My River Reef 94 Marine Adventure!

[simonas]

well just tested and its still 7.7!!! I;,m cheesed off now. will see what happens when i do a change next week and just keep the powerhead pointing towards the surface

 

[Morri]

50% might have been too much I would stick with around 10%

what is the accuracy of your test kit ?

does your LFS do water tests just for a second opinion?

There maybe nothing wrong with the water at all could just be the test kit always worth double checking

If your LFS duplicate your test result then you could look at the triple buffer from TMC its quiet mild better not to buffer but not always an option.

If your chemistry is all wrong on your water after running these tests I would get a magnesium test done if this is out most stats will be out mine was 1000 at one stage on my old tank once buffered upto 1350 all other stats fell into place


Forgot to say don`t let it get to you its all part of the learning curve

BTW is that a Bassett in your Sig ?

 

[simonas]

50% might have been too much I would stick with around 10%
I did a 25% change plan was to do that once a week to help stats but I;ll take your advice and reduce that

what is the accuracy of your test kit ?

does your LFS do water tests just for a second opinion?
I'll take one down at the weekend

There maybe nothing wrong with the water at all could just be the test kit always worth double checking

If your LFS duplicate your test result then you could look at the triple buffer from TMC its quiet mild better not to buffer but not always an option.

If your chemistry is all wrong on your water after running these tests I would get a magnesium test done if this is out most stats will be out mine was 1000 at one stage on my old tank once buffered upto 1350 all other stats fell into place

fingers crossed mine will do the same will pick one up at the weekend


Forgot to say don`t let it get to you its all part of the learning curve

BTW is that a Bassett in your Sig ?

it is its Flash he;s a little (smelly) star!!

cheers Morri
feel like Seffe with the red text lol

 

[Morri]

Hehe here is our speshel Bassett Milie

 

[simonas]

arghhh cute. I love em would love another but I'd be skint if divorced!! lol great dogs aren;t they/

Morri I;m having problems. I bought two clownfish about3 weeks ago, one was strong one wasn;t and breathed heavily and didn;t eat. It only lasted 6 days or so. The other was really vibrant and strong and eat everything. I added another and now both are breathing heavily, got white stringy poo and not eating to the point wehere this morning they;re both in the corner looking very poorly. Since I added the second neither has swam round the tank or eaten

The blenny is fine, very vibrant , eats anything that goes in and you don;t notice his breathing at all

Just tested nitrate again cos I only have 5 mins before work and its actually lower than last test I did it in natural light and its 10 not the 25 I thought two nights ago
salinity thoiugh is showing as 1.029!!!

would the low ph and high salinity effect the clowns this way, could they be bad stock or is it just the effects of my rushing ?

I suspect the worst for my clowns kept fish long enough to know when they;re on way out. if that happens I;m not adding any for a good while let things settle with just the blenny and then maybe buy an older pair of clowns in a month or so

 

[seffieuk]

Its not very often I disagree with Morri but on this one aspect I do 25% weekly water change on a nano is the way to go. Dear old BigC and Skifletch recommended that figure when I first started out and it kept my nano very happy think it was Ski who said that a 10% water change was next to useless, may even have been The Boss, SH

Sounds like you may be getting a lot of evaporation, are you topping up every day with plain RO water? get that SG down Simon and maybe consider putting in that extra koralia you have just for a while to see if it makes any difference.

What are you now feeding the fish with? and have you lost any inverts?

Seffie x

 

[simonas]

Its not very often I disagree with Morri but on this one aspect I do 25% weekly water change on a nano is the way to go. Dear old BigC and Skifletch recommended that figure when I first started out and it kept my nano very happy think it was Ski who said that a 10% water change was next to useless, may even have been The Boss, SH

Sounds like you may be getting a lot of evaporation, are you topping up every day with plain RO water? get that SG down Simon and maybe consider putting in that extra koralia you have just for a while to see if it makes any difference.

I have never topped up with plain RO Seffie but have the container in my car to get some. I'll sort the Koralia tonight when I get in. Is that hoping that the extra water disturbance would increase oxygen level hopefully raising ph?

What are you now feeding the fish with? and have you lost any inverts?

