New Tank: Don't know what I'm doing

[DiverDan]

Finally got into my house and have just made an offer to buy a used tank. I'm a little freaked -- don't have a ton of money to sink into it and want to make sure my assumptions are correct.

What I"m getting:
Tank - 125 G
Sump
Heater
110 pounds of fuji live rock and live sand
tons of snails and crabs
High Output light fixture

I need to check the water, I've heard copper is in the water supply here. -- so may pick up osmosis machine.

Can I get by with this? Because I don't have a lot of money, will probably just be going to clown fish for the most part.

thanks! - I'm excited. Salt Water has been my dream for literally more than half my life, but I'm also pretty nervous.

 

[Otherone]

Is it 110lbs of Rock and 110lbs of sand or 110lb's combine? How long has the tank been running with the Rocks and Sand? What's in the sump - ie; Protien skimmer and or Reactors ? Sounds like most of the expensive start up costs for SW tanks is already included.

 

[DiverDan]

Not sure how long this has been runnin, at least year judging by coraline

Lots of rock, but measurements are total.

 

[DiverDan]

So how will I know the water has cycled enough to start adding fish?

 

[Otherone]

If that tank is still running and has had a year or more to mature it should be instant provided you take care to insure minimum biological lose thru the move.

If It was me - I'd go get a few rubbermaid trash cans or containers and start mixing and heating saltwater - enuff to fill the 125. I'd transport the liverock in exsisting tankwater in 5 gal buckets if I had enuff - if not I'd rap them with newspaper dipped in exsisting saltwater. I'd get a few friends to help move the tank but leave the sandbed in tact, others my very well suggest throwing the sand out and strating a new with the sand but either or it's your choice. Your always gonna have some die back of bacteria and or coraline when they get disturbed but shouldn't be much if your carful and smart about it.

Obviously a test kit is the only way to know for sure when ammonia and nitrate are present, personally I don't add anything at anytime til' Nitrites are 20ppm or less.
Something else that's helped me with sandbeds is cardboard, I line the bottom of the tank with broken down beer cases, helps to stop the sand from getting totally stirred up when adding water. Also if it were me I'd add baserock as my new rock foundation if the total volume of exsisting rock isn't at least 1/3 rd the tanks total volume.

Hope this helps and hope your dream works out for ya.

 

[DiverDan]

thanks for the replies, have been helpful.

What about water changes? I've seen the rule of thumb 25% every week. My local fish shop told me 25% every months should be good enough. opinions on that?

 

[cdc]

I was advised to do 10% every two weeks as my tank is FOWLR.

 

[Zfishies]

Are you going to use a protein skimmer or algea scrubber ? That will help ALOT

 

[Otherone]

Changing water in salty's isn't as easy as freshy's. For starters theres a cost factor - salt @ $50 per 5 gal bucket, inverts and corals aren't as forgiving when it comes to temperature, salinity, and PH swings. The new water should be preped prior to change - salinity, PH, and tempature matched. I use a water change tank to achieve this.

High Nitrate's can be a problem with saltwater tanks esp. w/ corals. Ultimately your test kit will help determine the amount and frequency however salty tanks have all kinds of nifty gadgets to help combat nitrate issues. I use a skimmer to remove dissolved protiens and dose daily with vodka to excellerate growth in benificial bacteria. This allows me to change 30 gal. a week outta in a mildly stocked 210 gal. - tank + sump.

 

[DiverDan]

nice. thanks for all replies.

I'm mixing my water today and picking up the tank tomorrow. Very excited!