Newbie questions

[Sprzout]

Hi all!

I'm VERY new to saltwater and reef aquariums (had a few goldfish tanks when I was a kid), but I've always wanted to get set up with one.

I'm probably going to ask a LOT of very basic questions that people have already asked, but in my reading, I haven't seen good answers for these questions, so, here goes:

1) In various readings, I've seen people saying, "Do a 10% water change every week," or "every 10 days," and even one that said, "Once or twice a month." But, when I was at my LFS, and started asking about water changes, they said it's not as critical if you have a good filter system and cleaner fish/invertebrates.

(For basis, I'm looking at picking up a Red Sea E-170 all in one system, and starting with that)

So...Do I need to do water changes with some cleaner gobies, shrimp, snails/starfish, and a good protein skimmer in a tank? Or is it something that the fish will take care of?

2) If I *DO* still need to do water changes with a "cleaning crew", how often would you say it needs to happen?

3) Anyone have a tank similar to what I'm looking at, AND curious cats? How do you protect your fish from becoming your cat's dinner/breakfast/midnight snack? (sorry, the cats are my wife's, and unless I divorce her, they're here to stay, so no getting rid of them!)

4) Can I mix fish/corals from say, the Caribbean and the Pacific? For example, could I mix Lavender soft coral with say, chalk bass? Or would there be an issue, such as wrong temperatures, wrong salt water ratio, etc? (And if I've opened a can of worms with that question, someone, feel free to tell me as much!)

ANY help, ANY advice on the above would be greatly appreciated - again, new to the hobby, want to learn as much as possible before diving in over my head.

 

[dbl]

First of all, welcome to R2R and your new addiction. I'm going to highly recommend your reading through the thread below first (if you haven't already). There is a lot of great basic information there to get you started.

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

 

[Starwar]

Even with a clean up crew, your water will still have excess nutrients that need to be exported. their is a given percentage of protein that a skimmer removes, but not all. Im in the 10% every two weeks camp. BUT, the water change topic is not exact science and every single person here will tell you something different. although very few will tell you once a month or never.

I would say start week with a bi-weekly 10% change..and as you bio load increases maybe change it up a bit.

My wife has two cats and they have absolutely no interest in my fish... although if i leave my sump door open one will try to drink it thinking its fresh water. For your mixing coral question, I've never really considered where my coral come from, so that will need to be answered from someone else. But i know none of my coral are from the exact some place and they always seem to acclimate just fine.

 

[Salty1962]

Welcome to R2R! You're at the right place to get answers. I won't re-hash what has been said but WCs are a very good idea!

 

[stevo01]

 

[Sprzout]

Steve, I'm liking all of those fish in the picture - if that's all I end up with in my reef tank, and they just so happen to be cleaners? I'd be happy with that!

 

[joeyrm7]

Water changes also add trace elements and replenishes cakc & alk if you are not dosing as yet

 

[4FordFamily]

Hi all!

I'm VERY new to saltwater and reef aquariums (had a few goldfish tanks when I was a kid), but I've always wanted to get set up with one.

I'm probably going to ask a LOT of very basic questions that people have already asked, but in my reading, I haven't seen good answers for these questions, so, here goes:

1) In various readings, I've seen people saying, "Do a 10% water change every week," or "every 10 days," and even one that said, "Once or twice a month." But, when I was at my LFS, and started asking about water changes, they said it's not as critical if you have a good filter system and cleaner fish/invertebrates.

(For basis, I'm looking at picking up a Red Sea E-170 all in one system, and starting with that)

So...Do I need to do water changes with some cleaner gobies, shrimp, snails/starfish, and a good protein skimmer in a tank? Or is it something that the fish will take care of?

2) If I *DO* still need to do water changes with a "cleaning crew", how often would you say it needs to happen?

3) Anyone have a tank similar to what I'm looking at, AND curious cats? How do you protect your fish from becoming your cat's dinner/breakfast/midnight snack? (sorry, the cats are my wife's, and unless I divorce her, they're here to stay, so no getting rid of them!)

4) Can I mix fish/corals from say, the Caribbean and the Pacific? For example, could I mix Lavender soft coral with say, chalk bass? Or would there be an issue, such as wrong temperatures, wrong salt water ratio, etc? (And if I've opened a can of worms with that question, someone, feel free to tell me as much!)

ANY help, ANY advice on the above would be greatly appreciated - again, new to the hobby, want to learn as much as possible before diving in over my head.

1) Your parameters dictate how often you need to do water changes.

2) Defer to 1

3) My three cats ignore my tanks

4) Mixing depends far more on "temperament" of the animals than geographic region so long as temperature is within range. Most critters in this hobby prefer 76-82 degrees.

 

[Chrisfish]

Welcome to R2R, you've come to the right place!!

 

[MaiReef]

Welcome to R2R!

 

[teamlounge]

good questions, but unfortunately...everything is a definite maybe. You won't know your parameters, difficulties, chemical swings, etc until you get up and running. You will need to change water more often in the first 6 months of cycling as compared to a mature tank. I would then settle down to 10% every two weeks. The reason there is no "standard" is because every tank load and set up is different. If you have heavy corals, you will likely need more chemicals added on a regular basis. If you are heavy fish, you may need your water changed more frequently depending on feeding habits.

The good news is the tank will tell you over time. Be diligent with checking water parameters and be patient adding stuff to your tank.