Crazymman's 55 Gal Build

[reeffreak]

Looks great!Nice pic of the goby.

 

[crazymman]

I did a 20% water change but my nitrates are still around 20 ppm. Any idea why?

 

[Bifferwine]

Did you test the new water before you did the water change? Are you using RODI water or tap water?

 

[crazymman]

No I didnt test it first. Didnt really think about it. I'm getting my water from my LFS.

 

[crazymman]

Its cheaper than buying salt and buying distilled water.

 

[Bifferwine]

But it's not cheaper than buying an RODI unit and making your own ;)

Test your water before you add it next time... You may be buying the water with nitrates in it already. Surprisingly, this seems to happen quite a bit...

 

[crazymman]

True. Okay I'll do that. Should I do another change already?

 

[crazymman]

I'm starting to think i dont have a big enough CUC. I have 2 Nass snails, 10 turbo snails, 10 blue leg hermits, and a sand sifting star. Is this enough for a 55?

 

[yote]

I'll answer your question with a question.:D
Is there enough algae and waste to support any more CUC right now?

 

[crazymman]

I dont see much algae. Let me put it this way, I'm having trouble getting my nitrates down. I did a 20% water change and still have 20 ppm. I know Biff said that the water im getting from my LFS may have nitrates in it. And thats possible I havent gotten anymore yet to test it. But is there another reason why i cant get them down?

 

[yote]

It could be because your tank is so new.A lot of times we expect our tank to be nitrate free as soon as we do our first waterchange.But 90% of the time,the tank needs to mature more to be able to process the nitrates into nitrogen.

 

[crazymman]

So I shouldnt be so worried then?

 

[yote]

Not in my opinion.:D

 

[crazymman]

Ok, thanks Yote!

 

[crazymman]

If the lot # on my test bottles say 0809 is that the experation date?

 

[dcantucson]

Seems if it were the expiration date it would state that. Could be the manufacture date too.

 

[crazymman]

Yes youre right. I looked online and its the manufacture date. They say ammonia, High Range pH, Nitrate, phosphate, Copper, calcium and GH all last for three years.

 

[crazymman]

Well I fianlly got my sump up and running today! I also got 3 free frags from a guy on a local forum. I got 1 frag of candy cane, 1 of GSP, and 1 birds nest frag. I was and still am worried that I wont be able to properly care for the birds nest because I only have T-5 lighting but his 185 gallon was all under T-5 and he had crazy growth. I will post pics of all my progress tomorrow. He's also gonna give me a free frag of fire and ice zoos and a frag of a nice monti cap he has.

 

[yote]

A lot of people underestimate just how good T-5s are.:D
Sounds like a great start to the weekend to me and now waitin on the pics.