new to saltwater!

[Guest BGAndrea]

I would first like to say hello as I just joined this site. I have just converted my 20 gallon freshwater into a saltwater. I have been keeping freshwater tropical fish for 15 years and finally made the decision to try saltwater before buying a big set-up. I currently have an eight pound piece of live rock in the tank as well as a hang-on biowheel filer with media cartridges. The tank has been set-up for about three weeks. My question is this: My local fishstore told me that I do not need the biowheel as live rock handles filtration. They said live rock with a protein skimmer would be fine. So I bought the Sea-Clone 100 protein skimmer. It fits fine, however, it puts so many bubbles into the tank that I can't see my fish. Any suggestions??? Also, I am scared to remove the biowheel as my ammonia and nitrite levels are still high and I am cycling with 2 small clownfish and a damsel. Lastly, if I remove the biowheel, how are solid wastes such as uneaten food, etc... removed? Is that what the protein skimmer is supposed to do? I am yet to see anything in the collection cup.

 

Thanks for all of your help!!!

 

Brandon

[jamesbuf]

I would first like to say hello as I just joined this site. I have just converted my 20 gallon freshwater into a saltwater. I have been keeping freshwater tropical fish for 15 years and finally made the decision to try saltwater before buying a big set-up. I currently have an eight pound piece of live rock in the tank as well as a hang-on biowheel filer with media cartridges. The tank has been set-up for about three weeks. My question is this: My local fishstore told me that I do not need the biowheel as live rock handles filtration. They said live rock with a protein skimmer would be fine. So I bought the Sea-Clone 100 protein skimmer. It fits fine, however, it puts so many bubbles into the tank that I can't see my fish. Any suggestions??? Also, I am scared to remove the biowheel as my ammonia and nitrite levels are still high and I am cycling with 2 small clownfish and a damsel. Lastly, if I remove the biowheel, how are solid wastes such as uneaten food, etc... removed? Is that what the protein skimmer is supposed to do? I am yet to see anything in the collection cup.

 

Thanks for all of your help!!!

 

Brandon

 

Welcome to the world of saltwater. If there are microbubbles in your tank, try to adjust the skimmer so that less bubbles are produces. I know some smaller skimmer allow this. If your nitrates and ammonia are high, I would do a water change soon. You'll learn that this is the one huge difference between freshwater and saltwater....if you want to be successful in saltwater you have to be very consistent with you water changes.

 

You also need to get a RO/DI filter to filter the tap water before you put it in your tank. This is the first thing that anyone getting into the hobby should get. I wished someone had told me this in the beginning, it would've save me alot of trouble.

You also need to make sure you have a deep sand bed to help with filtration also. There is so much more I could tell, but you simply need to search through this site and spend some time reading.

 

I would also say that you need to become a member. You will make up that $20 in your first week, I guarantee it. The knowledge that you can gain from members here is well worth the money, not to mention having access to people selling used equipment and frags. I made my money back the first couple days.

 

now go and read read read read read read read read read read read read

[Guest BGAndrea]

James,

Thank you so much for the reply and advice. I just played around with the skimmer and while I can adjust it, it seems that the only way I can get rid of the bubbles it to close the air valve completely off. Also, do you think the 8 pounds of live rock is enough for the 20 gallon tank? I have about a 2 inch thick crushed coral bed.

 

Thanks,

Brandon

[unninair]

Add a few hermits and snails to take care of your uneaten food. I would recommend trying to figure out what is wrong with your skimmer. Considering the size of your aquarium, you will need it to remove the nutrients and also to aerate the water.

 

Unni

[emissary]

You have embarked on a great challenge. Saltwater, as a general rule, is less forgiving in terms of parameter changes than freshwater. With a 20 gallon tank, there's a lot of effort you'll put into trying to maintain proper levels -- even minor evaporation results in significant changes in the makeup of your water.

 

Biowheel? Yes, skimmer is better.

 

Bubbles? You need to either have baffles or perhaps let the output of your skimmer pass through a sponge or filter floss of some kind. Warning: do not use a household sponge -- the chemicals are harmful.

 

Sounds like you've just started out on something pretty darn exciting (and rewarding), but I echo jamesbuf's comment: read read read

 

Hm, just re-read your post where you say you're cycling with fish. This is today considered A Bad Thing , and most suggestions will point you towards cycling with only live rock or maybe a piece of uncooked shrimp from the grocers. Google for fishless cycling. Cycling with fish is putting them in harms way. Also -- cycling with damsels while a little safer considering their hardiness has it's own set of prolblems -- may damsels turn out to be terrors as they grow up, very territorial and mean to the other tank inhabitants.

