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Duddits
Aquarium Advice Freak
But that's really high right?
Start of another reef tank - 55g
- Thread starter Duddits
- Start date
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Bearchumjs
Aquarium Advice Addict
Duddits said:
I honestly don't know. Someone else will be able to help you out.
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Duddits
Aquarium Advice Freak
Convict2161
Aquarium Advice Addict
Not sure if this helps but I keep my salinity at 1.025-1.026 and my tank has been thriving for a little over 9 months.
What's your mag levels? And you want phosphates to be 0 ideally. NitrAtes are fine and you also want ammonia at 0.
What's your mag levels? And you want phosphates to be 0 ideally. NitrAtes are fine and you also want ammonia at 0.
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Duddits
Aquarium Advice Freak
Convict2161 said:
Mags? And yes I know I am gonna do a partial water change in the next few days to bring the ammonia and phosphates down. Tank is still cycling.
Ingy
Aquarium Advice Addict
If your using an API test kit, you may be done. I got a pure water sample from the water treatment plant that is used for calibration and my API kit showed a hint of amm and phosphates. Their lab showed 0. I don't think API zeroize out very well in those 2 tests.
Bearchumjs
Aquarium Advice Addict
Ingy said:
I agree. My freshwater test always looked like it has a hint of ammonia. I tested it with RODI water and it showed the same result. so I know it's zero.
Use a sample of RODI water to get a baseline of what your "0" will look like.
Convict2161
Aquarium Advice Addict
Sorry.... Your magnesium levels (mag)
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Duddits
Aquarium Advice Freak
So I've been reading some post/threads about cycling a new tank with established rock, sand and some bb from a previous filter and adding a dozen of hermits to help clean up as well as keep the bb running. My question to you is will this work? I have a tank that's been running about 5 days now and surprisingly I do have a single blue leg in my tank that I'm guessing was in the rock. Is it safe to add some hermits and snails now?
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Duddits
Aquarium Advice Freak
Ok I'm on the 6th day of cycling my tank and I'm starting to get the red algae on some of the base rock and the brown crap on my sand bed. Water changes should control both correct?
Bearchumjs
Aquarium Advice Addict
Duddits said:
Is the "red algae" slimey like Cyanobacteria? Is the brown crap diatoms?
The diatoms will eventually go away on its own. Cyano- someone else can help with that. I've never dealt with it before.
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Duddits
Aquarium Advice Freak
Bearchumjs
Aquarium Advice Addict
If I am seeing this right- the purple stuff is coraline algae, it's good. You want it unless you hate the look of it. I believe it helps reduce nitrates and adds color to the rock!
I think the brown stuff is diatoms. If you give the water just above the brown stuff a little swish, does the brown stuff move around easily? Like, lift off the sand and float in the water column? Diatoms blooms happen because most sand has silicates in it. They eat the silicates. When the silicates are gone the diatoms disappear. While ugly to look at they will go away with time. Pwc's where you siphon just above the sand will remove some, but they won't stop until the silicates are gone.
I think the brown stuff is diatoms. If you give the water just above the brown stuff a little swish, does the brown stuff move around easily? Like, lift off the sand and float in the water column? Diatoms blooms happen because most sand has silicates in it. They eat the silicates. When the silicates are gone the diatoms disappear. While ugly to look at they will go away with time. Pwc's where you siphon just above the sand will remove some, but they won't stop until the silicates are gone.
The brown stuff is definitely diatoms and like jenn said will go away on its own over time when the silicates are consumed.
The purple stuff does look like coralline. If it starts getting flowy and covering everything and growing uncontrollably really fast then it is cyano.
The purple stuff does look like coralline. If it starts getting flowy and covering everything and growing uncontrollably really fast then it is cyano.
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Duddits
Aquarium Advice Freak
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Duddits
Aquarium Advice Freak
Ok so water perimeters have been stable all week even after adding fish. Ammonia is at 0, ph is at 8.2, Nitrites are at 0 and Nitrates are at 1.0. Going to test the water again for phosphates, calcium and magnesium tomorrow and thinking about adding coral frags this week. Thoughts?
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Duddits
Aquarium Advice Freak
Ok calcium is at 320, kh is at 14 or 250.6 ppm, phosphates are at 2.0 and nitrates are in between 0-5.0 now. How do I keep my nitrates stable?
Water changes keep your nitrates down. Aim to keep them below 40. Anything under 10 or 15 is perfectly acceptable for reef tanks.
Your calcium should be between 400-450. Your dKH should be between 8-12.
What salt mix are you using and are you supplementing anything?
Your calcium should be between 400-450. Your dKH should be between 8-12.
What salt mix are you using and are you supplementing anything?
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Duddits
Aquarium Advice Freak
scottayy said:
Are my nitrates too low? I've done one water change and I've never seen the nitrates rise above 5. I've added Oceans Blend Calcium part 1 and Strontium & Molybdenum and I've been using Instant Ocean Reef Crytals.
Nope your nitrates are fine. In a perfect world they would be undetectable but below 5 is absolutely fantastic! Instant ocean reef crystals is the salt I use.. and with weekly water changes I don't have to supplement anything. I'm just wondering how your dKH got up so high and your calcium got so low, lol. IME, reef crystals tests about 420 calcium out of the box and about 10 dKH.
I would do a PWC to try bring these number into check a little bit before adding coral frags.
I would do a PWC to try bring these number into check a little bit before adding coral frags.
