Starting 30 Gal salt tank

ajmascola · May 14, 2016

I know it's a lot of work ahead ..bust added live sand , a canister filter , LED lights , and Salt water from local aquarium. Just looking for tips not looking to get to crazy with it just some live rock and tips of when should I ad Majano anemones? When is it also safe to ad a crab, anemones or sponges ... Pictures are of the beginning setup before the water clears. I will upload pics once clears. Started at 4pm

Jmas4 · May 14, 2016

First you should cycle. Even if it is live sand I would add fish food and wait for ammonia and nitite to be zero. When all of them is zero you can add cuc

Jmas4 · May 14, 2016

Anemones can be kept but if this is your first saltwater I would wait to get anemones. Sponges I do not have experience with but I head they are hard to keep. MaJano anemones are considered pests. And they are like aptiasia

Jmas4 · May 14, 2016

A sump system would be a better filter but I never had canister filters in my saltwater so idk if they work well.

Tahoe61 · May 14, 2016

Welcome.

120reefkeeper · May 14, 2016

Jmas4 · May 14, 2016

Oh ya welcome to the forum

Eaj1001 · May 14, 2016

ajmascola said:
I know it's a lot of work ahead ..bust added live sand , a canister filter , LED lights , and Salt water from local aquarium. Just looking for tips not looking to get to crazy with it just some live rock and tips of when should I ad Majano anemones? When is it also safe to ad a crab, anemones or sponges ... Pictures are of the beginning setup before the water clears. I will upload pics once clears. Started at 4pm

Getting crazy with it just happens no cure no exceptions

Eaj1001 · May 14, 2016

Jmas4 said:
A sump system would be a better filter but I never had canister filters in my saltwater so idk if they work well.

They work really well on smaller setups.

Jmas4 · May 14, 2016

Eaj1001 said:
They work really well on smaller setups.

Ohh I did not know that all I had was all in one's and huge sumps. Thanks for the new info.

Eaj1001 · May 14, 2016

Jmas4 said:
Ohh I did not know that all I had was all in one's and huge sumps. Thanks for the new info.

I'm using one now on my 15g it's always been really healthy..also 528 power head.

ajmascola · May 15, 2016

The next morning at 9am need to ad live rock and a power head and a heater . today also get testing kits and a glass scrubber .. It's been about 5 years since I've had a salt tank so I'm excited but know I can't be in any hurry or rush to get it where I want it .

Eaj1001 · May 15, 2016

ajmascola said:
The next morning at 9am need to ad live rock and a power head and a heater . today also get testing kits and a glass scrubber .. It's been about 5 years since I've had a salt tank so I'm excited but know I can't be in any hurry or rush to get it where I want it .

If you're trying to keep costs down check out sunsun on Amazon for your power head if you can wait for it to be shipped instead of picking up in LFS. I've had one running for 4 months no issues less than 10$. Just a suggestion.. Good luck with your new tank!

Russ265 · May 15, 2016

i have a 40 breeder with a hang on back filter only. itll do you fine as long as you water change.

welcome to r2r

ajmascola · May 16, 2016

Live rock all set up! Tank is clear ! The cycle begins ! How long should i wait before throwing anything in and what do you guys recommend I introduce to the tank ?

Russ265 · May 16, 2016

ajmascola said:
Live rock all set up! Tank is clear ! The cycle begins ! How long should i wait before throwing anything in and what do you guys recommend I introduce to the tank ?

looks like dry rock to me. if it truly is live, just monitor ammonia for a couple weeks.

if it is suspected dry rock, add some ammonia source and wait for it to hit 0. then test nitrite and wait for it to hit 0.

ammonia can be found at a supermarket, or you can cycle with windex.
other forms can be dead shrimp, ghost feeding flake food, etc.

sNaFu · May 16, 2016

Welcome to the R2R community!!!

RyanCSGO · May 16, 2016

Welcome to R2R!
If you don't have one already I would pick up a test kit that test, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate.

you want to see a spike of ammonia then nitrite, they should then fall to zero and have a low ppm of nitrate showing. do a water change and you should be good to go.
every tank is different, my first tank took about 4 weeks to cycle. My Current tank that's cycling already reads that's its ready after 9 days. but i'm waiting a few more weeks

ajmascola · May 16, 2016

Russ265 said:
looks like dry rock to me. if it truly is live, just monitor ammonia for a couple weeks.

if it is suspected dry rock, add some ammonia source and wait for it to hit 0. then test nitrite and wait for it to hit 0.

ammonia can be found at a supermarket, or you can cycle with windex.
other forms can be dead shrimp, ghost feeding flake food, etc.

The store I got it from said it was Live rock I even picked it out of a live rock tank. How many sprays of Windex do you think I should spray in the tank after putting a pinch of marine flake food. And second question , how long after putting rock and ammonia source do start testing ?

Russ265 · May 16, 2016

ajmascola said:
The store I got it from said it was Live rock I even picked it out of a live rock tank. How many sprays of Windex do you think I should spray in the tank after putting a pinch of marine flake food. And second question , how long after putting rock and ammonia source do start testing ?

eh... just spritz the top a few times just to get a measureable reading.

iirc i cycled my 300 gal system with a 1/4 or 1/2 a cup of windex.

just get it detectable and wait for it to drop. dont worry... contrary to the fact people think windex is a cleaning chemical, its like 99% ammonia, fast break-down alcohols, and blue dye. everything a growing rock needs for the big time.