Salt and Struggle: watching my first attempt at saltwater aquariums

[InvertGang]

So here I was, a freshwater keeper, thinking I could get into saltwater.

"It won't be that hard", I thought.

"If I do research, I'm sure I'll be able to set it up", I thought.

Bright eyed and full of wonder, I made a trip to my LFS for supplies, with the intent of setting up my first tank, a Fluval 13.5 Evo that day.

Well, here I am, a few days later, with a bucket of water. The tank is still in the box, the bag of salt unopened, and the water unmade.

This is a story of my struggle finding a pipe adapter.


So I get home on the first day with my supplies, specific gravity meter in hand, a new bucket (full of free salt water from the store), a heater, an RO+DI filter, a bag of salt, and my new tank. I was sure I would get the tank running. In fact, in my huberis, I had bought a portion of Chaeto macroalgae to get me started.

While I could have bought all my water from my LFS, I wanted to learn how to make it. I figure it's better to learn now when the stakes are low rather than waiting until I eventually get a big tank.

My first roadblock: the salt meter instructions said that it has to sit for 24 hours with water in to calibrate.

That's ok, I thought. I'll get the RO+DI working. I filled it up to calibrate and continued on.

Armed with my new RO+DI filter, I went to get it hooked up to my faucet. However, the adapter didn't fit. I couldn't even do that.

I didn't want my macro algae to die in the little bag by itself. I consulted my fish equipment pile and dredged out an old air pump and some air line. I set it up with the bucket and the heater, and poured in the Chaeto.

So, I present to you, my first saltwater system. A bucket with a bubbler.

The tube wouldn't stay sunk, so I put some alligator clips on to keep it under. That was two days ago.

Yesterday, I went to my hardware store and bought a different adapter they said would work for me.

I'll be trying to hook my RO+DI filter later today and I'll hopefully be making salt water in no time.

Edit: I also put a tiny bit of flake fish food from my freshwater tank in the bucket to give the little critters on the algae something to eat.

 

[JumboShrimp]

Let the adventure BEGIN!! ;Smuggrin

 

[InvertGang]

Let the adventure BEGIN!! ;Smuggrin

I didn't think the most difficult part of setting up a box full of water would be making the water to go in the box. It's so different from fresh water.

 

[InvertGang]

Everyone: we have achieved fancy bucket.

Guess what? The adapter I bought doesn't work, still no RO/DI water for me, which means the bucket will need to last longer while I figure out what to do next.

I went out and got some proper air stones and more airline for the bucket. I was shocked when I took out the line and saw the clips looking like this:

I can't believe that after only one day, they would get that rusty! Do you think it's safe to use the water still?

I also went spelunking for more old equipment and rustled up a reptile light fixture and a plant bulb from a Swedish furniture store for the Chaeto. My bucket has evolved into fancy bucket and now looks like this:

I also threw a couple handfuls of ceramic filter media I found because why not? May as well get some bacteria growing in the meantime.

Bonus fancy bucket video attached.

I'm a bit concerned that rust may have gotten in the water and could have a negative impact. I'm asking a friend who is an expert on pipe and hose connections to help me get my RO/DI hooked up. Will update with plans after we discuss.

 

[Just John]

The bucket looks fabulous so far!

 

[MaxTremors]

The water is no good if the rusty paper clips were in it.

 

[InvertGang]

The water is no good if the rusty paper clips were in it.

Oh no, I feared so . Hopefully I didn't kill the macroalgae or the pods. I'll make all fresh to put in my tank when I get the water working. Is that because it put too much iron in?

The bucket looks fabulous so far!

Thanks! Very flamboyant, I'm a fan. I almost put a powerhead it in but decided it would likely chew up the algae.

 

[MaxTremors]

Oh no, I feared so . Hopefully I didn't kill the macroalgae or the pods. I'll make all fresh to put in my tank when I get the water working. Is that because it put too much iron in?


