newbie to salt water tanks.. Needs help

[Sausagesalsa]

i dont have a sump, is that a filter. all i have is a protein skimmer cause thats all i was told, that i would need, is that like a filter or something??

 

[kurtyboh]

A sump is another tank you keep underneath the first. It helps by increasing your water volume, and allows for different filtration types as well as keeping everything hidden and out of your display tank.
http://saltaquarium.about.com/cs/bcorsettingup/a/aa020298sumps.htm

 

[Sausagesalsa]

okay, but can i do without it for now at least, or is that a pretty big need for my tank, wow i cant believe how much more i needed to know dam, thanks guys for your help i really needed it.

 

[hackteck]

nah its not a must at the moment some people never have one its really your choice

 

[Sausagesalsa]

i found out what the problem was, my calcium lvls were really high, and started to make my water milky looking, the only reason it looked green was because my glass was covered in algae, once i cleaned it the water was more milky then green, other then doing water changes how can i lower my calicum lvls???

 

[0o.Kelsey.o0]

What are your calcium levels? It's odd that it would be high unless you are adding additives. The salt that you use should have just the right amount of calcium in it, maybe a bit less, but not more. I guess your tap water could be unnaturally high, test some of your tap water and see what your levels are at. You should really try to find a pet store that sells ro/di water, tap water really causes problems in SW tanks.

(also get a good API testing kit if you don't have one already, the strip testing kits are not that great)

 

[Sausagesalsa]

my calcium is 500 ca2t. i just did a 40-50% water change. no stores in my area sell that water, all they can do is sell me that special filter, i found a grocery store that sells reverse osmosis water, should i use it, it has all the bad stuff taken out of the water i asked the manager.

 

[Sausagesalsa]

and my salt lvl is at 1.021 ppt. okay i just did a test on my tap water, and as soon as i did the final test it read that my calcium lvl is below 20 ca2t. so i dont know what going wrong.

 

[Sausagesalsa]

i just take my water sample to the fish store once a month and they test it for me, i am gonna buy some of those test kits tho, yesterday they said all my lvl are perfect, its just my calcium lvls are to high.

 

[0o.Kelsey.o0]

I would use the grocery store ro water, it is not as good as ro/di but it's a lot better than tap water. Buy yourself a few large jugs and just go fill them up whenever needed.

 

[Henry405]

If your LFS is testing your water correctly, its ok to trust them, but I don't trust my LFS. I tested my water with my own kit and had them test it also to see if I was doing it correctly and there would be a difference of 15ppm+ on nitrates

 

[Sausagesalsa]

okay, thank you so much for your help, ill let you know if it changes, will it change right away or over a few days??

 

[Sausagesalsa]

this was my own test i dident trust the guy at the store he dident seem to bright lol, what i posted was my own test..

 

[0o.Kelsey.o0]

You will see changes over the next few weeks probably, it will take awhile for all the algae to die off, water should clear up within a few water changes, guess it all depends how dirty the tank is looking haha.

 

[Henry405]

I find that having like a HOB filter helps clear the water up a lot faster. If you dont have one, I wouldnt spend the extra money just to clear up your water a couple days faster

 

[Sausagesalsa]

okay thanks guys(or girls). its already looking alot clearer, but still a bit milky looking, but now i know what to do . ill post pics once i can.

 

[0o.Kelsey.o0]

sounds good! : )