Completely new- looking for advice

jpips · 01/16/2009, 09:42 AM

Hey guys just looking for some advice on general care for my tank...recently got a 70 ltr salt water tank from a friend and we have 4 fish, 3 hermit crabs, 1 snail, and a cleaner shrimp along with that we have a bit of live rock.

What im looking to find out is just general care for the tank ie. (changing water i know should be 10% roughly, feed them the frozen live food 1/3 cube a day) but about cleaning filter and the tank etc how often and whats the best method...?

Generally how much more fish etc. can we put into the tank (if any)?

leave it at that for now but would really appreciate all or any advice from the pros! thanks

dwd5813 · 01/16/2009, 09:47 AM

look for the sticky threads at the top of this and other forums, like this one: http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh...readid=1031074
read through and get a sense, then you can come back with more specific questions.

vyerous · 01/16/2009, 09:52 AM

Well first off welcome to the forums.

Now the hard part. We need a little more info about your tank. Do you have kits to test the parameters of the water? If so that would be a good thing to post. 70 liters is like what, 18 gallons? What kind of fish do you have in there? You are really working with a small space and depending on what you have in there you may not be able to add much more if anything at all. Also how old is the tank?

As far as general care goes:
-Test every 3 days (salinity, PH, Ammonia, Nitrates, Nitrites, Temperature at least)
-I replace the filters on mine once every 4-5 weeks (If I remember)
-Water changes are very important, I'll talk more about that in a moment
-Soak the frozen cubes in a little bit of tank water, allow to thaw, discard the water and drain the food (don't place the cube directly in the tank)
-If you are scraping a lot of junk off the glass wait till the day you are doing a water change and try to siphon out as much junk as you scrape to help prevent spreading and just overall better water quality
-Get some snails

With water changes you need to make sure the water you are putting into your tank is as close as possible to the water in tank. Meaning temp needs to be close, salinity, PH. I recommend (since you have a small tank you can get away with this), getting a 5 gallon bucket, fill up roughly 2 gallons worth, get a small powerhead and heater to throw in there, let it mix for over night for best results. If you are not careful with the parameters you can put your fish into shock or even deflate their swim bladder.

This is all very basic though, as he said above, go there and read. A lot of what I learned about this hobby was reading all these stickied threads and coming back with what I wasn't able to learn on my own. There is nothing wrong with asking questions though, I ask a lot myself =D

Freed · 01/16/2009, 10:11 AM

MOST IMPORTANT thing about bringing home livestock from the LFS is to always quarantine anything WET for at least 4-6 weeks before putting into your tank to look for signs of disease, parasites, pests, etc.

makolonj · 01/16/2009, 10:28 AM

+1 for mixing you seawater properly

jpips · 01/18/2009, 09:14 AM

Thanks for the advice everyone just had a problem with my internet so couldnt reply until now.

I have 2 damsels, 1 clown fish and recently added a firefish, with that i have 2 red legged hermit crabs and 1 black legged hermit crab, a cleaner shrimp and a snail.

The tank is mostly clean with a slight bit of small dots on the glass and the filter which come off when i rub them with the cleaning pad.

Oh could someone let me know the correct salt content for the water i have a tester but cant remember what the guy in the shop told me it should be... :/

Freed · 01/18/2009, 09:20 AM

The proper specific gravity should be 1.023-1.026 or so. What kind of a salinity tester do you have? Hydrometers are known to be way off sometimes. A refractometer is your best bet for testing your salinity.

jpips · 01/18/2009, 09:42 AM

Thanks Freed just checked it there and the levels are good...will write it down so i dont forget! haha

Freed · 01/18/2009, 09:47 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Freed
What kind of a salinity tester do you have?

Playa-1 · 01/18/2009, 10:32 AM

[Size=2.5]To Reef Central[/Size]

I agree, I would encourage you to visit the sticky threads at the top of the forum. Here's a link for some additional reading material that I would recommend, preferably sooner then later ;D
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2008-01/tips/index.php

01/16/2009, 09:42 AM	#1
jpips Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2009 Posts: 3	Completely new- looking for advice Hey guys just looking for some advice on general care for my tank...recently got a 70 ltr salt water tank from a friend and we have 4 fish, 3 hermit crabs, 1 snail, and a cleaner shrimp along with that we have a bit of live rock. What im looking to find out is just general care for the tank ie. (changing water i know should be 10% roughly, feed them the frozen live food 1/3 cube a day) but about cleaning filter and the tank etc how often and whats the best method...? Generally how much more fish etc. can we put into the tank (if any)? leave it at that for now but would really appreciate all or any advice from the pros! thanks

