29 gallon suprise

[Brad.Sedore]

my parents went all out and got me a 29gal biocube. just wanted to check a few things

they bought "live sand" despite my advice.. but anyways ive got 1.5 inchs of it at the bottom. bioballs are gone my levels are pretty well perfect. salinity is 1.022 ph is 8.8... is that too high? everything else is 0.

now im picking up my live rock tomorow...

this is going to be a reef aquarium. so what temps am i shooting for... how much live rock should i be shooting for? how much rubble do i put in the 2nd chamber.


lastly... i have this big bag of bio balls.... any use for these at all (salt water or fresh water)?


thank you

Brad

 

[neilanh]

Congratulations!

Live sand is fine - won't hurt anything, it's just an expense that is unneccessary as it's not that beneficial coming from a bag. A friend's tank is a different story.

Salinity seems a tad low, most target 1.024-5. Your pH - well, how long as the water been mixing? that is kinda high. Temps you should aim for 78-80.

Bio balls aren't a bad thing for FW tanks, but yeah, ditch them for SW is the general consensus.

 

[Brad.Sedore]

water has been mixing since 7 this morning... so 13 hours.. added more salt as my salinty was WAY low.


so could i put them in my fresh water filters?


also how long should i wait before checking salinity after adding more salt?


thanks
Brad

 

[Tank2379]

I would check it every 30 min to check your Salinity. like Neilanh says 1.024 or 1.025 would be great for reefs right now I am running 1.024 since I am almost ready to add coral.

 

[Brad.Sedore]

im really new to this so i have a ton of questions

how much salt should i add at a time trying to get it to rise? 1/2 cup? sorry for all the questions but i truly have no idea

-Brad

 

[neilanh]

What salt brand? They should have instructions with it - but I don't think you're in a huge hurry, so go slow adding the salt. It's easy to add more salt, if you overshoot, it becomes a lot more work to get it down.

Are you using RO/DI water as your source?

 

[Brad.Sedore]

im not sure what the difference is between RO and RO/DI is but im using water from a RO system at the grocery store.

 

[Brad.Sedore]

o and the salt is Reef crystals

 

[Tank2379]

I would add it slowly 1/2 cup may be way to much if your already at 1.022. I would sprinkle a small bit at a time till you reach the proper salinity of your likings. good luck

 

[Brad.Sedore]

not that im over already but if i do overshoot how do i go about lowering it... for future reference as im sure ill do it some day... syphen out and add more unsalted water?

 

[neilanh]

RO is good, RO/DI is RO water that is then filtered through DI resin, making it even better. If you're into reef tanks for the long haul, you'll save a ton of money by getting a RO/DI filter and making it yourself. airwaterice.com has some great ones, as well as you can find them on ebay.

Like Tank said, man I'd go slow in that small of a system. If you overshoot, the only way to get it back down is to remove SW from the tank and replace with clean water. Not a big deal, but it's just a lot easier to slowly raise it to the level you want it. I also find that with reef crystals that their recommended amounts are too high. I'm still a newb, but IIRC they say 1/2 cup for 1g of clean water. I find that to raise the sg too high, so it's somewhere less than that.

 

[Tank2379]

I would take about 1/2 gallon out then just add regular RO/DI water or RO water. thats happen to me a few times when I first started out you start counting then you lose your train of thought. Oh and don't worry about all the question we all had the same ones just like you.

 

[Brad.Sedore]

RO is good, RO/DI is RO water that is then filtered through DI resin, making it even better. If you're into reef tanks for the long haul, you'll save a ton of money by getting a RO/DI filter and making it yourself. airwaterice.com has some great ones, as well as you can find them on ebay.

Like Tank said, man I'd go slow in that small of a system. If you overshoot, the only way to get it back down is to remove SW from the tank and replace with clean water. Not a big deal, but it's just a lot easier to slowly raise it to the level you want it. I also find that with reef crystals that their recommended amounts are too high. I'm still a newb, but IIRC they say 1/2 cup for 1g of clean water. I find that to raise the sg too high, so it's somewhere less than that.

mine says 1.4 lbs per 5 gallons.. so it makes it really really hard to figure out what to add to raise the SG.

i do plan on getting my own RO/DI filter. just short on cash around christmas... will get it within a month or so

-Brad

 

[Tank2379]

1/2 cup every 1 U.S gallon would work 2.

 

[Brad.Sedore]

1/2 cup every 1 U.S gallon would work 2.

perfect... because i already broke that crappy kitchen scale in frustration lol.


anyone have any input on how much live rock... my mother wants and i quote "as little of that ugly brown crap as possible" but im not one to sacrifice quality for looks.


-Brad

 

[Tank2379]

rule of thumb is 1-2LBs per gallon so maybe any where from 40 to 50LBs of LR

 

[Brad.Sedore]

so could i do 30lbs of "live rock" and another 20-30 of base rock... even tho it will all eventually look the same (correct?) that nice light colored rock might keep her complaints down


also id like to thank everyone for being so speedy in helping me out. its greatly apreciated

-Brad

 

[Brad.Sedore]

also i was wondering if i can still be adjusting salinity with live rock in the tank?.. is it like fish and corals and get shocked by sudden changes?


thanks again

 

[919]

not that im over already but if i do overshoot how do i go about lowering it... for future reference as im sure ill do it some day... syphen out and add more unsalted water?

That is the tried and true method... No magic bullet here unfortunatley.

 

[special lighting]

yOUR PH IS TO HIGH IT SHOULD BE 8.3. YOU SHOULD GET 29 POUNDS OF LIVE ROCK 1 POUND PER GALLO. The tempeture should be from 72 - 79