Laz
Reefing newb
Guys, fish or no fish yet? Surprised I still have a bit of a blip on Ammonia and some Nitrates.
I've done a 15% water change after the test.
A complete newbie who needs a way to start!
- Thread starter Laz
- Start date
Guys, fish or no fish yet? Surprised I still have a bit of a blip on Ammonia and some Nitrates.
I've done a 15% water change after the test.
chichimom79
reef junkie
Did you test your levels again after the WC? I'd get the nitrates down before adding anything. API ammonia tests are notorious for showing just a hint of green with 0 ammonia. Since your nitrites have cycled to 0 and you're getting nitrates, I'd say the ammonia level is actually 0.
Laz
Reefing newb
I haven't as of yet, chichi. I'll probably do so shortly.
Little details I didn't mention, I had a dead turbo earlier on today. Over the past couple of days, it was becoming weak and kept falling off the glass/rock. I think it was either due to my salinity (35ppm) or my nitrates. I hadn't realised water changes are what get rid of nitrates, so I conducted that today, and that was a nightmare as I didn't add any salt to the newly added RO because I wanted my salinity no higher than 1.025 as I was going to be adding fish soon as well and thought that might be affecting my inverts but when I checked it, it was somewhat 1.022. Was a little worried it had an effect on the inverts I have because they stopped moving, but I think it's all stable now and they're all fine. I think my Salinity is 1.025, but I'll check later on.
On another note, has anyone used these STC-1000 machine's? Digital STC-1000 All-Purpose Temperature Controller Thermostat Aquarium w/Sensor | eBay
They look awesome for controlling my temperature. Like I mentioned in my post to little earlier, I needed something that would control my temperature and turn on/off my heater and my little evaporating cooling fans. Should prevent failings in my heater as well as it turns the thing off completely if my tank reaches the exceeded set temperature.
Little details I didn't mention, I had a dead turbo earlier on today. Over the past couple of days, it was becoming weak and kept falling off the glass/rock. I think it was either due to my salinity (35ppm) or my nitrates. I hadn't realised water changes are what get rid of nitrates, so I conducted that today, and that was a nightmare as I didn't add any salt to the newly added RO because I wanted my salinity no higher than 1.025 as I was going to be adding fish soon as well and thought that might be affecting my inverts but when I checked it, it was somewhat 1.022. Was a little worried it had an effect on the inverts I have because they stopped moving, but I think it's all stable now and they're all fine. I think my Salinity is 1.025, but I'll check later on.
On another note, has anyone used these STC-1000 machine's? Digital STC-1000 All-Purpose Temperature Controller Thermostat Aquarium w/Sensor | eBay
They look awesome for controlling my temperature. Like I mentioned in my post to little earlier, I needed something that would control my temperature and turn on/off my heater and my little evaporating cooling fans. Should prevent failings in my heater as well as it turns the thing off completely if my tank reaches the exceeded set temperature.
RollTide15
Reefing newb
My API test has a tiny hint of green to it as well. Try placing the tube on top of the white chart and viewing it in good light, it will look more yellow. Chances are you are actually at 0ppm.
Laz
Reefing newb
Yeah, when I put it against high lighting, it was yellow.
Another note, RapidLED are brilliant. A process which I thought would take me another month, has taken me days. The replacement bulb is going to arrive in a few days. I thought this would be such a hassle. They really are a fantastic company.
Another note, RapidLED are brilliant. A process which I thought would take me another month, has taken me days. The replacement bulb is going to arrive in a few days. I thought this would be such a hassle. They really are a fantastic company.
chichimom79
reef junkie
So your salinity in the tank was 1.022 and now it's 1.025? How did you raise it so fast? You want at maximum a shift of 0.001 per day. So for example, if my tank is at 1.022, I don't want it to fall below 1.021 or raise above 1.023 over the course of one day. 35ppm should be about 1.026 which is fine. Stability is key. It's worse to change the levels drastically than to be sitting at 1.027. Does that make sense? The rapid change could definitely have affected or killed your snails. Make sure you mix your new saltwater to your desired salinity for several hours (I do mine overnight) before doing your WC as well.
Laz
Reefing newb
No, my salinity was (1.026-1.027) and I didn't want it too high as I was going to be adding fish and I also thought that might be the reason one of my turbo's died, but that wasn't the reason for the WC. I did the WC to get my Nitrates down. I thought, I may as well just replace the water with RO and see if that makes it go the salinity go a little lower, and only from topping it up ever so slightly, I had a significant drop in Salinity. It may not have been correct as I may has syringed the fresh RO mixing with the salt water onto the Refractometer, but as I had read that it came to 1.022, I stopped adding the RO and added salt to the bucket of RO until the salinity was 1.025, and once I added that, the salinity of the tank was 1.025.
I do think I was probably incorrect, though, because it was a very minor water change and I didn't think it would drastically change so significantly.
Yeah, lesson learnt. I did try to rush the WC. All three of the snails and the crabs looks fine, but I don't know about any long lasting effects, so I guess I'll just monitor them.
I have a question, do dwarf hermit crabs live alright with Electric and Red hermit crabs? I ask, because they are so much smaller and I thought the bigger guys may just eat them.
