New here, from WI. Sick GSP.

[LongGrain]

on the plus side, my fish looks much better today. I haven't seen him clamp his tail once, and his ich seems much less extensive. His eyes are less cloudy and his coloration is getting better.

[Pufferpunk]

Glad to hear he's feeling better! If the filter's new, bring it back for another one.

[LongGrain]

I don't know what was going wrong with it, I took it to the lfs and the guy there took out the impeller and put it back in and it worked just fine, so the tank is back to filtering. The water is clearing up, and tomorrow I'm picking up a hydrometer and 40lbs or so of live rock.

[Pufferpunk]

What SG is your tank? where is the LR coming from? How much/lb?

[LongGrain]

The owner of the lfs that I frequent said he would hook me up with live rock. I didn't have time to ask how much it was, as I had just stopped in to see what was wrong with my filter and needed to get to work. I don't know what the SG is at right now. I put in about 3tbsp of instant ocean per gallon when I filled the tank 2 days ago. This was what I put in my edge as well and that tank is at 1.010 the last time I checked. I'm going to add the rest of my salt to the big tank, as it says that the whole box is designed to bring 25 gallons to 1.022. So the rest of it should get me close, and I'll pick up more tomorrow when I pick up the hydrometer.

Can I put salt straight into my aquarium without mixing first if there is NO FISH in it? I know this is really bad with fish, but will it hurt my filter or anything to mix the salt into the aquarium as it is? I need to have a lot more salt in there, and I don't have much room for more water.

[Pufferpunk]

Yes, if the tank is empty of livestock, mix away. I wouldn't add any LR, until the tank is at 1.018, minimum. Also, don't assume this rock is cured, coming from a LFS. It rarely is, unless it's from their established display tank that has livestock in it.

[LongGrain]

good deal, I'll probably just dump the rest of this bag into the tank and check the SG tomorrow and adjust accordingly before putting in the LR.

I will talk to john at the fish store tomorrow. Its a very small mom and pop place called Advanced Aquarium Systems in downtown Green Bay that has amazing reviews. I'm pretty sure any live rock that he's going to sell is going to be out of one of his tanks, which he has roughly 200 of in his little shop. But I will make sure to ask when I speak with him tomorrow.

[Pufferpunk]

Don't waste the $alt. Do some math 1st! Do you have powerheads in there to mix it?

[LongGrain]

no power heads. But either way, the box of salt I had says it will make 25 gallons of water at 1.022 sg. Considering my tank is 37g, I'm not sure I run the possibility of wasting salt. If anything, I will need to add even more tomorrow.

[Pufferpunk]

You need at least 2 powerheads to mix the salt & for flow in the SW tank.

[wagner7123]

follow the directions on the bag, except put 2-3 cups less in, if you have a power head in the tank, that will work to mix it check the level in about an hour or 2 add a little more as needed. I personally like to use a spatula in a bucket, I can mix very fast like that and make adjustments as i go. also if I accidentally mix it a little too salty I can fix it in the next bucket so they will balance out. once they are mixed I put a powerhead and heater into each and leave them for the night. you can get all of that stuff for under $50. you can do just 1 bucket to save some money and skip the heater and extra powerhead for now 2 is just easier and faster for waterchanges.

[wagner7123]

no power heads. But either way, the box of salt I had says it will make 25 gallons of water at 1.022 sg. Considering my tank is 37g, I'm not sure I run the possibility of wasting salt. If anything, I will need to add even more tomorrow.

if you just dump it in with no flow and unmixed it will just sink to the bottom and will not mix or fully disolve

[LongGrain]

What size powerheads do I need? Would 2 750gph koralia power heads do the trick for a 37g tank? I did a little research and it seems this is what other people are using for similar sized tanks.

And as far as a protein skimmer goes, what would be an appropriate model for my size tank?

[wagner7123]

that would be about 50x flow which is great if you are trying to grow hard corals. that might be too much for a sick puffer. I have a 29 gallon and I currently run 600 gph total but i plan on upgrading to 900 gph before i add coral. You only really need 20x turnover but no more than 50x. so for a short answer those should be fine but they may wind up blasting your sick fish all over the tank

[wagner7123]

skimmers:
best http://www.proteinskimmer.com/Product%2 ... Remora.htm
very good http://www.cpraquatic.com/products/bakpaks.html

I can't recommend any others. I have the bakpak 2r, but if I had it to do again I would get the remora. Just don't go cheap no name, it will just be a waste, trust me