Used Tank

[fayde]

Hello im new to the hobby. a lilttle background on me. I have had several freshwater tanks ranging from 20l to two 125's with African Cichlids . Have always enjoyed looking at saltwater tanks and i think im ready to make the leap. I have a lot of research ahead of me before i start. The tank size i am thinking of starting with is a 40 gallon tank that my father no longer uses. After some breif cost analysis i think the free tank is best way to go to learn the basics before i commit to a larger tank.
My question for now (im sure many more will follow in the near future) is the tank i am getting has a lime issue. what should i use to clean the tank. that will be effective and at the same time ensure no danger to my future ecology. Also when i do get it cleaned what sort of water should i start with? is tap water ok or should i be buying gallons of distilled water? I did see "ocean water" for sale at a local pet supply store but it is quite costly. just curious which way would be the most cost effective with respect to difficulty in setting up just the initial stages?
Thank you in advance for any input

 

[squidd]

Let me be the first to WELCOME you to the board...
Vinegar should take the "lime" out then just rinse well...
I would suggest filling the tank with RO water (reverse osmosis filtered) You can usually find it in the grocery store or Wall Mart or your LFS may sell it...
Keep asking questions, there are lots of knowledgeable/experienced people on this board to help you out and make suggestions every step of the way...

 

[marine fanatic]

Welcome aboard Fayde
I agree with the vinegar as a cleaning agent on the lime...should take it off pretty well (and a bit of elbow grease).
Using tap water can be a gamble...(is it well water, city tap etc)
You are right about buying ocean water from your LFS, mine sells it for $1.89/gallon but keep this in mind....if you spend a bit more upfront on some quality water...you are establishing an ideal situation for your initial cycle. Many will probably say using tap water for your cycle is fine...I just decided to use some LFS water to make the cycle as good as it can be.
40 gallon tank....good lil starter tank....wish you the best of luck on it and some of the people here are very experienced and will help you along as they helped me.

 

[fayde]

The water would be city water. I belive it is slighty on the hard side just from evidence in my shower but not enough to notice as far as discoloration or odor of any sort. Is there possibly a Ph test strip or something along that line i could use to test my tap water. I want to start this right keeping initial cost in mind until i can convince my girlfriend that it will be worth it. From what the LFS "expert" tells me i am looking at a month before i add anything living to the tank. Thats not a good sell point when i am going out and spending a couple hundred on a tank with nothing but water.
Thanks again

 

[fshhub]

city water??? I definitely would not and do not use(i linve in town too)
not only the things we are unsure of and depeding on the area, but i guarentee it has chlorine and flourine in it. Amoung many other things, and if you are in a big city and in an old reagion, The odds of copper and/or lead are high. And iron is probably a given. All this just from the pipng alone.

 

[fayde]

The area i live in is a rather large city nothing like a Detroit area but i was concerned with the chemicals/metals in the water system as well. So i will avoid tap water then. good thing i asked it was definatley a consideration. As far as the RO water is concerned im not familiar with this. Is it sold as RO water or will it be labeled something else but possibly read wether or not it is RO?

 

[doodle1800]

I would think you can use purified or distilled water from a grocery store. Or you can buy a tap water filter at your pet shop (LFS) ($30). If you are really serious about this go to ---- or SWF.com and buy a RO water filter. I've seen them for a little as $78 on ---- - brand new. I bought an American Pharmaceuticals tap water filter when I first started - it removes chlorine, a decent filter for filling first time and is relatively cheap.

 

[dreeves]

Use RO/DI water from the get go..city water most like has a phosphate level in it...as well as the possibility of other ions...phosphates are not any good in the marine environement...
Learn from our mistakes...

 

[marine fanatic]

Another thought to add...
Some LFS staff will actually help you out with a new tank by "giving" you some starter water. The point of it being...they build a bond with you in hopes of gaining your business. Not all will do this but I have firsthand seen it myself...never hurts to try (save ya some money)

 

[maverick005]

so will it be called "reverse osmosis" in the grocery store or wal-mart?

 

[ross]

Mine is called "Great water". It should say the steps it goes through and look for reverse osmosis.

 

[sheracr123]

My local WalMart sells Culligan(RO / DI)... bring your own jugs cause theirs aren't cheap!!!

 

[michaeltx]

on a side note other than the water which RO or RO/DI is the best to use.at the store just read the bottle it will say if its RO or RO/DI filtered. be leary of the machines most of them arent keeped up like they should be so the filters they use arent as effective as they should be. some place labels on when the filters were changed but others dont.
has the tank ever had copper used in it. if it has you selcetion of what you can put in it might be limited. copper and inverts dont mix well. so corals, clean up crews, stars, and such may not be able to go into the tank. after you fill it with SW you can get a test kit and after a few weeks test for copper if you are unsure. alot of tanks that have been used for FW have had copper based ich meds used in them. FWIW
welcome to the board and good luck.
Mike

 

[rbmount]

If vinegar dosen't do the trick, take table salt and put it on a wet dishrag and scrub deposits, it works like a scouring pad on a GLASS tank.

 

[maverick005]

i have a FW tank going now, i am going to make it my SW eventually. i bought the tank used...should i just test for copper? what else should i take into consideration before making the switch?

 

[michaeltx]

copper is a really bad thing to inverts it will kill them. so its best to check and make sure there hasnt been any copper used in the tank before getting inverts to go into. Fish do fine with copper though so you caould still use a tank that had copper but limited on what you can put in it safely.
most copper test are made for SW only so if it has copper it wont regester until it has been setup with SW in it for awhile.
Mike

 

[maverick005]

so if i do get a reading saying i have copper in my tank, is there any way to get rid of it? i am going to research this as soon as i post it...

 

[michaeltx]

theres a product called cuprisorb that is supposed to absorb it but I have never had to use it so I dont know how well it works or anything.
other than that I personally dont know of a way to get it out.
sorry
Mike

 

[maverick005]

thanks mike, i found this. its an article about getting rid of ich in freshwater...it was taken from
http://www.bestfish.com/copper.html
Treating with copper isn't difficult, but it must be done correctly to be effective and safe. The first rule is one that hopefully most saltwater aquarists have already heard: don't use copper with invertebrates. Anemones, crabs, shrimp, live corals, "live rock" and all the rest of the non-fish critters we might keep in an aquarium are killed by copper just as easily as, although perhaps more slowly than, the invertebrate Cryptocaryon. Generally this means moving all the fish to that different, properly set up and conditioned "quarantine" tank we're all supposed to have in waiting. Removing the invertebrates to other quarters and treating the main tank is another option, but removing all traces of copper after treatment is such a time-consuming and unreliable process that it would probably be best to never return invertebrates to that main tank again