New to the saltwater scene

prism127

Member
Joined
Sep 21, 2013
Location
Chatham, Ontario
I have just started my first saltwater tank. I have a 30 gallon drilled tank with a 16 gallon sump. The sump currently has bioballs in it and am looking for ideas as if I should leave it this way or change to a refugium or something else. Tank seems good and the couple fish I now have seems to be doing great.

thanks  :)
 

TORX

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Nov 27, 2010
Location
Blenheim, Ontario
Website
www.thefragtank.ca
Ack, bioballs, j/k. DO not let people scare you away, bioballs are good if you are a FOWLR system. If you plan on adding corals ever, then you will want to get away from these and now. With that said, I am sure that you will get loads of feedback on sump designs. Basically sumps are used to just house your equiptment so they are not an eye sore hanging around your tank. There are several other questions on equipment though. What lights, skimmer and other equipment do you have?

Welcome to the site, great to see another Chatham member in the hobby here. And of course, pics, or it didn't happen.
 

prism127

Member
Joined
Sep 21, 2013
Location
Chatham, Ontario
Thanks torx. the bioballs came with the sump. I have LED for lights and just the basic equipment. No protein skimmer yet planning on getting one in the future. I also have an overflow filter on the main tank just for extra water movement. Currently have about 20 pounds of live rock, 20 pounds of crushed coral substrate and 2 fish, A purple dottyback and coral beauty. They are doing great. I picked up a couple pieces of coral last night but they didnt look too good this morning so going to monitor that closely to see how they go.
 

TORX

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Looks like I see a salt water crash coarse coming. No time to comment more atm. Pretty sure people will want to know what led lights, water test results and what kind of test kit you are using.

Sent from my SGH-T989D using Tapatalk
 

Poseidon

Distinguished Member
Joined
May 15, 2012
Location
SW Ontario
What kind of led light do you have?

And a skimmer is a must,
Everything torx said is spot on, welcome to the greatest saltwater forum in Ontario and the great hobby of reef keeping :)
 

prism127

Member
Joined
Sep 21, 2013
Location
Chatham, Ontario
Light
Marineland's revolutionary, Hidden LED light system is a one-of-a-kind addition to your aquarium display. The exclusive in-frame mounting allows you to enjoy the beautiful, natural-looking light without the distraction of a lighting fixture. The integrated cord routing helps complete the illusion of fixture-less LED lighting.

Fully submersible LED lighting allows you to hide the light under the inside lip of the aquarium or terrarium
Energy efficient .06 watt 6,500K White LEDs & 460nm Blue Actinic LEDs

test kit is a saltwater master test kit
ph 8.0-8.2
nitrate <0.25 ppm
nitrate 0
amonia 0
hope this helps
 

Darryl_V

Super Active Member
Joined
Jun 29, 2011
Location
Woodstock, Ontario
DO you plan on having a healthy reef tank with lots of growing corals?  IF so you will want to start a tank thread and document everything with pictures.  You will get so much help this way and the people here will steer you in the right direction.  Don't get your advice from places trying to sell you something.
 

prism127

Member
Joined
Sep 21, 2013
Location
Chatham, Ontario
Im not looking into buying anything now just trying get set some ideas so i can maintain a nice healthy tank. I have had tanks for yours but they have always been freshwater this is my first salt attempt
 

TORX

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Crash coarse - Fresh and salt are like cats and dogs. Sure they both eat, need to be cleaned and are fun to play with, but that is about it. The care, personality and husbandry are completely different.

Oh and what is your salinity at? what brand of salt are you using?

There is one main first question. Do you plan on keeping corals or going FOWLR (fish only with live rock)?

If you plan on keeping any type of corals you will need:
- Rid yourself of the hob filter and grab up some circulation pumps for flow (Jebao WP are the new and cheap brand most are purchasing). If you want mechanical filtration such as sponge filter, there are socks you can get for your sump.
- Skimmer
- Test kits - other then API (redsea and hanna are most popular. Yes, they get pricey. Reef tanks are tested at levels that are too low for API tests to accurately test.)
- Updated lighting - no matter what the box says, those lights will not keep corals healthy and fully colored.
- Read and be ready for phosphates and using Biopellets, GFO and carbon to battle issues.

Personally I would love to have a FOWLR tank as there are several fish that can not be kept with corals. It is another avenue to go with salt that falls more along the line of fresh water. I would love a predator tank with a Lion Fish or maybe a Frog Fish, maybe in my future.
 

TORX

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Oh..and RO/DI...how the hell did I forget that. Tap water just will not due. Well it might, and several people have successfully ran reef tanks with it. But...there is never knowing what is in that water. If there is an issue, it is normally the tap water that caused it.
 

prism127

Member
Joined
Sep 21, 2013
Location
Chatham, Ontario
Thanks Torx
- I have a couple pieces of coral but dont plan on much. I do want more live rock once I find some reasonably priced. So yes  FOWLR mainly the coral can stay or go not much of a concern. Skimmer is a must and will be getting one in the near future. My salinity is 1.023 I do believe off the top off my head I will double check when I get home. My test kit is API so I guess I will look for a better one as time goes on. I have 2 pumps flowing from the sump right (190 GPH and 160 GPH) now and the HOB is just a little extra and will mainly be used on my quarantine tank once I get more established. will keep it running in the main tank for the extra bacteria growth when not on the quarantine tank.

Read and be ready for phosphates and using Biopellets, GFO and carbon to battle issues

now I have something to research tonight!!!

RO/DI is already on my list I bought some RO water in jugs when I setup the initial fill

the salt was instant ocean
 

Poseidon

Distinguished Member
Joined
May 15, 2012
Location
SW Ontario
prism127 link said:
yep I have done alot of reading lol

thanks for all the information

Almost 3 years doing this and I still read new stuff all the time :)

Your never done learning
 

davesolo29

Super Active Member
Joined
Feb 15, 2012
Location
Kitchener, Ontario
im so glad to hear that you already started with RO water and that you plan on getting an rodi unit.  this should be your first purchase.
we all know that things can get pretty pricey at first and that it may take time to get better performing equipment.
at the moment, i would suggest purchasing in this order.

1.  rodi unit, preferably with a tds meter or get a handheld one
2. refractometer,  cant mix saltwater without knowing the proper salinity
3. better test kits.  salifert, and hanna seem to be the most accurate
4. 10 ish pounds more live rock or decent dry rock.
5. skimmer.  with all the above in place your tank can be sustained with frequent water changes until a skimmer is available.
6. better lighting.  with a fish only system the lights are really only for you to see your fish, so what you have will be fine.  Once you start getting into coral you will need something better that can provide what they need to thrive.

Most if not all of these items can be found in our classifieds section.  If you dont see what you are looking for, post a looking for ad with some sort of price range you are looking at and see who bites.  Sometimes we dont consider selling things until we see someone with a need for it.  We are all hoarders to some extent.  I know i am.

As for the HOB filter,  once you move it to your QT,  dont ever bring it back to your main tank.  Keep everything seperate.  Nets, water change buckets, hoses, heaters..... EVERYTHING!!!    You've taken the first step and realize that a qt tank is important, dont make it a wasted effort by bringing whatever may have potentially been in your qt by using it on your display.

Thats all i have for now.
 
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