New to saltwater need help

immaman2011 · May 13, 2022

Duncan62 said:
Most are around 3 to 1 waste to rodi water. If you make 10 gallons of water 15 will go down the drain or can be saved and used. It's still filtered water. Way cheaper. Have 4 tanks 30 thru 75 and 10 gallons a week takes care of my top off.

How often should I water change a salt tank? That's also a big question.

ying yang · May 13, 2022

immaman2011 said:
How often should I water change a salt tank? That's also a big question.

Water changes are to either replace something or remove something.
So use test kits to check your parameters and then decide if need do a wc to remove say nitrates for example or test your other parameters like calcium/ alk etc and decide if need replenish them with a water change or not.ovbiously this depends what your tank is using and if water changes are enough to replenish or if need to dose by hand or a doser.
Sake goes for water changes to remove nitrates ,need to work out methods you using whether it be just wc's or a refugium,chemicals or many if the other ways.

What I do is start using the search option on what I need to research then start reading threads then go to bottom of page and pick another thread that may help me or Interest me and help develop my understanding of looking after reef tank .
So test and research will g8ce you the answers ^_^

Duncan62 · May 13, 2022

immaman2011 said:
How often should I water change a salt tank? That's also a big question.

It depends on your primary filtration. After the initial you should do a large water change and then 10% every 2 weeks. Once your system matures you can change to accommodate your needs. In 1976 I bought a book that covered from the basics to the chemistry of reef tanks. I still refer to it. A good book can help you choose between the differing methods you'll find here. You'll find great info here but it can be confusing to a beginner. I look forward to seeing pics.

immaman2011 · May 13, 2022

immaman2011 · May 13, 2022

Very cloudy right now I didn't wash the rocks or sand. So it will clear up within 1 to 4 days. But it's all set and cycling!

Roatan Reef · May 13, 2022

immaman2011 said:
I bought instant ocean salt because it was the cheapest and was highly rated. Your tank looks amazing I'm hoping I have similar success lol. How does the rodi system work exactly? Because where I live lots of water consumption gets extra fees tacked on my rent.

Yea, you will use some extra water, like @Duncan62 said for every 10gallons of RODI, you make 15 gallons of Waste Water, that might put a small dent in your water bill.

immaman2011 · May 14, 2022

Duncan62 said:
It depends on your primary filtration. After the initial you should do a large water change and then 10% every 2 weeks. Once your system matures you can change to accommodate your needs. In 1976 I bought a book that covered from the basics to the chemistry of reef tanks. I still refer to it. A good book can help you choose between the differing methods you'll find here. You'll find great info here but it can be confusing to a beginner. I look forward to seeing pics.

What do you think about this list? When I am ready for stocking?

James5214 · May 14, 2022

You can also get RODI water from Walmart in gallon jugs that's what I do since I have a smaller tank and don't need as big of water changes

immaman2011 · May 14, 2022

James5214 said:
You can also get RODI water from Walmart in gallon jugs that's what I do since I have a smaller tank and don't need as big of water changes

I got my rodi water from my LFS 1 town over. $2.50 a 5gal bucket. Then they sell their red sea premix $7.50 a 5gal bucket.

Also what do you think about this stocking list for a 36g tank?

James5214 · May 14, 2022

I think that's a good stocking list and you have plenty of room. Just don't add to much at once or to soon make sure the tank is completely cycled or you have to do daily maintenance like water changes if you want to add fish right away. I get RODI from Walmart at 1.25$ a gallon it's the blue labeled one if you read the label it says processed by reverse osmosis and or steam distillation micronfiltation, ozonation and ultra Violet light. Hopefully that helps some. But I do have to mix my own salt once I'm home. I also have a pair of clowns and a RG and a six line wrasse in my tank and they all get along awesome! Hope you enjoy it and you have great luck with reefing.i to also did freshwater for a few years i still have my 55 gallon community tank up and running

James5214 · May 14, 2022

I saw someone post that you need more rock which I was going to suggest also. About 1 pd per gallon is good rule of thumb as once your tank establishes that will be your main source of filtration for your system and will give lots of hiding places and territories for your inhabitants

immaman2011 · May 14, 2022

James5214 said:
I saw someone post that you need more rock which I was going to suggest also. About 1 pd per gallon is good rule of thumb as once your tank establishes that will be your main source of filtration for your system and will give lots of hiding places and territories for your inhabitants

I have about 30 pounds of rock give or take right now. And the live sand. 1 more medium - large sized rock would put me at or over 36 pounds. I think the 30 pounds is okay for now. And yes I'm going to start with 2 Maine mocha clowns for now. Those will be the only 2 fish for about 1 month before any others are even considered.

ZombieEngineer · May 14, 2022

Get an Auto top off. The amount of time they save you is worth every penny.

Small wave pumps are really nice for keeping detritus suspended and to prevent any dead spots in the tank. You can go pretty cheap with the smaller jebaos like the RW-8 that would work pretty well and eventually allow you to also add a few corals in time.

immaman2011 · May 14, 2022

ZombieEngineer said:
Get an Auto top off. The amount of time they save you is worth every penny.

Small wave pumps are really nice for keeping detritus suspended and to prevent any dead spots in the tank. You can go pretty cheap with the smaller jebaos like the RW-8 that would work pretty well and eventually allow you to also add a few corals in time.

There is one slightly dead spot in the corner most away from the filter outlet. I may need a really small WaveMaker for that area behind the rock. Other then that all other areas have pretty good flow.

ZombieEngineer · May 14, 2022

immaman2011 said:
There is one slightly dead spot in the corner most away from the filter outlet. I may need a really small WaveMaker for that area behind the rock. Other then that all other areas have pretty good flow.

Good enough for while you just have fishes. When your tank matures a bit and is stable enough for some beginner coral like euphyllia (frogspawn torches), zoas, etc you will want some more random flow at a rate between 720 gph and 1800 gph.

Wave pumps also help keep food suspended in the tank longer so its less likely to decay in the sand bed.

immaman2011 · May 14, 2022

Here goes my finished product. I added a bunch of beneficial bacteria I added a whole bottle of dr.tims, I'm dosing a bottle of aquavitro over 8 days, and I also added some api stress zyme to help speed it up. I ended up buying a 6 pound live rock as well to help the dry rock and live sand speed up beneficial bacteria colonization. I also have a bottle of prime to help just in case. I wanted to do a fish-in cycle. So I got the 2 maine mocha clownfish. Until it's fully cycled with what I got so far, I won't be adding anymore fish. They are adjusting pretty well but I had a 15 minute drive with them in the car so they are still calming down. Good sign is they are scaling the whole tank and not just stuck in one spot.

James5214 · May 14, 2022

I like your structure setup and glad the fish are acclimating good. Keep an eye on all of your levels and be quick to respond in case of a spike. I would do water changes every 2-3 days since rank is so new. That is what I did to be able to have fish right away. Happy reefing!

immaman2011 · May 14, 2022

James5214 said:
I like your structure setup and glad the fish are acclimating good. Keep an eye on all of your levels and be quick to respond in case of a spike. I would do water changes every 2-3 days since rank is so new. That is what I did to be able to have fish right away. Happy reefing!

Thanks for the advice! I will take everything from this thread and use it eventually it was worth signing up here. If yall guys want to share some of your setups, I would love to see them!