New to salt water

[MMAX]

+1 to the skimmerless idea also. I tried a Coralife when I first started my system and it was more of a pain in the a** than anything. Threw it away and have no problems running without it.

[Myka]

I forgot to mention raising the specific gravity to 1.025-6 as well. Oops. I have never heard of that salt, and i would personally be wary of it just because it's not a well-known salt. Might as well finish off what you have though.

To save yourself some money on test kits, don't worry about getting any until you want to add LPS (or SPS) corals. Soft corals will be ok without testing the big 3 as long as you do 10-15% weekly water changes. When you do want to add corals you will need to buy calcium, alkalinity, and magnesium supplements and test kits. You could talk to littlesilvermax on the forums here about getting some "raw chemicals" to supplement. It's quite cheap that way. Those are the "big 3" test kits you will need. For calcium and alkalinity I would suggest either API (cheaper) or Elos (pricey), and for magnesium API, Salifert (mid-range), or Elos are all pretty accurate. Don't cheap out any more than API on kits though or your tests won't be accurate which kinda make them a moot point, ya know?

Both ammonia and nitrite are generally just used in the first few months for monitoring how the nitrogen cycle is progressing and handling the addition of new critters. Later on if there are issues in the tank. Since they aren't used often you can usually get your LFS to check for you once a week while you're starting up, and going through your cycle. Pay attention to the brand of test kits they use though. Nitrate is something I like to test for one a month or so (and when the cycle first ends), which is also something your LFS can do for you, or you can get a kit of your own (I like Salifert's nitrate kit).

If you do go skimmerless you do have to be careful to not over-stock the tank, and also make sure you're up on water changes and have good circulation in the tank so that no detritus builds up. With the Fluval you will need to clean it at least once weekly. Since canister filters are a PITA to clean, I have always preferred hang-on power filters like AquaClear just for ease of changing out filter media. I find the easier it is to perform the maintenance the more likely I am (or you) to actually do it!

[Chase31]

i know my store in st albert will test nirates but the rest i have to do myself so dont test till i get corals or fish in there? start with rock let it sit for a couple of weeks?
with my 15% changes

[Myka]

You should be testing ammonia right away. If it gets to 2 ppm I would suggest you do a 50-100% water change to lower it to prevent a toxic environment for the critters on/in the rock. Contrary to popular belief water changes will not slow down the nitrogen cycle. You will remove very little good bacteria doing a water change as these bacteria are primarily attached to surfaces, not in the free water column.

That's too bad the LFS won't test for ammonia and nitrite too. You will need an ammonia kit then (Salifert has always done me well here). To save money, skip the nitrite kit (nitrite isn't particularly toxic in the marine environment unlike freshwater). Once your ammonia reads 0 wait a week or two before adding your clean up crew just to be sure the cycle is fully complete. Test for nitrate before adding the CUC too, should be less than 10 ppm, but hopefully it will be close to 0. So for CUC, fish, and soft corals just test for ammonia and nitrate. Once you decide to add hard corals (LPS, SPS) you will need to test and supplement the big three (Ca, alk, mg) before adding those corals.

[BlueTang<3]

hey i work with your mom lol you definitely want to make sure that you have surface agitation from of the return of the filter or powerheads pointed at the surface it will help steady ph as you will release built up co2 and keep ph steadier the flowing picture was 29 gallon tank using h2ocean and tap water water change every two weeks never dosed anything no skimmer and a hang on filter with filter floss for water clarity 2 koralia 1 and 4X24 w t5 and as for cycling the tank just do reading online and remember to roll the pail of salt before using helps stir up all the elements that have settled

[BlueTang<3]

ha ha disregard the skimmer in the right hand side of the picture started tank with it prism pro from big als biggest pos i have ever owned unplugged after a few days use and too lazy to take it off the tank so it just sat there for decoration it made me feel better after spending 160 on it

[Myka]

BlueTang has good advice. Although I would still test the big three with those LPS in there. H2Ocean is a good salt, and the parameters seem to be fairly reliable (some people have noted low magnesium though). Buying a high quality salt like that will often dismiss the need for supplementing provided the salt isn't lacking, and regular water changes are performed. Test every new bucket before use, and supplement the freshly mixed saltwater as needed.

If you take a read through the "My tanks" link in my signature you will find an article about calcium, alkalinity, and magnesium as well as doing proper water changes (in the novice article I think). Those articles are easy reading, and have lots of basic info.

[BlueTang<3]

another thing is it a good habit to get some airline and a valve or tie a knot and drip acclimate everything

[Chase31]

yea i think im going to use a 3 gal bucket (well depending on the fish to accumulate it our LFS tests ammonia, nitrates, and nitrites, basically it tests all the stuff you need for a fresh water tank. as for the adgitation i might invest in a spray bar, im going to get a RO to help out then just do the water changes for now, buying the rock from a used source for about 4-5 a lbs will save me alot, thanks for all the advice everyone, looks like ill be well on my way to getting a CUC in the next couple of weeks