I do think I was probably incorrect, though, because it was a very minor water change and I didn't think it would drastically change so significantly.
Yeah, lesson learnt. I did try to rush the WC. All three of the snails and the crabs looks fine, but I don't know about any long lasting effects, so I guess I'll just monitor them.
I have a question, do dwarf hermit crabs live alright with Electric and Red hermit crabs? I ask, because they are so much smaller and I thought the bigger guys may just eat them.
Laz
Reefing newb
Guys, I've bought an oscellaris and I wanted to know how I shall acclimate it, because the LFS employee told me the salinity of the tanks was 1.017 and my tank is 1.025.
Marinne13
Northern Reefer
1.017!! holy cow that is low...def drip acclimate for a while, I would do 1 1/2 to 2 hours
BL1
.............
Most LFS run their fish tanks at lower SG, it doesn't hurt the fish and its lower overhead on salt costs for them. I would temp acclimate it for 15 mins then drip acclimate it for like 30 mins. I've never acclimated anything except for nems for more then that.
Marinne13
Northern Reefer
really? I thought you had to drip for over an hour
BL1
.............
Like I said, I've never done it and I had some fish that don't always acclimate to tank life well and all of them made it just fine.
Marinne13
Northern Reefer
good to know, thanks
Neno reefs
Reefing newb
I driped my clowns for 1-2 hours and they acclimated great to the tank.
Laz
Reefing newb
Okay, my experience was pretty hectic.
Firstly, I was in some heavy traffic which meant the fish was in the bag for over an hour and thirty minutes, so I was a little worried about the cold, then I left the bag in the tank for 30 minutes to acclimate to a similar temperature, then I decided to do my first drip. It was pretty messy. I tied about a dozen knots in the air line for a slow drip. The salinity of the LFS' water was actually 1.015! I had 0.010 to gain. Anyway, after an hour, it only raised up to 1.018, so I drastically increased the flow and ended up with a salinity of 1.023 after a 2 hour drip period. My salinity of the tank was about 1.024 and I was pretty beat after looking after it all after 2 hours, so I put the fish in. The most annoying part was keeping the temperature of the water in the bucket in the high 70's. I had to keep a heater in there and plug/unplug my heater in the bucket, then swish the water with my hands so the water is evenly in temp with the rest, then I had to watch the readings. It was a painful process.
All is well, though. The clown seems to be doing well.
Firstly, I was in some heavy traffic which meant the fish was in the bag for over an hour and thirty minutes, so I was a little worried about the cold, then I left the bag in the tank for 30 minutes to acclimate to a similar temperature, then I decided to do my first drip. It was pretty messy. I tied about a dozen knots in the air line for a slow drip. The salinity of the LFS' water was actually 1.015! I had 0.010 to gain. Anyway, after an hour, it only raised up to 1.018, so I drastically increased the flow and ended up with a salinity of 1.023 after a 2 hour drip period. My salinity of the tank was about 1.024 and I was pretty beat after looking after it all after 2 hours, so I put the fish in. The most annoying part was keeping the temperature of the water in the bucket in the high 70's. I had to keep a heater in there and plug/unplug my heater in the bucket, then swish the water with my hands so the water is evenly in temp with the rest, then I had to watch the readings. It was a painful process.
All is well, though. The clown seems to be doing well.
Laz
Reefing newb
Guys, are diatoms common after adding a fish?
Had it for just under 2 days and noticed a small amount of diatoms on the sand.
Had it for just under 2 days and noticed a small amount of diatoms on the sand.
Neno reefs
Reefing newb
I added my clowns 4 days ago and diatoms is all over my tank. But it doesn't matter if there are fish or not because diatom feeds off silcates. Once it eats all the food it will die out.
Laz
Reefing newb
Ah I see, thanks.
My levels for today. Nitrates still seem to be high. Anything I can do about that, despite water changes?
Another thing, what's an ideal salinity for a tank that would be invert/fish/corals friendly? I've seen so many posts where people say inverts like higher salinity, fish like lower salinity etc etc. Is there not just one salinity level that's a good balance for the three?
My current salinity is 1.024
My levels for today. Nitrates still seem to be high. Anything I can do about that, despite water changes?
Another thing, what's an ideal salinity for a tank that would be invert/fish/corals friendly? I've seen so many posts where people say inverts like higher salinity, fish like lower salinity etc etc. Is there not just one salinity level that's a good balance for the three?
My current salinity is 1.024
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BL1
.............
Ideal salinity for reef tanks is between 1.024-1.026. And the only way to lower nitrates is to do water changes.
Laz
Reefing newb
Thanks for that.
Got my replacement from RapidLED today, real happy about that. On the flip side, my Turbo's seem to be falling one by one. I heard this is common when one dies, the rest follow slowly (not sure how true this is, though). I think it was down to when my salinity had dramatically changed and it's had a bit of an after effect on them.
Got my replacement from RapidLED today, real happy about that. On the flip side, my Turbo's seem to be falling one by one. I heard this is common when one dies, the rest follow slowly (not sure how true this is, though). I think it was down to when my salinity had dramatically changed and it's had a bit of an after effect on them.
