Starting 75g first salt water tank - Page 3

Fitler · 07-08-2009, 01:37 PM

Thats some good advice. I had been doing some looking as to what fish I wanted to start with and the chromis are probably what I am going to go with. Then after awhile a couple clowns. I do love the look of the tangs and with their being prone to disease more easily, I want to make sure im prepared and the tank is right for them eventually. You know what kind of fish I really want is one of those picasso Triggers. The only problem with those are going to be the fact that they will eat any inverts I put in, which I do wan't to keep inverts. I think I will skip out on a Triggerfish because of that reason. My goal in the long run is to have a really active tank all around. I don't know why but right now I am not very interested in doing a full on reef set up. I like the look of corals but just want a nice fish only with some nice rock. Im sure I will add a few corals down the line but nothing too fancy.

My biggest concern right now is just setting the tank up the way I want it. Is there anything wrong with setting up the rock against the back of the tank or is it better to have swimming room in front and back of the rock? I mean obviously I won't know how I want to go about it until I have the rock here and can see first hand what looks best.

Judge · 07-08-2009, 02:00 PM

Hey Fitler, Chromies are a good start. Lostanime has not led you astray! Clowns are really neat, I have two and both are full of personality. Some of the bigger fish that were mentioned can be a bit challenging. I think Tangs can be a handful. I have had a Sailfin and a Yellow...without much success. My Lawnmower Blenny is a fav and I think Willis the Foxface is the greatest fish to ever swim. He's very good on any hair algae that tries to crop up and he loves his algae sheets. The choices are endless. I recently bought a Orchid Dottyback who has indeed thinned out my Bristleworm pop. I would research which ones strike my fancy and then read about them to see what will fit with what! That's the fun part. When I first started my Saltwater adventure I thought I did not want any clowns....as it turns out I have things that at first I did not consider, so be open and HAVE FUN!

Fitler · 07-08-2009, 02:25 PM

Oh im having fun already haha I have UPS and Fedex working hard and I have barely scratched the surface. One good thing is I filled up the tank today to make positive there were no leaks anywhere and so far so good plus the salt arrived. It looks to be a fairly newer tank so I didn't expect any but better safe then sorry.

At this point im down to ordering the skimmer, lights, RO filter(if I go with that, still need to check wallymart) and then the rocks/sand. Basically all the expensive stuff haha. About that water you get, does it specifically say RO water on it or anything or is it something like distilled?

lostanime · 07-08-2009, 06:05 PM

For what we do with the water, RO, DI, and distilled are all interchangable (RO removes 90-98% of impurities in water, DI removes all impurities by trapping them with charged ions, and distilled water is the collection of evaporated water so only the water and no impurities are collected)... since the salt mixes contain everything needed to "make up" saltwater, having "empty" or pure water is good

We actually kept many tangs (had three yellow tangs, one purple tang, two naso tangs, a vlamingi tang, a clown tang, a powder blue tang, a sailfin tang...)... we lost two (one due to a weird dietary issue) unfortunately the rest I had to re-home over the years due to incompatibilities (nice way of saying too many fights kept breaking out) and then I let go of our last 4 tangs when we tore down the tank last month. Judge has hit the nail on the head with them - due to their needs and personalities, they can be very challenging, but once you and your tank are ready, nothing makes the hobby more fulfilling then successfully pursuing your interests no matter how hard they may be!

Fitler · 07-09-2009, 01:57 AM

Il give Tangs a try eventually. I really like those fish and always invite a good challenge. I actually can't think of any questions for you guys lol, must be because its late and im drained.

Well scratch that haha one thing I was wondering before. How am I going to keep the water in the tank crystal clear? Im talking about keeping small particles out of the water. I know with powerheads running all the time and all that flow in a tank, it probably keeps the water stirred up pretty well, so how is everything going to get a chance to settle? Since im new to skimmers, do they do a good job at keeping the water clear as it cleans it out?

lostanime · 07-09-2009, 02:28 PM

skimmers do a great job with removing organics, but they wont really help much with inert particles in the water. Give the tank a few days and the cloudiness normally clears itself if it's just sand/dust (it ends up settling and getting caught up at the bottom, in crevices in the live rock, etc)

UV is promoted heavily for cutting back on the algae blooms that cloud water, but in my opinion that's just a bandaid (the real solution is addressing what's causing the algae blooms - typically overfeeding or too much dissolved organic matter in the water... if you stop free floating algae from consuming nitrates, another form of algae will sprout up to take advantage - slowing the input/increasing the output of nitrates is the stable solution)

Some folks will also temporarily run canister filters filled with polishing pads to remove cloudiness. These pads would have to be replaced very frequently (they clog up with all the dust and the organic matter in the tank, letting it rot and pollute the tank if not maintained often)... I've used this method to clear up water a couple times when I have canister filters laying around unused, but usually I just thoroughly rinse the sand before adding and let things settle on their own.

