Newb has questions - first tank ever.

[atxchris1234]

Im running whatever lights came with my kit. Sorry, but I am not sure.

Should I buy uncured liverock and go through the curing process myself or should I buy cured rock?

Is any better or worse for establishing a good tank?

[tony]

welcome to maast, looks like you are off to a great start

cured vs uncured seems to be personal preference and whether you are patient or not. neither is really better or worse in my opinion their are pros/cons of both

2 of my best investments in this hobby have been an RO filter and a refractometer. both will save you in the long run.

[brewercm]

You'll have a little die off even with cured and if you are using it to cycle your tank it really doesn't matter. If you do use uncured I'd recommend putting a skimmer on there to get rid of the nasty stuff. It sounds like from your setup you'd need a hang on type since it doesn't sound like you are using any type of sump.

Once you have this all up and going study very hard when you get ready to change out your lights (and you will) to make sure you get what you really want from the first time. Not sure if that's really possible but try hard to get what you really "need" and want.l

[atxchris1234]

Im really enjoying the depth of this hobby. Any hobby that takes a while to master is worth doing in my opinion. The advice here is outstanding, thanks again.

More questions -

1.) As the RO filter is a bit out of my price range (other hobbies) is it acceptable to just keep buying distilled for water changes? I see the benefit of being able to create my own high quality water, but if a guy is on a budget is h-e-b distilled good enough for now?

2.) Prob. a stupid question, but... is there any wrong way to mix water? I bought some 5 gal buckets and what im doing is just filling them with distilled water, mixing in my salt (using the good old fashioned hand stir method) until I can't "feel" anymore salt. Once I get to that point I just add it to the tank. Is this correct or should I allow the water more time to fully dissolve the salt? Let it sit overnight?

3.) How would a refractometer be used and for what purpose? Does this allow you to actually "see" whats going on inside your water? Basically... a microscope? If so, what are you looking for and why?

[erikharrison]

1.) You should be fine.
2.) Put a powerhead in the water and leave it for about 30 minutes after you hand stir. This should be fine until you purchase a RO/DI unit.
3.) You drip water on the plate and flip down the press. When you look into it, there are marked lines that show different grades of salinity. You will see a definite line indicating your tank's salinity. A Floating glass hydrometer is always accurate and they run about 10 dollars.

[tony]

Im really enjoying the depth of this hobby. Any hobby that takes a while to master is worth doing in my opinion. The advice here is outstanding, thanks again.

More questions -

1.) As the RO filter is a bit out of my price range (other hobbies) is it acceptable to just keep buying distilled for water changes? I see the benefit of being able to create my own high quality water, but if a guy is on a budget is h-e-b distilled good enough for now?



2.) Prob. a stupid question, but... is there any wrong way to mix water? I bought some 5 gal buckets and what im doing is just filling them with D/O water, mixing in my salt (using the good old fashioned hand stir method) until I can't "feel" anymore salt. Once I get to that point I just add it to the tank. Is this correct or should I allow the water more time to fully dissolve the salt? Let it sit overnight?


3.) How would a refractometer be used and for what purpose? Does this allow you to actually "see" whats going on inside your water? Basically... a microscope? If so, what are you looking for and why?

i ran my tank on water bought from one of those water dispensers in a parking lot for over a year (windmill) it wasnt perfect but it worked and better than tapwater (IIRC i paid $.25/gallon)

i also use the 5g bucket/hand stir method as well. just make sure that is only thing you use the bucket for

refractometer will give you the most accurate salinity reading. a floating hydrometer will also get you pretty close

[jehudson]

B&B has cheapest RO water of any LFS I know of. I paid .29 cents a gal Sunday(please correct me if I'm wrong folks ... no pride here). I've been using the water mill, but I'd rather go to a LFS.

[atxchris1234]

Just got back from lunch, ran home and checked my numbers while I was at it.


Temp-78 (yesterday 72)
kh - 7.5 (yesterday 8.5)
ph 7.7 (yesterday 8.0)
salinity - 34 (yesterday 31)
s Gravity - 1.025 (yesterday 1.023)


Looking at the numbers, my kh and ph is looking better than yesterday, while my salinity for some reason has gone up. Hmmm. Could this have something to do with water temp? It must, as its the only variable that has changed (to my limited knowledge)
Considering I am looking to get live rock tonight, do I need to give it more time and make sure my salinity levels are more consistant before I risk my high dollar rock? Or is it okay to simply buy the rock, add some water and be done with it?


Just want to know how to do this the right way.
Thanks

[brewercm]

I've found that not all salt is completely dissolved for quite a while and it can go up another couple of points after mixing for about 24 hours. Not a huge problem on a large tank but on a smaller one can cause you problems. I've gotten to where I let it mix for at least 24 hours and getting stable before adding to tank.

[erikharrison]

B&B has cheapest RO water of any LFS I know of. I paid .29 cents a gal Sunday(please correct me if I'm wrong folks ... no pride here). I've been using the water mill, but I'd rather go to a LFS.

I think that's for premixed saltwater too, isn't it?