Just had my setup

[Canan]

Hi There!!!
I am from Madison, Alabama.
I just had my 180 gallon tank installed and waiting for the water to setup.
Don`t have anything inside the tank except the live rock and sand yet
Since I am at the very early stages and don`t have any fish or coral in my tank, I would be more than happy to take advises from all of you so that my start can be successful with all your helps.

What are the basics that I have to know and I have to have??

After reading so many articles, realizing that the water quality is the most important fact. I thought about having a salt water test kit and some measurement devices. However there are so many varieties available, I just got totally confused.

.....

 

[dbl]

Welcome to R2R and to the hobby. Although your tank is already set up, I would still recommend reading through the thread below. A lot of great information to help you get started.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/the-supreme-guide-to-setting-up-a-saltwater-reef-aquarium.138750/

 

[DLHDesign]

First; welcome to R2R!

You've got the key part of aquarium keeping understood already - a lot of this hobby is about keeping water; not fish.

If you don't already have it, get an RO/DI system. With smaller tanks, you can get by with getting water from an LFS, but with a 180, you will need too much water too often - you will need your own source. Along with this, you'll need a way to hold water. You'll need to hold both filtered water (for your ATO) and saltwater (for water changes). There are lots of options here - mostly depending upon your space and budget. The lowest cost option would likely be two 35gal "Brute" trash cans. A heater and pump of some kind will be needed for the saltwater mixing.

You'll need those things to get started. It will take time for you to filter enough water (there is a 150gph version of the above unit; that will cut the time - and waste - in half; well worth the extra ~$50 IMO). While that's going on, you can sort out the rest of the gear. ;-)

 

[Crabs McJones]

Welcome to R2R!!

 

[KJ]

Welcome to R2R!!!

 

[ourcoralreef]

Welcome to R2R

 

[Dsnakes]

Welcome to R2R

 

[cracker]

Greetings I'm east of You in Jacksonville. I'm a little ahead of You on my 180. I want to see the progress. Got any pics of the tank & what equipment You have so far ? Have fun !

Oh Ya , You came to the right plac,e these Folks have helped me so much !

 

[Canan]

Welcome to R2R and to the hobby. Although your tank is already set up, I would still recommend reading through the thread below. A lot of great information to help you get started.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/the-supreme-guide-to-setting-up-a-saltwater-reef-aquarium.138750/

Thank you so much!!!
I have gone through the link and it is definitly a great help for a new starter like me.
I have noticed some changes on my live rocks (especially with the ones that are having more light than the other ones). There are yellow/orange formations, and if i did not understand the article wrongly, these should be diatoms which is a good sign for the cycle. However I am not 100% sure; below are the pictures. What is your view on this?

 

[Canan]

First; welcome to R2R!

You've got the key part of aquarium keeping understood already - a lot of this hobby is about keeping water; not fish.

If you don't already have it, get an RO/DI system. With smaller tanks, you can get by with getting water from an LFS, but with a 180, you will need too much water too often - you will need your own source. Along with this, you'll need a way to hold water. You'll need to hold both filtered water (for your ATO) and saltwater (for water changes). There are lots of options here - mostly depending upon your space and budget. The lowest cost option would likely be two 35gal "Brute" trash cans. A heater and pump of some kind will be needed for the saltwater mixing.

You'll need those things to get started. It will take time for you to filter enough water (there is a 150gph version of the above unit; that will cut the time - and waste - in half; well worth the extra ~$50 IMO). While that's going on, you can sort out the rest of the gear. ;-)

Thank you so much for your advices!!!
I have the 75 GPD BRS 4 Stage Plus RO/DI system along with the Tunze 3155 ATO, am in the stage of setting up them. I am looking for a storage tank that I can fit under the tank so that I will just need to refill this tank every while (once every 2-3 weeks). Since the stand door is not so wide, I am not sure what shall I look for. Couldn't study on the saltwater for water changes yet, I guess I need to study the water-salt mixing ratio, testing and what kind of a salt to use.

