Please help

[greenvillecoins]

HERE ARE PICS OF THE NEW CAROLS I ADDED ,,THE STORE CHECKED MY WATER AND SAID IT WAS PERFECT,,,, THEY WERE DOING FINE,,,THE ONE FIRST PIC IS LIKE GRASS AND THE OTHER YOU CAN SEE,,,THEY WERE BEUTIFUL,,,,THEY TOLD ME TO USE THIS STUFF,,,DID I USE TO MUCH? OR NOT ENOUGH? I DID 10 MILS A DAY...THE OTHER STUFF SEEMS FINE? its about the same time i updated my light system to they new flourescent 4 tube 2 blue 2 white and 8 leds for moon, 10,000 k bulbs,, and code a and code b reef code plus reef bio fuel is the stuff they sold me,,,Picture 034.jpg

Picture 033.jpgTHANKS SO MUCH KENPicture 034.jpg

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[bluewater921]

GSP ... ummm are you testing for what you are dosing into your tank AKA adding .. everything you add you must test for .. you could over dose not using it right .. what size is your tank ?? dont add anything into your tank you are not testing your setting your self up .. im sorry ken to tell you all of this ..

[thegrun]

+1, if your water was perfect there is no need to add anything (or it would be less than perfect). If you haven't already, invest in some quality test kits. Get calcium, alkalinity and magnesium tests, these are the big three you need to track when keeping corals. They will help you determine exactly what chemicals your tank needs and how much you need to add. Blindly adding anything to your tank can cause major problems.

[greenvillecoins]

they never said to test for any of these? i have the calcium and alk test kit ill test today and post responce,,,, the tank is a 55 with magnum350 filter and nice pretien skimmer alot of live rock and live sand .i guesse they said what was easyiest to make a sale......thanks again ken

[bluewater921]

yea im sorry ken but you must test if your going to add it into your tank or you could crash it means cash it ... n if you test it you can normally figure out how many PPM your tank uses in 1 week and then you know the does you need to add each night when the lights go off .. i never dose during the day light hours

[Islander84]

Do a trial of tests daily vs weekly to see what your tank is using.....in the early stages your tank will use things different than when its matured.....for ex...while your corraline blooms it will use alot of mg....your rocks can absorb alot of different things as well....

[bluewater921]

yea your right islander thats what i meant to type \ till he will understand what his tank uses every night and during the day .. then once he understands it then you can test every other day then every 3 days then once a week but always always test your water ..

[greenvillecoins]

cool thanks, the purple grass stuff is just starting to come back out after days of hideing, Ill do a calcium test and kh/alk test today and post responce,,,when we moved the tank from my neighbors we used the same water and all, just drained and moved and filled,, so i did ad the two corals and one fish,,, but dont want to add anything else till i know its safe,,,thanks again ken

[greenvillecoins]

ok what the levels come up as are....
calcium is 480

kh is 19.2


alk is 6.852
ph and ammonia are fine so is the nitrate. but the nitrite is off the scale think i have the two right could be switched...sorry am i screwed? thanks ken

[bluewater921]

KH is your hardness .. thats high . should be around 11 .. water changes slowly

[greenvillecoins]

should i syphone the sand while i do the water change? say 10 gallon? thanks ken

[greenvillecoins]

well i did a 10 gallon change syphoned the sand man that was dirty.....hope it dosent hurt anything....the guy that gave me the tank wanted to put water stright from the tap with salt in it only i added some stress coat...de chlorine stuff..how long should i wait to feed the corals and how do i tell how much? everyday? once a week...im lost...im gonna check all levels each day and post....if you would be so kind to help me out with this? thanks ken ps is thier any members in the sc, greenville area on here? i could give ya some of these leathers....free of course

[bluewater921]

hey ken .. yea i would not of touched the sand .. that holds a lot of the biological filter you have got to slow down .. there is a ton of people on here that will help you .. if your not sure sure ask or research it .. i never since i have been reefing touched my sand bed at all .. tap water wow no way .. cause traces of iron in tap water can cause green hair algae plus other things that could go wrong .. feed corals depends on what your wanting to feed .. zoas .. acans .. chalices .. you have to be a lil more helpful for us to understand what your asking ..

[greenvillecoins]

the guy that gave me the tank came down , he told me he never touched the sand since the tank has been setup 8 years agao...i only did alittle bit in the front to get the brown nastyness from the front glass thats all....sorry if i confused anyone,,,, ive been reading all day about levels and such, little confused alot to ubsorb. Ive only bout the andel fish in the tank since the move and the two pieces of coral,,,,, i will say since i did the water change they seem to be opening up alot more,,,, im gonna get a big tub to keep mixed water in my garage for when i do water changes, and one for reg top off water. the store said to do that. im not doing a thing to the tank untill i ask on here for now on....we all have to learn i dont want to learn the hard way with loseing everything in the tank.. thanks so much for all the help you have given me so far,,,i really appritiate it. i will pick up a magneziun test kit tommorow and i did upgrade the lights in the tank,,, it had a t5 light system on it with 2 hylides and moon lights and white lights also leds) i went with the coral life 4 flourescent light kit two blue 2 white and 8 blue moon leds....they told me it puts out better lite then the older one and is mor economicle,,cheaper to run,,,sure wish thier was somebody that lived close to me.... i could bug for awhile? hehe thanks again ken ps is thier anything else you would recommend i buy at this time?

[bluewater921]

ken dont buy anything till your get your tank 100% right .. dont even let the LFS talk you into buying something .. i will keep checking back want to see what happens in the next few days or so ..

[greenvillecoins]

thanks so much

[Islander84]

Just remember nothing good happens fast in a reef tank! Its a patience thing! Only bad stuff happens fast....... the best place you will get any information will be right here on this forum! The LFS sell products, most of those guys have never kept a full blown successful reef tank!

[bluewater921]

islander you so right about the LFS keeping tanks .. i only know 2 dealers that can keep a tank at home but owning a LFS is a hard business .. up early to bed late they really dont have time to take care of there own tank cause all the tanks they are taking care of at there store front .. if you listen close to the sale pitch you will figure out in about 2 mins or less if they are in it just for the money not the hobby .. when i hear it im like thank you and walk right out of the store .. if they are trying to sell you a product question it think about it if you have a smart phone research it or come on here and ask someone about it ... normally there is someone on here that will point you in the right direction .. 99.9999999% of us are going to tell you the same thing over and over TAKE IT SLOW !!! that is the key to a happy reef .. dont dose unless you know what your adding to your system ..

[greenvillecoins]

thanks, i stopped everything except feeding my fish...i bought timers for the lights do to i have a hard time bending over to turn them off everyday and night,,but AM NOT GOING TO DO ANYTHING IN THE TANK UNTILL I ASK HERE, iwe want a good reef not a empty dry tank.....ken

[greenvillecoins]

what about the ro system? thats not touching the tank just need to know if i should buy it for 50? its a three canister with new media in it...will i need this? ken