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please help (1 Viewer)

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Ok heres the deal, I have a 55 gallon tank and im new to the saltwater scene. So far im loving it and its a great hobby that i can see myself indulging in for years to come. However heres where my problems ocure, First of all I have penguine 300 bio wheel filter and I got this for free when i purchased my tank without the wheels. I have since bought the wheels but for some reason they wont spin all the time.(not sure if this is a problem) Next I have a small skimmer thats a Lee's counter current protien skimmer.I have spent so much money so far I wanted to save a bit of money on that. (which is becoming aparent that all i did is waste my money on this item). It says that it's a foaming skimmer but I see no foam.(can't figure this out yet) I layed 40 punds of crushed coral on the bottom of my tank and put some elkhorn coral that I purchased from pet-co and a fake plant that i got from michaels inside,along witha 300 watt heater and a air pump for the skimmer. ( and a few odds and ends to make it look better such as a back ground and lights). I was told to let the tank run for 1 week with the instant ocean in prior to putting anything in the tank. I then tested the salt leval every few hours for about a week and put the crushed coral in and let it sit for about 3 weeks. (waiting for leaks in the tank). I then declhlorinated the tank and took the water in to be tested. I was advised to put damsels in the tank and that they would die possibly and after one week of them leaving bring the water in and then I could get some better fish. If anyone could possibly clarify the things that im not fully understanding and explain to me if im going about this in the right way it would realy be great. I wanted to put some live coral int he tank and some nice colorfull fish that would realy get along and keep them alive for years as good pets. Im new here so im saying hello and any help would be awsome comments and suggestons are encouraged for me im here to learn........(not kill)
 

AggieBrandon

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first of all what i would advise is go to another pet store besides petco. I don't have anything against the store except the fact that most of the employees there don't know a whole lot about setting up a saltwater tank properly. You can cycle a tank without using damsels but by putting a piece of raw shrimp in the tank. The shrimp will then start to decay which will start a cycle and bacteria etc will grow. What kind of lighting do you have on the tank? Do you plan on adding live rock to your system? I would leave the biowheels off of the filter because they will eventually become a nitrate farm. I would also make sure from now on that the water you use to top off your tank and the water you use to mix saltwater is ro/di water or at least ro water instead of city/well/unfiltered water.

Brandon
 
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The bio-wheel will not turn constantly at start up. They will as they get broken in. However, this filter will not support much in the way of fish in the long run.

The skimmer will not produce any foam at all until there are dissolved organics in the tank. Those will come from fish waste and excess food. DO feed sparingly.

Do yourself a favor and get rid of the crush coral before you get fish. It's too coarse and will become a haven for waste instead of staying in solution so it can be filtered out. I would use sugar sized aragonite instead.

Make sure the fake plant you bought has no toxic paint. If it's painted at all I would just assume it is toxic and remove it. Saltwater will make the paint leach.

Don't jump into corals until you get some fish experience and make sure you know how to keep excellent water quality.

I recommend talking to John at Global Fish-n-Pet on Bellaire at S. Gessner in the Fiesta shopping center. He can set you up with nice fish, the knowledge you need to care for them, water quality testing and when you are ready for them corals.

Lastly, don't expect this hobby to be cheap. The better your filtration the more successful you will be.
 

aqua-nut

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Dave, you've offered some very good advice.

I started with a 55 and lousy filtration too, and had no idea what I was doing.

The hobby is certainly NOT cheap, but very rewarding.

CCampbell, do you live in the Houston area? I'd be happy to show you my tank and how I take care of it, my filtration, etc.

To do a fish only tank right, you're going to have to spend some more money. Brandon is right in his advice as well, corals take excellent water stability, very bright lighting and precise temperatures, not to mention tank additives and food that will run you upwards of 15 bucks a month or more, depending on your tank load.

There's also the issue of learning about water chemistry... we're all still learning, but this list is an excellent place to ask questions. Peruse the archive threads in the various areas before posting a new question, and you'll learn alot.

www.reefcentral.com is also a great place to learn... I hear they have a knowledge base of articles there.

PM me if you want to get together and see my tank.
 

pernelf

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ccampbell75 said:
Next I have a small skimmer thats a Lee's counter current protien skimmer.I have spent so much money so far I wanted to save a bit of money on that. (which is becoming aparent that all i did is waste my money on this item)

Never go with the cheapest, more often that not you will end up having to upgrade and spend more money in the outcome.

Also, why did you dechlorinate the tank after about a week?

Also, did you use tap water or RO water to set up the tank?

Stick around and you'll get lots of help and good advice.
 
