First post / new tank

[Bsnow0410]

Ok so I have a question on the light situation. I wanna take my time and not rush anything but when I start my cycle and everything when am I going to "have" to have my lighting on the tank?

 

[Grizz]

You can cycle with out the light it's better to leave it off during the cycle as it may cause an algae bloom

 

[Bsnow0410]

You can cycle with out the light it's better to leave it off during the cycle as it may cause an algae bloom

Ok thanks. And then ill need the light when I put fish in right?

 

[Bsnow0410]

I have a water quality tester. How many ppms should good water be?

 

[Bectan01]

What is your test for exactly? The measurement ppm can refer to many different things you can text your water for...

 

[Bsnow0410]

What is your test for exactly? The measurement ppm can refer to many different things you can text your water for...

Well it's just a water quality tester. Like a digital ph tester but just for the water quality I used it for plants.

 

[Bectan01]

So it's just for ph? Should be 8.2

 

[Bectan01]

You should invest in a good saltwater test kit (preferable liquid) you will need tests for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and ph for starters and also a refractometer for measuring your salinity.

 

[Bsnow0410]

You should invest in a good saltwater test kit (preferable liquid) you will need tests for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and ph for starters and also a refractometer for measuring your salinity.

No haha it's an actual water quality tester. Is there a certain ppm my water should be at? And yea I have the API master saltwater test kit

 

[Bectan01]

No idea, I have never heard of such a thing. I can't understand how it just tests the water quality in general? I test for a whole bunch of things and thy all have different readings. If there is a magic product out there that tests for it all I want to know what it is!

 

[Bsnow0410]

No idea, I have never heard of such a thing. I can't understand how it just tests the water quality in general? I test for a whole bunch of things and thy all have different readings. If there is a magic product out there that tests for it all I want to know what it is!

Haha to be honest I never even really used it.

 

[Bectan01]

Ah it's a TDS meter, ideally you want 0 TDS. Are you using ro-di water?

 

[aadair22]

That is a Tds meter.. The only thing people in the hobby use that for is to make sure their rodi water is pure.. This won't help you out at all with testing your tank water, good thing to have though if you have your own rodi unit. Invest in a Red Sea test kit

 

[Bsnow0410]

That is a Tds meter.. The only thing people in the hobby use that for is to make sure their rodi water is pure.. This won't help you out at all with testing your tank water, good thing to have though if you have your own rodi unit. Invest in a Red Sea test kit

Yea I've had it for awhile and was just wondering and yea I just wanted to test the water going in to the tank. And what's the difference between the API master saltwater test kit and the Red Sea test kit?

 

[jeffaquarius]

Reliability due to accuracy.

 

[aadair22]

Reliability due to accuracy.

Yup +1.

 

[Grizz]

Ok thanks. And then ill need the light when I put fish in right?

You can use any light for fish it's only after you add coral that you'll need that ultra bright light

 

[Bsnow0410]

You can use any light for fish it's only after you add coral that you'll need that ultra bright light

Ohh ok sounds good thanks for the info

 

[Bsnow0410]

Ok so I have 3 105watt cfls (big suckers and that's actual watts) but will just one of these do or what idk they put off about 3500 lumens and they are 6500k

 

[Grizz]

One is all you'll need for fish the light will be yellow/green so the colors wont be as bright as you may like That spectrum may cause a lot of algae growth For the money the taotronic LEDs are hard to beat