# Setting up a salt water marine tank



## Bartman (Mar 17, 2009)

Greetings,

A quick background, I have kept reptiles for quite a while and have always wanted to descend into the world of marine fish and salt water tanks. 

Today I was at an undisclosed fish store in my area. I already had a fresh water set up that was depleted so I wanted to start up a salt water fish tank.

Right now I have a 

40 gallon tank
uv fluorescent bulb fixture and light
eheim filter

The gentlemen at the store told me to start buy purchasing a bottle of chemi-pure elite which contains a nylon pouch with some stuff inside. He said this is the first step to cycling the water.

So now I am at a tank full of water, the filter running with this bag and other existing baggies and not to sure what the next step would be.

He basically told me to wait a few days, then add sand, wait a few days, then add the salt, wait a few days, then add live rock, then wait a month, and then if everything went well, add some fish/corel, etc.

Ya? No? hehe

Thanks folks.

Regards,

Adam B


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## Pasfur (Mar 29, 2008)

Adam, 

This is the most ridiculous post i have seen in a long time. This guy is so far fetched, compared to what 99% of us do, that I would personally never visit this store again. 

I suggest that you just read a few threads on this site. If you want, check out some of the "builds" in the Saltwater Pictures & Video area. Those threads should really give you a great idea of how to approach the process.

In a nutshell, the guts of your system will be a protein skimmer, live rock, and a 4'' sand bed. 

Seriously, the guy at this LFS is just wrong. Stay away. Far, far away.


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## Bartman (Mar 17, 2009)

Which is why I figured I wouldn't disclose this big name fish store 

Alright, after about three hours of reading after this post, give or take, I have seen some of your incredibly helpful posts. I have a much further understanding of what is necessary. 

So here's what i'm thinking. I have found a Coralife Super Skimmer-Needle Wheel-65 Gallon protein skimmer set up. I am going to buy it tomorrow. Is this a good product? I am also going to attempt to purchase the live rock within the next few days as well as the sand. 

I don't want to rush the beginning steps of this tank, so what should I do first. Set up the rocks? the sand? let the tank sit with the skimmer?

I know, i'm a real newb, hey ask me about reptiles, i'm all over it  I've been part of a reptile forum for years so I know where I sit in this forum, some new guy who knows nothing and wants a salt water tank. But I really do want to learn and I really do want to start this right, so all help is fantastic.

I am really starting from scratch here.

Thanks folks.


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## Pasfur (Mar 29, 2008)

Just to be clear, is the CoraLife skimmer to be used on your 40 gallon, or is this another aquarium we are discussing?

If the Coralife is for the 40, then I think you have a nice skimmer for the tank size. I would add the sand, then the live rock, then the water. The water should be saltwater when added to the tank, at the proper salinity. You can use a 55 gallon storage tote to mix the initial batch of saltwater if you like. Just add a power head to mix the water and then add some 1/2'' tubing to the power head to pump the water into your aquarium. This will allow for minimal clouding of the water due to the sand being stirred up. Alternatively, you can mix the water in each 5 gallon bucket and measure salinity. Either way.

Obviously the live rock will be exposed during this process. This is not a problem, so long as the time not being submerssed is brief.

Everyone does this process a bit different. Heck, my personal routine even varies. So long as you have a tank full of saltwater, sand, and live rock when you are finished. 

Also, I turn on my protein skimmer from day 1. Many people wait a couple of weeks. It really doesn't matter much.


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## Bartman (Mar 17, 2009)

Ok so from what I understand, here's my plan

I will purchase the skimmer, rock and sand on saturday this weekend. My tank is full of water right now, so could I not mix in the salt into the bare tank, measure salinity, and then add the sand/rocks? Rather then using a tote, pumps, etc. If not, pumps it is 

Thank you VERY much!


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## Pasfur (Mar 29, 2008)

If your aquarium is already full of water, just add the salt now. Perfect.

Beware... when you add the sand a significant amount of cloudiness will occur. You will have to place your live rock blind, and then rearrange it later to your liking.


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## Bartman (Mar 17, 2009)

Sorry I am a bit confused,

So I think the best way for me to do this, considering my tank is full of basic RO water.

Step 1, Add sand/rocks
Step 2, Add salt as necessary

Would that work?


