NEWBIE by Brut force from Santa!

Hello to All,

I just setup my first 55 gal tank on Christmas Eve for my son. The setup started at 11 pm and I finished at 2am. The tank - 1 bag of live sand and 2 other bags recommended by my local dealer. I also have about 20 lbs live rock in the tank. I made a mix of 10 gal saltwater the day before setup.

I put the live rock in first and then added the 2 bags of sand, in went the 10 gal of premixed saltwater, I then added the bag of live sand and arranged sand and rock for first fitting (you know when the wife sees it she will want to rearrange differently). I then added 45 gallons of Deer Park Water, and discovered that I was supposed to rinse one of the bags of sand to keep the dust down so it would not make the tank look like a milk shake, Ok I made a mistake and I am hoping it all works out, its to late to start over. Ok now I start the pumps, filter (XP2) and heaters up. Now I figured that I should add the recommended amount of salt to get the tank to where it needs to be for salinity.

After clean up, I take a quick look at the tank. I notice that its starting to settle down before I go up to catch a quick wink before the kid wakes up. Hoping and praying that the tank clears up in the next couple of hours.

Christmas morning tank looking pretty good and I am proud of Santa’s work. I take a salinity reading and it’s off the charts. There are no fish in the tank at this time so I do a 10gallon water exchange keeping the water removed water in 2 new 5 gal buckets for later use if needed. By the time I left for work today the tank was crystal clear and salinity has come down but still way to high. The temp was running high right around 80 F so I adjusted heaters to lower setting.

I am going to test the water this evening when I get home to see where I am at.

Thanks
Gary

PS: Any input recommendations helpful hints would be greatly appreciated!

 

Thank you!

 

I would like to attempt corals, I have a co-worker that has been maintaining a tank for over three years. I am sure he will lead me in the right direction.

 

Welcome to 3reef and glad we have another new member. Santa wouldn't have had me to do it by force though. LOL

 

Question? What are you using to measure your salinity? If you are using a hydrometer, which is like a little plastic body with a plastic swinging needle that points to the salinity, you might have gotten a bubble on the needle. I noticed with mine that it was getting bubbles on the needle and it was making it read very weird things.

IDK if you already know to watchout for that or if you have a refractometer, but thats one of the things that tripped me up when I was setting my tank up.

 

Yes my Specific gravity tester is one of thosse plasitci little deals. I made sure that there are no air bubbles and here is where I am at!

Water Temp 78 F
Specific gravity is at .022
Calcium 480ppm
KH is at 12
Phosphate .5
Nitrate 20

 

Welcome and hope you all enjoy the wonderful undersea realm of the marine hobby!
Make sure to test your water frequently to make sure your tank has cycled fully before adding any livestock.

 

Wow, you are already testing for calcium and KH, nice! What kind of salt are you using, thats a pretty darned good balance for fresh mixed SW. Welcome to 3reef. Tell us what you are planning to do to cycle, maybe we can advise.

Have you looked a protein skimmer yet? Although some would argue its not a necessity, because if you do everything "by the book" correctly you may have success without a skimmer. BUT IMO for a newcomer to the saltwater tank world a protein skimmer is VERY necessary.