fowlr tank soon to be in progress

[DanS180]

That's just a general guideline. If you can keep trates low easily and you have no aggression issues, you can add more.

Yeah I suppose that's true.. this might be A LOT different for me bc my 180G FW has NO nitrates always bc of my live plants lol. Only time I do a pwc is when it starts to get cloudy due to driftwood guess we'll see what happens with my first SW tank

 

[crister13]

Yup. Your gonna want to do weekly or biweekly water changes.

 

[DanS180]

Yup. Your gonna want to do weekly or biweekly water changes.

Well when my tank is cycled how big of a WC should I do? And after that how much % wise should I do weekly?

 

[Flaxon-Waxon]

Some people will say up to 50% for the first PWC after cycle. I did 20%, no problems so far... In terms of weekly, do a 10% weekly change (with salt water) and do top offs as needed (with fresh RO/DI).

 

[DanS180]

Some people will say up to 50% for the first PWC after cycle. I did 20%, no problems so far... In terms of weekly, do a 10% weekly change (with salt water) and do top offs as needed (with fresh RO/DI).

Awesome sounds like a plan btw my nitrites and nitrates got a little bit higher last night

 

[spoonman]

Well when my tank is cycled how big of a WC should I do? And after that how much % wise should I do weekly?

Do enough water changes to get your nitrates down to between 5 and 10ppm. Amount will be determined by how high the nitrates get. After that about 10% every week or two to replenish essential elements.

 

[DanS180]

Do enough water changes to get your nitrates down to between 5 and 10ppm. Amount will be determined by how high the nitrates get. After that about 10% every week or two to replenish essential elements.

Gotcha, will do thanks for your help!

 

[CorallineAlgae]

So right. Water changes will depend on your nitrate levels and the number of fish you decide to keep. These guidelines assume you have a skimmer, not to many fish, and that you don't overfeed. The easiest way to know for sure if you're doing enough water changes is by testing your nitrates. If they go above 10ppm do larger water changes, if they stay below 5ppm then 10% is all you need. If you can't get them below 10ppm you'll know that it's time to get that skimmer. That's a long way off though.

 

[DanS180]

So right. Water changes will depend on your nitrate levels and the number of fish you decide to keep. These guidelines assume you have a skimmer, not to many fish, and that you don't overfeed. The easiest way to know for sure if you're doing enough water changes is by testing your nitrates. If they go above 10ppm do larger water changes, if they stay below 5ppm then 10% is all you need. If you can't get them below 10ppm you'll know that it's time to get that skimmer. That's a long way off though.

Haha well hopefully I don't need a skimmer but regardless I will be getting the skilter 250 eventually

 

[DanS180]

Okay I'm having a big problem with my pH... every time I test for high range pH.. it comes out red.. like not a number on my chart. Any ideas???

 

[crister13]

Are you using a freshwater kit???

 

[DanS180]

Yeah should I just go get the saltwater kit?

 

[crister13]

Ya.... I wiuld

 

[DanS180]

Ya.... I wiuld

Okie dokie guess I'll put that on my list of things to get haha

 

[Rosesrblu1]

You are still working with the 16g tank, right?? IMO,add the fish very slowly to make sure your filtration can keep up,with the bio load. 16g is not a lot of volume in sw

 

[DanS180]

You are still working with the 16g tank, right?? IMO,add the fish very slowly to make sure your filtration can keep up,with the bio load. 16g is not a lot of volume in sw

Yeah I plan on adding slowly mainly bc I don't have the money to buy em all at once and another reason is if I messed something up id rather lose 1 fish rather than all of them ya know?

 

[DanS180]

Ok I'm confused now... yesterday I tested my tank and my numbers were
pH 8.2?
Ammonia .25ppm-.50ppm
Nitrite .50ppm
Nitrate 5-10ppm

Today my numbers are
pH 8.2?
Ammonia .25ppm
Nitrite 0ppm
Nitrate 0-5ppm

Did I stall or something?

I haven't changed any water or topped off anything since setting up, only thing I did was add shrimp and removed when fully decayed

 

[crister13]

Well you need to keep a constant source... So add another shrimp. Idk why nitrates fell though.... You could've tested wrong. Definitely add another shrimp though.

 

[DanS180]

Well you need to keep a constant source... So add another shrimp. Idk why nitrates fell though.... You could've tested wrong. Definitely add another shrimp though.

Ok well I'll put another shrimp in but I doubt I tested wrong.. its how I've been testing every time since ive had my first tank lol

 

[crister13]

If you don't shake the heck out of the nitrate bottle it'll be wrong.... Idk just throwing ideas out there!!!!