Just finished setting up my sw tank

I need to get some more live rock but that will have to wait till payday got 20lbs of argonite live sand only 2 live rocks in there till thursday I used natural ocean water so I didnt have to mess around with mixing salt and ro water its pretty cloudy rite now but I only finished 20 minutes ago

 

Congrats

 

It cleared up
My protein skimmer should be here friday ill add that into the tank when it comes

 

Grats and keep the photos coming. I am setting up a new tank too. Can't wait for another weekend to set up plumbing and test for leaks.

 

Added some more live rock
Also changed out 1 of the bulbs

 

Rearanged the live rocks and changed the other bulb

 

Got my master test kit in today only been up a few days but I checked everything I also bought a calcium test kit and a phosphate test kit ph was 8.2 nitrite nitrate and ammonia where at 0 calcium was at 440 and phosphate was at 0 what other test kits should I get also what should I seed the tank with for it to cycle?

 

Hi,
You're going to need a hydrometer, preferably a refractometer to monitor you specific gravity (and salinity)

For cycling, you can use any of the fishless cycling methods. If the live rock you purchased was fully cured, you may find the tank is already cycled, but I would still go through the process of ensuring it is. That is, provide an ammonia source, and ensure it converts to nitrates.

Test Kits
refractometer/hydrometer for measuring salinity
ammonia
nitrite
Nitrate
High Range pH
Thermometer

for reefs
alkalinity (arguably, for a FOWLR/FO system too)
calcium
magnesium
High resolution Nitrate (capable of sub 5ppm)
High resolution Phosphate (capable of sub 2ppm) I recommend the Hanna digital checker

Salifert make some very accurate and reliable kits

 

Thanks for the info I have the apI master salt water liquid test kit apI calcium test kit and apI phosphate test kit I have a refractometer coming in a couple days the live rock has all kinds of stuff moving on it from the water current ill just add some food to the tank till I'm sure its cycled going to wait about a month till I add any fish/inverts and maybe 2 months or so until I add any coral to the tank after looking into it more I changed my mind and decided to add a few corals to the tank also but that won't be until atleast a month after I add a fish or 2 I have some pre cured caribean live rock coming in saturday so when I'm sure that rock has cured fully ill add some fish

 

Just ordered the hanna phosphate digital tester magnesium test kit and the high resolution nitrate test kit

 

Looking good!

 

Protien skimmer came in today

 

Refractometer also came in today gravity came in at 1.025 ammonia nitrite nitrate are at 0 calcium at 440

 

Can I ask where you purchased your stuff? Stuff = Test kits, refractometer etc.. Did you go to a local fish store or did you find better deals online? I want to save money but I also want to support my local economy.

 

Welcome to Fishlore! Just because I haven't welcomed you yet.

It looks like your tank is coming along nicely! Will it be a reef tank eventually?

It would be helpful for everyone if you could keep your profile updated. Go to the top of the page where it says "My Settings", then on the side click "Edit Profile". Then just fill in your information. (Sorry if you knew that already, just a reminder.)

 

Thanks once I get access to a pc I will update my profile can't do ot on tapatalk.almost everything in the tank except the argonite sand and the live rock I bought online and I found them at really good prices the power head I got is rated at 1300gph and ibpaid $20 for it the skimmer is rated at 300gph and I got that at a good price to most of the test kkts came offline the sw master test kit is $40 on my lfs I got it for $22 on ebay only kits I bought at my lfs where the calcium and phosphate test kit

 

Checked my parameters again today and the tank has started to cycle ph 8.2 ammonia 2.0ppm nitrite 2.0ppm nitrates at 0

 

Caribbean live rock came in today has all kinds of things on it in the 3rd and 4th pic there are 2 different worm looking thing on 2 pieces of rock are they ok or should I remove them from the rocks?


Heres a better pic of the sandworm looking things on a piece of my live rock something to worry about or leave it alone?

 

Got all my testing supplies in heres the result
59ppb phosphirus
Kh 9.9 alkalinity 3.53
Mg 1440
Ph7.8
Ammonia .50ppm
Nitrite 5ppm
Nitrate salifert test says 100ppm but my apI kit says 40ppm confused?

