[newtothegame]

Hey my names Devin im starting off kind of young.. Im 16 years old... umm il start off on why i decided to start a salt water tank... Going to the pet stores and seeing all those salt water fish and how pretty they were and relaxing... that was just an add on... My father had past away when i was 2 months old and my mom had told me he had an $8000 custom tank and he was at that thing all the time... and just hearing about it made me decide that i want to follow his footsteps on a saltwater tank... I purchased a 125 gallon tank i wish i remembered everything its coming with im going to pick it up today, but i do know it comes with live gravel not sand and all the filters etc.. I purshased marine salt... If anyone has any tips are anything they want to share with a begginer please let me know... Thanks

[RyanG]

Scrap the gravel, if you are in a rush to setup it up with water, etc. At least mix the salt and let it cycle, the gravel will just cause you nightmares down the road!

Welcome to RB Devin! I can't wait to see your tank setup!

[crazygator]

lose the gravel and take your time it's a fun hobby if you can master patience.but don't get bummed over mistakes, we all make them, and just learn from them

[newtothegame]

alright thanks for the tips you two i appriciate it

[crazygator]

anytime this place is full of it ( info that is) it's loads of fun and sometimes headaches, but we'll help as much as we can

[newtothegame]

So i can cycle the tank with out gravel and sand... just do mix the salt and water? And i guess live sand would be better than jus gravel sence i plan on getting a sting ray when the time come (ONLY IF HE WONT EAT MY OTHER FISH)

[crazygator]

go ahead and mix the salt an addd a shrimp from the grocerey store. add the live sand when you get it and be sure to rinse it off with clean water. the "dust" can wreak havoc on your filter. be sure not to use tap water because the stuff that is added in can be harmful to your tank. look at getting a reverse osmosis system or many lfs (live fish stores) sell r.o. water, not bad to start with but gets expensive after awhile. after the shrimp starts to decompose your amonia will sky rocket, after three or four days the nitrates will jump, then the nitrites will rise, thats when you do at least a 25% to 50% water change. you are now ready t add fish. if you plan on a fish only tank live rock is not nedded but is very useful for the filtering process and cuts down on the water changes

[ACE]

Live sand is the best, use RO/DI water it helps allot!!!
ACE

[Krazy]

Welcome Devin !!

Glad to see you want to get into this wonderful hobby

As everyone else said, you will wanna ditch the "gravel" which I assume is crushed coral, you'll want some kinda of aragonite sand for your tank, a 125 is a great size tank, I think your going to find out that this hobby is extremly addictive BUT its also very very enjoyable.

[Scorpa]

definatly purchase live sand if your considering a stingray they need a sandbed

[kbk7478]

new to saltwater. question, why is everyone saying to forget the gravel and stick with live sand? what is the problem with gravel, as i see alot to salt tanks in the shops with it???

[newtothegame]

mine isnt regular gravel its live gravel so its diffrent then what you see in the fish stores....I read in Saltwater Aquriums for dummies that you can put live sand over gravel... Would that be a good idea sence the gravels already in there???

[Scorpa]

maby, i think you need a deep sandbed for stingrays though, well a least enough for them to go under the sand.
maby someone more experienced with stingrays can help you