Angela in Conif
Aquarium Advice Newbie
- Joined
- Jul 11, 2014
- Messages
- 5
I have been out of this for about 10 years and recently acquired a "free" 65 gallon tank. It had been sitting for about 12 years in a storage room. It used to house a salt water reef. I got it home and rinsed and scrubbed and razor bladed the glass to get it cleaned up. I brought it in and I put silica sand in and filled it up.
I let it run for a few days and was testing the water before I headed down to get a few fish to start the tank. ph was 8.2!
We have well water and we have a neutralizer tank on our system that brings our normal acidic water (6.2) up to 7.0.
tap water tested at 7.0
Even though I rinsed the sand really well, the first thought was it was leeching something into the water, so I drained the tank and filled it back up to see if the leeching was over. after a few hours, ph back up 8.2
OK, now to remove the sand (PIA). As I was draining tank, I took my scrubber and poured vinegar on it and scrubbed the side glass again and splashed the acid water back into the water that was draining. I removed the sand. every bloody grain of sand. I now had a an empty tank. I even took the canister filter out and poured out all of the water in it and rinsed the carbon and ceramic rings. Reinstalled it and filled it up again. Water ph at 7.0
This morning I test the ph. it is 8.2
grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
When the tank is empty and dry, I can see a film on the inside glass, that I am unable to scrape off. Now I am wondering if that "film" is causing my problem. The tank has had water in it for a week and no "softening" of whatever the film is.
My next step:
I just poured a glass of water from the sink and tested it, 7.0. I will let it sit until this afternoon and test it again. Just to eliminate the water itself.
I will post an update then.
IN THE MEANTIME, I wanted to explore the "film" with you guys:
Could this hard film be the culprit? Could it be some kind of calcification on the glass from a reef tank, how do I get it off?
I mean there is nothing else in there. I have a brand new canister filter, heater, air stones in the tank. that is it.
so much for the "free" tank
I let it run for a few days and was testing the water before I headed down to get a few fish to start the tank. ph was 8.2!
We have well water and we have a neutralizer tank on our system that brings our normal acidic water (6.2) up to 7.0.
tap water tested at 7.0
Even though I rinsed the sand really well, the first thought was it was leeching something into the water, so I drained the tank and filled it back up to see if the leeching was over. after a few hours, ph back up 8.2
OK, now to remove the sand (PIA). As I was draining tank, I took my scrubber and poured vinegar on it and scrubbed the side glass again and splashed the acid water back into the water that was draining. I removed the sand. every bloody grain of sand. I now had a an empty tank. I even took the canister filter out and poured out all of the water in it and rinsed the carbon and ceramic rings. Reinstalled it and filled it up again. Water ph at 7.0
This morning I test the ph. it is 8.2
grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
When the tank is empty and dry, I can see a film on the inside glass, that I am unable to scrape off. Now I am wondering if that "film" is causing my problem. The tank has had water in it for a week and no "softening" of whatever the film is.
My next step:
I just poured a glass of water from the sink and tested it, 7.0. I will let it sit until this afternoon and test it again. Just to eliminate the water itself.
I will post an update then.
IN THE MEANTIME, I wanted to explore the "film" with you guys:
Could this hard film be the culprit? Could it be some kind of calcification on the glass from a reef tank, how do I get it off?
I mean there is nothing else in there. I have a brand new canister filter, heater, air stones in the tank. that is it.
so much for the "free" tank
