Confused

[Wally-Wagtail]

Hi All,

We set up our 50g tank over the weekend. I have a v2 400 skimmer and the fileter that came with the tank (Aquaone 980) I have 2 white bulbs and one marine blue and a powerhead. It currently has 20kg LR and 10kg sand in it.

I have noticed the corraline algae is slightly paler than when we got it (2nd hand from a mature tank 2 hours in transit). Also my pH is only 7.7 and the salinity is different on different sides of the tank??! But reads between 0.1019 and 0.1022. I'm skepicial about adding more salt as I'm hoping it'll even out. I've read conflicting advice about buffering tanks to increase pH or leaving the tank to settle as the LR will buffer it over time? Also with regard to corraline algae I've read about increasing Ca levels to help grow or again to leave it to settle as the move may've caused the 'dying off'.

Help? Don't know which advice to take!

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

Welcome to the site!

A couple quick comments...

Most likely, your coraline algae will bleach out due to the transit time. It's looking paler now, but will probably be white within a couple weeks. No harm... it'll come back just fine in time. No need for calcium right now since it's a new tank, but over time you'll want to keep an eye on the levels. Anything over 380 ppm will keep your coraline growing strong.

Salinity - are you testing with a swing-arm hydrometer or refractometer? A swing-arm hydrometer is tough to get consistent readings on, so if that's what you're using that could be your problem. You've either got water that isn't mixed up yet (doubt it) or bad readings. I'd add more salt (assuming there's nothing living in the tank - adding salt directly to a tank is normally a no-no) anyway because either reading you have is still low. 1.024-1.026 is a better range to shoot for.

I wouldn't worry about pH for now. It's going to take some time to stabilize and will swing all over the place during the cycle.