LFS installed my new reef tank, but.... Salt?

Ballyhoo

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After a two month wait from order, I finally received my Red Sea 200 G2 Max. I paid LFS to put everything together, and because of the long wait Red Sea threw in a large bucket of salt. But I just realized he (LFS guy) installed my reef tank, with my nice boxed live sand that i purchased separately. when he came to put everything together, he brought live rock that the LFS owner had selected for me on his own. Installer scaped it for me. He brought rodi water as well of course. He set up everything nicely, although he forgot to make a couple of connections from the ATO the controller, as well as I think he did not turn the reef mat on, because neither of those were connected to the app so I had to do those things, which I not easily did because the ATO cable is five pins, and it was just really hard to get a connection, and in that process some of the cords became a little bit cluttered. I need to better organize the cables. The ATO became functional and as per my red sea reefer app all is functional; however i did not see LFS mix salt in which I just never thought to ask him about because I presumed he knew exactly what he was doing. I put my finger in the sump and it certainly tastes salty so maybe they brought the water here already mixed with salt. IDK. i do not have a salinity test instrument yet. He told me it would take maybe six weeks to cycle my tank. I add a small amount of ammonia and microbacter every day, though it's only been the second day now. I never actually saw the installer mix any salt which puzzles me. I would not think he would've brought the water already salted. Maybe when I was in the other room he mixed the salt. IDK i better call tomorrow to clarify that because of all the things we discussed, mixing salt was never one of the topics he brought up or I thought to ask about. He just told me that they gave me about a one year supply of salt. Hypothetically, if he did not mix any salt in my tank, can I just slowly start adding it into the sump over the course of the next month, testing the salinity along the way? It would seem to me that slowly adding salt over the course of the next week or two or month would be practical, going to the sump first would not disturb the tank itself. And then the sump will pump the salt water back it into the tank. I hope this is correct? It's too late. I can't take out all the water and remix it. although I'm quite sure since the sump water tastes salty to me thought it was mixed in. what I found interesting is after he left and I got the ATL going a few hours later, the ATO sucked in about 4 gallons of water and brought the sump from about 40% to 90% full m. The app for the ATO shows "above full," but no alert or anything. I think that's all good and just how it's designed to be.

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ReefingDreams

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Almost certainly is saltwater. Especially if you tasted it and it was salty. It was likely mixed at the store and brought in containers. Why mix on-site? Added burden and they still have to bring the same amount of water.
 

AquaLogic

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I'm sure it was pre-mixed. Your ATO adding 4 gallons of freshwater is a problem. It's going to change the salinity of the entire system. You need to have a refractometer, or a digital salinity tester (which is easier and more accurate). This isn't something you can wait to do, as having your salinity too low or high can be unhealthy for the aquarium inhabitants when you add them, and potentially impact your cycle. You don't want to add salt over the course of months. It needs to be right now. You also don't mix it in your tank or sump. You need to mix it and add the water by doing a water change and adding water of the right salinity or mixing a stronger salinity in a smaller volume of water to add, in order to rais the salinity. It's not an emergency, but you need to learn to test your water sooner rather than later. Also, you're either going to need to pay the LFS to maintain the system for you, or learn a lot about how to care for it. That would have ideally been done before installation, but you have time as it cycles. Successfully keeping a reef takes a good deal of knowledge.
 
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Dbichler

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Everyone else’s comments add up other than cycling. If you got live rock you shouldn’t have much of a cycle if any at all. Although it sounds like you’re brand new to salt so going slow would definitely be of benefit. In this case I would read through all the stickies on this site and feed very little food to your tank to keep your beneficial bacteria going. Do not add ammonia to live rock start you will only confuse yourself with not seeing any ammonia readings and end up way overdosing. Test all other parameters salinity nitrate phosphate mag cal and alk these are the only test kits you need don’t buy a master test kit they’re typically a waste of money. Do a waterchange to get used to doing that and add a fish once all has been accomplished. Should take you about a week.
 

Gtinnel

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I agree with above that you need to have a way to check salinity, but the water that was added was saltwater. If the tank was filled with fresh water your skimmer would not be working. A skimmer running in fresh water does not make a stable foam like it does in saltwater.
 
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Ballyhoo

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I agree with above that you need to have a way to check salinity, but the water that was added was saltwater. If the tank was filled with fresh water your skimmer would not be working. A skimmer running in fresh water does not make a stable foam like it does in saltwater.
oh right, the skimmer is definitely foaming. when I mentioned yesterday calling my LFS installer about the large ATO top off, he was not concerned at all and never mentioned anything about having to compensate with adding salt. He just told me it was working overtime to get everything normal. He told me I wouldn't have to do a water change for maybe a month or so until it is cycled. I still need to figure out which pump to buy for water changes.
 

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These guys do not seem like saltwater experts. If they were, they wouldn't tell you it will take 6 weeks to cycle after adding live rock. Take their advice with a grain of salt and vet info through this forum. Empower yourself to know when they are feeding you BS.
 

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Look at the flat bottomed sicce utility pump for water changes
Im pretty sure the OP is paying the LFS for ongoing tank maintenance.
 

Asm481

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I would be worried about sump level. Will it hold all the drain down water with power off? That needs to be tested and levels adjusted immediately! Get good test instruments. A good salinity refractometer. Hannah or Salifert nitrate, phosphate, calcium, alkalinity to start. A cheap Api ammonia test to watch cycle then throw it away once tank has got through first cycle.
 

Ben's Pico Reefing

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with live rock being added and truly was live rock, you are good to go. A cycle is just establishing bacteria to breakdown bi products of waste. If you have live rock, you already have the bacteria. I would start with coral. Produce minimal waste and light feeding. Then add cleanup crew as you add corals. During this time you can setup a temporary QT for the fish you want. Once the QT is done you can add to tank.

Please get a refractometer to check salinity. You will need this. Then yoou can be the test kits for trace elements to test as well. Many options.
 
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Ballyhoo

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Im pretty sure the OP is paying the LFS for ongoing tank maintenance.

I have not gotten that far yet as the LFS told me there is not much to be done for about a month. But I may, or may not. I think i should know how everything works but I am behind the learning curve right now. Maybe I will hire the LFS for the maintenance until I become competent.
 
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Ballyhoo

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Also I asked the LFS if I needed to be concerned about the salinity since the ATO pumped four gallons of distilled water into the sump and I was told it was not enough to make a difference on the salinity.
 

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