My New Marine Tank

[Jimyfloyd]

Well I've finally got most of the stuff i need for my tank. So at the weekend i bought about 20kg of live rock and got the tank started.

I set the water up on Friday with salt (waiting for refractometer so I followed the weight instructions on the packaging of the salt. Should be about right but i'll test it when the refractometer arrives this week.

Whilst I'm here - when do i start testing? The live rock was cured but it was out of the water for about 2 hours in the end whilst I got it home. Seen two bits of life so far - 2 little shrimp things!

Anyway pics so far - the rock was jsut put in and I'll re-arrange when I get a chance!







FTS:

 

[SkiFletch]

Looks good so far

 

[bae1994]

looks good

 

[Jimyfloyd]

Thanks guys.

I've done some tests on the water last night as I was a bit bored!

Nitrate: 0ppm
Nitrite: 0.25
SG: 1.025
PH: 7.8 (how do i increase this?)

I'm leaving the lights on 24/7 but they are only T8 - are these sufficient to get the corraline growing?

I'm only going for the live rock and fish for now...

 

[SkiFletch]

How many lamps and how many reflectors on the T8's?

as for the pH, what's your aklalinity level and are you in a house in the middle of winter with all the doors/windows closed?

 

[Jimyfloyd]

How many lamps and how many reflectors on the T8's?

as for the pH, what's your aklalinity level and are you in a house in the middle of winter with all the doors/windows closed?

Hi Ski,

I have 2 T8 lamps (standard Juwel stuff) both with reflectors.

Haven't tested alkalinity yet - will do so tonight and report back. I am in the above but I do open the windows/doors now and again - but the tank is pretty much sealed with the lid...

One other thing - i've noticed alot of gunk floating on the water - any ideas? I suspect it might be something out of the eheim filter i'm running from past use (i cleaned as best I could) but it's all just floating there!

 

[SkiFletch]

Well, with a sealed tank and house you'll have CO2 problems in the winter. High CO2 means low pH. I'd guess your alk might be a tad low too with a 7.8pH but understand that such a level is not really out of the realm of "normal" for a high CO2 situation. What's more important is that you keep good surface agitation and keep it stable.

 

[Jimyfloyd]

New readings:

Amonia: 0.5
Nitrite: 1
Nitrate: 10-15
PH: on the digitial: 7.88 on the test kit: between 7.8-8.0

I don't have an alkalinity test kit - what do you recommend?

This is the "stuff" floating on the water:



Will the skimmer remove this?

Cheers,

James

 

[SkiFletch]

Probably. Tough to say for sure though

 

[Jimyfloyd]

Right well the tank is still running ok and looks the same!

Latest readings are:

Nitrate: 10 or under
Nitrite: 1
Ph: 8 on the chemical and 8.02 on the digital
Amonia: 0.5

Apart from the PH (which is up) these are pretty much the same as before.

Any hints or am I just being impatient! Do i need other tests? I'm using the API saltwater master test kit btw.

On a side note I got some more surface agitation going and the "gunk" from the post 8 has dissapeared!

James

 

[SkiFletch]

Patience grasshopper, all will go well in time . The salty side of the hobby always teaches patience

 

[Jimyfloyd]

Patience grasshopper, all will go well in time . The salty side of the hobby always teaches patience

Would you say it's sounding ok then?

I think the pH is a little low - what can i do to bring it up lightly. I note that most livestock is recommended to be between 8.1-8.4

Thanks!

 

[seffieuk]

Patience grasshopper, all will go well in time . The salty side of the hobby always teaches patience

Would you say it's sounding ok then?

I think the pH is a little low - what can i do to bring it up lightly. I note that most livestock is recommended to be between 8.1-8.4

Thanks!

As Ski says, Patience It is likely your PH will go up slightly with your first big water change

Seffie x

 

[xxBarneyxx]

Ideally your PH needs to be higher but to be honest I would say dont worry to much about it as long as it is above 7.8, just make sure you have a lot of surface movement and maybe switch salt brands. I use instant ocean and my PH is slightly low (goes from between 7.8 to about 8 depending on when I test it). I have been like this for over a year now though and its been ok for me (I prefer to keep it this way then worry about dosing, etc and it then bouncing all over the place).

Looks like you have some nice rock there and I look forward to seeing how it progresses. Any ideas on what stock you are going to put in?

Coraline will take a while to get going so dont worry if it never seems to get started.

The other test parameters look normal, just have to wait for the cycle to finish. The surface gunk will probably go away after the cycle as well (though you might want to get a small powerhead/pump with spray bar to increase surface movement.

 

[Jimyfloyd]

Hi Barney,

Thanks for the words - yeh i like the rock and i did a slight move yesterday although I'm still not happy with the right side of the tank. I'll post some pictures tonight. There are 2 large pieces and i've staked the smaller around them - i'll get there one day!

As for stock i'm going for the terribly predictable clown fish. I haven't yet decided on others. I really want a pacific tang but my tank is a bit small...I'd also liek a royal dottyback too how many do you think is enough

I'll do some more tests tonight but the pH seems to be up to around 8.05 (on the digital) and seems fairly consistent. HOWEVER, I'm having a bit of an algae bloom (green) at the moment and i'll post pictures tonight - should i do a water change??? I did have the lights on 24/7 for the first 8/9 days and now have them on from about 7am-11pm and off overnight.

The gunk has now gone. I have a eheim canister filter (full of live rock) powering a spray bar that agitates the surface nicely and 2 x hydor 1's that are about 1500lph. These are bloody noisy though! They started off silent and seem to be getting worse!

Any help/advice is much appreciated

James