NightSpirit
Aquarium Advice Activist
Well, it's not really the tank of doom, but it seems to be on a downward spiral.
This is the master thread for all my current and future tank problems. Sorry for so many questions lately, but I'm finally getting my saltwater tank together, and of course everything is going wrong. Rather than post 100 threads I will summarize everything here. The odd thing is when I had a saltwater tank 8 years ago I didn't have a single problem. My freshwater tank never has any probs either, it's practically self sufficient.
Tank
Size: 110g
Lights: 4x65 w PCs with moonlights. 2 actinic and 2 10k bulbs.
Heating: 300 watt thermometer
Skimmer: Remora Pro w mag drive upgrade
Water flow: 2 maxijet 1200s, canister
Filtration: 40 lbs Live rock, 60 lbs baserock, DSB, and a canister running carbon.
Tank History
Started about two months ago with aragonite sand and live sand, and fed it a shrimp or two to get it jump started. Levels tested fine so I bought some good live rock, and just placed it a week ago around June 23rd. Just turned on the canister filter with carbon two days ago.
Bubbles
1. Are bubbles harmful in any way?
Everything in the tank is spitting out bubbles. The canister filter, both my maxijets, and the protein skimmer. The main culprit seems to be the remora pro protein skimmer, but everything else is spitting out bubbles as well. I just cleaned the maxijets and submersed them upside down in the water and turned em around a few times and they're still spewing out bubbles. I used some supplements about a week ago and I know supplements are supposed to cause problems but I thought they would clear out in a week. I used a little bit of calcium and strontium, and a decent amount of kh buffer (as per directions, I was told it would help rise my ph).
2. Should I just turn of my skimmer for a couple of days so the supplements clear out?
pH
My pH is always around 7.8 / 7.9 no matter what time I test my tank, regardless if the lights have been on or not. Even when I make a fresh batch in a rubbermaid container the pH is 7.8, even after 24 hours of aeration. I am using RO/DI water and Instant Ocean seasalt.
3. Is a pH this low too dangerous for my tank?
4. Is there a safe way to raise pH?
Recent Tests
Tests are using a recently purchased Hagen master kit. A salifert and dry tabs kit confirmed most of the results.
Date: June 30
SG: 1.022
Temp: 79
NH3: undetectable (<0.1)
NO2: undetectable (<0.1)
NO3: almost undetectable (~0.25mg/L)
Ca: 440mg/L
Kh: 120
PO4: between 0 and 0.25
Fe: undetectable (<0.1)
Creatures
Devoid of fish and inverts until recently.
Cleanup crew placed on June 30th.
36 turbo snails
12 blue leg hermits
1 unknown crab
10 scarlet reef hermits
4 emerald crabs
6 nerite snails
6 cerith snails
2 star snails
48 nassarius snails
1 lettuce nudibranch
1 serpent star
1 harlequin serpent star
1 sea cucumber
~10 feather dusters
Algae
This issue has been answered in another thread, but I am not sure if it is cyano, algae, or diatomes. I would post a pic but my camera is down. It is brown, covers the sand, glass, and rocks. The center of each bloom is darker than the surrounding area and some, but not all, is web-like.
Live rock
The live rock looked really nice when I first got it, but now some areas appear to be whitish.
5. Is this normal for rock recently added to the tank, and should it return back to normal?
TIA, I am sure I will have more problems shortly. At least I do not have any fish yet, but I would like to get a tang soon. I would like to clear up the bubble, pH, and algae issues before I get any fish, however. I will be eternally grateful if I can get this tank set up properly.
This is the master thread for all my current and future tank problems. Sorry for so many questions lately, but I'm finally getting my saltwater tank together, and of course everything is going wrong. Rather than post 100 threads I will summarize everything here. The odd thing is when I had a saltwater tank 8 years ago I didn't have a single problem. My freshwater tank never has any probs either, it's practically self sufficient.
Tank
Size: 110g
Lights: 4x65 w PCs with moonlights. 2 actinic and 2 10k bulbs.
Heating: 300 watt thermometer
Skimmer: Remora Pro w mag drive upgrade
Water flow: 2 maxijet 1200s, canister
Filtration: 40 lbs Live rock, 60 lbs baserock, DSB, and a canister running carbon.
Tank History
Started about two months ago with aragonite sand and live sand, and fed it a shrimp or two to get it jump started. Levels tested fine so I bought some good live rock, and just placed it a week ago around June 23rd. Just turned on the canister filter with carbon two days ago.
Bubbles
1. Are bubbles harmful in any way?
Everything in the tank is spitting out bubbles. The canister filter, both my maxijets, and the protein skimmer. The main culprit seems to be the remora pro protein skimmer, but everything else is spitting out bubbles as well. I just cleaned the maxijets and submersed them upside down in the water and turned em around a few times and they're still spewing out bubbles. I used some supplements about a week ago and I know supplements are supposed to cause problems but I thought they would clear out in a week. I used a little bit of calcium and strontium, and a decent amount of kh buffer (as per directions, I was told it would help rise my ph).
2. Should I just turn of my skimmer for a couple of days so the supplements clear out?
pH
My pH is always around 7.8 / 7.9 no matter what time I test my tank, regardless if the lights have been on or not. Even when I make a fresh batch in a rubbermaid container the pH is 7.8, even after 24 hours of aeration. I am using RO/DI water and Instant Ocean seasalt.
3. Is a pH this low too dangerous for my tank?
4. Is there a safe way to raise pH?
Recent Tests
Tests are using a recently purchased Hagen master kit. A salifert and dry tabs kit confirmed most of the results.
Date: June 30
SG: 1.022
Temp: 79
NH3: undetectable (<0.1)
NO2: undetectable (<0.1)
NO3: almost undetectable (~0.25mg/L)
Ca: 440mg/L
Kh: 120
PO4: between 0 and 0.25
Fe: undetectable (<0.1)
Creatures
Devoid of fish and inverts until recently.
Cleanup crew placed on June 30th.
36 turbo snails
12 blue leg hermits
1 unknown crab
10 scarlet reef hermits
4 emerald crabs
6 nerite snails
6 cerith snails
2 star snails
48 nassarius snails
1 lettuce nudibranch
1 serpent star
1 harlequin serpent star
1 sea cucumber
~10 feather dusters
Algae
This issue has been answered in another thread, but I am not sure if it is cyano, algae, or diatomes. I would post a pic but my camera is down. It is brown, covers the sand, glass, and rocks. The center of each bloom is darker than the surrounding area and some, but not all, is web-like.
Live rock
The live rock looked really nice when I first got it, but now some areas appear to be whitish.
5. Is this normal for rock recently added to the tank, and should it return back to normal?
TIA, I am sure I will have more problems shortly. At least I do not have any fish yet, but I would like to get a tang soon. I would like to clear up the bubble, pH, and algae issues before I get any fish, however. I will be eternally grateful if I can get this tank set up properly.