Water Haze

[smshep01]

I am new to the whole saltwater aquariums. I have had many fresh water aquariums in the past with great success but wanted to invest in a saltwater tank. I went out and bought all the necessary beginner items to start a tank out. I currently have reef sand and live sand in the tank with salt water. I currently do not have any live rock or fish in it as of yet due to budget but will be getting live rock this weekend. I built this tank on Monday evening. Unfortunately, when I filled the tank with water, I made the fatal error of filling the tank up without putting something on the sand and now my tank is cloudy. I am running a filter system with currently 1 jet running and will add another jet this weekend as well. Can anyone tell me about how long it will take for the milky haze to settle and should I have my light running for 12 hrs a day? I have a 10,000K flourecent bulb currently. Thanks for any help that you can offer.

 

[karajay]

WELCOME

Your water should clear in about a week or so, maybe less. I would keep the powereheads off until it does.
I wouldn't bother running your lights at this time. I didn't have mine on for the entire cycling period.

 

[kzlen]

the cloudy tank is normal, may take a week to settle. is this a fish only with live rock tank? if you want to have some corals later on down the road...think about upgrading your light. Also the light would help the look of your rock too. If you want to leave your light on it wouldnt hurt any at this point.

 

[smshep01]

Thanks for all the info. I eventually will want to go with some coral and have done some research as to the best lighting. I am probably going to have to buy another hood or light that will fit my hood so I can upgrade my lights.
If I turn the power jet off at this time, seeings how I do not have anything in the tank besides water and live sand, should I turn off the filter as well? So far I have had to clean it out twice since monday. I just want to be sure I have a good established base before introducing live rock and eventually fish after my cycle period is complete. I have a hydrometer and checked the saltinity and levels are in the norm, my next quesiton is, what tests/chemicals will i need to check for amonia, nitrite, nitrate and are there any other things I need to test in the water? Sorry for being so "New" to this lol. Just want to be sure I don't kill anything or waste money.

 

[birdy]

Do you have a good book on saltwater aquariums? If not get The Conscientious Marine Aquarist.
As far as test kits. Might as well start out with the best because you will eventually want them anyway, They are Salifert brand, they are much clearer to read and are more accurate than many of the other hobby grade test kits they are a little more expensive, but you get what you pay for. You will want the kits for pH, Alk, Ammonia, Nitrate, Nitrite, Phosphate, and Calcium. There may be a few more you will want later on but that is plenty to get you started.

 

[smshep01]

Cool I will check out that book at the book store this weekend and look into the test kits as well. Thanks.

 

[cprdnick]

Hydrometer or Refractometer perhaps?????