Upgrade Time (125 gal Freshwater to Saltwater)

[Bdonaldson]

I have a question for you all. A lot of my test kits are expired. Before I order more I wanted to check to see what tests do you recommend that I get? What test are most impirtant to have?

 

[SeanMonster]

After initial cycle I pretty much test Alk, Ca, Mg, and salinity.

 

[Bdonaldson]

OK thank you Sean.

 

[Sniperhank]

I'd like to say calcium and alk...but in reality I stopped testing forever ago.

 

[Bdonaldson]

Yeah Sniper I didn't test on my established tanks. I did test religiously for a time but when all the test always came back ok I didn't see the point after a while.

I'm only testing this one due to the cycling. So that being said I have another question. At what point can I start adding fish?

 

[Dary421]

Yeah Sniper I didn't test on my established tanks. I did test religiously for a time but when all the test always came back ok I didn't see the point after a while.

I'm only testing this one due to the cycling. So that being said I have another question. At what point can I start adding fish?

In reality ,.... you could prob start adding a fish or two once your cycling is finished and you do a 50 % water change ,....just go slowly !!! ,...as far as testing goes ,...prob a bad habit not to test , ..it's the only way to monitor your tank and what's going on ESPECIALLY on a new tank just getting started,...once you start adding corals and things get going then things start to change as far as calcium ,alk ,mag etc goes,.... your tank will be under going parameter changes for awhile before it settles in ., your salt mix you choose may be very high in calcium and low in alk or vice versa ,... you'll settle into one that matches your needs and then dosing hopefully will keep everything on a even scale .

 

[Bdonaldson]

Ok Dary will definatelt start testing again. I need to order new test kits what brand do you recommend. I was thinking about Red Sea or Salifert.

 

[Dary421]

Either of those are good , I like the way the red sea equipment worked,...greg got me hooked on the Hanna test kits so that's what I use 99% of the time,...once you get up and going you're not going to be testing your water everyday ,maybe once or twice a week or when something seems out of wack ,...looking at your corals and algae etc is a good indication if things are good or need attention ,...it's just one of those things that you just gotta have imho

 

[Sniperhank]

24 hours of no detectable ammonia/nitrite after dosing and it is fish time. Nothing simpler than that.

 

[Bdonaldson]

Either of those are good , I like the way the red sea equipment worked,...greg got me hooked on the Hanna test kits so that's what I use 99% of the time,...once you get up and going you're not going to be testing your water everyday ,maybe once or twice a week or when something seems out of wack ,...looking at your corals and algae etc is a good indication if things are good or need attention ,...it's just one of those things that you just gotta have imho

Thank you Dary. I do appreciate you sharing your knowledge with me. I appreciate all the people on here that have helped me through this process.

I think I'm going with the red sea test kits. The Hanna tests are a little out of my price range right now. I do like the simplicity of them and maybe next year when my tank is further along I will give them a try.

 

[Bdonaldson]

24 hours of no detectable ammonia/nitrite after dosing and it is fish time. Nothing simpler than that.

Thank you Sniper. I will check my ammonia/nitrites when I get home tonight. What about nitrates? Right now they are reading 20 ppm. Although that's with a out of date test kit.

 

[Dary421]

I think I'm going with the red sea test kits. The Hanna tests are a little out of my price range right now. I do like the simplicity of them and maybe next year when my tank is further along I will give them a try.

I used the Red Sea kits for years ,..if it wasn't for the Hanna kits I'd still be using them

 

[Sniperhank]

For nitrates, it turns into water changes until that number is 0. That way things are started off on the right foot.

 

[Bdonaldson]

Thanks guys.

I have another question for you all. When the time comes to add some softies if I switch out some of my rock from my 40 gallon that already have polyps on them will that throw off my cycle?

 

[Sniperhank]

Nope. Cycling only talks about the beneficial bacteria that is in the rock and sand. There will already be bacteria in that rock and be just fine. Might want to brush it off some to prevent any gunk build up from transferring systems, but that's it.

 

[Bdonaldson]

Ok thanks Sniper.

 

[Bdonaldson]

I did a small water change over the weekend and tested today ammonia 0, nitrate 5.0, pH 8.2 and kh 8.3. ive been dosing NO3 PO4 X to try and bring down the nitrates also.I will do another water change this weekend which should bring things into check.

 

[Dary421]

Barbara's exotic reef coming soon ..... stay tuned

 

[Bdonaldson]

Thanks Dary I really hope it will be exotic. I am so excited to get this tank ready for some life.

 

[Autumnsky]

Yay, getting so very close!