debating water change

[Oceanicsublimat]

I just added lr.com rock 2 days ago and I did a 20% water change yesterday.. my ammonia was .5 last night and trites were .25.. today ammonia is a little difficult to read.. it kinda looks lighter than .5 but could have a little more green to be between .5 and 1.0 and my trites are up to .5 indicating that my ammonia is dropping but it's still hard to tell.. should I do a water change? My tank is already cycled btw..

 

[badfish]

that was gonna be my first question, is your tank already cycled? anyway, do you have any fish in there? How much LR did you add and how big is your tank? Your probably going through a mini-cycle. If you dont have any fish i dont think you need to do a water change, but i am new at this is well so maybe someone else has some ideas

 

[Oceanicsublimat]

ok.. just did a water change.. to be safe.. I added 40lbs to my 40lbs.. I have another noob question.. the sg in the tank was about 1.025 or .024 now it is at .024 is it ok for a minor flucuation as long as it's just thousandth off? I forgot where the level on my sump was at so I just guessed (I think I was right but not sure...) the refractometer gets out of whack so easily.. I had to adjust it last night and this morning..

 

[badfish]

I think it should be between 1.020 & 1.023. Im sure your gonna have small fluctuations from time to time, IMO.

 

[Oceanicsublimat]

I've read alot of threads and some books on starfish and other inverts and the paper from lr.com said to keep it at 1.024-1.025.. how many other people are keeping their sg this high?

 

[Oceanicsublimat]

NM.. just read my notes.. my water should be fine..

 

[steve-s]

If you have a refractometer, shoot for 35 ppt. That is going to be the best level for maintaining most invertebrates you will end up keeping.

How are you storing the refractometer and do you clean it after each use with RO water and a soft clothe? The lense and cover should be wiped clean to prevent salt build up after each use. Somethings amiss if you need to recalibrate it before each use.

As far as your water changes are concerned, do enough to keep the NH3 below the 0.5 mark. The already established bacteria just needs time to multiply from your previous cycle. It should quickly subside but in the meantime, the water changes will help the survival rate of your hitchikers.

Cheers
Steve

 

[Oceanicsublimat]

Ok.. so the numbers to the right of the sg is ppt? it doesn't say anywhere in theinstructions.. and I've read alot about keeping the sg about 1.024-1.025 and 35 on my refractomet is 1.026 or 1.027 is this about right then?

 

[Oceanicsublimat]

and thank u all for ur advice.. I really appreciate ur patients and understanding of my noobness..

 

[steve-s]

Ok.. so the numbers to the right of the sg is ppt? it doesn't say anywhere in theinstructions.. and I've read alot about keeping the sg about 1.024-1.025 and 35 on my refractomet is 1.026 or 1.027 is this about right then?

Ignore the SG scale, just shoot for the 35 mark on the right

Cheers
Steve

 

[Oceanicsublimat]

okie dokie 8)