Newbie to the Saltwater Hobby

L

LRomero

New member
Hi Everyone,

I've been involved with Freshwater and Freshwater Planted for going on 9 years now. This past Sunday I bought my first saltwater aquarium. It is a used RedSea Max C250 that was bought new 2 years ago. It has a Tunze 5017 auto topper, a Jebao wave controller/pumps, and a BRS 4 Stage Value Water Saver Plus RODI unit (has a TDS meter on it too). Lots of other misc extras (salt, test kits, food, pumps, 10G quarantine tank) and the guy had recently changed all 6 bulbs to new ATI bulbs. Far as livestock, it has 2 Firefish, 1 Clownfish, 1 Wrasse, 2 fire shrimp, 1 cleaner shrimp, and 1 sand sifting starfish. Corals is has 5 pieces of rose bubble tip anemones, and couple others that I have not been able to identify. All at the price of $650.

Hauled it home yesterday and got everything back in and up and running. I saved close to 45 gallons of the original water and refilled with 5 gallons of RODI water and 5 gallons of mixed saltwater. The guy couldn't find his hydrometer so I'll pick one up at Petsmart on my way home from work.

Will try to post some pictures of it this evening now that the water has cleared up some. I did notice the protein skimmer has a hum to it. I took it out, pulled pump apart, and cleaned it, but the hum is still there. Not sure if its resting to far down in the sump or what. Might try and pump some foam as a cushion and see if that helps any.

Anyway, I'm 2 days into the hobby
 
LRomero said:
Hi Everyone,

I've been involved with Freshwater and Freshwater Planted for going on 9 years now. This past Sunday I bought my first saltwater aquarium. It is a used RedSea Max C250 that was bought new 2 years ago. It has a Tunze 5017 auto topper, a Jebao wave controller/pumps, and a BRS 4 Stage Value Water Saver Plus RODI unit (has a TDS meter on it too). Lots of other misc extras (salt, test kits, food, pumps, 10G quarantine tank) and the guy had recently changed all 6 bulbs to new ATI bulbs. Far as livestock, it has 2 Firefish, 1 Clownfish, 1 Wrasse, 2 fire shrimp, 1 cleaner shrimp, and 1 sand sifting starfish. Corals is has 5 pieces of rose bubble tip anemones, and couple others that I have not been able to identify. All at the price of $650.

Hauled it home yesterday and got everything back in and up and running. I saved close to 45 gallons of the original water and refilled with 5 gallons of RODI water and 5 gallons of mixed saltwater. The guy couldn't find his hydrometer so I'll pick one up at Petsmart on my way home from work.

Will try to post some pictures of it this evening now that the water has cleared up some. I did notice the protein skimmer has a hum to it. I took it out, pulled pump apart, and cleaned it, but the hum is still there. Not sure if its resting to far down in the sump or what. Might try and pump some foam as a cushion and see if that helps any.

Anyway, I'm 2 days into the hobby
Click to expand...

Good luck! You just dove head first into it. I hope everything works for you and it doesn't crash. Please ask alot of questions here and listen to everything ppl say. I'm not necessarily a very knowledgeable person in some areas as I'm still fairly new myself but I try to get as much advice as I can! Look forward to seeing pics.
 
WOW that is an awesome price! Good luck and I hope you can post a photo of your setup. Keep a close eye on your water perimeters. Was there sand or is it bare bottom now?
 
Diana A said:
You should think about sometime down the line to get a refractometer and not use hydrometer
Click to expand...

That was going to be my first question: what is a good refractometer. Petsmart didn't have the hydrometer in stock so I'll have to order something. Tried the auto parts store, but a battery tester doesn't go low enough for aquarium SG.


Heath: no special reason. It was a jug that came with the tank and I was trying to fill the tank back up. Figured I was playing it safe not having a hydrometer.
 
LRomero said:
That was going to be my first question: what is a good refractometer. Petsmart didn't have the hydrometer in stock so I'll have to order something. Tried the auto parts store, but a battery tester doesn't go low enough for aquarium SG.


Heath: no special reason. It was a jug that came with the tank and I was trying to fill the tank back up. Figured I was playing it safe not having a hydrometer.
Click to expand...

https://www.marinedepot.com/Marine_...ctometer-Marine_Depot-MD2101-FITEOPRF-vi.html

Marinedepot.com is your friend.
 
You generally don't want to add that much RODI to the tank. Many things are sensitive to fast salinity changes which 5 gals of RODI will do. You really need to get a hydrometer ASAP and slowly bring your salinity back up to where it should be.
 