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## onefish2fish (Jul 22, 2008)

since nothing else is in the tank now you can mix your salt in with your powerheads and thermometor on. after waiting ATLEAST 24 hours, test the salinity. i highly suggest using a refractometer for this as it is more accurate then a hydrometer. ebay sells them fairly cheap. this is the only time you will be able to mix your salt in your tank. once you have livestock (which includes rock and sand) your going to mix outside the tank.
it is then best to add rocks and then your sand in and around the rocks to "lock" them into place. you could also put down a piece of eggcrate (sold in hardware store light departments as "light defuser") first, rock ontop, then sand.
are you planning a reef setup or FOWLR? this needs to be decided now as you will need lights and a few other things. 
slow and steady wins the race my friend, preparing and learning for whats ahead is the best approach. i suggest doing atleast a month of reading before progressing to increase chances of success and enjoyment rather headache and an empty wallet. feel free to ask any questions, welcome to the forum.


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## Bartman (Mar 17, 2009)

Yeah, it is unlike me to have patience to wait a month for a fish tank, lol, but I really do want this to work and I really want to just do it right, once.

Not sure what an FOWLR tank, fish only?
I would like to have corals forsure. I tend to prefer the weird stuff. I was lookin to get one lion fish, a puffer fish or a yellow tang with some clown fish. But this I will figure out far down the path. 
Definitely coral though.


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## onefish2fish (Jul 22, 2008)

waiting a month is a very short time in setting up a tank. properly stocking it involves waiting months in between things as well.

so you want coral but the fish mentioned are not reef safe besides the clowns and tang. your def. not going to be able to house a tang in a 40 gallon tank. fish need to be decided early on so you can figure out what gets added first. 
theres so much to learn so im going to point you towards 2 reads that should only be the start of your research, there is much more to come.
http://www.fishforum.com/member-submitted-articles/understanding-sumps-15930/
http://www.fishforum.com/member-submitted-articles/introduction-salt-water-19051/


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## Bartman (Mar 17, 2009)

Sounds good, I will take the read this weekend. To much work on my head right now 

Yah, the fish will be decided on later, as I said. I just want to set it up with coral, that's my main wish. Once I have the tank stabalized, I will add the coral and then think about adding fish later down the road. Appreciate your time!


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## Bartman (Mar 17, 2009)

I would prefer to not use a sump, rather just use a power head, protein skimmer and the eheim I have. As well I will use the 4 inch sand bed and will look out for mainly airy live rock. Will I be alright with out the sump and is the eheim necessary?


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## Cody (Dec 22, 2007)

No sump is needed. I have a 40G reef and this is my filtration:

-Tunze 9002 Nano Skimmer 
-2 Koralia 1 Powerheads (Soon to be 3 K1's)
-60lbs or so of LR
-Water changes

A DSB is very beneficial. I don't have one, because I have a SSB (shallow-sand bed) purely for looks.

Also, did you use tap water to fill this tank up?


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## conger (Feb 2, 2008)

eheim isn't necessary, in fact depending on what you put in it, it's not recommended. Sump's aren't NECESSARY, but they have a couple of nice benefits: (1) increasing overall water volume, thus increasing the stability of the tank, and (2) providing a nice, out-of-sight location to put your equipment (skimmer, maybe other stuff if you add it).

Really, as long as you have a good 1.5 to 2 lbs of live rock per gallon, 4"-5" of sand, a good skimmer, and good water flow, then long-term you should be alright. 

Do not use crushed coral for the substrate, use aragonite sand. 

Also, don't underestimate good water flow... you mentioned "a powerhead", as in singular, whereas you'd be much better off getting multiple powerheads. Multiple lower-flow powerheads are much better than a single powerful one, if they add up to the same gph. You can point them towards each other to get randomized/chaotic turbulance, which is good, and you've got a better chance of eliminating dead spots (areas of little to no flow) in the tank if you've got multiple power heads positioned around the tank. I'd suggest at least one on each side. As long as you don't have a sandstorm from your substrate being blown around, you probably won't have too much flow. For a reef, 30X turnover rate (meaning 30 times your tank's volume in gallons per hour) or more would be good. Water flow helps keep many corals healthy, clean, and fed, and it also serves to help your liverock filter the water as it flows around and through the rocks. Dead spots contribute to poor water quality by allowing waste to settle out of the water column (and not removed by the skimmer) and also promotes undesirable algae/bacteria growth.


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## Bartman (Mar 17, 2009)

Alright, first visit to the marine shop, new place which seems very knowledgable. They deal strictly with marine fish.