Thanks! Very flamboyant, I'm a fan. I almost put a powerhead it in but decided it would likely chew up the algae.

It’s not necessarily the rust that I’d worry about (pretty sure it’s just ferric oxide, which we use to lower phosphates) , it’s the potential leaching of metals into the water. I imagine it’s steel, which is iron and any number of other metals, so there’s just no way of knowing if and what could’ve leeched. Considering it’s such a small amount of water, it’s just not worth the risk (metals can poison/kill invertibrates). It could very well be that the water is fine, but again, just not worth the risk.

 

[InvertGang]

It’s not necessarily the rust that I’d worry about (pretty sure it’s just ferric oxide, which we use to lower phosphates) , it’s the potential leaching of metals into the water. I imagine it’s steel, which is iron and any number of other metals, so there’s just no way of knowing if and what could’ve leeched. Considering it’s such a small amount of water, it’s just not worth the risk (metals can poison/kill invertibrates). It could very well be that the water is fine, but again, just not worth the risk.

Should I rinse the Chaeto in RO or salt water before I move it over? Or I could get another sample from my LFS, they have a lot and it's cheap. I'd want to make sure I get the copepods and things over, but I want to avoid contamination.

 

[DeniseAndy]

Well, welcome to the world of saltwater. I swear, if I do not go to the hardware store at least 4 times when trying to plump something it would be a miracle. I had the same problem just trying to get a hose hooked up to my laundry sink. Three trips to get the right adapter. I feel you.

I love the bucket! That fancy light will grow some algae nicely.

As far as the water, get some new stuff from the LFS and rinse the cheato in some of it, toss that, and put it in a fresh bucket of saltwater. Hopefully some of the pods survive.

 

[InvertGang]

I threw out all that salt water with the rust in it. Made me sad to waste it, but I agree that it's better safe than sorry.

I managed to get the RO/DI hooked up finally!

The only thing is that there's so much waste water vs filtered water I get from it. Much more than I thought. There's also a small leak around the threads of the main chamber. Other than that, it works great!

The tiny cutting board helps to block the leak.

The water tested at 0 TDS after going through the filter.

Putting the filter up on a bucket helped it to flow a bit faster.

I made some new salt water for the Chaeto while I waited to get enough RO water for the full tank.

Getting a stand to put the tank on took one Kijiji trip and going to two different IKEAs, but I finally got the tank set up.

The shelf is rated for 350 pounds per shelf, so quite sturdy.


I'm going to the LFS to buy a couple small live rocks and maybe some dry rock too. I'm going away for two weeks at the end of the week, and I figure it'll give it a good chance to get some bacteria established in advance. I hope to get some more live rock after to finish filling it out.

I have some live sand too, but I'm going to wait until I'm back to put that in since I want to get all the rock in first.

Is that a good idea? Or is it better to wait until after my vacation to get any live rock?

Also on my list: making a media basket thing with some eggcrate. Stay tuned for updates on how that goes!

 

[revhtree]

Congrats on the new adventure!

 

[revhtree]

I threw out all that salt water with the rust in it. Made me sad to waste it, but I agree that it's better safe than sorry.

I managed to get the RO/DI hooked up finally!

The only thing is that there's so much waste water vs filtered water I get from it. Much more than I thought. There's also a small leak around the threads of the main chamber. Other than that, it works great!

The tiny cutting board helps to block the leak.

The water tested at 0 TDS after going through the filter.

Putting the filter up on a bucket helped it to flow a bit faster.

I made some new salt water for the Chaeto while I waited to get enough RO water for the full tank.

Getting a stand to put the tank on took one Kijiji trip and going to two different IKEAs, but I finally got the tank set up.

The shelf is rated for 350 pounds per shelf, so quite sturdy.


I'm going to the LFS to buy a couple small live rocks and maybe some dry rock too. I'm going away for two weeks at the end of the week, and I figure it'll give it a good chance to get some bacteria established in advance. I hope to get some more live rock after to finish filling it out.

