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Looking to start a saltwater tank in NJ

3K views 6 replies 3 participants last post by  treliantf 
#1 ·
Hey all I have my freshwater tank now looking to start saltwater. I need everything but a tank have a 40 gal breeder brand new but would be interested in something bigger. Please let me know what you have.
 
#5 ·
All the city water needs to meet EPA's drinking water specifications, see
Drinking Water Contaminants | Drinking Water Contaminants | US EPA

In particular,
Nitrates <10ppm
Nitrites? <1ppm
Ammonia? NS not specified
Phosphates? NS
Silicates? NS
Heavy Metals? Cu <1.3ppm all others see epa's website.

I had lived in NJ/AZ/CA all for many years and used all tap waters and only in NJ I did not do any further treatment, other than dechlorinate and active carbon, for my tank. Water in AZ is particarly dirty with high chlorine and nitrate and even here in N. Ca I saw nitrate problem, which I did not see when I was in NJ.
Farm water runoff is the major source of contamination, which contributed to NH4, PO4. Silicate is not a problem by my study as well as others and it's not naturally found in drinking water. Someone even propose to run silicate dosing for reef.
 
#7 ·
I have quite different philosophy on fish keeping. Fish tank is different from reef tank and practicing minimal maintenance and going natural are my key to long term survival of my fish and overall I believe I reached this goal.

In early days I had sterile tank, i.e., tank without green stuff (which is uunatural). For that some fish started developing HLLE after 3~5 years. Angles and Tangs were especially susceptible to the sterile conditions. After I changed my practice to allow algae to grow in the tank I have not seen any HLLE outbreak for more than 10 years.
All my fish are subjected to high nitrate (~150ppm time average) and with GAC (well-rinsed) during this period. Another important benefit from algae grow is water pH is self-regulated: I monitor but not intervene, it's stable up to 4 months (pH>7.85). How many times you have to adjust your KH if you have a sterile tank in 4 months?

With addition of a good fish food dispenser that means I may walk away from my tank for weeks if need be.
Back the water discussion. Yes, potable water may or may not be good enough for fish but definitely not good for reef, because even at 1ppm of nitrate would interfere with hard stony coral growth. For fish, it's not a concern at 100ppm.
 
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