What a vast world and exciting endevour, another infant newbie

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Hi guys,

This is an ultimate site and just what us newbies require, there are tonnes and tonnes of questions we need to ask and im sure we'll get it from your highly experienced communities ????

I've done my reading and started and boyd nana 140 L yesterday. Spent hours on this handy site and I hope I can educate myself to be an aspiring reefies like you all are.

I've always dreamed of having my own aquarium and now taken the plunge, a bit daunting for me as i've never even kept tropical fish and taking the plunge into the 'deep' end.

Thanks again for hosting this, all the forums are invaluable ....

Sammy
 
Sammy, give us some specs and ideas on what you want to do livestock etc. wise.
 
Thanks Sammy and a warm welcome to MASA. Those new boyu nanos are pretty good options for getting into the hobby. You don't have to worry too much about plumbing, tank design, equipment etc...

Remember to post pics ;)
 
A very WARM welcome to MASA Sammy! So glad that you joined us! Congratulations with your new tank!

OK - what stage are you in now? Do you have water in yet? Have you bought substrate (sand)? Live rock? What are you planning to keep? Fish only? Fish with some soft-corals? Later on some LPS corals? SPS corals?

Please let us know what your questions are.... We will try and assist as good as possible.
 
Yeah I hope so, as a start i though i buy the fully loaded kit, i'm preparing to take my time and start slow.

I'm slightly dissapointed in my LFS or LPS and I only now wonder why he slod me my live rock which cost be R800 BEFORE I even had a tank ?

Which leads me to my main question ? Have i killed my live rock as now it looks all white as its been out of water for about 4 hours and i put it in my soap just statred water, probaly very poor water conditions ? Will it survive ?
 
Once my tank is cycled, im thinking of first introducing some cleaner shrimp and monitor my conditions closely, is this a wise idea, or should i introduce 1 or 2 clowns ?

Also while my tank is cycling, do i need to have my lights on ? Just something that comes to mind ?
 
Yeah I hope so, as a start i though i buy the fully loaded kit, i'm preparing to take my time and start slow.

I'm slightly dissapointed in my LFS or LPS and I only now wonder why he slod me my live rock which cost be R800 BEFORE I even had a tank ?

Which leads me to my main question ? Have i killed my live rock as now it looks all white as its been out of water for about 4 hours and i put it in my soap just statred water, probaly very poor water conditions ? Will it survive ?

Sounds like you going to need to cure the LR. Chuck into the tank and it will cure in the cycling process. No soap is used in this sport :biggrin:
 
Yeah I hope so, as a start i though i buy the fully loaded kit, i'm preparing to take my time and start slow.

I'm slightly dissapointed in my LFS or LPS and I only now wonder why he slod me my live rock which cost be R800 BEFORE I even had a tank ?

Which leads me to my main question ? Have i killed my live rock as now it looks all white as its been out of water for about 4 hours and i put it in my soap just statred water, probaly very poor water conditions ? Will it survive ?

The live rock will survive out of the way=ter longer than that, was your water made with R/O and salt mix? did you use tap water? or natural sea water?

Once my tank is cycled, im thinking of first introducing some cleaner shrimp and monitor my conditions closely, is this a wise idea, or should i introduce 1 or 2 clowns ?

Wait until the cycle has finished, you check this by monitoring the ammonia,nitrite and nitrate, when ammonia and nitrite are zero and the nitrates are below 5 add some clean up crew (snails and hermits) and a couple of cleaner shrimp, add fish, a pair of clowns are a good starter and rather hardier than most.

Good luck and welcome to MASA.

Also while my tank is cycling, do i need to have my lights on ? Just something that comes to mind ?
 
Ha ha, It looked like a soapy bath when i added in the water and salt and it mixed with my substrate. So should I just leave the rock? will it develop the great natural colour when in my LPS?
 
Once my tank is cycled, im thinking of first introducing some cleaner shrimp and monitor my conditions closely, is this a wise idea, or should i introduce 1 or 2 clowns ?

Also while my tank is cycling, do i need to have my lights on ? Just something that comes to mind ?

No using damsels as water parameters checkers, quite cruel.

the cycle should take 3-4 weeks. You need to measure the parameters of the water and check Nitrites, Nitrates and Ammonia. When these are at correct levels then introduce a couple of hermits and/or snails. Then give it another week and see that your parameters are stable and then look at stocking slowly.

Also get your Salinity, pH and alkalinity correct. IMO - 1.025, 8.3 & 10kH
 
Ha ha, It looked like a soapy bath when i added in the water and salt and it mixed with my substrate. So should I just leave the rock? will it develop the great natural colour when in my LPS?

if you look after your tank properly it will look better and you may have a couple of surprises spouting from the LR.
 
can you experts recommend a good test kit to invest in ? Also as I started only yesterday, when should I start testing my water ???
 
can you experts recommend a good test kit to invest in ? Also as I started only yesterday, when should I start testing my water ???

Trpoic Marin is pretty good and covers all tests you will need.

I would suggest just getting the basics right first:

Temp, pH, Alkalinity and Salinity. Ina couple of weeks time start doing the nitrogen tests.
 
ta guys, got to pick up the little one, thanks again, will be back soon ....
 
I used tap water mixed with INSTANT OCEAN salt mix

Throw it away now, get r/o water and salt mix, tap water is very bad for marine tanks and their inhabitants. If you live near the sea you can collect sea water, but well away from busy beaches and esturies
 
how where can i get ro water, will tap water not be ok once cycled ?
 
Welcome to MASA :)
nope,no tap water.you can buy RO water from your LFS or another reefer in your area
 
how where can i get ro water, will tap water not be ok once cycled ?


You can buy r/o from the lfs or even better, buy an r/o filter and make your own.

Tap water will never be ok, it contains many nasties including phosphates, traces of base metals like copper which is fatal to inverts and many others, get rid now and start properly otherwise you will be battling nuicance algaes instead of enjoying the hobby.
 
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