new aquarium

[bdblkta]

Hello everyone, My name is Josh(new guy) and I am currently trying to get my tank set up and running but wanted to ask some questions to decide if it would be best to go ahead with saltwater or do a freshwater terrarium(land and water) and keeping frogs, lizards, and some fish. my reason behind this is because i live at my brothers during the week and my mothers(where the aquarium is) on the weekends. i have read that it is hard to keep saltwater without feeding/testing 2 to 3 times a week and it is best not to use any type of timed feeders becuase of the varied diet. I have already purchased all equipment to set up the saltwater aquarium: a 29gal aquarium w/stand, protien skimmer, also have one of the higher quality hang on filters(a penguin maybe) with a carbon filter, test kits, 2 powerheads, 2 heaters, 20lbs sand, 40lbs crushed coral, and a light ballast with i believe a 200w metal halide or maybe high pressure sodium and two 60 or 70w actnic blue(SP?)florescents. my questions are: is there any way I could begin the aquarium with fish only and add shrimp, crabs, and stars without live rock(will this be able to go one week at a time without attention)? is it possible to set up a live rock and coral(no fish) aquarium that would be able to go during the week without any attention. i would prefer to do the saltwater aquarium(fish and coral) and would, but i cannot move it to my brothers because he moves quite often.
if you have any questions/responses or suggetions i am greatful.

[tyoberg]

Josh-

I see your major obsticle to be controlling salinity. The heat from your lights will evaporate quite a bit of water each day, leaving all things salty behind--without adding fresh water, your salinity will steadily increase. There are ways to have your system top-off automatically, though. Without an auto top-off, I wouldn't start a saltwater tank if I was in your situation.

Leaving for a 3 day weekend and not topping off isn't anything to sweat, but not topping off 5/7 days isn't going to cut it.

Live rock is best added up front. The reason is that you will have die off when you add it to the tank--this die off will typically cause production of toxic ammonia and nitrite (commonly called "cycling") until sufficient bacteria build up to consume it all. While you're waiting 1-5 weeks for this to occur, your tank inhabitants are being poisoned.

With a low fish load, feeding isn't a problem. 2-3 times a week is fine and not uncommon. Many photosynthetic corals require zero day-to-day care.

Ty

[Nagel]

First..

[welcome]

Second, I gotta agree, without some type of automatic top-off system, the salinity swings are going to be crazy. I go through a gallon a day on my 29, and couldn't imagine letting it go for 2 or 3 days without a topoff (I top off every night).

Maybe you could team up and educate your mom a bit? Bring herr here to RC, we'll teach her!

[bdblkta]

first off thanks for the reply's. well I'll start by telling you there isnt much hope in getting my mother involved she already has to take care of 3 dogs, a turtle, and a parrot, she doesnt need anything else. but if someone were to tell me who makes a good auto-filler I would look into getting something like that. could it be added inside of my 30 gallon water storage garbage can to fill the aquarium. what are most people doing for water. is my best option going and buying 35 gallons of some ro water from the store. does anyone use tapwater and what kind of luck do you have, i have read about tapwater cuasing algea growth, is this a common problem for people using tapwater with a dechlorinator type chemical. should the base rock be placed directly into the aquarium onto the glass or should it be placed on top of your substrate bottom. with tyoberg's respone about live rock would it be as bad if I added say ten pounds of cured LR(no fish) from my pet store(it is more expensive but I think it will be my best bet) and then added cured live rock everytime, would this prevent cycling again using cured LR(does LR need to be quarintined).
Thank you for your help, I have found a new place to hang out. Josh

[tyoberg]

Lotta questions there...

Auto-top off--I would first look in the DIY section--do some searches, it's not an uncommon setup. Maybe a nurce pump (for dosing medicines or often used to dose additives in an aquarium) could work.

Tapwater--low quality make-up water is probably the quickest way to get an algae problem, and the most common cause. Dechlorinator only nutralizes the chlorines; it does nothing for any phosphates, nitrates or silicates in the water. Your tank is small enough that it probably wouldn't be a hassle to simply purchase RO water.

Some people set their rock on the glass, but I believe that robs you of a lot of space that your DSB (deep sand bed) could use. I have my rock sitting up on 3" tall PVC stub tubes that reach the top of the sand bed. Other people set up a foundation with eggcrate. There's lots of ways to do it, and it's worth a couple minutes work to get the extra sandbed area.

Cured Live Rock (LR) can be added in small amounts at any time without much risk of causing a chemistry spike. For your tank, that would be maybe 5-7 lbs at a time. It's much cheaper to buy LR in 20-40 lb boxes though. If you do it peicemeal, it will cost you about 50% more in the end.

People don't "quarantine" LR. But it is important to inspect it often and to identify any hitchhikers early on as friend or foe. Some things multiply very quickly.

Ty

[Nagel]

Nice response Tyoberg,

I think you covered most of the bases.

I'll add though that live rock placement is a personal preference as well as a direct result of the inhabitants you choose for the tank.

For example, I have mine placed on the sandbed on both my 29g and 75g reefs. Mind you I also do not have "burrowing" critters such as some gobies because they could undermine my "footings" and cause the rock to tumble.

If you plan on any burrowing critters, you would want to support the rock from underneath, be it with lacerock on the bottom glass, or PVC tubes on it, it will need support if you want burrowers.