I just set up a Saltwater tank yesturday and I have a few questions...

[EmmanuelJB]

First I wanted to ask what I should be running in my filter? Eventually I want to have purigen and poly filters in it. For right now Im not going to put poly filters in it, and I was wondering if I should put the purigen in it right now or just have the filter circulate the water?

The second thing I was wondering is if I should be running my protien skimmer? Even though there is no bio load I turned it on (because it is also a filter) and it is skimming, and I didnt know if it should be...

Any other tips would be great!

Thanks!

[Rue]

All I have in my filter is a sponge and carbon. Yes! I run carbon and I don't care if others don't! :14:

I would turn on the protein skimmer regardless...it seems to need a breaking-in period oftentimes...

If you have LR...then the skimmer will start removing icky stuff that comes off the rock too...

[sheamurai]

IMO (and I've had a saltwater tank for all of three months, so take it or not as you wish, lol) it seems to me if you are trying to cycle a tank, then why would you want to remove the stuff you want to grow the bacteria for? Sure, you want the big cruddies out, but the die off from the live rock is what gives you your ammonia for the bacteria to feed from in the first place.
I only had a 30gal tank to start with tho (now its a 50) so I didn't even have a skimmer for the first two months. I never showed any ammonia readings at all. All I had to do was wait for nitrates to come down - which they did only after I started buying RO water.

For the first little while all I ran was a regular filter pad in my HOB filter, which I made sure to clean out every other day, to get the bigger floaties out.

Now that its stocked, I have a skimmer, and the HOB is running a phosphate pad, phosphate remover, and purigen along with a few smaller peices of LR. I'm at the cyano stage of tank life, sigh.

Have fun and good luck with your new tank!

[EmmanuelJB]

I currently have no live rock, but I am planning on getting some in about a month.

So should I use purigen?
No to the protien skimmer?

[sheamurai]

If you have no live rock, how are you cycling?
Are you using ammonia?

If you are going to add live rock later, there's not much point to cycling your tank now, without it. When you add it, you will trigger another cycle anyway. You're best to wait until you can buy all or most of your live rock at once, and then let it cycle.

No need for purigen at this point, I'm only using it in an attempt to reduce algae. The skimmer is a personal preference thing - Rue is right when she says they sometimes need a break-in period, but if you have no live rock yet I don't see the point in running one.

[EmmanuelJB]

I have live sand though...
I was thinking of adding a little fish food to the tank to make sure the bacterias in the sand have a food source.

What do you think? Does the fact that I have live sand in the tank change anything?

[sheamurai]

I honestly don't think so.
Like I said earlier, if you add live rock down the road, you are going to trigger another cycle anyhoots. You'll get some die-off from the rock, which will likely cause an ammonia spike.
Hopefully some other salty folks will chime in so you have more than two opinions to go by...

Also, there is some debate about how "live" live sand can really be. How long has it been on the shelf? How could bacteria live that long without a food source? I'm sure there is a theory behind it, I do hope someone else chimes in on this for you.
I have read that folks who have cycled a tank without LR I use ammonium chloride. You can google it.

[Deftec]

Just wait until you get the LR in, then you won't have to worry about all the other crap, and other cycles, etc. Patience lol.

[EmmanuelJB]

The live sand is actually new, thats why I got it. I think im going to try to put a little bit of food in the tank for incase the live sand is live.

Would you go with puting a little food or not?

[sheamurai]

I suppose it can't hurt, you have no fish in there anyway.

My tank was fully stocked with LR the day I started it, so I don't have any experience with anything else.

[EmmanuelJB]

I suppose it can't hurt, you have no fish in there anyway.

My tank was fully stocked with LR the day I started it, so I don't have any experience with anything else.
Ok! Well thanks soo much for all of your help.

[sheamurai]

Have fun! Nothing like starting a new tank, especially SW!

[MCHRKiller]

I probably wouldnt bother with filter media if nothing is in there yet, but I would definatly let the skimmer run, as said alot need a period to "break" in and its not like its gonna hurt anything.

There is no real need to cycle marine tanks in the traditional way, the live rock you buy will have bacteria already colonized inside it. Sure shipping it or moving it will cause some die off but that die off is what prompts re-growth and survival of the bacteria because it starts the nitrogen cycle. If you monitor the levels of the tank after addition of live rock, you will usually always see a small spike...when it goes down and levels are optimal again you can begin to stock. You also may get some hitch-hikers on the rock so feeding your tank with the curing rock once or twice a week wont hurt anything. Also, add the filter media a few days prior to adding the live rock. If there are any stray heavy metals or toxins those two medias will take care of it before the rock goes in.

[EmmanuelJB]

Thanks! For right now im not going to run the skimmer, just the filter on it. The instructions to the skimmer says that it takes about 24 hours the break in and Im not getting live rock for about a month, so I have plenty of time for it to brreak in. Also it was skimming today before I stopped the skimmer part, so could it of already broken in?

[AABatteries]

I the reason you didn't get LR was because of money, then you won't have money to keep the tank.

[travie]

Did the live sand you bought come from a sealed bag? If so, definitely do not feed the tank with fish food to keep the sand alive. Putting phosphate rich fish food into a tank, will only cause you unnecessary algae problems. Most people, me included, don't consider sand 'live' if you bought it in sealed bag off of an LFS's shelf.

Since you say you will be getting live rock, there is no real need for filter media like sponges. Carbon is fine and a good idea(and keep switching out the carbon for new carbon per the directions). If you insist on using a sponge for polishing water, you will want to rinse it out weekly or more often. If you do not do this, it will become a nitrate factory, and your tank would be better off without the sponge all together.

I recommend you read the last sentence in my signature for help/advise for your SW tank setup.

[coachfraley]

Good advice Travie,

Once your tank is up and running, you might want to run mechanical filtration. I run floss and a small sponge (the sponge's real job is just to hold the floss). I switch out the floss 2-3 times a week and rinse the sponge in hot water.

I run the mechanical before my fuge, which helps to keep the poop from collecting there.

[EmmanuelJB]

I the reason you didn't get LR was because of money, then you won't have money to keep the tank.
That isnt the reason. The reason I am not getting live rock for about a month is because the closest place to get lie rock is 3 hours away, and we only go once in a while. I would buy it online, but I would rather not waste money on shipping, plus I want to look at the live rock I buy really well before getting it, especially since my tank is small.

[EmmanuelJB]

Heres the filter media Im going to eventually run:

AC 30-
Purigen
Poly Filters (A Chemical Media)

Nano Skimmer-
Activated Carbon Filter Cartridge

How does that sound?

[EmmanuelJB]

Im am having problems with my protien skimmer! It is producing millions of tiny bubbles, which are clouding up my water. In the instructions under problems and solutions for "Small Bubbles Discharging back into the aquarium" it says
-"Filter pad may be clogged. Change it." Well I just put the cartridges in a few days ago, so I didnt think it was that, but just incase I rinsed it off, and that didnt do anything.
-"Salinity is too high" Checked it, it is good.
-Conditionars may cause increase in surface tension turn skimmer part off for 24 hours." Did that still didnt work.

Do you have any ideas?
Its a Taam Rio Nano Skimmer.