green & all,but it also has ALOT of dead stuff on it & in the crevaces.. the guy said "it's ok just add it to your tank", it smells pretty clean,like ocean,not, like, rotten...again green, but I think I would know rotten if I smelled it,I THINK.
Thing is there is ALOT of Die off on it & I ask about "curing it & scrubbing it",like
my book says,& again he says,"brand new tank,it's ok just put it in".
So,I bring it home & drop it in my brand new tank.The temp is A-OK & the salt content/grav is reading 1.023.....I am like SWEET,AWSOME!! & start looking for any,what you guys are calling 'hitchhickers'.nothing
The next day (Today ,Tuesday) I ask around at work & one guy , "oh, you got to scrub it,get it out ASAP,& scrub it in a 5 gal with your water & put it back in",so after work I drive 25 miles to a non-LFS,this place was marine ONLY place ,unlike the 1st place,it was a "pet shop" with birds,pups,cats,etc,ect....that guy says ,oh your doing well & no need to scrub the rock , as the die off will get "eaten up" when I get my cycle going.I also notice he has A 55 gal.tank with overflow for $25 more than I paid for my tank.
Needless to say I was releived that I didn't,or don't think I polluted my
pristine tank set-up,so he asked what fish i picked up & I said none yet cause I was a little confused about the rock thing & I was Advised to "drop in " a piece of "raw shrimp" to get the nitro-cycle stared & he was like, "naw just get some fish ,Damseles" to start it up,I was for that!Because I would rather watch those than A decaying piece of meat floating in my new tank, I bought 4 for $13.00,got them acclimated & netted them in,dumping out his water,I was told not to mix the waters.
supposedly the Damsels are hearty (book) & should survive the cycle jump start &
even if they die,so I don't want them anyway ,I read they will harrass any new fish I put in ,like in 3 or 4 months from now.witch I will do once I get used to taking readings &understanding how"stable" my tank is,No need to waste $50 or more dollars on dead fish.
OH! 1 last thing, I used tap water for my intital fill & today when I went to the REAL shop I saw someone buying water & they sell DI water,So I think i will be using that from now on!!! BTW I found these boards Monday & had to wait one day to start posting
So, (whew) the Questions are As follows,I am REALLY trying to do this right the first time
1) did I do right about the Live rock stuff?
2) what about the Aragonite? thats not Crushed coral is it?
3) I know I wanted wet/dry...was it a Mistake to get the bak/pak2 with the penguin 630?
4)why,oh why didn't I find these forums sooner? reading some posts helped,But also scared me ,as I didn't educate myself so good on these matters Before I started this project
If you read this Far thanks!!! & I will update this thread with pics I took during assembly ASAP for bette understanding for you & to keep a log of OUR project.
Total spent $1300
Hours of lost sleep worrying: 15
seeing my 4 damsels swimming around,NOT outright dyingriceless
updates soon & THANKS for ANY advice,
Beldar~