Newbie stuff

TheFishyForrest · 02/18/2015, 01:34 PM

Hello everyone. I'm new here. Been keeping fish for under a year but have 15 freshwater tanks going and one saltwater now. Never been in the salty side of things so wanted to provide info about my tank and ask some questions

20 gallon tall
Marineland bio wheel filter
150 watt heater
Power head
2" dead "live sand" bed
22 pounds of dead "live rock"

Salinity was at 1.023 last I checked. Have an api master test kit. Still need an alkalinity kit and the other test kit.

It's been running for 4 days now. The water cleared up after day 2. What do I do now? I was told to wait for the diatoms, then do a wc?

Dexter1258 · 02/18/2015, 01:50 PM

Wc?

killinit123 · 02/18/2015, 01:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dexter1258

Wc?

are you asking what that means or asking why he would do a "water change"

But you need to wait for your tank to cycle look for a spike in ammonia usually a full cycle will take any where from 2-4 weeks IME

but there is no need to do a water change yet

Chungy · 02/18/2015, 02:53 PM

You want to ensure your tank has "cycled" properly. More information here about the biological filtration:

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2002-06/dw/index.php

If you are not sure, then I suggest you dose pure ammonia to raise the level to 2ppm, test daily and re-dose until you can observe it gets convert into nitrate within a 24 hours period.

I usually wait until nitrate goes to 0, but some people would do a water change to bring the nitrate down.

Once your tank is cycled, diatom usually follows.

Zooxanthus · 02/18/2015, 03:02 PM

just like a freshwater aquarium you need a source of ammonia to start the cycle. If you just run clean water your not going to cycle anything. you can add lots of diffrent things to start that. Live rock that has not been cured, you can buy ammonia and colonies of nitrifying bacteria. you can get some fish even if they dont live they will exude amonia as they decompose. I even started a tank once by pulling my pants down and letting lose the golden stream. (not recommended there is a lot of other waste than just ammonia in there) but it worked with a bad case of cyno bacter after.

also if your starting a reef than you should get all the appropriate tests as none of them are any less important than the other. They sell test kits just for reefs.

Dont do a waterchange until after everything is ready. If you take the ammonia out of the water you removing the food source for the bacteria to grow.

The best advice you can get is to have a book on hand. Having a book to refer to is golden. People talking to you about it even for hours will always forget something but a book has it all in there and you can refer to it anytime you need. Albert J Theil (i think is how you spell his name) I have found to always be comprehensive for beginners.

Azedenkae · 02/18/2015, 03:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheFishyForrest

Hello everyone. I'm new here. Been keeping fish for under a year but have 15 freshwater tanks going and one saltwater now. Never been in the salty side of things so wanted to provide info about my tank and ask some questions

20 gallon tall
Marineland bio wheel filter
150 watt heater
Power head
2" dead "live sand" bed
22 pounds of dead "live rock"

Salinity was at 1.023 last I checked. Have an api master test kit. Still need an alkalinity kit and the other test kit.

It's been running for 4 days now. The water cleared up after day 2. What do I do now? I was told to wait for the diatoms, then do a wc?

Wait I am confused. Do you have live sand/rock, or dead sand/rock?

Chungy · 02/18/2015, 03:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Azedenkae

Wait I am confused. Do you have live sand/rock, or dead sand/rock?

This. If you started the tank with dry sand and dry rocks, you need something to seed the tank with the nitrifying bacteria needed.

02/18/2015, 01:34 PM	#1
TheFishyForrest Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2015 Location: Iowa Posts: 1	Newbie stuff Hello everyone. I'm new here. Been keeping fish for under a year but have 15 freshwater tanks going and one saltwater now. Never been in the salty side of things so wanted to provide info about my tank and ask some questions 20 gallon tall Marineland bio wheel filter 150 watt heater Power head 2" dead "live sand" bed 22 pounds of dead "live rock" Salinity was at 1.023 last I checked. Have an api master test kit. Still need an alkalinity kit and the other test kit. It's been running for 4 days now. The water cleared up after day 2. What do I do now? I was told to wait for the diatoms, then do a wc?

02/18/2015, 03:02 PM	#5
Zooxanthus Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2014 Location: Aurora, CO. Posts: 60	just like a freshwater aquarium you need a source of ammonia to start the cycle. If you just run clean water your not going to cycle anything. you can add lots of diffrent things to start that. Live rock that has not been cured, you can buy ammonia and colonies of nitrifying bacteria. you can get some fish even if they dont live they will exude amonia as they decompose. I even started a tank once by pulling my pants down and letting lose the golden stream. (not recommended there is a lot of other waste than just ammonia in there) but it worked with a bad case of cyno bacter after. also if your starting a reef than you should get all the appropriate tests as none of them are any less important than the other. They sell test kits just for reefs. Dont do a waterchange until after everything is ready. If you take the ammonia out of the water you removing the food source for the bacteria to grow. The best advice you can get is to have a book on hand. Having a book to refer to is golden. People talking to you about it even for hours will always forget something but a book has it all in there and you can refer to it anytime you need. Albert J Theil (i think is how you spell his name) I have found to always be comprehensive for beginners. __________________ May your passion and reason be the sail and rudder of your sea fairing soul. Current Tank Info: 180 gal Reef 3x 250w HQI's w/T5's, Phosban reactor, Protein skimmer, UV. sterilizer, Trickle Filter Last edited by Zooxanthus; 02/18/2015 at 03:09 PM. Reason: spelling

02/18/2015, 01:50 PM	#2
Dexter1258 Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2015 Posts: 52	Wc?

02/18/2015, 02:53 PM	#4
Chungy Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2014 Location: Seattle, WA Posts: 54	You want to ensure your tank has "cycled" properly. More information here about the biological filtration: http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2002-06/dw/index.php If you are not sure, then I suggest you dose pure ammonia to raise the level to 2ppm, test daily and re-dose until you can observe it gets convert into nitrate within a 24 hours period. I usually wait until nitrate goes to 0, but some people would do a water change to bring the nitrate down. Once your tank is cycled, diatom usually follows.