Galeas Posted April 14, 2010 Report Share Posted April 14, 2010 (edited) So i finally did it and started my 90g saltwater aquarium!! I was so happy when i came by this deal that i could just not say no... I had been researching on doing this aquarium for almost a year now so i finally had the funds to start so i made the plunge from cichlids to Saltwater. My set up includes 95 lbs live rock, enheim 2217 filter, protein skimmer, 2 powerheads, heater, 45 lbs of live sand, and a 500 watt dual light set u. I could be forgetting some things as yeah, i often do that! What I've done to date: I've placed live sand in the bottom (of course), aquascaped my live rock into a position i think will provide caves, and decent hiding spots for my future friends. I've filled my tank with saltwater with a salinity of 1.021 according to my refracto meter, and now am waiting for the water to clear up, and for my cycle to complete. I have used a product from my LFS called BACTER VITAL made by Marc Weiss companies, inc. to attempt to speed up my cycling process. My current readings of my water is: pH of 7.8, Ammonia of 1.0ppm, Nitrite of 1.0 ppm, and nitrate of 20 ppm so my questions are: 1. What should my readings be before i place any livestock into my tank? 2. What should my first livestock placed into tank contain? 3. any equipment I am missing? 4. Approximately how long does it take water to clear up? It has only been 3 days and its cleared up drastically just wondering what the normal time is. 5. Any other suggestions/comments are more then welcome as i am still trying to gain as much information as possible! -If you have any comments please feel free to post them.. positive or helpful only please. May be posting pictures of my set up soon just waiting upon water to clear up. Sincerely, Galeas Edited April 14, 2010 by Galeas Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wingin' It Posted April 14, 2010 Report Share Posted April 14, 2010 I'm not an expert on SW, nor am I anything close so seasoned...lol but, just wondering what size powerheads you've got going? I was told that you should add the gallons per hour of flow from your powerheads and your filter outflow gph and divide by the gallons of your tank and the number should be around 33-35? I've been recommended to add blue/green chromis as a first livestock, mainly because they're much, much cheaper than most other saltwater fish. Do you have a heater in the tank? My tank cleared after 2 days, what do you have in your eheim? I used carbon and the filter pads to clear up the tank. I've skipped a lot of the cycling steps, because I bought a setup from someone looking to get out of it, so I set up the tank on my end, waited until it cleared (2 days) up and then brought as much of the other guys water and sand to my set up and put it all in at once. It had all the live rock, sand, corals and fish included, so i'm kinda lucky in that respect I guess. Good luck on your set up! I look fwd to seeing it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Galeas Posted April 14, 2010 Author Report Share Posted April 14, 2010 I'm not an expert on SW, nor am I anything close so seasoned...lol but, just wondering what size powerheads you've got going? I was told that you should add the gallons per hour of flow from your powerheads and your filter outflow gph and divide by the gallons of your tank and the number should be around 33-35? I've been recommended to add blue/green chromis as a first livestock, mainly because they're much, much cheaper than most other saltwater fish. Do you have a heater in the tank? My tank cleared after 2 days, what do you have in your eheim? I used carbon and the filter pads to clear up the tank. I've skipped a lot of the cycling steps, because I bought a setup from someone looking to get out of it, so I set up the tank on my end, waited until it cleared (2 days) up and then brought as much of the other guys water and sand to my set up and put it all in at once. It had all the live rock, sand, corals and fish included, so i'm kinda lucky in that respect I guess. Good luck on your set up! I look fwd to seeing it! lol, yes i have a heater must have missed that in my equipment part. I was looking at adding mexican turbo crabs as first livestock... I've heared good things from my LFS about them... As for my water it has started to clear up drastically however now my protein skimmer has stopped siphoning, not entirely sure as to why but I have tried to fill it up with water but nothing has happened yet.. oh well hopefully can figure it out on the interweb lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wingin' It Posted April 15, 2010 Report Share Posted April 15, 2010 Turbos are good...and they should be fairly inexpensive. Nassarius snails are really cool...they go under the sand, roaming around like that, and then when you go to feed your fish they surface like a submarine coming out of