My 10g progress!?

[ImACoolguy]

If your heater isn't fully underwater it's probably salt creep from what I see.


Caleb

 

[KKAY27]

I know it's been awhile since I have posted my progress but I went to the er a few weeks ago and have 4 herniated discs! But I feel better and back at it! Finally got my wavemaker in and my here are my readings! Is it time to do a water change maybe?

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[spoonman]

Don't want to do a water change until you are converting 4ppm of ammonia to 0ppm ammonia and 0ppm nitrite. Then nitrates should be high and you do water changes to get them down.

 

[alyxandria]

I agree wait until your tests read zero ammonia and zero nitrite and then start your water changes to keep that nitrate down.

 

[KKAY27]

Ok my water level is getting low, should I top it off? Does that mess with any of my readings! Also my readings are the same as 14 days ago! Is that normal?

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[ImACoolguy]

Top off with RODI. It won't affect your readings.


Caleb

 

[KKAY27]

I don't have a rodi system yet, will declorinated tap water work? And still not mess the readings up? I plan on getting one soon there just alot of $ and I'm not sure what brand to get!

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[ImACoolguy]

RODI will become essential if you ever want a reef. The main reason in phosphate control.

For now you can get by with tap.


Caleb

 

[Sniperhank]

Tap doesn't cut it for saltwater. I have been using the distilled water from walmart for some time on my reef, but you'll have algae growth and need extra maintenance to keep things in line. RO/DI is best if you can get your hands on it and is one of the best investments one can make in this hobby.

 

[KKAY27]

What's a good brand? I have a 60g I will be doing soon so it will need to produce a good amount! How do they work? Do you hook it to the sink?


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[Sniperhank]

I like BulkReefSupply's ro/di machines. I have a 5 stage that I was using before my wife moved into my house and took over my kitchen. You can also find them on ebay. They can hook to the sink or get plumbed into the water line to be turned on/off. Make sure you get an inline TDS meter so you can monitor your total dissolved solids and a pressure release so it isn't so hard to take the chambers off to replace the filters and resin.

 

[KKAY27]

I tested my parameters today and I want to know what yall think about them! I don't have a saltwater card to put by them because I'm using a freshwater!
What I think
1 ammonia-1.0
2 nitrates- either 0 or 5.0
3 nitrites-0
4ph 8.0
The ammonia looks super dark in the pic but in person it looks lighter and ph looks red but isnt!

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[KKAY27]

Went to petco today to look at fish! I found a watchman goby $25 and a firefish $17 I also loved this little damsel fish he was black with a white dot! Are they a good starter fish?! I fell in love with either a puffer or trigger he was a baby ! Maybe one day

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[KKAY27]

This is why I'm a little scared to get anything from my lfs
There was dead arrow crabs floating on top of the water, clown fish laying on the bottom dead, ich, and this!!!!!!!

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[Sniperhank]

Cyano bacteria? I'll be honest, it can be common in LFS in the systems that are all plumbed together.
If one is careful, it can be managed though. The tomini tang that I have in my tank I watched for a couple of weeks in my LFS. Guy was fat and no signs of disease through the entire time it was there. There was cyano in the tank, but no signs of issue with this fish...though there were in some in other systems. One must be careful with this as if ich is in one tank it is in all of them if the systems are plumbed together.
Doing a proper quarantine can reduce the likelihood of introducing something into your system. I took a gamble and acclimated it right into my display, where it is still a happy fat bugger to this day.
So, moral of the story if you are comfortable with the skills you've perfected over time and have watched a fish for a lengthy period of time...it is possible to pull a fish out of such an environment without issue.

 

[KKAY27]

Yea i don't have a quarantine yet! This one is supposed to be quarantine for my 60g that I haven't started yet! So it makes me nervous I don't want to add nothing bad to it! I would feel more comfortable buying something from a store that tanks looked well maintained and fish looked healthy but this was just bad! It got bad in like a matter of months because every thing looked fine then bam! And my lfs is the only place that sales sw fish in my area! I can drive 2 hours to petco, but that's a long trip!

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[KKAY27]

Don't want to do a water change until you are converting 4ppm of ammonia to 0ppm ammonia and 0ppm nitrite. Then nitrates should be high and you do water changes to get them down.

Ok so my ammonia is at 0ppm and my nitrite is 2.0ppm and nitrates is 10.0ppm! It was a big swing since last week or so when I checked it! is everything ok? Should I do anything

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[ImACoolguy]

Keep adding an ammonia source till your nitrites drop off. When they hit 0ppm along with ammonia you are cycled.


Caleb

 

[KKAY27]

Keep adding an ammonia source till your nitrites drop off. When they hit 0ppm along with ammonia you are cycled.


Caleb

Should i add another shrimp? Or get some ammonia in a bottle? I never done that before!

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[ImACoolguy]

Should i add another shrimp? Or get some ammonia in a bottle? I never done that before!

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Either will work. You just need to provide an ammonia source


Caleb