 

I also can't get the skimmer to produce a foam head only way to adjust is the air hose its frustrating I ordered a reef octopus ns80 micro skimmer just waiting on that to come in shipped today the hob skimmer is a no name skimmer and it has a 300gph powerhead it came with mite just be a cheap skimmer


Edit:never mind there's a foam head in the skimmer now

 

Looking good

With skimmers, it's normal for new skimmers not to produce any foam. Especially on a new setup, where there is little in the way of DOCs for it to catch.
When you take the skimmer cup off, is the water bubbling? It should sound like a soda 'fizz' type sound. If it is fizzing away (as I call it), you just need to be patient, as the DOCs build up, so will the foam.

Too, where is your salinity/SG? A lot of people report low skimmer production at SG's of 1.022 and below.

Sometimes my skimmer goes into 'no production' mode - that is, it has pulled everything it can from the water, and the foam subsides. Then, after feeding, boom, more foam as the DOCs build up again.

 

Gravity is at 1.025.its funny because the hydrometer was reading 1.028 but when I got my refractometer it measured 1.025 I used my 10 gallon fresh water tank to zero in the refractometer when I got it there is a foam head in the skimmer been set up since friday just today as in a couple hours ago it started making foam.

And how about those sand worm looking things on that one piece of rock are those ok or are they a nuisance that tagged along on the rock?

 

Hydrometers can be inaccurate that way Just be sure to calibrate the refractometer with RODI water.

Your worms, not sure what they are, but my sump is full of them.... As best I can tell, they're harmless. Don't be surprised if they die off, for some reason, I think they don't like light (or at least the only place I have them is in the sump, in the dark)

Malcolm may know what they are (I've never bothered to find out)

 

A ro filter was actually installed before we bought the house I forgot about it until I.spent all that money on real ocean water

 

I just did some checking, your worms will be a tube worm of some description, and are perfectly harmless. Like I said, my sump is full of them.

Looking around, it seems they are quite common in established setups, and form part of a complete ecosystem.

 

Ok thanks just wanted to make sure it was not a pest

 

They died off along with anothee stringy looking worm that was on another rock

 

They died off along with anothee stringy looking worm that was on another rock

Don't stress - LR die off is extremely common - it's what allows us to cycle our tanks

You never know, what you thought was gone often reappears down the track - no two days are the same with a Saltwater tank

 

Yeah I have a buddy who set up a tank and ordered some live rock he put the rock in his tank and at the end of the day when he turned his light off 3-4 baby serpent starfish came out

 

Tanks coming along. Nice.

You'll see a lot of cool stuff come out at night with live rock. Spent many hours of my life looking at a dark tank with a flash light lol. It's interesting though.

 

Spent many hours of my life looking at a dark tank with a flash light lol. It's interesting though.

So it's not just me

It's very cool at night.

 

I have nothing but live rock in there rite now and I can spend hours just looking at the tank its fascinating

 

I have nothing but live rock in there rite now and I can spend hours just looking at the tank its fascinating

Tell me about it ... my wife thinks I have lost it... and my fishes probably think the same when suddenly they see me in the night with a flashlight pointed at the tank...

 

Ph 8.0
Ammonia .50ppm
Nitrite 5ppm
Nitrate 80 ppm
Will these readings continue to fluctuate or should I change some of the water

 

Ph 8.0
Ammonia .50ppm
Nitrite 5ppm
Nitrate 80 ppm
Will these readings continue to fluctuate or should I change some of the water

it seems your cycle is not complete... you should not have any ammonia and nitrites. ALso nirtrate is too high - should be as less possible.. Ideally on a cycled tank it should be 0 pppm.

I however cannot get it to 0 so mine pretty much statys in the 0 ~5 ppm range.

Do u have any CUC or aquaria in the tank yet?

and Yes, please do a mutiple water changes over 2-3 days to get the NO3 to be less than 10 ppm ...if you have any aquaria...

If no CUC or aquaria .. please let the cycle complete so that you have only NO3 and then do 50 water change to get it to 0 - repeate till 0ppm.

 

Nothings on there just rock

 

So I got my parameters under control did a water change and the test results came out a lot better.soooooo I couldnt help myself I was out and about and I saw this serpent star fish ive been reading up on them and from what ive read there really hardy so long story short I got one,its not the green one it is striped in like a tannish and black he looks really cool acclimated him for an hour and hes doing really well I really like him

 

Fun new starfish!

 

Fun new starfish!

put a pic ....

 

So all my readings have stabilized and my tank has some new inhabitants 7 different zoanthid frags 1 lone mushroom and my serpent star I posted a pic of last time here are some pics wish the other zoas would hurry up and open I know it takes time though