Brian's 75 Gallon

[Brian_G]

haha i will just have to get that good.

its the dang 40 lbs of sugar sized sand i have. only if i got a little bit bigger granules. oh well.

 

[Bifferwine]

Or when you get really experienced, you can do it 100% by feel and not have to see a thing!

 

[Brian_G]

Haha. I tried that. Then it cleared up and it was nothing at all like I imagined.

 

[project5k]

i gave up and let someone else do mine... i'm happier with it now than i have ever been...

 

[Brian_G]

haha THATS CHEATING!


but another thing

its been 2 weeks since i started my tank
i have yet to see an ammonia spike. nitrates and nitrites still read zero.
i KNOW i have something living in that tank. i had live rock and i used live sand. so something should have happened by now im thinking. am i wrong?

the only thing is that i kept my rock in a trash can with a pump and salt water for a month before i started my tank because i found a good deal and couldnt pass it up. so it cycled there after already being cycled in the reef store.

 

[AdeptMrSniffles]

What's are the rest of your params?

 

[yote]

If its been 2 weeks with live rock and sand,and you've not had any ammonia yet.Your probably not going to .
A lot of times,when you start with good cured rock,you'll completely skip the cycle.

 

[Brian_G]

salinity 1.024
ph 8.2-8.4 (i cant tell the difference in the purples compared to my test solution)
ammonia 0
nitrates 0
nitrites 0
phosphates 0
alkalinity 3



can alkalinity be too low? haha that might sound like a stupid question. but i just dont know

 

[Brian_G]

oh really. well then.

should i be looking at a cuc in my tank soon?

 

[yote]

Alkalinity is 3 what? Mg/l?

Everything else looks good,so yeah,I'd say start looking at some CUC.

 

[Brian_G]

mEq/L haha

it said put the drops in til it turned yellow and that was eleven drops. then divide by 4 to obtain milliequivalents per liter

there is a conversion chart for other measurements. like ppm, DKH
i think you wanna see dkh haha
so then it would be 7.7 dkh

 

[yote]

Yeah,your alkalinity is a bit low.But not that bad.
If you'll use this calculator Reef Chemistry Calculator you can use baking soda to bring the alkalinity up.

 

[Brian_G]

what exactly is it.. i know its the total disolved solids in the water. but how does that help the fish. whats it do?

 

[yote]

This will explain it better than I can.
Calcium and Alkalinity by Randy Holmes-Farley - Reefkeeping.com

 

[Brian_G]

OH!
haha i would have never known. i thought i would never use the chemistry im learning in college.

 

[motorcyclereefer]

Chemistry helps. I have had hours upon hours of college chemistry and it helps me everyday.

 

[Brian_G]

haha. i bet it does.

it not exactly a fun class though

 

[Brian_G]

whew busy weekend

but it all worked out
i wasnt going to add fish yet, but they came along at a great price. free.
1 percula clown
1 algae blenny(eh i didnt really want him, but if i didnt he was going to take the porcelin express)
and 1 what i believe to be a two spot brissletooth tang.

and 8 hermit crabs

yeah its too much at one time. i guess im just going to have to check my stuff often

 

[Smitty]

Well, like you said...it was free, so not worth passing up. Congrats on the new additions and just keep an eye on your levels...Imo, I think you will be o.k.

 

[Brian_G]

thanks smitty for my boost in confidence. i needed that as these are my first fish ever. they came from a tank that was not so well taken care of and im still kind of afraid they might get a little stressed. the nitrates were off the charts and the max the text would go up to was 200!
i was in shock they were still alive
and the tang still hasnt eaten though and is hiding behind my live rock