I have some live sand too, but I'm going to wait until I'm back to put that in since I want to get all the rock in first.

Is that a good idea? Or is it better to wait until after my vacation to get any live rock?

Also on my list: making a media basket thing with some eggcrate. Stay tuned for updates on how that goes!

If you have an auto top off or someone coming to top the tank off I would get the rock and sand in now!

 

[InvertGang]

It's two things I'm concerned about. One is that if I put everything in and I'm not here, something could go wrong and I wouldn't be able to react. The second part is I'm wondering if it'd be cooler to be there so I can watch the live rock as stuff pokes its head out.

What do you think?

 

[DeniseAndy]

Honestly, I would wait. I never do anything new to my systems within one month of leaving for vacation. I like things stable and working well before I go. I will not set up a nano or pico before I go anywhere either. No rush to cycle as if you get wet live rock, there will be no cycle.

 

[InvertGang]

And we're back!

I decided to get some of the live rock in advance and put it in to start growing beforehand. I didn't put the sand in as I wanted to wait until I got the rest of the rock and stuff as I was going to move the sand around. I got 4ish pounds of it from one of my LFS and set it up before I left.

When I got back, the stuff had all started growing! I started spotting bristle works and aiptasia. Cool on the worms, not as much on the aiptasia.

I did a top off and water change first thing. I didn't get a lot of evaporation though.

I wanted to get the rest of my rock and sand in to keep growing bacteria. I decided to get some flat rock to put under my other rocks to make the base more stable. I got some of the Little Feet rocks from Two Little Fishies.

I was planning on just using it for the base but got carried away with stacking it. My largest freshwater aquarium has a slate retaining wall and hardscape that took me hours to figure out how to make it stable. Luckily that gave me some practice and working with this new rock felt a lot like that.

I played around with it on my shelf a bit first to get an idea of what I wanted and then started to move it into the tank.

However, the live rock wasn't cooperating with the stack I made in advance and had to redo it live, underwater. I also adjusted the scape to account for the fact the bottom rocks would be covered in sand.

I decided not to glue it yet (even though I bought the reef epoxy) in case I got more different rock later or changed my mind. This is what I settled on.

It's very stable, despite the fact it isn't glued yet.

I siphoned more of the stuff off the bottom. I then added the sand I was holding back. I went with the CaribSea pink Fiji live sand so didn't rinse it and put it straight in. I scooped it out with a measuring cup, brought the whole cup underwater slowly to wet the sand, then poured it around the rock.

So cloudy...

When it settled, I got some little Zoa frags that were on sale at my LFS. One was labeled as Pandora zoas, the other as a "Zoa Combo Frag". No idea what the zoas on it are, but they were pretty and only $10. I wanted to get some affordable ones to make sure the water was ok for new stuff going forward.

I also got a cerith snail to start tackling some of the algae and to be fun to watch while I waited to put in more life.

The tank with sand now that it has settled.

I did my best to make it look good from the side too, as I see it from that angle much of the time.

The zoa frags I got. The Pandora labelled one is in the back, the mystery combo frag at the front.

My new snail doing work.

What do you think about the scape? Is it decent or does it need more work?

 

[dwair]

And we're back!

I decided to get some of the live rock in advance and put it in to start growing beforehand. I didn't put the sand in as I wanted to wait until I got the rest of the rock and stuff as I was going to move the sand around. I got 4ish pounds of it from one of my LFS and set it up before I left.

When I got back, the stuff had all started growing! I started spotting bristle works and aiptasia. Cool on the worms, not as much on the aiptasia.

I did a top off and water change first thing. I didn't get a lot of evaporation though.

I wanted to get the rest of my rock and sand in to keep growing bacteria. I decided to get some flat rock to put under my other rocks to make the base more stable. I got some of the Little Feet rocks from Two Little Fishies.

I was planning on just using it for the base but got carried away with stacking it. My largest freshwater aquarium has a slate retaining wall and hardscape that took me hours to figure out how to make it stable. Luckily that gave me some practice and working with this new rock felt a lot like that.

