new tank set up help please

[tcso1504]

Ok New to the Marine tanks and thought I would give it a shot. But right off the bat im having a problem.. here's the deal

starting a new tank. Bought everything I needed , Its a 125 Gallon tank, using instant ocean salt.

I couldnt use RO water so I HAD to use Tap water , but we have really good Tap where I live. I dechlorine the water let it run over night with heaters and filters and powerhead running.

once the temperature was around 76 degress I added salt to the aquarium with the powerheads still running, Keep in mind Im running a Fluval FX5 filter with NO media just for circulation right now..

Well at first the tank was EXTREMELY cloudy while adding the salt but after a few hours I could tell it was clearing some.. Now its been 24 hours and there is NO salt on the bottom of the aquarium but the water is a little cloudy. appears to be small particles floating in the water (alot of them) im not sure if its salt or what......

There is no sand not rock in the aquarium yet, just water and salt .......

whats causing this and how do i correct it..

thanks

Brian

 

[andysgirl8800]

Same thing happened when I started up my 125. Its residual salt and should dissolve completely. Took mine about 48 hours to clear up completely.

 

[daugherty]

well the little floating things are probably parts of the salt that never dissolved. did you just dump all the salt in at once? i mix salt water little by little when i make a big batch of water it willl take me a day to make my 64 gal bucket of water by just adding salt little by little. is their any water movement in the tank that will help. and warm the water up that will also help. and as for tap water no matter how good you think it is there is alwaly heavy metals and other crap in the water that makes it bad chlorine is just one of those things that we can remove easy

 

[tcso1504]

Just quick update I check the Salinity in the water and its a little high its at 1.028 Could this be the problem?

and again I cant tell if its actually debris or very very minute air bubbles.. (smaller than a grain of sand) but the tank looks has a milky water tint with millions of either bubbles or debris circulating in the tank..

any help and advice would be greatly appreciated..

thanks again

brian

 

[tcso1504]

I really appreciate the quick response (this is the friendliest forum on the net like advertised ha)

Yes I dumped the salt in a cup at a time.. Im getting real good circulation.....

 

[littleyea1]

i keep mine around 1.024

 

[andysgirl8800]

I used the same method. Only thing I will caution you about is be prepared with several empty buckets when you go to add your rock and sand. Putting all the water in first doesn't usually account for the displaced volume that will occur when you start putting things in. :)

 

[daugherty]

what is the temp of the water temp will chang what the salinity reads the colder the water the higher the salinity so warm up the water to close to 80 and check it again

 

[daugherty]

most people keep their tanks from 1.024 on the low end to 1.026 on the high end most seawater is 1.026 and that is were mine is kept

 

[tcso1504]

what is the temp of the water temp will chang what the salinity reads the colder the water the higher the salinity so warm up the water to close to 80 and check it again

the temp right now is 78.77 F.... @ digital thermometers 1 on each end of the tank both read the same....

thanks again

 

[daugherty]

ok than just take like 5 gallons of water out and add 5 gallons of just plain water

 

[tcso1504]

I used the same method. Only thing I will caution you about is be prepared with several empty buckets when you go to add your rock and sand. Putting all the water in first doesn't usually account for the displaced volume that will occur when you start putting things in. :)

I took in account water dispacements, I left approximately 4 inches from the top....... but Im afraid to put in my LS with whats going on in the tank right now. or is ok to ( once I get the salinity down)

 

[tcso1504]

ok than just take like 5 gallons of water out and add 5 gallons of just plain water

Ok will do right now... thanks !!!! so you think the water will finally clear with time?

 

[daugherty]

yep dump it in you will be ok. did you get the live sand in a bag? or the real stuph

 

[BigH55]

You could put a filter pad in the cansiter to catch those pieces if they really bother you. Also, in about 4 weeks your going to be posting about how to get rid of hair algae from the tap water. We've all done it though so we will be able to help you out.

 

[daugherty]

it will clear up. but after you put the sand in it will be cloudy for a couple days unless you have some really good water movement and filtration to remove the sediment

 

[BigH55]

You could add the live rock to start cycling it. 1.028 wont hurt it.

 

[andysgirl8800]

Most likely, when you add the sand, it will cloud up the water again. Be sure to rinse your sand out before adding it to your tank. If you use a long funnel, like the kind from a automotive shop for oil changes, with the extra long tube, you can add sand a little at a time with minimim clouding.

 

[tcso1504]

yep dump it in you will be ok. did you get the live sand in a bag? or the real stuph

Its the real stuff but was shipped to me, got it yesterday... Its in bags but with water added in the bags


Live rock is purchased but I havent picked it up yet.. I was waiting til i got everything else going first..

180 lbs LS

200 lbs LR

 

[andysgirl8800]

Be sure to put the live rock directly on the glass bottom. If you get any burrowing critters later on, you don't want to cause a rockslide when the sand underneath is moved.