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I used tap water because i was told that t would be ok with the instant ocean. If I would have known I could put the shrimp in I would have rahter than putting any fish through this. As far as the skimmer I know that was a bad idea and im purchasing a new one soon. Im going to remove the plant right now. Although the fish seem to like it. I lost two fish last night one that I put in was from aquarium world he was acting strange fromt he minute I got him though and when I awoke this morning I had one striped damsel and one blue one dead. He was staying in one place for a long while and doing somthing strange with his lips. The money at the start I know will be bad But I assume that after that it should relitivly be smooth. I am find with spending about 50$ a month on the tank for food etc. Thats without buying fish or anything else of course.(whats the avarage amount you guys are spending) I have found myself watching much less tv because of the fish which is a good thing and even though troubled im still loving the tank. Thanks again for your great advice......but on a budget what do you guys think I should do about my set up?Im going to remove the wheels but is this realy ok to do? I found that the wheels are warped thats why there rubbing a little bit I tried shaving the stand but It didnt work to well. As far as my lighting goes heres what I want to do for now non coral and what I am doing. I have a 4 foot duel fixture In which I mounted behind the tank( there is a transparent coral background on the tank it looks great when it shines through. And I have a hanging light that comes down over the tank with a grow light screw in bulb in it. Will this be ok or should I change it? Im going to take pics now
 
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ok im about to post up some pics im pretty crafty with my hands so the lighing I would liek to build myself I built my stand also ....if you guys would like to tell me if my idea is unsafe.......and let me no if you guys have any ideas on how to arrange it
DSC00028.jpg


DSC00029.jpg

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DSC00031.jpg
 
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to clarify

I dont want anyone to think that my lighting is done.....i would liek to build some walls to cover the sides of the light int he back and one to go over the top....as well as add another one of the silver lights I have on top with another grow light would this be ok? I cant start building until I decide what im changing to on the skimnmer and etc.... whats the deal with sumps?are they good? Last but not least I would realy lie to keep the crushed coral I love the way it looks and It cost me 50$ If it takes extra work Im not against that is there a way to keep it or is it realy important to give it the boot?
 

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I noticed one thing you don't have that no one has mentioned. Do you have any live rock in your tank? it does wonders for filtration as well as decoration. Crushed coral does have it's issues but if you like it then it's ok. But I'd highly recommend 30-100 lbs of live rock in there, depending on your taste/demand. Expect to spend $3-4/lb so just making sure you understand that it's not gonna be cheap.

And I agree with everyone else in this thread, stay away from petco, about the only thing i'd buy from petco are the aqua cultured perculas, but even that i'm sure others wouldn't agree with me.
 
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I was under the impression that live sand was realy just used to speed up the time to put fish in your tank.......and when mixed it wouldnt realy help anything......I dont think its going to be cheap lol but like everyone else I would rather not spend 500$ a week ya no? i live in the nw near highway 6 and 290 the only places to go around here are pet co and aquarium world where else would you guys suggest going to?
 

AggieBrandon

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You don''t have to buy live sand. You can get the dry sand from the pet store and add it to your tank and it will cycle like crushed coral would. The brand of sand i went with is Pure agagonite sand from Global. I am going to use a Deep Sand Bed so I had to purchase quite a bit but I think the effects will be worth it in the long run. Oh by the way I am only doing the deep sand bed in my sump and only a 2-4 inch sand bed in my main display.

Brandon
 
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BB Fish and Pet is off 1960 about a half mile west of 249.
They have decent prices on livestock.

You mentioned your protein skimmer isn't foaming at all.
Is it running in those pictures?
If so, doesn't look like you have an air pump hooked up to it.

Either way, if you want a different skimmer, you can either build one yourself or find one used on the BUY/SELL/TRADE forum.
 
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Sent you a PM to help you out with your cheesy skimmer situation. :D
 

Brad

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ccampbell,

First of all welcome to a great hobby. You will find it very rewarding. There is lots of great people in MARSH that are all willing to help. One thing that I recommend the most is to read EVERYTHING YOU CAN. After that read a few more things. For a good start here is a link to a great post on a slightly larger website. Between MARSHreef and Reefcentral you can learn everything you ever wanted to know.

http://reefcentral.com/FindingNemo/

We have local MARSH meetings the first Wednesday of every month. You can find additional information on the Event Calendar page. We would welcome you to come to our meetings and learn more.
 
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Books, books, books!!!

If you decide to keep the crushed coral, you can always add sand to fill in the spaces between the granules. Open spaces between the coral pieces allows for detritus accululation, which leads to bad algae blooms. Besides, certain fishes don't like the cruched coral.

Do your research first before buying anything else or you will ultimately pay more money and become frustrated.
 
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