first saltwater tank

[Kelso]

Wow that tank looks very nice. Your doing a good job so far! I would really look into a light, once you get one type of coral its hard to not get more! The T5 you need isnt too pricy anyway. Good idea with the filter, Im always looking for ways to reause everything I got. They usually fall to diy projects. Good luck, again tank looks great!

 

[tnice17]

Thank you Kelso!

yes i feel the same way, once i get one its just going to multiply from there.

the only thing holding be back now is that i would like to keep everything enclosed and not have glass top with exposed light.

i know thats the best way to do it, but i dont want the excess light it gives off lighting up that side of the room. i would rather have the water/decor very bright giving off light from the inside out.

 

[tnice17]

Todays water results

Ammonia - 0-.25
Nitrite - .1
Nitrate - 10-20 ( hard to tell by color)
pH - 8.2ish

i have been getting the same test results for the past week, week and a half.

is there a reason why nothing is changing?

 

[mr_X]

it's only been since the 18th. it's not uncommon to have a cycle that lasts a month or so.

 

[tnice17]

as you can tell im getting antsy, haha. im very excited.

what would be the ideal test results im looking for? everything to be at 0 right?

 

[mr_X]

well, no ammonia or nitrite. nitrates are ok..but not at ridiculous levels. practice patience. you'll be happy you did in the long run. you are almost there...your livestock will thank you.

 

[tnice17]

for the water that has evaporated and needed to top off from the canister filter, i added about 4 gals of distilled water so far. its cheap and i have a 6 tablespoon - 1 gal of water ratio i measured ( 1.022 ). i wanted to give an advantage over tap water during my cycle.

i am noticing more brown build up on my LR as time goes by( comes off if i rub my finger on it). what is this?

 

[mr_X]

you don't salt your evap water..just add fresh.salt does not evaporate.

 

[Aquarium1]

Following lol.

 

[atte]

i am noticing more brown build up on my LR as time goes by( comes off if i rub my finger on it). what is this?

That would probably be diatoms. They usually show up towards the end of cycling. You can let it be, it will burn out on its own, or if it's really bothering you, once your cycle is 100% done you can add a few snails.

 

[Kelso]

I would use reverse osmosis water, not distilled. RO water is completely pure and never gives me any ill results. I used distilled for a few months and all I got was a growth of some red algea that looked like diatom. It went away a few weeks after I switched to RO. And yes make sure its freshwater your replacing evaporated water with, otherwise salinity goes up and up.

 

[tnice17]

ok ill try to use RO water from now on.

correct me if im wrong but is this the process i do to get RO water?
(i have a aquafina 5gal jug)

mix the correct ratio
let it sit for 24hrs
add to tank?

 

[spoonman]

Do not add salt to top off water. It will increase the salinity of the tank. Salt stays in the tank when the water evaporates, so you dont need to add saltwater....

 

[tnice17]

did my daily water tests, and i noticed that my nitrate is higher then 20 but not at the full color of 50.

i was reading Spoonmans "fishless cycle" and that said to do a PWC to get the nitrates down. would anyone else recommend doing a PWC?

 

[mr_X]

yes, it's never bad to do a water change if it's the same salinity and ph!

 

[Kelso]

Reverse osmosis is water pushed through a multi layered membrane. Each layer has smaller and smaller holes. Once the water reaches the center there's really nothing left but h2o. As a matter of fact I have heard of processes that filter the water down to just higrogen and oxegen molecules leaving nothing but pure water. They use it to desalinate water from the ocean in attemps to fix the ever growing proplem of water shortage.

You can buy RO water from wall mart. Around here its 73 cents a gal. Other then that you have to get an RO filter for your sink. I'm not sure if that's what you ment with your question but there it is.

 

[tnice17]

Reverse osmosis is water pushed through a multi layered membrane. Each layer has smaller and smaller holes. Once the water reaches the center there's really nothing left but h2o. As a matter of fact I have heard of processes that filter the water down to just higrogen and oxegen molecules leaving nothing but pure water. They use it to desalinate water from the ocean in attemps to fix the ever growing proplem of water shortage.

You can buy RO water from wall mart. Around here its 73 cents a gal. Other then that you have to get an RO filter for your sink. I'm not sure if that's what you ment with your question but there it is.

yes needed something in lamens terms, lol. thank you.

 

[tnice17]

todays readings after a 10-15% PWC

Ammonia - right above 0
Nitrite - .1
Nitrate - 10

i just noticed today that if i look at water surface from below i see some build up everywhere. when i touch it with my finger, it dissipates. what is this?

 

[mr_X]

you need to point a powerhead in such a way so that it breaks that film up, and puts it back in the water column so it can be filtered out. it's organic waste.

 

[Kelso]

That's one beauty of sumps, they skim the surface keeping it crystal clear. In your case the powerhead is the way to go.