For a fish-only: salinity 1.019 to 1.026

For a softie reef: salinity needs to be 1.024 to 1.026, never rising more than .002 at a time.
 
Thanks for the salinity numbers. I'm heading to my LFS at lunch to see if they have a refractometer in stock. If not, I'll get what they have available and then I'll order one off Amazon.

Water clearing up and was a little more clearer this morning. Got some buckets of RODI water last night, so I'll mix some salt in them and do a water change tonight with a vacuum of the crub that settled on the sand and rocks. Put some flake food in the tank last night and now all the fish are more active. The Wrasse came out from hiding in the sand and the Firefish are more active too. Seems like more rock is needed? Right now the backside is open and the fish can swim around all sides of the rock. This "rockscaping" is tougher than I expected it to be, but maybe that's the perfectionist in me coming out.

On duration of lighting. I have my timer set for 2 hours in the morning (6AM to 8AM) and then 5 hours in the evening (5PM to 9PM). Is 7 hours enough?

What is the names of the 2 corals at the top of the rock in the middle? One in the middle and one to the right. If they are not corals, please let me know. Trying to understand whats corals, sponges, etc.

Picture I took last night:
20170710_184855_zps0e9yn0ba.jpg



Picture I took this morning:
20170711_065314_zpsjixqlznj.jpg
 
I have a refractometer now, so I will check when I get home after work. That said, I'm planning to do some vacuuming/water change as well. Should I measure first then adjust the saltwater mixture that I mix up or should I go with the recommended 1/2 cup to 1 gallon of water that is on the bucket?
 
Wow you got yourself a bargain there! I agree with the others, even the smallest change to parameters could lead to disaster but hey good luck, keep us posted!


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 
Hydrometers are totally fine. More important than what kind of instrument you use is whether or not it's calibrated and if you know how to use it.

Lots of people run out and buy refractometers because they have a reputation on forums as being more accurate - IME, the reputation is not deserved - it seems like the classic case of hobbyists liking them because they're perceived as fancier or more elite. I've bought refractometers that were off by 50% out of the box (no, that's not a typo). Also, it's common that they drift if the instrument is handled roughly. Don't buy one unless you're going to get a model that can be calibrated, and then make sure you're also getting calibration fluid and you're checking the calibration regularly.

Yes, hydrometers are often inaccurate out of the box, too, and the reading can be inconsistent if you're introducing problems with your procedure. But the solution to that is learning how to use it, not running out and buying a different type of instrument.
 
Thanks everyone. I ended up with a refractometer from my LFS which is able to be calibrated. They explained to use RODI water to calibrate to 0. Doing so and I ended up with 1.015 SG. Did some vacuum cleaning and refilled. Now I'm at 1.020. I know this is more than the 0.002 at a time, but I'm trying to get the hang of this mixing.

Unfortunately, I didn't shut my pumps off before I started vacuuming. Now I got cloudy water again and having to wait. What I'm going to do now is vacuum maybe 5 gallons at a time every couple days. Is that a good plan or should I do something different? I'm mixing at 1/2 cup Kent's salt per gallon per the bucket. Is that good or should I adjust?
 
Can someone give me feedback on my lighting plan?

Also I'm going to have to build me some kind of powerless filter to get this sucker cleaned up. Got crud settling on all the rocks, in the rocks, on the glass, etc.
 
LRomero said:
Thanks everyone. I ended up with a refractometer from my LFS which is able to be calibrated. They explained to use RODI water to calibrate to 0. Doing so and I ended up with 1.015 SG. Did some vacuum cleaning and refilled. Now I'm at 1.020. I know this is more than the 0.002 at a time, but I'm trying to get the hang of this mixing.

Unfortunately, I didn't shut my pumps off before I started vacuuming. Now I got cloudy water again and having to wait. What I'm going to do now is vacuum maybe 5 gallons at a time every couple days. Is that a good plan or should I do something different? I'm mixing at 1/2 cup Kent's salt per gallon per the bucket. Is that good or should I adjust?
Click to expand...

Why would you calibrate an instrument to 0 when you're testing 35 PPT ?
 
Testing Salinity.

My opinion..

Go to Local pet store.. Buy a hydrometer , Have them test it against a JUST Calibrated Refractometer . Remember how far its off if at all. This will be constant every time use use it as long as you keep it clean. It will Literally last forever and no calibrating fluids no mess no fuss
I only use my Refractometer well Its been a few years.. I use glass hydrometer and swing arm ..

Welcome the Reefing Community.. It does not always have to be expensive to work
 
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