Please help the Rookie

[Ishipp]

Hello all, so I am a freshwater guy transferring over to the saltwater hobby. Obviously there are a lot of differences in salt water and wanted to just get a some questions that I have answered. So please excuse my ignorance but i want to make sure i cover everything before I get a tank. So when you get frags of corals, do you just put them up on a coral shelf until they get big enough or how do you know when to set them on the rocks or sand? How do you know where to put them once you're ready? I've seen people put them on the rocks and sand, is it just preference? How often to feed corals? So RODI water, when you do a water change, doesn't it take salt out? when you mix the salt and put it back in, does it correct the level of salt you took out with the water change? I really just need any advice you guys can give me, very very new to this but very interested and excited to started a new hobby! again sorry about so many questions, thanks for your time!

[billdogg]

Welcome to the addiction, and to Reef Central!!!

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1031074

I would suggest you start there, read all of it (2 or 3 times) and then ask any questions not answered there.

hth

[ethuman]

I was in the same boat a little over a year ago and the best advice I can give is to read, read and read some more. Get a couple of books for beginners and you will learn fast. Take your time and do the research on every step you take. Good luck and welcome to the addiction of reefing!!!!

[MuShu]

Welcome! I also have freshwater tanks.

For coral- figure out what you like. Do you like corals that move with the flow or ones that sit there? Mixed reefs are pretty difficult, so sticking to one or two particular types will help you know what your water parameters need to be at. Placement depends on the coral, the kind of light you have, and the type of flow in your tank. Feeding or not feeding really depends on the coral.

When you do a water change, you replace the salt water with salt water (normally RODI water mixed with salt). You'll get a refractometer that will tell you how much salt is in the water and your water change water will match what is in the tank. When you top off, you are just adding fresh RODI water only.

What kind of fish are you thinking you want? That will help determine tank size.

This site has a lot of information, and people are really good at giving honest answers.

[ericarenee]

I agree Read read Read and then read again . Its also helpful to read some of the other people asking for advice or issues they are having. The answers giving and the questions asked are often the same ones over and over..

by reading those post you can often get mixed advice as there is often more then one way to solve a issue..

The Two best pieces of advice i can give you other then reading

1. Know your Budget and where you can go with it.. This is a expensive hobby even if you can diy alot. .
2 . Patience.... its a Hobby for the long run Slow steady and Consistency IS A MUST .

To answer a few of your questions..

1 Evaporation in a marine tank is not Salt water . So you top off with fresh ro/di water to keep salinity from going to high not too low.. as water evaporates Salinity can actually Rise not lower....

ro/ di water is a must for most people.. knowing whats in the water coming into your house and rather its a fowlr or reef tank could make a difference on rather you need one or not..

Placement of corals will depend on your tank Depth ,Lighting,water movement and of course what that Coral Favors..


Welcome and have fun learning that is what its all about

[bobssecrtsn]

One thing you need to ask yourself. And also not to overwhelm youself is,

1. Is funds available. Saltwater is expensive so plan ahead and purchase once
2. Husbandry, are you ready to take a few hours out of the day/week to clean the tank and keep it in tip top shape
3. Research. Are you willing to search for cause and diagnoses of things happening. Saltwater can go south FAST. Be prepared to know what's going to happen when it happens

[Fish Friend]

Frags will act differently. Some will act "sticky" by themselves, some grow in "maths" and are removed from the cultivation-rock so you only get the math itself and can place it anywhere. Some are harder to place, so they really make good use of being secured into place until they can grow enough to attach to the live rock.
Some need high amounts of light and some less, so this force the placement in the tank etc etc etc

Whenever I want to study a new species, I write it's name (Latin or not) and then type care.
Then I get a link from something called animal-world and it basically gives enough for you to determine much about them. WetWebMedia usually answer more complex compatibility questions, but they answer so many that you have to read if they have already answered it - they really know enormously much about compatibility.

Some corals want super-duper clean water.
Other like different nutrients to be in the water column, so people have less troubles keeping their mixes, if they desire early on what direction they are taking their aquarium (I keep two clowns and a LTAnemone, will add briareum when I think the anemone is ready).

Almost all corals have toxins they release into the water.
Again you really need to know your species, some of them don't play nice together, some have long stinging tentacles that come out only at night - some of them can kill an entire household if it is on live rock that is boiled (sometimes done to clean old rock).

Feeding is different.
Look into home-grown cultures of Phytoplankton & Zooplankton.