Making sure your carbon is fresh in the tank will address water looking "dirty" due to allepathy (water starts getting a faint yellow tint due to the chemical build-up)

Here's a couple pics attached from where we started bringing our big tank up this weekend (excuse the mess and the stand frame not being "trimmed" yet)... the light picture shows how cloudy the water was about a day after adding a thin layer of crushed coral for substrate, and then the other picture shows the tank a day later.

lostanime · 07-09-2009, 02:31 PM

And also, regarding light color... we actually painted the walls in that room pale blue (with white trim) and I vinyled the back panel of the tank blue, even the carpet is blue! The lights aren't "tinting" the room blue...

Fitler · 07-09-2009, 09:50 PM

Nice! Lots of blue, you have the ocean look complete thats for sure lol.

As far as the filtration, your saying that it probably wouldn't be a bad idea to run a canister filter with carbon every now and then to clean the water?

Also, one of the guys I work with has a 125g salt tank and he told me to get a UV sterilizer. Now I believe I brought it up earlier in this thread but im still skeptical as to whether its really worth it to have one. What benefits does it give? Iv never had a problem with algae blooms, knock on wood, but then again that has only been with FW tanks. I just want to maintain crystal clear water. My only plans for filtration right now are the live rock, and the skimmer but like I said, I might do cansister if it helps keep the water clean. My plans as of right now also, are to do a 20% water change every week and see how that works out.

lostanime · 07-09-2009, 11:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fitler

Nice! Lots of blue, you have the ocean look complete thats for sure lol.

Yeah... it would have been easier to just replace all the bulbs with 20ks, but where's the fun in that

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fitler

As far as the filtration, your saying that it probably wouldn't be a bad idea to run a canister filter with carbon every now and then to clean the water?

I would definitely run carbon (either in a canister, hang on, or bags of it directly in sump, depending on how your setting up)... I personally run fresh carbon on our big tank for about a week every month, and I've always run carbon in little tanks (both fresh and salt) 24/7. As long as the water circulates through it, and the fish can't get to it... your good

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fitler

Also, one of the guys I work with has a 125g salt tank and he told me to get a UV sterilizer. Now I believe I brought it up earlier in this thread but im still skeptical as to whether its really worth it to have one. What benefits does it give?

UV does more then prevent/minimize algae blooms (and to be honest, algae blooms in SW tanks can occur in ways that UV would be a minimal help, since UV only sterilizes a portion of the algae that passes through it... not all the algae in the tank, but it WILL put a hurting on the free floating algae that tints the water)

Since in SW tanks, many of the fish available are wild-caught, introducing parasites to the tank are VERY common/easy, and although UV isn't a silver bullet it can help reduce the problems relating to this. Some others may not agree, but I normally just run UV for the first month or two after moving a fish from quarantine to the main tank "just in case"...

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fitler

My only plans for filtration right now are the live rock, and the skimmer but like I said, I might do cansister if it helps keep the water clean. My plans as of right now also, are to do a 20% water change every week and see how that works out.

Outside of the occasional UV, I'm primarily using live rock and skimmer as well in all our SW tanks, along with either bags or sheets of carbon in high flow areas that the fish can't reach. I do use chaeto as well just because it's an easy way to strip nutrients from the water before nuisance algae can get them, and I maintain pretty high flow rates to minimize detritus/waste from getting caught up and rotting around the live rock. Your mileage may certainly vary, but 20% water changes seems a bit aggressive and expensive...

If you do pursue water changes that size, be sure to match salinity, PH, and temperature and let your salt mix for at least a day before adding... if you cause a quick shift in any of those values you risk throwing them in shock. Also- make sure you top off with fresh water before you do water changes (when water evaporates, salt remains... so your salinity will keep going up if you add saltwater instead of freshwater to compensate for evaporation)

Fitler · 07-10-2009, 12:17 AM

20% weekly changes are overkill? If thats the case then thats fine with me because if I can get away with less work involved then im happy with that lol. I am looking into using one of the Fluval canisters on this tank along with the skimmer. Do you know if I would be able to use chaeto inside the canister. It has multiple trays for media and whatnot, or does chaeto need lighting? If I could use carbon and chaeto in the canister that would be great.

Also, thanks for the info on the UV. I will look into getting a UV sterilizer when I get to the point of putting in fish.