[Guest BGAndrea]

Add a few hermits and snails to take care of your uneaten food. I would recommend trying to figure out what is wrong with your skimmer. Considering the size of your aquarium, you will need it to remove the nutrients and also to aerate the water.

 

Unni

 

Thanks for the reply. Will hermits or snails hurt purple calcium growth? I am trying to grow purple algae on the back of the tank and I thought I read somewhere that they eat the purple algae.

[emissary]

Thanks for the reply. Will hermits or snails hurt purple calcium growth? I am trying to grow purple algae on the back of the tank and I thought I read somewhere that they eat the purple algae.

 

Snails will not. Crabs will not. Sea urchins will. For what *I* believe is a good collection of snails and crabs see http://reef.korff.org/inverts.html.

[Guest BGAndrea]

You have embarked on a great challenge. Saltwater, as a general rule, is less forgiving in terms of parameter changes than freshwater. With a 20 gallon tank, there's a lot of effort you'll put into trying to maintain proper levels -- even minor evaporation results in significant changes in the makeup of your water.

 

Biowheel? Yes, skimmer is better.

 

Bubbles? You need to either have baffles or perhaps let the output of your skimmer pass through a sponge or filter floss of some kind. Warning: do not use a household sponge -- the chemicals are harmful.

 

Sounds like you've just started out on something pretty darn exciting (and rewarding), but I echo jamesbuf's comment: read read read

 

Hm, just re-read your post where you say you're cycling with fish. This is today considered A Bad Thing , and most suggestions will point you towards cycling with only live rock or maybe a piece of uncooked shrimp from the grocers. Google for fishless cycling. Cycling with fish is putting them in harms way. Also -- cycling with damsels while a little safer considering their hardiness has it's own set of prolblems -- may damsels turn out to be terrors as they grow up, very territorial and mean to the other tank inhabitants.

 

Thanks for the reply. So, I should remove the biowheel immediately? I know I should'nt have cycled with fish. This is so different from freshwater, lol... Anyway, I am doing daily water changes so I'm hoping for the best. As far as adding filter floss to the skimmer, I just read that filter floss is bad for sensitive corals. Is this true?

[emissary]

Thanks for the reply. So, I should remove the biowheel immediately? I know I should'nt have cycled with fish. This is so different from freshwater, lol... Anyway, I am doing daily water changes so I'm hoping for the best. As far as adding filter floss to the skimmer, I just read that filter floss is bad for sensitive corals. Is this true?

Leaving the biowheel in over the short term is no big deal. It's not a *badI* thing, I just don't believe you really need it. One of the best resources you'll find to answer just about any question is this one:

http://www.wetwebmedia.com/marine/index.htm

Check out their links about filtration & set up. You'll probably learn more in a couple hours reading there than a month of asking questions here. You'll get answers to things you never thought to ask! Then come back here for details and other opinions. Remember, you'll get lots of opinions and you'll have to sift through them and decide for yourself what makes sense, and what doesn't.

 

as for filter floss being bad for sensitive corals... I don't recommend that you buy a sensitive coral for at least a year (e.g a small polyped stony (SPS) coral). That said, I don't see why it would be bad. Like the biowheel, if you use it for a short period of time to take out particulates or break up bubbles, make sure you replace it regularily. Don't let it become part of your biological filtration system (change the floss every couple weeks).

[stevil]

I've had my setup going for over a year - 90 gallon corner overflow with a 20 gallon sump, a skimmer, return pump, a heater, a couple of powerheads, live rock and live sand. Recently I've stepped it up, but I've been able to do it incrementally by building on those basics.

 

Everything I needed to know to get going I found in three sources:

 

Book: "The New Marine Aquarium, A step-by step setup and stocking guide". It's an easy read and pretty short.

Book: "The Concientious Marine Aquarist" by Robert Fenner. I still use this over a year later.

website: WAMAS.org

 

Since you're already here, I'd recommend at least one of those books, but probably both. The first one will get you going, the second will also get you going, but keep you going too.

 

Welcome, and good luck!

Edited October 28, 2006 by stevil

[Guest BGAndrea]

Leaving the biowheel in over the short term is no big deal. It's not a *badI* thing, I just don't believe you really need it. One of the best resources you'll find to answer just about any question is this one:

http://www.wetwebmedia.com/marine/index.htm

Check out their links about filtration & set up. You'll probably learn more in a couple hours reading there than a month of asking questions here. You'll get answers to things you never thought to ask! Then come back here for details and other opinions. Remember, you'll get lots of opinions and you'll have to sift through them and decide for yourself what makes sense, and what doesn't.

