newb seeking help

[paOol]

hi, i have a 50 gallon salt water which i will have a FOWLR set up.
I just got the tank today and i replaced the old gravel, cleaned out the tank, put new gravel, added tap water, set up the filter, set up the heater. in that order.

I have a few questions about "curing". do i need to buy a salt mix and add it now, or do i add it after the tank has been cured. also,
is it okay for me to have turned on the filter and heater already before the water is cured? the tank was previously used but i replaced the filter pads and the heater was brand new.


What are the testing supplies i will need?
(ie. salinity test, ph, etc.)

how long will the curing process take and what can i do to speed it up? i have read about using damsel fish to cure a tank, but does that mean i can go and purchse some damsel fish and throw them into my tank tomorrow? or do i have to add the salt mix then put in the fish.

and what exactly does a protein skimmer do? i know one is necessary after reading a few topics.

i bought gravel from petco, but i know i should have gotten some live rock instead, is it still okay to have a saltwater tank?


Thanks in advance.

 

[paOol]

Theres a setup of my tank.
my filter is a BIO filter i think. will this work? or do i have to get a cannister filter for salt water ?

 

[Personifer]

Sorry to say this but I don't think you are ready for sw tank.
Do some search on the net about setting up a reef tank. There are lots of articles.
link
link2

 

[craig]

First things first.You need crushed coral or dolomite instead of gravel.You need to keep the ph level at 8.2.You will also need a protein skimmer for the live rock.Then you need another filter,preferebly a wet dry.You also need a couple of powerheads for water flow.Take apart your tank.Put the crushed coral or dolomite in first.At least 55 lbs worth.Then mix salt in a 5 gal bucket,then put in tank.Next run your filters heater etc.Next get live rock,put in tank.You will need a salt water master test kit.Then buy some DAMSELS to cycle your tank.It can take from 3days to 100 hundred days to cycle a salt water tank.And also you will need different lighting for salt water.

 

[paOol]

Thanks for the responses. i know im not ready... YET. is the crushed coral and absolute MUST? because i was about to pick that but my sister persuaded me into getting the blue gravel. do i have to empty out the entire tank in order to put in the new coral?

and the part about mixing salt in a 5 gal. bucket, how much of the 50lb mix solution would i put in the 5 gallon bucket at a time? the whole thing?

isnt having crushed coral the same as having live rock?

is a wet-dry the same thing as a cannister filter?


i think this is all going to come out pretty expensive, so what im thinking of doing now, is having a freshwater tank, then when i get enough money, i'll convert it to salt water. is that hard to do?


dam Petco, the label on the gravel said for fresh OR salt. -_-
can i just have some coral on top of the gravel? or have some live sand on top of the current gravel?

Thanks again.

 

[guppy]

I have seen mixed reviews on live sand. I have also seen gravel like yours in fish only tanks or mixed with argonite or crushed coral in FOWLR tanks. There are several good starter books out there , many at the public library, that will give you a handle on starting a tank, especially the cycling in process, two I enjoyed were Salt Water Aquariums For Dummies, and Salt Water Aquariums For Complete Idiots. Don't put live rock in fresh water, it will kill off the organisms you want to culture. Do the reading first, it will be a lot cheaper and quite abit less smelly.

Just for future reference, if you resize your pictures to around 600 pixels wide before posting them we will be able to see them all at once.

 

[mkpeters6]

i think your idea of starting out freshwater would be a good idea (do you have any experience keeping fish?) if not then def start out with a fw tank - there are a number of steps and concepts that you should be well aware of in fishkeeping before moving into sw - research the sw hobby as much as you can until you are familiar with how a protien skimmer works, or how to measure salinity, best types of filtration methods, etc - that way you can answer your own questions when the time comes

converting a tank into sw is not to difficult, youll just have to start over and use different equipment

sw hobby is def not a cheap endeavor, for a successful 55 gal setup you are looking at around at least 400-500$ after the expense of the tank and stand -- a reef setup more like 700-1000$ (protien skimmer, live rock, agronite sand, lights, powerheads, sump, overflow, not to mention livestock is usually pretty expensive - the price just keeps adding up)

 

[fishyboi]

SW is very difficult, you should do a lot of research before buying anything.

 

[paOol]

yea, i've checked some of the prices for the items and it was pretty ridiculous. im probably going to get alot of used parts off Ebay later.

I have decided to go freshwater for now, and my tank got owned. see my thread in Lessons I've Learned. lol......

and yea, i will continue to research salt water tanks more and more. i wanted to go the library today and get all their aquaurium books, but its closed on sundays.

 

[schulace123]

get rid of that gravel u have, and get sand, crushed coral will just trap nitrates.

humm.......i would say get a nice protien skimmer, and mabye make a sump for ur tank.