Ultimate Newbie Guide

As a newbie on this amazing hobby , the least thing i should do first is to say thanks alot for this great tips and help you have mentioned , and yes am happy my first post in this forum will be just to thank you

 

Read this and found it very informative. Thanks and I'm sure I'll be reading it a few more times

 

This was very helpful, thanks!

 

Nice beginners guide. Think the only thing I would add is a part about researching and planning before you buy anything. How many people have seen nemo or worse yet, the pic of a blue tang on the front of a coralife biocube box only to realize down the road their error? Simply put, get an idea for what you want to keep first. If you're sticking to gobies and clowns then you're fine with just about anything. Tangs, wrasses, angel's ect. You'll need a much larger tank. Which is also easier to deal with (to a certain extent) which most people don't realize.

 

Thank you for all this info, it is very helpful. I am new to this hobby and new to this forum. I have a 55gallon saltwater tank with live rock and currently 2 fish, a damsel and a basslet. After reading your info I think I am mixing my saltwater wrong. :-( I currently mix it in a container by shaking it up and then dump it in right away. Sometimes i see little salt particles floating around the tank afterwards. Can you explain to me why exactly all the salt needs to be dissolved? will it kill the fish? What kind of pump should I buy to mix it the way you do?
Thanks!

 

Some salts say you can add immediately, but unless it says specifically on the packaging and the hobbyist is in dire need of a water change than I would not add any freshly made up salt ever.

Adding salt that is not completely mixed causes dramatic changes in water chemistry ie: pH and SG to mention a few. Undissolved salt particles landing on corals can also burn the tissue of the coral.

Any small cheap power head added to the container the sw mix will work, letting the salt mix over night. You can also add a small heater as well.

 

Thanks for the info, great help. Will be setting up my first tank in June. The research has started.

Thanks

 

Wow this is awsome! Is this in the sw section? Well, I have a 25 gal fw tank. I started my cycle 3 days ago, didnt want to use chems so the guy at the fishy store gave some used filter. Is there a minimum amount of ammonia required for it to cycle?
My ammonia was wat too high to cycle properly in the past, and now it seems to be sticking at around 2ppm,, nitrates 5.0 since yesterday. is it good??

 

nice guide but i'm not peeing in my tank hahaha. I would be pissed off if i was a fish going into a pee tank hahaha

 

Thank you so much! I had my skimmer running since yesterday when I bought my tank, and turned it off right after reading this post! I learned more in the 10 minutes reading this post than I did in hours at the fish store. Thank you, thank you, thank you!