Salt Water for New Tank (was "Ummm...quick question...")

[tywtly]

The rock wasn't always dry. It was live rock set up in my 55 gallon FOWLR system a while back, before I had to move. When I moved, there was no way to keep the water, so the rock dried out, and all the little organisms and things died off and nastified it. Today I'm gonna get some buckets. I already had buckets, but when we moved I had to give them up or storage. But either way, I'm gonna get some salt next time I go to the pet store.

 

[Opcn]

Oh well in that case scrub the hell out of them,that dead stuff on the outside is not coming back to life, that probably the biggest part of why it smelled so awful. Also hardware stores are a great place to get buckets.

 

[tywtly]

My dad's gonna hopefully bring some buckets home from work today, and yeah, I'm gonna get an extra toothbrush and scrub the rocks tonight...for the second time...My FOWLR tank had a horrible algae problem.

 

[Jean]

Check your local bakery for buckets too!!! They get all sorts of stuff delivered in 20L buckets (with lids), at least the ones in NZ do and they're usually only too happy to get rid of the extras either for a very small charge or free! Give them a good clean and you get a great sturdy bucket!

J

 

[Nancy]

Hmm that's an idea, and they would be food quality, too.
But I've seen very large bags of flour at the bakery, so I wonder whether they also have buckets.
Since local fish stores have to use a lot of salt (which comes in large buckets), they usually have a lot of extras.

Nancy

 

[Jean]

The buckets usually contain things like jam, yoghurt, custard powder etc rather than flour.

J

 

[tywtly]

Ok, I'm gonna have to do that, cause my dad couldn't get any buckets from work. Thanks guys...er...girls.

 

[tywtly]

Ok, tomorrow I'm going to a reptile show in a pet store in Decatur (2 hours away), so I'm getting salt there. Now, I'm gonna say this again, cautiously, I'm finally gonna get to set up my tank!!!*knock on wood*

 

[corw314]

Reptile show? Are you Pa? And lots of fingers crossed 4 U! I am sure things will go fine!

 

[tywtly]

Pa? What do you mean? Like...Pennsylvania? No, I'm in Alabama. Sorry if this is misconception...

 

[tywtly]

Ok, I got the salt today, so I'm ready to set up my tank. I ended up having no access to buckets, so I'm gonna get some. Don't worry, I used to have some, but they were used in moving and now in storage. I'm gonna have to mix the salt in the tank. I've got 55 gallons of salt mix (a 50 gallon bag and a 5 gallon bag), so I'm sure I've got the right amount. Once I get the water mixed, I'm gonna run the tank bare for three days before I add sand and rock. I'm finally gonna do this. Thanks again for your help everybody.

 

[cuttlegirl]

You are using RO/DI water, aren't you? Also, something to think about, when you add sand and rock, you will have to take some of the water out because the sand and rock will take up space in the tank and you will have less than 55 gallons of water in your tank.

Good luck!

 

[tywtly]

Sadly, no I have no access to RO water either. We're kinda rural...which is code for cut off from the rest of the world. That's why I'm running the tank bare for 3 days. I'm also adding water conditioner, and whatever else I can get my hands on. I hate to use tap water though, but I'm really gonna have to.

 

[sorseress]

Do you have well water or city water?

 

[Nancy]

You know, there are a lot of things that are making it very difficult for you to have a salt water tank. One of the the things is being in such a rural area where you don't have the support of a local fish store.

Maybe you should back off a bit and not rush this. You'll need good water - the water you're proposing to use may contain too much copper.

You could buy RO water from Walmart's, but that's a big effort and some expense - however, most of us do buy our RO/DI water or we buy a good quality RO/DI purification system to make it.

You must be careful here, or the animals you put in your water may not survive.

Nancy