the depths of the ocean! I really like them and they're really good at stirring up the sand! Just curious what kind of protein skimmer you have...I know very little about them in general, but i've heard some are definately better than others. I only have a Sea Clone 150, but it's working good. I had to tweak the air intake a bit, but after I realized what I was looking for then I got it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MMAX Posted April 15, 2010 Report Share Posted April 15, 2010 Bump your SG up between 1.024 to 1.026. Just remember to take things extra slow. My tank ran for over a month before I added any livestock. You want both your ammonia and nitrites at zero. I thing you meant Mexican turbo snails instead of crabs. They are great for hair algae but don't add too many or they'll starve. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Galeas Posted April 16, 2010 Author Report Share Posted April 16, 2010 i am not to sure what kind of protein skimmer is on the tank but i think we might have to pick up a new one. The skimmer we have hangs on the back and for some reason just doesnt want to siphon water... yes i ment snails not crabs lol... my LFS said to only get one of the guys because like you said they will starve.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wingin' It Posted April 16, 2010 Report Share Posted April 16, 2010 before you buy a new PS, maybe try replacing the pump, it might just be that? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Galeas Posted April 20, 2010 Author Report Share Posted April 20, 2010 Yeah, I am going to take my PS into my LFS and see if they can help me. Hopefully I don't have to buy a new one.. another question is what is proper temp i should be aiming for?? any help or tips is welcome thanks for the input Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wingin' It Posted April 20, 2010 Report Share Posted April 20, 2010 again, i'm no expert, but I also asked this question of many fish store owners, workers, and keepers, and most answers came back at about 78-80F. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MMAX Posted April 22, 2010 Report Share Posted April 22, 2010 Between 78 and 83F. Have you decided where you're going with this tank? Reef or FOWLR? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Galeas Posted April 22, 2010 Author Report Share Posted April 22, 2010 Between 78 and 83F. Have you decided where you're going with this tank? Reef or FOWLR? I'm thinking about doing some soft corals, however i am still up in the air. My cycle is still going and my LFS believes it will be another 2 weeks before it is ready for some snails, then we will go from their. I'm not rushing anything just cant wait to start picking out some new friends Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wingin' It Posted April 22, 2010 Report Share Posted April 22, 2010 i've had my tank up for 2 weeks, and i'm finding it really, really hard to resist buying corals and fish. I have to keep reminding myself how bad it could end up if I buy another mean fish! lol FYI, don't get Dottybacks if you want to keep nice, peaceful fish! lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Galeas Posted April 22, 2010 Author Report Share Posted April 22, 2010 i've had my tank up for 2 weeks, and i'm finding it really, really hard to resist buying corals and fish. I have to keep reminding myself how bad it could end up if I buy another mean fish! lol FYI, don't get Dottybacks if you want to keep nice, peaceful fish! lol lol, yeah im planning on some percula clown fish (of course lol), and a yellow, and a purple tang, not sure what else is going to go in yet. ?I know what you mean finding it hard to not put anything in the tank.. can't wait Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MMAX Posted April 24, 2010 Report Share Posted April 24, 2010 I'd only get one tang in your 90gal. If it's a standard size 90 then it's probably only 4 feet long. Tangs need room to swim, a 6 foot tank is better for them. One yellow tang would probably be ok in your setup, they are one of the smallest tangs. I'd stay away from the purple, they need to swim to be happy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Galeas Posted April 26, 2010 Author Report Share Posted April 26, 2010 Yeah, i just talked to my LFS and they said if i wanted to keep a purple tang that it would work in my tank. I just added 6 turbo snails, and 6 hermits for my cleaning crew levels are finally 0 .. however while adding my new friends i noticed that on the bottom of my tank i have a mysterious object in my tank... it appears to be red and all that comes to my mind is its shaped like a starfish. any idea? i would post a pic of it however my camera doesn't work anymore.. if you might know what it is that would be great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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