Question on ph. How long does it usually take to stabalize. I had my water checked again today at the local fish store and had zero nitrate and nitrite Also the ammonia was zero. Still no sign of a cycle. But my ph was between 7.4 and 7.6. I put in a cup and a half of live sand from the LFS established reef tank today. I already have 25 pounds of live and 10 of base agronite. I am starting to see a brown type color develop on my base rock I have so some things are happening. Any help with the ph would be great. Don't know if I Gould just wait or if I should use a raise of some kind
My BioCube 29 gallon journey
- Thread starter 22engine
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Convict2161
Aquarium Advice Addict
22engine said:
I believe your gonna have some nitrAtes not many but even a trace. Although depending on why you wanna keep as far as corals then you would need your trates to be 0. It's weird. I've read where tanks can be too clean. And how sometimes having a little trates or a little bit of a "dirty" tank is good. Didn't make sense at first but after 4 attempts at growing cheato I realized I didn't have enough nutrients for it to grow.
Anyway... If there's nothing in your tank as far as live stock and you have live sand and live rock I'd wait it out and see if it raises. The sand is suppose to help buffer the water and keep the pH raised. Also you used premixed or did you make it yourself? (the water that is) maybe test the water before adding it to the tank?
I'd it doesn't go up in a few days and stays at that level they do sell pH buffers for marine/reef tanks. You have to add it slowly and keep testing.
TBH I've had my tank running since November and haven't had the need to use a buffer yet. It's always 8.3
Hope this helps.
Again wait a little bit and see if it raises. With the live sand it should. And what your seeing is probably diatom algae.
http://saltaquarium.about.com/cs/algaecontrol/a/aa091100.htm
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f11/low-ph-in-reef-tank-132508.html
Thanks convict. Well I am back at the station for another triple after having a whole ten hours off from my last one. But while I was off I took the kids and got ten gallons of RO saltwater so I have it ready to do some changes when need be. They sold me a cup and a half of live sand from one of there tanks so maybe that will help out. I am going to wait and test it again tomorrow when I get outta work. What test kit do you use? I know they aren't that great but petco is about 4 min from my house so I have been letting them test it. But I want to get my own obv. I got my water from a different store this time cause the first one had salinity at .02 and I want .024. So the place I got it from yesterday actually asked what I wanted it at before they made it. Also I have heard both ways. For my water changes should I just use regular RO water or RO salt water. Thanks again convict
Convict2161
Aquarium Advice Addict
No problem! Just give it time it will come. The cycling process isn't as long as you think. Soon you'll be stocking with fish and corals!
Be safe brother!
Be safe brother!
Ph is up to 8.2 so that is good. I am waiting on my media basket to arrive but I put some chem-pure I had on top of the bio balls till it gets here to help and since I put that in two days ago the ph has risen. Not sure if it's related but it did say it would help stabalize the ph. Still zeros for everything else
Installed the rotating Koralia head onto the outlet for my pump in chamber three. Thought it would be nice instead of the standard flare nozzle it came with. I know you have to keep up on cleaning them but it is really nice for 12 bucks. Plus I'm hoping it will help with any potential dead spots too
lennonlh
Aquarium Advice Regular
The flare head isn't too bad but there are dead spots in the center of the tank. I was looking at those also but ordered a powerhead instead. I'm going to add on the other side of tank and see how the flow is.
I purchased the smallest I could find ... didn't want to have a ton of flow, just enough to take care of the dead spots.
If that is too much I might try the rotating head.
I purchased the smallest I could find ... didn't want to have a ton of flow, just enough to take care of the dead spots.
If that is too much I might try the rotating head.
Here are some more recent pics.
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lennonlh
Aquarium Advice Regular
Tank is looking good .... thanks for the pics.
Looks like some polyps that were on the rock when you got it.
And thanks for the inTank link .... the media basket is nice and it makes it so much easier to use the chemi-pure and phos zorb pouches. Much better than stock.
I have a few pictures of my set-up .... cleaner crew did its job, now I have some apstaisia to contend with.
I'm going to try the lemon juice with a syringe trick. Any experience with this method? Or am I wasting my time?
I'm also trying to fine tune the flow. I want to keep one side free of any hang on or suction cups because its the side you see when you first come into the room.
Looks like some polyps that were on the rock when you got it.
And thanks for the inTank link .... the media basket is nice and it makes it so much easier to use the chemi-pure and phos zorb pouches. Much better than stock.
I have a few pictures of my set-up .... cleaner crew did its job, now I have some apstaisia to contend with.
I'm going to try the lemon juice with a syringe trick. Any experience with this method? Or am I wasting my time?
I'm also trying to fine tune the flow. I want to keep one side free of any hang on or suction cups because its the side you see when you first come into the room.
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Convict2161
Aquarium Advice Addict
22engine said:
Tanks looking good brother.
lennonlh said:
Looks good. As far as the flow I am really liking the koralia rotating head. You get a nice flow and the water agitation on top for better oxygen exchange. Not sure about the lemon juice trick. I like how your tank is coming along. I really like the look of that top piece. That little piece of rock I got has three sponges and atleast thirty little green zoa polyps on it. Just hope they live through the cycle
Readingexcalibur
Aquarium Advice Addict
lennonlh said:
Tank looks awesome, love the color. If lemon juice doesn't work, buy a blow torch haha.
Got home this morning and there is a good amount of either diatoms or brown algie on my base rock. I was keeping the lights on longer cause of the piece of live rock that has like 30 zoa's on it. Guess I gotta cut back
Jlsardina
Aquarium Advice Addict
Tank looks good.
Btw- ph can drop in the time that you take it out of your tank until you reach your LFS. you really should invest in your own test kits for more accurate results. Most LFS use cheaper test kits because of costs as well.
Btw- ph can drop in the time that you take it out of your tank until you reach your LFS. you really should invest in your own test kits for more accurate results. Most LFS use cheaper test kits because of costs as well.
Decided I am going with the AL Sol blue LED lights as soon as I get a little extra cash. Going to gut the hood and cut a spot in the top for it to sit in. Convict convinced me I could get it done lol. His tank looks awesome and his coral growth is crazy. He had the lighting in his.
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