Hey,
Well I have this question and thought that maybe I should put it in my other post/thread? It's kind of a totally different though. So I have a 49 bowfront that currently has
1xAngel
2xBolivian rams
7xEmperor tetras
well I have to get rid of my angel because hes killed a lot of my fish now. I am planning on moving the remaining fish into my 13g. So I was planning on turning my larger tank into a brackish F8 tank. This may be a stupid obvious question. I was wondering when you do a water change I know you have to pre mix the salt for 48 hours, but I only have 5 gallon buckets. Can I mix all the salt in one 5 gallon bucket, or do I have to get a bunch of buckets and split the salt up? If I do measure the salt how do I know how much it would raise the salanity in my big tank is there some mathematical thing I don't get?
I also had one more question I was considering maybe putting a ceylon in there instead, and was wondering if they thrive at a SG of like 1.015? Or do they need full marine?
Thanks
Soon to be hopefully
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Myaj
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Ceylons do good at mid-high brackish until they reach around 3-4", after that you want to start moving them up to full marine. It would probably be worth it though, they are gorgeous fish and that's a nice tank for one.
As far as premixing the water, its easiest to premix it at the same salinity as the existing tank. You can pick up a rubbermaid food safe tub or garbage can and use that for premixing larger amounts, and a water pump and some tubing to pump it up into the tank.
Or you could do a one bucket water change, multiple times a week instead of just once.. some things to think about.
As far as premixing the water, its easiest to premix it at the same salinity as the existing tank. You can pick up a rubbermaid food safe tub or garbage can and use that for premixing larger amounts, and a water pump and some tubing to pump it up into the tank.
Or you could do a one bucket water change, multiple times a week instead of just once.. some things to think about.
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Dr. Orifice
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OOHH.
So what I do is fill the 20g rubbermaid then measure the salanity so that it matches the other tank, then pump it up to the large tank with a pump and this will bring it back to the full SG because the other is half the size so with the same SG it would be half the SG if it were in the large tank? Now I think I understand thanks a ton. Yeah I think I'm leaning towards the ceylon now.
Thanks a ton
So what I do is fill the 20g rubbermaid then measure the salanity so that it matches the other tank, then pump it up to the large tank with a pump and this will bring it back to the full SG because the other is half the size so with the same SG it would be half the SG if it were in the large tank? Now I think I understand thanks a ton. Yeah I think I'm leaning towards the ceylon now.
Thanks a ton
Re: Soon to be hopefully
Says who? Maybe if you're using crystals or something that dissolves really slowly, but Instant Ocean dissolves almost instantly. I use a powerhead in the bucket for ~15 minutes to ensure it's completely dissolved.Dr. Orifice wrote:I know you have to pre mix the salt for 48 hours
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Dr. Orifice
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Dr. Orifice
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Hey,
Now I'm almost totally sure that I am going to get a ceylon. While looking into it I found a couple questions I haven't exactly been able to find the answer to. One question was right now I have an AC 500 running on the tank. The tank was cycled with freshwater Bio-Spira, now I know this dies off once it get to a certain sg in the tank, the question is once it gets to that SG will the saltwater bacteria ave developed by the time the freshwater dies off or do I have to buy more? Also will I be able to keep the AC once it gets up to 1.018-1.022, or do I have to buy a different filter (I know nothing of salwter)? My last question was if I get a container half the size of the tank and I'm acclimating him higher and am adding .002 a week, do measure out the same SG as the tank then add .004?
Thanks
Now I'm almost totally sure that I am going to get a ceylon. While looking into it I found a couple questions I haven't exactly been able to find the answer to. One question was right now I have an AC 500 running on the tank. The tank was cycled with freshwater Bio-Spira, now I know this dies off once it get to a certain sg in the tank, the question is once it gets to that SG will the saltwater bacteria ave developed by the time the freshwater dies off or do I have to buy more? Also will I be able to keep the AC once it gets up to 1.018-1.022, or do I have to buy a different filter (I know nothing of salwter)? My last question was if I get a container half the size of the tank and I'm acclimating him higher and am adding .002 a week, do measure out the same SG as the tank then add .004?
Thanks
The whole point of raising the sg only .002 per week is to keep your bacteria colony alive. So as long as your transition to saltwater is slow enough, you should be ok (keep in mind the maximum is .002 per week. I personally would go even slower.. maybe .001 per week)
Your filter will continue to work fine in full marine, however some of the big benefits of having your tank at full marine sg (1.021+) is that you can use live rock and a protein skimmer. This will reduce the amount of nitrate in your tank, hence reducing the amount of water changes, and your salt bill.
One other thing: once you've cycled your tank (with bio-spira or naturally) you need to keep a source of ammonia in the tank to keep it cycled. Do you have some fish or a prawn in there right now? Otherwise your bacteria colony will not survive and you will probably have another cycle ahead of you when you do add fish.
Your filter will continue to work fine in full marine, however some of the big benefits of having your tank at full marine sg (1.021+) is that you can use live rock and a protein skimmer. This will reduce the amount of nitrate in your tank, hence reducing the amount of water changes, and your salt bill.