The salt you Have to mix and then let stand before adding to the tank.
The salt will react in the water for some time and funnily enough none of the livestock of the sea can handle raw salt !

A Hydrometer is very accurate, cheap and break easily.
Ignore the plastic-arm ones, get a glass thing that floats and reads your water salinity.
When you do a water change, you replace it with water as close to the water you remove.

When water evaporates from the tank, only water leaves the tank. As the salt stays in the tank, topping off is made with unsalted water.

Before you buy the expensive salt-readers, please study them.
You can buy them made for aquariums but there is also some for brine and you need to get one for aquariums. So because of that I would suggest the cheap glass floating hydrometers as a start up.

Thermometers ....
I needed five before I was fairly sure what temp the tank actually had....
You need two of everything. Just go slow, and read constantly.
There is thousands of traps in the start.
I personally had to learn the hard way that most things that raises alkalinity ALSO moves around pH-values :/

Give some fishes a good home & enjoy

[Fish Friend]

((*math* = mat, they don't grow in ...math ...but mats. Sorry!!)

[StatelineReefer]

[QUOTE=Ishipp;24832683] Hello all, so I am a freshwater guy transferring over to the saltwater hobby.

Welcome! and also, my condolences to your free time and pocketbook!

Originally Posted by Ishipp

Obviously there are a lot of differences in salt water and wanted to just get a some questions that I have answered. So please excuse my ignorance but i want to make sure i cover everything before I get a tank.

This is the BEST time to ask those questions, and a sincere "Thank You" from my own heart and the little hearts of the creatures you're going to be taking care of!

Originally Posted by Ishipp

So when you get frags of corals, do you just put them up on a coral shelf until they get big enough or how do you know when to set them on the rocks or sand?

Coral shelves are best used while frags are in quarantine to keep them visible for inspection while you check them for parasites or wounds. This allows you to monitor them easier, and also allows for precise placement of 'like' corals... or rather, corals with approximately the same light and flow requirements.

Originally Posted by Ishipp

How do you know where to put them once you're ready?

The coral quarantine is the best time to learn where the corals themselves want to be. Sometimes you can tell by the colors they exhibit, but being animals, each can be finicky, specific, and sometimes downright ornery as to their placement.

Originally Posted by Ishipp

I've seen people put them on the rocks and sand, is it just preference?

It IS just preference, but the coral's, not ours. In general, plating or large polyped corals like to be on the sand. Branching small polyp corals like to be in good direct flow and high up to catch more light, and mushrooms and zoanthids like to be lower in the tank, but not at the bottom. Of course, I've had Zoas that preferred to be at the highest point of my life rock and wouldn't open anywhere else, and stylo that preferred the shade. so it gets tricky second guessing the corals own preference, monitor their growth, it's the only way to really know

Originally Posted by Ishipp

How often to feed corals?

Once again, this depends entirely on the coral. Some benefit from daily feedings, some every other day, and very few corals actually do worse with target feeding. Research the coral on it's own merits.

Originally Posted by Ishipp

So RODI water, when you do a water change, doesn't it take salt out?

Yes, when you do a water change, you are taking salt out. You are also putting salt back in. RODI should be mixed and aerated to the same temperature and specific gravity of your display tank. Top off water is a different story, you only add what is needed to maintain your water level, because the salt does not evaporate, you're bringing the salinity back in line with your top-off.

Originally Posted by Ishipp

when you mix the salt and put it back in, does it correct the level of salt you took out with the water change?

Exactly. The first thing you buy should be a good optical refractometer. This will help you accurately and quickly determine your specific gravity.

Originally Posted by Ishipp

I really just need any advice you guys can give me, very very new to this but very interested and excited to started a new hobby! again sorry about so many questions, thanks for your time!

Once again, there's no such thing as too many questions, the wrong questions, or 'silly questions'. Just about everyone here would rather answer 1000 questions before you start than the typical 5 questions after you start...

Those typical 5 questions?

"Why can't I get my nitrates down?"
"How important is stability to a reef tank?"
"You mean I can't just add X fish and Y corals all at once?"
"Why did X fish die?"
"How do you recover from a tank crash?"

Asking these questions now, I think you'll do just fine.

[Smoke Inator]

I'm four months into a fresh start after a 17 year break.
Reading everything on nutrient control and prevention of cyno and hair algae has been my focus. then moved on to lighting and basic corals to start with.

beyond that, trial and error is fun but expensive with equipment.