I've fed very sparingly as the clowns since adding the second haven;t eaten, I;ve target fed the sun coral and the lawnmower takes anything that goes near him. Thats been mysis shrimp so far and not much of it
I haven;t lost any innverts they;ve all been fine and active

Seffie x

Cheers Seffie

Simon

 

[Morri]

Not wishing to disagree with Seffie most resources and from my own experience 10 - 15% is all that is needed changing to much water can cause very large stat swings and can cause other problems but I am sure people have succesfully done both percentages

A good indicator would be to test your tank stats and check your water stats if there is a diffrence in any of the stats changing 25% of the water would cause a big swing in that stat? where as changing a smaller percentage would not

It does depend on what you are trying to achieve from water changes removing waste such as phoshates and Nitrates can be done more effeciently by using Rowaphos etc.

If you are just replenshing elements in the salt can be buffered also I do this by using a CA reactor + other buffer in a nano its not as easy but I am sure that a nano should not be using up masses of these elements on a weekly basis.

This does highlite how people differ on there tank mainenance and still have equally successful tanks

I have tried to keep my tank stable so no major changes etc. has worked for me I am also aware of people that never do water changes and have very healthy tanks

In summary there is no wrong or right way its what ever works best for you

 

[simonas]

I can see the logic in that Morri and only time and testing will tell for me.. part of that learning curve again

Just had water tested at my LFS the ph was 7.7 on theirs as well and the salinity was the same 1.029

Bought some fresh RO and will do a small change tonight and a small one tomorrow to reduce the salinity

I also bought some Salifert kh and ph buffer. I'm aware of long term effects of this stuff but is it possible my ph is low due to early tank side effects? would using a little of this for next week or two be ok to raise ph for now and see how I get on from trhere

 

[Morri]

There are many things that can cause low PH just take your time and raise it slowly, Slowly Slowly Catchy Monkey

I would hold of the fish for now like you said

I did post on UR check out brooklynella might be the problem

Defo keep a barrel of RO available as you will loose more water over the summer months just set a level/line on the tank so you can just top up on a regular basis I use an auto top up now much easier I use it to dose mag as well

 

[simonas]

cheers Morri

saw your post on Ur had a good read about that sounds like a nightmare and lots of people with clownfish seem to get it. are they weak due to excessivebreeding I wonder. Brook seems indiscriminate of species seeing that other fish can get it and the Blenny looks so strong

Hey ho I'll see how I go.....

 

[simonas]

well after gradually topping up with plain RO since Thursday my salilnity is now 1.026 which I believe is ideal
ph is still 7.7 even after adding some ph buffer?

the RO water I am getting from shop is 6.4 ph in its fresh status

just checked my nitrate and its 0!!!! now thats confused me, why is that so low!!! I;m going to retest that one

retested and nitrate is o!!!

ammonia reading is 0 again and its been about three weeks since I had any ammonia showing on tests

nitrite is also 0

 

[Truck]

RO water at 6.4? Either your test kits are inaccurate or you should buy your RO from somewhere else, RO water should be PH7 (neutral).

 

[simonas]

RO water at 6.4? Either your test kits are inaccurate or you should buy your RO from somewhere else, RO water should be PH7 (neutral).

theres another local shop and I;m goin to give it a whirl next time

could be the reason my ph is low eh!!

 

[seffieuk]

well after gradually topping up with plain RO since Thursday my salilnity is now 1.026 which I believe is ideal

Think you mean your SG is 1.026

ph is still 7.7 even after adding some ph buffer?

You really shouldnt have to be putting any buffer in your tank - if your lfs PH is really that low, go to a different lfs as Truck is correct, PH should be around the 7 in RO water - how about taking some RO water to the lfs and asking them to test it

the RO water I am getting from shop is 6.4 ph in its fresh status

just checked my nitrate and its 0!!!! now thats confused me, why is that so low!!! I;m going to retest that one

You daft donut, that is what you want and is very difficult to attain, most reefs always have some traceable nitrates (except Morri of course! )

retested and nitrate is o!!!

ammonia reading is 0 again and its been about three weeks since I had any ammonia showing on tests

I should hope so

nitrite is also 0

Again, I should hope so

Seffie x