So heres what I purchased.

1) Shatterproof 150 watt marineland visi-therm heater
2) H2Ocean reef salt
3) Hydor Koralia 2
4) Deep Six Hydrometer

For now, im using the powerhead to mix the salt. I have added about four medium cups of salt. I am sure I will need more but I will see tomorrow where I stand. The heaters are set at 77 and I have two. I figure if I have two they were activate less frequently and one on each side will keep the water at a steady temp. Could be wrong?

So this weekend I will purchase the live rock and sand. The gentlemen said with my set up, he suggests a shallow sand bed, maybe an inch and lots of live rock. Is this correct?

I will be purchasing a protein skimmer as well, down the road. Probably in about a month when I begin thinking about introducing coral/fish and life. I also bought a complete test kit.

Any other suggestions?

Thanks guys.


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## Bartman (Mar 17, 2009)

PS, not tap water. I used this filtrated water within my kitchen. I am not sure exactly what the system is called but due to my house having a water softner installed, we installed a filtration system beneath the kitchen sink which consists of four filters and a propane tank sized storage tank. What would this be? RO?

Thanks.


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## conger (Feb 2, 2008)

Bartman said:


> Alright, first visit to the marine shop, new place which seems very knowledgable. They deal strictly with marine fish.
> 
> So heres what I purchased.
> 
> ...



on the heaters, you are correct. Additionally, should one fail, the less-powerful heater will take longer to cook the tank, giving you more of a chance to notice the water is heating up and remove it before it causes a catastrophe 

As for sandbed, be sure that you indeed do use lots of liverock. Also, to go shallow, try to keep the sand at less than an inch. Since it won't contribute to denitrification, you don't want to provide much room for the sand to catch waste. The main benefits of a deep sand bed (someone correct me if i'm wrong!), are (1) nitrate reduction/elimination, and (2) provides a safe haven for copepods and such to multiply, providing a nice built-in food supply for the tank. Since you are planning to go reef, keeping nitrates to a minimum is very important. Without the deep sand bed, you will be relying on the liverock and skimmer to do this, and beyond that water changes. I'd guess that in general (there are always exceptions), a reef tank without a deep sand bed will require more frequent water changes to keep the water quality pristine.


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## Bartman (Mar 17, 2009)

I don't mind doing to maintenance, I am expecting this, but if a deeper sand bed will help reduce water changes, I would prefer to go with that. He suggested either a 6" bed or a 1/4" bed, one or the other.


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## conger (Feb 2, 2008)

I'd agree with that. 6" may be a little extreme, though i won't deny that it would work. I've always heard that targetting between 4" and 5" is the ideal depth.

Also keep in mind, if you decide to go with a DSB (deep sand bed), that it will take the sandbed a while (several months) to grow the proper population of bacteria to provide nitrate removal. So it won't be an immediate benefit, but a long-term one. For the first while after you set your tank up, you'll still want to stay on top of your water parameters and change or supplement as necessary.

One other note to remember about DSB, I'm pretty sure you should avoid ever stirring it up, especially once it gets "established." It's OK to have sand-sifting creatures, like conchs, nassarius snails, sand-sifting starfish, etc. But you don't want to manually stir it up or disturb it with your hand, or with a gravel vacuum when doing water changes. Just leave the sandbed be, otherwise it might release toxic stuff from the depths into the water that are dangerous to the tank inhabitants.


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## Bartman (Mar 17, 2009)

Thanks for the tip.

So what do you guys think I should go with for my particular set up, DSB or thin sand bed?


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## Bartman (Mar 17, 2009)

To add, I have noticed lots of air bubbles on the heaters, power head, etc. Normal?


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## Cody (Dec 22, 2007)

Completely normal when you first add them to the tank. New tanks/appliances will have bubbles all over.


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## Bartman (Mar 17, 2009)

Fantastic. So far so good 

So here's and idea of what I am looking to achieve at the end of this.


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## willow (Sep 9, 2006)

i'm following your thread 
that's a beautiful tank,i hope you get the results you're looking for.


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## Bartman (Mar 17, 2009)

Thank you very much! I am definitely on the right track now, which makes me happy. It's just a killer to wait!


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## willow (Sep 9, 2006)

yes it's hard to get going with this,my geckos were easier lol
still,i don't mind the researching at all,i'm still in the process of not starting


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