I dont know what species my fish is and i cant see him

[Sniperhank]

Good chance at it. Only wish I could drive across town and let you use mine!

 

[carey]

The chemicals are the same between tests, the result colors jkust differ a little bit

 

[Ramseyawad]

Ok can anyone upload pics of the salt water colours so I can compare, also can you recommend a good test kit that does all those plus phosphates and calcium?

 

[Sniperhank]

Hm, maybe I was thinking about phosphate testing? Opps.

 

[carey]

The colors are pretty much the same. The ammonia test will turn milky with saltwater. If there is any green then there is ammonia. Same with nitrites, any purple, and theres trites. And with the nitrates, you want yellow, orange is low/mid and red is high. All the same as freshwater just different hues of colors.

i use API only for: ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and ph.

for the tests that need to be exact and more reliable I use salifert. I use it for : phosphates, alkalinity, calcium and magnesium. i also use it for nitrates sometimes when the reading is very low on API.

 

[SeanMonster]

The tank has been going for around 6 months now Im Sure it has cycled properly I have a 250l tank with a blue throat trigger, regal tang, blue spot gobie, scooter blennie, 3 hermits, 2 turbo snails, 2 cleaner shrimp, and a emerald crab, I have a fluval 250 filter with inline heater and u. Steriliser, a v2 skimmer a 300l/h power head an a new 1600l/h twin power head 30kg live rock ( just noticed a coral frag on one appeared from nowhere, and a deep sand bed 1".5

I'm sure you've already heard this but that tank is way too small for the Tang and Trigger.

 

[Ramseyawad]

Yeah I know but while theyre small it's ok when they get bigger I'll upgrade

 

[SeanMonster]

Yeah I know but while theyre small it's ok when they get bigger I'll upgrade

Nice, already thinking about upgrading . Just so you know, my Niger and Pinktail Triggers have almost grown 3x in the last 6 months. Just to give you a sense of the timeline here.

 

[Ramseyawad]

Really? Wow what size tank would you recommend? I want to get more in there too only like 2 clowns and a few blue chromis

 

[carey]

With the tang in there I would go to about 125g, or 500l? Tangs generally do better in a 6 foot tank so that's the size I would aim for. My blue and yellow tang have more than doubled in size in just a few months, fast growers, big eaters and crazy swimmers. LOL

 

[Ramseyawad]

Yeah and very shy!! I never see him or the trigger until food time! Wow 500L that's huge!! It's gonna cost a lot!!

 

[carey]

Just keep on the lookout for a used setup. I ended up paying $25 for my 125g with stand. It wasn't the prettiest tank but its working for me. Do you have any reef clubs or saltwater clubs in your area? Thats' another great way to pick up a large setup for pennies on the dollar.

 

[Ramseyawad]

No the problem here is they cost a fortune I may look for plans and build one, one more question aswell of I do get a new tank would I have to cycle it if I use all the old equipment and water etc?

 

[carey]

When I upgrade tanks as long as I use the live rock I haven't had any cycle. You can't just upgrade and throw a ton of fish in at once though, you still have to add slowly so your bacteria can adjust to a new bio load.

 

[Ramseyawad]

So say I put some water some live rock a cheap filter with a foam filler from the tank I'm
Using now and a dead shrimp for a while that should be ok then, I know I gotta check the levels first before I put the critters In

 

[carey]

Pretty much thats what you can do. A large tank will require ALOT of rock so you can always put in a bunch of cheap base rock and then add some of the live rock from your current tank and a dead shrimp and it will cycle. Plus the base rock after a few weeks becomes "live" so then you will have a cycled tank, enough live rock and a perfect place to move over fish to and not have any spikes of ammonia.

 

[Ramseyawad]

Thanks carry you're a great help

 

[carey]

good luck! bigger tank is awesome! I can't believe I didn't start with my 125g tank. LOL

 

[Ramseyawad]

Found my blue throat trigger today dead under some rocks, took water to lfs and tested for everything and they said everything is spot on, and they do t know why it dies that said if there was a pro Len with the water the shrimps would give more of an indication well in advance, gutted!!! :-(

 

[SeanMonster]

Sorry for the loss of your fish. Unfortunately, sometimes they die with no explanation. I've had several fish die that were fine when I left in the morning and were dead when I got home.