One other thing: once you've cycled your tank (with bio-spira or naturally) you need to keep a source of ammonia in the tank to keep it cycled. Do you have some fish or a prawn in there right now? Otherwise your bacteria colony will not survive and you will probably have another cycle ahead of you when you do add fish.
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Dr. Orifice
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Hey,
Thanks. My tank is cycled right now and theres the fish listed above still in there except for the angel. Now this might be weird but do you think you could maybe give me a rough estimate of the monthly cost of a saltwater tank in a tank in my size? I really have no clue how I'd figure it and I want to make sure I don' get a fish then get into financial issues and have to return him. Sorry if thats a weird question.
Thanks again
Thanks. My tank is cycled right now and theres the fish listed above still in there except for the angel. Now this might be weird but do you think you could maybe give me a rough estimate of the monthly cost of a saltwater tank in a tank in my size? I really have no clue how I'd figure it and I want to make sure I don' get a fish then get into financial issues and have to return him. Sorry if thats a weird question.
Thanks again
This is a tough question. I will give you a rough estimate based on how much I use.
I have a 38 gallon tank that I keep at 1.005sg. I have used almost a whole 50 gallon/mix bag ($10) of instant ocean in the last 6 months. This includes filling the whole tank twice and 10 gallon water changes every week.
At 1.022 sg you will be using 4.4x the salt I use for 1.005sg.
Your tank is 9 gallons larger or 1.2x the size of mine.
So my rough estimate is that you will use 264 gallon/mix of instant ocean in 6 months. (keep in mind this includes 2 complete refills (you may only have 1) and 10 gallon water changes ever week (you may need more or less))
You can save a bit of money buying in 5 gallon buckets (160 gallon/mix) for ~$30
Like I said earlier if you can get a protein skimmer and live rock, they will help keep the nitrates down, or you could even get a refugium, which if done right will keep your nitrates close to zero. You should still be doing some water changes to keep the TDS down though. I would guess at the minimum end of the scale you might get by with one 5 gallon bucket in 6 months, or at the maximum end of the scale two 5 gallon buckets in 6 months. So probably somewhere in the $40 - $80/6mo. range just for salt once shipping, etc. are factored in.
Maybe some of the people running full marine could chime in here and tell you how close my estimate is to their usage.
This whole topic sparks my interest. I may break out my Kill-A-Watt meter and do a study on electrical using/cost, food cost, supplies cost (water, salt, prime, medications, additives...) so I can find out exactly how much I am spending on my aquariums.
I have a 38 gallon tank that I keep at 1.005sg. I have used almost a whole 50 gallon/mix bag ($10) of instant ocean in the last 6 months. This includes filling the whole tank twice and 10 gallon water changes every week.
At 1.022 sg you will be using 4.4x the salt I use for 1.005sg.
Your tank is 9 gallons larger or 1.2x the size of mine.
So my rough estimate is that you will use 264 gallon/mix of instant ocean in 6 months. (keep in mind this includes 2 complete refills (you may only have 1) and 10 gallon water changes ever week (you may need more or less))
You can save a bit of money buying in 5 gallon buckets (160 gallon/mix) for ~$30
Like I said earlier if you can get a protein skimmer and live rock, they will help keep the nitrates down, or you could even get a refugium, which if done right will keep your nitrates close to zero. You should still be doing some water changes to keep the TDS down though. I would guess at the minimum end of the scale you might get by with one 5 gallon bucket in 6 months, or at the maximum end of the scale two 5 gallon buckets in 6 months. So probably somewhere in the $40 - $80/6mo. range just for salt once shipping, etc. are factored in.
Maybe some of the people running full marine could chime in here and tell you how close my estimate is to their usage.
This whole topic sparks my interest. I may break out my Kill-A-Watt meter and do a study on electrical using/cost, food cost, supplies cost (water, salt, prime, medications, additives...) so I can find out exactly how much I am spending on my aquariums.
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Dr. Orifice
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I doubt you would need to do a 50% change every week. I do water changes based on nitrate level. A 10 gallon weekly water change is all I need to keep my nitrates under 10ppm all the time. Since our stocking will be different it's impossible to say what you will need to do, but I would guess one Ceylon won't produce much more than my current stocking of two F8s and five bumblebee gobies. Fighting the urge to overfeed will help, but you really should get a good skimmer and live rock once your tank is full marine.Dr. Orifice wrote:Hey,
Thanks a ton. That's not too bad it seems. So 10g water changes a week are enough you think, or should I be doing 50% a week? I was thinking I was going to have to do 50% a week and that'd be a lot of salt.
Thanks
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Dr. Orifice
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Hey,
I've came up with a question. The ceylon thing kind of fell through and I think I am either going to get a modestus or F8s what do you think? The question is though if I get one F8 could I put chromides with him? If so do you know like a stocking suggestion like how many of this how many of that?
Thanks
I've came up with a question. The ceylon thing kind of fell through and I think I am either going to get a modestus or F8s what do you think? The question is though if I get one F8 could I put chromides with him? If so do you know like a stocking suggestion like how many of this how many of that?
Thanks