01/16/2009, 09:47 AM	#2
dwd5813 Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: 813 Posts: 2,827	look for the sticky threads at the top of this and other forums, like this one: http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh...readid=1031074 read through and get a sense, then you can come back with more specific questions. __________________ order some golf shoes, otherwise we'll never get out of this place alive. what can i say? in dog beers, i have only had one. - dublo8 Current Tank Info: 40B aiptasia farm

01/16/2009, 10:11 AM	#4
Freed It's what it's Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: 41° 2' 45" N 85° 8' 43" W Posts: 7,579	MOST IMPORTANT thing about bringing home livestock from the LFS is to always quarantine anything WET for at least 4-6 weeks before putting into your tank to look for signs of disease, parasites, pests, etc. __________________ Freed Current Tank Info: 180gal(1120 watts of MH/VHO light), 60gal "sump", Deltec 601 calcium reactor, Euro Reef CS8-3+ skimmer, 20 gallon QT

01/18/2009, 09:20 AM	#7
Freed It's what it's Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: 41° 2' 45" N 85° 8' 43" W Posts: 7,579	The proper specific gravity should be 1.023-1.026 or so. What kind of a salinity tester do you have? Hydrometers are known to be way off sometimes. A refractometer is your best bet for testing your salinity. __________________ Freed Current Tank Info: 180gal(1120 watts of MH/VHO light), 60gal "sump", Deltec 601 calcium reactor, Euro Reef CS8-3+ skimmer, 20 gallon QT

01/16/2009, 09:52 AM	#3
vyerous Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: NoVA Posts: 344	Well first off welcome to the forums. Now the hard part. We need a little more info about your tank. Do you have kits to test the parameters of the water? If so that would be a good thing to post. 70 liters is like what, 18 gallons? What kind of fish do you have in there? You are really working with a small space and depending on what you have in there you may not be able to add much more if anything at all. Also how old is the tank? As far as general care goes: -Test every 3 days (salinity, PH, Ammonia, Nitrates, Nitrites, Temperature at least) -I replace the filters on mine once every 4-5 weeks (If I remember) -Water changes are very important, I'll talk more about that in a moment -Soak the frozen cubes in a little bit of tank water, allow to thaw, discard the water and drain the food (don't place the cube directly in the tank) -If you are scraping a lot of junk off the glass wait till the day you are doing a water change and try to siphon out as much junk as you scrape to help prevent spreading and just overall better water quality -Get some snails With water changes you need to make sure the water you are putting into your tank is as close as possible to the water in tank. Meaning temp needs to be close, salinity, PH. I recommend (since you have a small tank you can get away with this), getting a 5 gallon bucket, fill up roughly 2 gallons worth, get a small powerhead and heater to throw in there, let it mix for over night for best results. If you are not careful with the parameters you can put your fish into shock or even deflate their swim bladder. This is all very basic though, as he said above, go there and read. A lot of what I learned about this hobby was reading all these stickied threads and coming back with what I wasn't able to learn on my own. There is nothing wrong with asking questions though, I ask a lot myself =D

01/16/2009, 10:28 AM	#5
makolonj Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Denver, Colorado Posts: 194	+1 for mixing you seawater properly

01/18/2009, 09:14 AM	#6
jpips Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2009 Posts: 3	Thanks for the advice everyone just had a problem with my internet so couldnt reply until now. I have 2 damsels, 1 clown fish and recently added a firefish, with that i have 2 red legged hermit crabs and 1 black legged hermit crab, a cleaner shrimp and a snail. The tank is mostly clean with a slight bit of small dots on the glass and the filter which come off when i rub them with the cleaning pad. Oh could someone let me know the correct salt content for the water i have a tester but cant remember what the guy in the shop told me it should be... :/

01/18/2009, 09:42 AM	#8
jpips Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2009 Posts: 3	Thanks Freed just checked it there and the levels are good...will write it down so i dont forget! haha

01/18/2009, 10:32 AM	#10
Playa-1 Moved On Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Laguna Niguel, CA Posts: 7,497	[Size=2.5]To Reef Central[/Size] I agree, I would encourage you to visit the sticky threads at the top of the forum. Here's a link for some additional reading material that I would recommend, preferably sooner then later ;D http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2008-01/tips/index.php