Just bought a new setup.... Salt help.......

[dapel]

So then out of the blue I had this urge to go to the LFS and get a whole new tank setup for a mantis. Here's a breakdown of what I got:

- 40 gallon full acrlic
- Tetratec PF300
- 40lbs Bio-Active live/reef sand
- AquaClear powerhead 402
- Jager 150w
- Instant Ocean Hydrometer
- Oceanic Natural sea salt mix
- Dechlorinater 100mL

Total came out to be less than $350. After the water is right I gotta get some damsels and maybe a light cover and a bunch of decor. I have added in the water, the solution, and the salt. The pump has been in there for a while to keep the flow going and to make sure the salt is distributed evenly. But it's not. The hydrometer is supposed to be at around 1.022-1.023. I have the powerhead on full blast under the water. The readings on the side of the powerhead is perfect, but way on the other side of the tank the readings are WAY up high. So then I switched the powerhead around to the other side hoping that it would make it better, but the same thing happened. Readings on the side of the powerhead is perfect, but on the other side it's way too high.

What can I do to fix this? I wanna get the sand in tonight so I can get the damsels tomorrow and the mantis next week. Thanks.!!

-Dan

 

[dapel]

By the way, the water filter, thermostat, and salt are not in the tank yet. Here are a few pics of the setup.

 

[carpetride]

I'm certainly not a Mantis expert but for a better experience you should slow up and let the tank cycle and then begin adding livestock. Just my 2 cents

 

[dapel]

I'm not TOO worried about the cycling thing. I know what I have to do and the sea sand that I got will speed up the process nearly twice as fast. So adding the damsels will be fine in the next couple of days. Of course I won't add the mantis until the water IS perfect.

 

[dapel]

The powerhead was on the right side of the tank. I moved it to the left because the readings were too high on the left. But now the readings are too high on the right. What should I do?

-Dan




Pics are below......

 

[dapel]

 

[dapel]

Okay so I've decided that there is just too much salt in the tank. I'm gonna to siphon out a few gallons and put in some fresh regular water then go from there.

-Dan

 

[T-T-Trigger]

I suspect you are getting bubbles on the swingarm in one part of the tank and not the other, just a guess.

 

[dapel]

Yeah there are tiny bubbles everywhere. Is that caused by too much salt? I just finished taking out like less than 5 gallons and threw filled the rest up with regular water. Bubbles are still there though.

 

[dapel]

Okay I just tested the water again and it seems to be much much better now. I'm gonna place the powerhead in the middle of the tank and see if that will do anything.

 

[dapel]

I just cleared out all the bubbles and replaced the powerhead:

If the salidity checks out within the next hour or so I'm gonna go ahead and add in the sand.

-Dan

 

[majestic sea life]

a 40gal for a mantis if u make like 2 dif rock piles u can have 2 peacocks if u want

 

[dapel]

a 40gal for a mantis if u make like 2 dif rock piles u can have 2 peacocks if u want

I thought about that, but as soon as they both get big enough they'll start to attack each other so really only one mantis can dominate the tank............ I would like to have one mantis and some other tropical fishes and maybe some other weird **** in there.

-Dan

 

[T-T-Trigger]

You should remove that small piece of airline tubing if you want the pump to run without bubbles - it is not necessary for anything except bubblemaking.


wow- that is the quickest to ten posts I think I have ever seen... and all in one thread, wow...


good luck with your mantis,
ttt

 

[dapel]

ttt - thanks for the advice. What does that air tube thing do anyways? I thought it was needed to suck in air or something? Anyways, the bubbles seem to have not formed anymore so yeah. Thanks.

-Dan

 

[dapel]

Okay finally my setup is complete. The salidity is perfect, the sand and the rest of the equipment has been added:

What do you guys think?

-Dan

 

[Gonodactylus]

STOP!!!

 

[crafty_50mitchell]

Yes please stop. Fella you seriously need to do some research into what your doing here. Take your time and do the homework you'll be better off for doing so, and so will any animal that you put in there.

p.s. by the way its salinity not "salidity".

 

[DensityMan]

I have to plead "STOP" as well...

Even Tim was weeping teary-eyed (single eye of course) at the prospect of this too-fast-moving tank idea... and he loves a good demolition.

Cycling: it happens. If there were one sure-fire way to safely cycle a tank into stability in a week we'd all be using it. Using the packaged "live-sand" (with a shelf-life of a year?) may help and it may do absolutely nothing more than drain your pocketbook faster... Dumping in bacterial cultures (like 'Fast-cycle', etc) is the same. The damsels should ideally be added post-cycling, NOT intorduced to do some magic cycling dance. The Live Rock will cycle the tank in time. To build a bigger, bioload capacity sooner some suggest adding a raw shrimp (from te grocery store) for a few days. Adding fish (even damsels) to 'dirty' the tank and 'start' a cycle (either by surviving and producing waste or through dying and producing waste) is cruel and wasteful. This also creates more work for you trying to catch them later... Damsels get large and live long (when not used to cycle a tank), and they are aggressive their entire lives...

While mantids (mantises?) have been known to survive as hitchhikers in live rock and can be presumably pretty tough a fresh tank that has yet to go through any biological/nitrogen spikes is near-certain doom for some of the larger (and for whatever reason) more sensitive stomatopods. Your mantis may also be much more visible without any fish tankmates. Through my experiences, I have learned that no matter how docile the fish is my mantis does not come out as often as when he feels threatened by something swimming above/around him.

Time is your friend... use it to read up some on the requirements of the tank and its future occupants.

(do a search of the web or RC for "Nitrogen Cycle or Cycling an aquarium).

Salinity: Add salt to the water in mixing jugs outside the tank. While adding salt to the tank in the beginning as you have may work out it is harder to balance to the desired specific gravity/salinity.

Ask a few questions and poke around a little. It can't hurt...

Enjoy,

DM

 

[Hwarang]

Seriously, I really hate to be one of those ppl that chide a newbie, but you need to do a lot more research, slow down your setup process and also start caring about the welfare of your pets.

We'd all be happy to answer any questions you might have but
DON'T ADD LIVESTOCK UNTIL THE TANK IS CYCLED AND YOU'VE DONE YOUR HOMEWORK