 

[Lovemyreef2015]

Welcome to R2R

 

[4FordFamily]

Thank you so much!!!
I have gone through the link and it is definitly a great help for a new starter like me.
I have noticed some changes on my live rocks (especially with the ones that are having more light than the other ones). There are yellow/orange formations, and if i did not understand the article wrongly, these should be diatoms which is a good sign for the cycle. However I am not 100% sure; below are the pictures. What is your view on this?

First of all, welcome home, you will love it here

Secondly, yes that’s diatoms and completely normal for a new tank

 

[dbl]

Thank you so much!!!
I have gone through the link and it is definitly a great help for a new starter like me.
I have noticed some changes on my live rocks (especially with the ones that are having more light than the other ones). There are yellow/orange formations, and if i did not understand the article wrongly, these should be diatoms which is a good sign for the cycle. However I am not 100% sure; below are the pictures. What is your view on this?

Yep...looks like diatoms and perfectly normal.

 

[DLHDesign]

Couldn't study on the saltwater for water changes yet, I guess I need to study the water-salt mixing ratio, testing and what kind of a salt to use.

Most of the salts out there are going to end up being roughly 1/2 cup salt per gallon of water to get to 1.025. You'll want to measure while mixing however; keeping salinity stable is going to make a huge difference.
As to what brand of salt to use; there are a lot of options out there. A general rule of thumb is to find a mix that results in the ratios that you want your tank to be at. Which doesn't really help when you're starting out with your first tank, does it? ;-) My advice would be to go with a highly-rated salt in the price range you are looking to spend. Price is important with salt as you will be buying a lot of it over the years ahead.
Note that you can always change up your salt down the road. I've done so without major incident several times. You'll want to make sure to match salinity (as always) and do small water changes over time, but it's not hard to do. (The goal isn't usually to remove all the existing water; just to change over the stuff you're adding in.)

 

[reef lover]

Welcome to r2r!!

 

[Canan]

Hi everyone, little bit update about my cycle and one question
I think I am through with the diatom phase as all that yellow/orangish formations are vanished. However, I have a lot of red formation (which shall be the cyanobacteria I guess) and a little brown algae. As per to the article I read here, I think this is completely expected and normal. By the way, I am at the 5th week of the cycle without any live stock inside.
I`ve add 2 pieces of shrimp to the tank to help the cycle (4 days ago). Today I am observing very small, white dusty particles which are flying in the tank and also sticked on the tank glass. Once I observed them closely, I noticed that they are live (the ones on the glass are crawling and walking and the free ones are swimming around). They are a kind of a life form, however I couldn't figure out what they are and whether I shall be concerned or not.

Any comments or suggestions?

 

[Fudsey]

Welcome to R2R ! ! !

Sounds like pods to me, try to get a pic if you can

 

[Canan]

Welcome to R2R ! ! !

Sounds like pods to me, try to get a pic if you can

Hi There,
Thanks for your quick response.
They are so tiny, difficult to capture good pictures. Below are a few, hope this is good enough.
So if these are pods, are they something I need to be concerned?

 

[Canan]

Meantime, I had just tested my water and here are the results;

pH : 8.2
Ammonia : 0 ppm
Nitrite : 0 ppm
Nitrate : >160ppm

Looks like the last stage of my biological filter is not strong enough yet, or this is the result of the shrimps that I had added to help to the cycle (they are rot right now)
Shall I go for a water change or shall I wait for the biological filter to develop and handle this?

(I am using the API Marine Saltwater Master Test Kit for testing the water)

 

[Canan]

Here are some pictures from the cyanobacteria formation on my live rock.
I have also noticed one big and one small size air bubble under a live rock (every other hour a few air bubbles are raising from bottom to the top). Are these the O2 generated by the bacteria life? (Should be seen on the last picture)