I played around with it on my shelf a bit first to get an idea of what I wanted and then started to move it into the tank.

However, the live rock wasn't cooperating with the stack I made in advance and had to redo it live, underwater. I also adjusted the scape to account for the fact the bottom rocks would be covered in sand.

I decided not to glue it yet (even though I bought the reef epoxy) in case I got more different rock later or changed my mind. This is what I settled on.

It's very stable, despite the fact it isn't glued yet.

I siphoned more of the stuff off the bottom. I then added the sand I was holding back. I went with the CaribSea pink Fiji live sand so didn't rinse it and put it straight in. I scooped it out with a measuring cup, brought the whole cup underwater slowly to wet the sand, then poured it around the rock.

So cloudy...

When it settled, I got some little Zoa frags that were on sale at my LFS. One was labeled as Pandora zoas, the other as a "Zoa Combo Frag". No idea what the zoas on it are, but they were pretty and only $10. I wanted to get some affordable ones to make sure the water was ok for new stuff going forward.

I also got a cerith snail to start tackling some of the algae and to be fun to watch while I waited to put in more life.

The tank with sand now that it has settled.

I did my best to make it look good from the side too, as I see it from that angle much of the time.

The zoa frags I got. The Pandora labelled one is in the back, the mystery combo frag at the front.

My new snail doing work.

What do you think about the scape? Is it decent or does it need more work?

Have you tested the water to make sure the cycle has finished? The zoas probably ok as it really isn't affected by anything, but the snail might not like it if your ammonia/nitrites/nitrates are high. I realize you put in live rock, but you still might have a cycle. Putting lifeforms in without testing the tank this early is bad.

Test Ammonia/Nitrites/Nitrates to see if you've cycled. If you have cycled, your ammonia and nitrites should be at 0 and your nitrates should be readable, 10+ probably.

 

[InvertGang]

Have you tested the water to make sure the cycle has finished? The zoas probably ok as it really isn't affected by anything, but the snail might not like it if your ammonia/nitrites/nitrates are high. I realize you put in live rock, but you still might have a cycle. Putting lifeforms in without testing the tank this early is bad.

Test Ammonia/Nitrites/Nitrates to see if you've cycled. If you have cycled, your ammonia and nitrites should be at 0 and your nitrates should be readable, 10+ probably.

I feel guilty for not testing yet. To be totally honest, I have decision paralysis with the marine tests. I've been seeing in lots of places on this forum how unreliable the little test tube test kits can be, to a degree it doesn't feel worth it to go that route. But paying a lot of money for the digital ones up front is a lot and I'm not sure about that route either.

As far as the health and safety of the snail goes, the health of my animals is very important to me. I made the decision to go forward with buying it based on the live rock, the chaeto brewing in the back, the live sand, and the fact I've had some of the filter media (the ceramic rings) cycling for almost a month now. I had them in the bucket before the tank was set up.

Behaviour wise, the animals seem to be in good spirits too. I haven't seen signs of distress in them. There's a feather worm that's out, the bristle works are all writing out of the rocks when I've fed the tank, the zoas are fully open and chilling, the snail is zipping around enjoying the algae that built up ok the AIO dividing wall.

I'm definitely going to get a test kit and do some testing before I get fish or any shrimp. Maybe I'll take a water sample to my LFS one day this week to verify as well while I'm deciding on what testers to get. Or make a thread about it in the chemistry forum asking for some tester advice there. What do you think?

 

[dwair]

I understand your concerns over the test kits but know this, this hobby has been going for many many years using these test kits. Are they 100% accurate probably not, but they are the best we can use and I’d still say they are fairly accurate. At the very least it’s pretty reliable to tell you if your cycle has finished.
Remember the number 1 rule of this hobby. Nothing good happens fast.

 

[DeniseAndy]

If you used live rock, you would have skipped a cycle and all should be fine. Especially seeing the nice growth you have. Good luck!