 

as for filter floss being bad for sensitive corals... I don't recommend that you buy a sensitive coral for at least a year (e.g a small polyped stony (SPS) coral). That said, I don't see why it would be bad. Like the biowheel, if you use it for a short period of time to take out particulates or break up bubbles, make sure you replace it regularily. Don't let it become part of your biological filtration system (change the floss every couple weeks).

Ok thanks, should I put more live rock in the tank or will the 8 pound rock be enough?

 

I've had my setup going for over a year - 90 gallon corner overflow with a 20 gallon sump, a skimmer, return pump, a heater, a couple of powerheads, live rock and live sand. Recently I've stepped it up, but I've been able to do it incrementally by building on those basics.

 

Everything I needed to know to get going I found in three sources:

 

Book: "The New Marine Aquarium, A step-by step setup and stocking guide". It's an easy read and pretty short.

Book: "The Concientious Marine Aquarist" by Robert Fenner. I still use this over a year later.

website: WAMAS.org

 

Since you're already here, I'd recommend at least one of those books, but probably both. The first one will get you going, the second will also get you going, but keep you going too.

 

Welcome, and good luck!

Thanks for the reply and book advice. I just finished reading The Concientious Marine Aquarist, it was a great book. I also read Saltwater Aquariums for Dummies. The dummies book was good but it said that people new to saltwater aquariums should not use the Berlin Method. This seems contradictory to all of the advice I am currently being given...so I'm a little confused but will continue to research.

[emissary]

Ok thanks, should I put more live rock in the tank or will the 8 pound rock be enough?

 

I've never weighed the rock I have and have not been a fan of the "pounds per gallon" recommendations I see. Get an amount of rock into your tank that fills the space nicely, something that's aesthetically pleasing to you. Make sure the rock is not HEAVY -- porus rock is better, with lots of channels and whatnot, and make sure you have good flow around and through your rock.

 

It's a much more difficult thing to say you have than "x pounds per y gallons" but in my mind, more useful.

[squiddly]

Welcome to the addiction! I am also a newbie, but I have learned many things through the fine and generous people on this board. Let me pass on a few things that I have learned. The first and most important is patience. I stocked too quickly and without serious help I would have lost a lot of creatures who didn't deserve to die through my stupidity. Research each critter you want to put in your tank. See if they will be compatable with things you want to put in later. Don't add anything that may be difficult to care for until you find your bearings and your tank has had plenty of time to grow the beneficial stuff that more difficult animals need to survive. Ask for advice on the board - you may get many contradictory answers but all of them will make you think.

 

Good luck!

[inedukated]

Welcome to the addiction! I am also a newbie, but I have learned many things through the fine and generous people on this board. Let me pass on a few things that I have learned. The first and most important is patience. I stocked too quickly and without serious help I would have lost a lot of creatures who didn't deserve to die through my stupidity. Research each critter you want to put in your tank. See if they will be compatable with things you want to put in later. Don't add anything that may be difficult to care for until you find your bearings and your tank has had plenty of time to grow the beneficial stuff that more difficult animals need to survive. Ask for advice on the board - you may get many contradictory answers but all of them will make you think.

 

Good luck!

 

Ditto... Don't rush into anything, research everything, and always post if you have any questions. Everyone here is more than happy to steer you in the right direction.

 

Welcome!

-Ben

[Sugar Magnolia]

I've never weighed the rock I have and have not been a fan of the "pounds per gallon" recommendations I see. Get an amount of rock into your tank that fills the space nicely, something that's aesthetically pleasing to you. Make sure the rock is not HEAVY -- porus rock is better, with lots of channels and whatnot, and make sure you have good flow around and through your rock.

 

It's a much more difficult thing to say you have than "x pounds per y gallons" but in my mind, more useful.

 

Keep in mind also, if you do add more live rock be sure it's already fully cured. If it's not, you'll be prolonging your cycle by another couple of weeks.

[stevil]

Ok thanks, should I put more live rock in the tank or will the 8 pound rock be enough?

Thanks for the reply and book advice. I just finished reading The Concientious Marine Aquarist, it was a great book. I also read Saltwater Aquariums for Dummies. The dummies book was good but it said that people new to saltwater aquariums should not use the Berlin Method. This seems contradictory to all of the advice I am currently being given...so I'm a little confused but will continue to research.

Yeah, the dummies book was good, but if there's any contradiction, I'd defer to the CMA.

[SDBDRZ]

 

Thanks for all of your help!!!

 

Brandon

 

If you ask 10 different people a question you will get 10 different answers, it can be a little confusing and overwhelming. There are many opinions on how to best keep a reef. The books recommended in an earlier thread are a great start.

 

Best advice, read, read, read. And remember, nothing good happens fast in a reef tank, be patient and your patience will be rewarded :-)