Hello from Indiana...Newb

Hello everyone !
My name is Adam and I have wanted a saltwater aquarium for many, many years. Well here VERY recently I kinda threw myself into this hobby. The problem is, I didn't have any time to do any research before this came about. I realize this isn't very responsible but it happened anyway. My wife called me from work earlier this week and asked me if I wanted a free 90 gallon saltwater aquarium completely set up....Of course I said Hell Yes ! and this is what I ended up with

The person I got this from is moving from here (Indiana) to Arkansas and didn't want to take everything with him. So I drove to his house on Wednesday evening and tore everything down and set it all back up in my house about an hour later. This set up is supposed to be around 2 years old, and supposed to be . I took some measurements and it's a 75 gallon not a 90...Oh well. lol There are 3 Clownfish, 1 Blue Tang, 1 Blue Damsel, 2 shrimp, and 1 crab in the tank now. I have no idea how much 'live rock' is actually in there but there is a lot of it.
The first questions I have is, What all do I need to test for right away? I have 2 test kits that came with this tank...

Next, I am getting ready to go to an aquarium shop for food because I read somewhere, in my mad rush for information, that the food supplied to me by the previous owner is not sufficient. I have tropical flake food and frozen cyclops. What should I get to feed my new aquatic life ?
Lastly (for the time being) is this filtration system ok for now ?

I really have no idea on a salt water set up. In the past, I have had many freshwater setups from 10 gallon up to 150 gallon.
Thank you for any information given ! All help is appreciated.
Adam S.

 

The blue tang doesn't belong in that small of a tank.

I would remove the wet/dry filtration and use a filter sock.

Testing wise, if you don't have any coral, use the kit on the left. Ammonia nitrites nitrates and PH.

I didn't see a skimmer in the pictures, do you have one?

I would look into frozen food for feeding.

 

Welcome to 3reef Adam!

That is fantastic that you were able to get a tank.

Initially you will need to monitor for ammonia/nitrites/nitrates, keep SG stable around 1.022-1.025 for fish only tank. Once and if you do get into corals things will get a little more complicated.

Have plenty of ready made fresh saltmix made up to assist in getting through any mini or full on cycles your tank may experience after the move.

The choice of fish is not optimal but one thing at a time. Go slow, try not to tackle the whole tank set up at once. Just keep researching.

 

Welcome to 3reef and congrats on your first salt tank! It's never too late to start researching so I would recommend you do that! You especially want to understand the optimal parameters of a saltwater tank and keeping it stable. Follow all of Corailline's advice she's truly an expert.

We're glad you're here! This is a great forum to get information (lots of articles to help you get acquainted with saltwater). Right now, stick to the fish until you get some good reading under your belt. You actually have a very nice beginner size to start. Larger tanks leave more room for small errors and such and are more forgiving with parameter shifts.

For food, you can get some frozen brine, mysis to start. You probably want some algae sheets for your tang - you clip it to the side of the tank or rubberband onto a rock in the tank or some sort of dry food with spirulina in it.

One piece of advice that will save you a lot of headaches from the beginning is to use RO/DI water or at least RO water for water changes and top offs. You can order your own unit or you can purchase from your LFS or stores like Walmart. If you can't find that, at least use distilled water. This will prevent nutrients such as phosphates from building up and causing algae problems.

I think that's the big things I can think of. Welcome to the hobby! You are going to love it! Your freshwater experience will help you in this transition because you already have a foundational knowledge of the factors for keeping a closed fish system alive.

 

Thanks to everyone for the replies and the warm welcome ! I did tests this morning before I fed the critters; the salinity is 1.022, Ph was 7.8 (time to bring it up some) Ammonia was 0, Nitrites were 0, and Nitrates were ~ 120. I am going to get an Alk & Mag testers and some more RO water here in a few to change out about 5 gallons. Also I picked up some different forr last night while out. I got Hikari Marine pellets, a can of Formula 2 flakes, and 2 packs of frozen Mysis shrimp.

Devin...I have read many times now that the Tang doen't fit well in this tank, and after some reading on this species, I can see why. I will probably be keeping it for a short time though, I dont really have anyone close to me that has a salt water set up, and the LFS is an hour away. Anyway, I don't mean to sound ignorant and I'm sure it's self-explanitory but, when you mention a filter sock, what are you talking about ? Any pic's to help ? Also, do not have a skimmer as of yet. I will probably wait a couple months to save up some $$ to get a good one. So far I have read that you get what you pay for when it comes to skimmers,and this is not something I want to skimp on. Besides, while saving $$, it will give me time to do some research.

Corailline and Oldfishkeeper.... Thank you for the responses and one of the first things I was warned about was using the RO water over tap water. And I actually used RO when I had freshwater setups. =) I think the person I got this aquarium off of had it set up for his kids as a "Little Nemo" tank. Eventually, I would like to turn this into a reef set up. (I seen some absolutely amazing zoa something or other coral at the LFS last night. It looked like peacock feathers all over this live rock ! Im not sure what all the other neat ones I seen were called, and probably wouldn't reember the names even if I did. Lol.) I would also (down the road some time) like to get a 200 galon set up.

Thanks again for the responses !

Adam S.

 

For Alk/Cal testing I recommend going with a Red Sea test kit. I believe you may have mistyped, 120 nitrates? That's extremely high. You're going to need to do some water changes to bring that down, as soon as possible.


So to clarify on my first post, instead of doing that wet/dry setup, you just want to somehow modify it so that the water drains through a filter sock and not onto the bioballs. You could even go as far as buying a new sump that is already designed to hold one.

Filter Socks - Bulk Reef Supply

Filter socks are just that, a Filter that resemble a sock. These are reusable and I throw them in the washing machine (alone, of course) and allow them to air dry.

 

Definitely do some water changes and 120 is high but not outrageous in a fish only tank - your fish in there now are probably used to it. You don't need to panic on the nitrates. Just my .02.

 

OFK... Thank you so much for the response !!! I have been sweating for the past few hours now... I did a water change of about 7 gallons around an hour ago. Any input on when to retest for levels ? And how long do I wait before doing another water change ?

Thanks a million !

 

I would test everyday for a week at least.

Feed sparingly as that will contribute to a rise in ammonia/nitrites/nitrates.

You can do small water changes, like 7 gallons every other day if the values listed above rise.