Dirt-simple chemistry MUST-knows for tank health

[kissman]

buy yourself an ro/di unit if you don't have one yet. get a 4 or 5 stage from Bulkreefsupply.com. You will more than likely have diatoms and/or cyano till the tap water is out of your system. Tap water is high in Nitrates, Phosphates, and Silicates thats what fuels algae, so as long as it in the system you will have it. I would do some 50% water changes with RO/DI water and add a little more salt to the water you use for water changes to bring up salinity slowly. Use a TDS meter to test the water coming out of the RO/DI unit befroe adding salt that will tell you if the filters in the RO/DI unit need to be replaced.

If you are going to go reef I would look into a good skimmer and get rid of the wet/dry, they can become nitrate factories and for a reef you want low nitrates and phosphates

[sndman67]

thanks... and how do I get rid of the brown?

[prsnlty]

It will die off as the tap water dissipates through water changes with ro/di water. Tap water leads to tons of water issues and not to a stable tank. As Kissman said bulk reef supply has a great ro/di system for the money and well worth every penny.

[sndman67]

which RO/DI do you suggest I buy? Are they easy to instal... Now I'm in an apartment and I'm renting... I also want to say thank you soooooo sooooooo very much. You are so very helpful. I can't thank you enough. I went to the site you provided me... bulkreefsupply.com. I just don't know which to buy.. and I want to know if it is convenient to instal and if possible to un instal when I don't need to use it. And what would I use for storing the water? I'm on the 3rd floor. I'm sorry.. I don't mean to be a pain... I'm trying .. I really am. I just want to do this right. I thank you again.

[kissman]

http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/store/...my-system.html

[Sk8r]

In an apartment where I had my own washer/dryer, I used a brass Y from lowes to split the cold water to the washer, screwed the rodi onto it, and put the wastewater into the washing machine. If you don't have that, there's an adapter to let you use the kitchen tap.
Getting it to go on may involve changing the outflow diffuser for the faucet.

[jlymner]

my biggest problem with cal is the test ... it is confusing.. using the API test.. any suggestions?

[Sk8r]

Tests---my only advice is that it shouldn't be at all hard to read, and if it is, get another brand of test.

[shafttlc]

Hi everybody
here's a question for you all. Ive been trying to raise Mg in my 100gal mixed. I will add Mg following the directions but when I check it the next day its actually lower than the day before.
I.E. Mg started at 1250 added Mg checked next day was 1220. Continued like this for the last 4 days
any ideas?

alk =8.4
Cal = 405
Mg started at 1250

[mainegeek]

Originally Posted by Sk8r

8. Dosing: you must dose to keep your calcium supply up if you have stony coral. Hand-dosing is just fine if you don't. You should be able to keep up with the mineral consumption problem if you have fish and softies, including anemones. Just stay in the target range, and do your water changes.

If you have, or want to have, stony coral, you need to get onto that calcium situation the minute you put them in the tank. They come in 'asleep'. Given good lighting (a requirement for stony coral) and correct chemistry---they'll put out a finger to feel the water. And they'll start waking up. Hungry---because they've not eaten in a while. And what they want is calcium. A lot of it. They'll suck it right out of your salt mix, until your snail shells start dissolving. So you have to put it in. 3 little coral frags can take heaping teaspoons worth of calcium supplement---daily---and at nearly twenty dollars a jar, this could get ruinously expensive. But there ARE cheap ways to give them what they need. Kalk drips are the cheapest. They can fully supply a 50-60 gallon packed reef. Above that you get into calcium reactors, which can supply much larger reefs. There is also the Balling method. And 2-Part. Tank size and coral load will determine what you need.

I'm curious, has anyone tried or considered Cuttle Bone for the calcium? They sell them for birds but when I was tending to turtles they floated, caught the turtles attentions and provided a decent calcium supplement. They also seemed to dissolve in the water over time.

[Spscraze37]

Good reading!

[MrJawfish]

Thanks for the good info!

[MrJawfish]

Do you think it is being used up? According to the original post, that is what usually happens.

[MrJawfish]

Originally Posted by jlymner

my biggest problem with cal is the test ... it is confusing.. using the API test.. any suggestions?

With the Ca test, you have to shake the test tube every time you add a drop. Once the test tube turns from purple to pink in color, you usually have to add 1-2 more drops before the color turns blue. Blue is your final indicator for the amount of Ca present in your test sample. You have to remember how many drops you added to the test tube, so count them in your head or write them on a piece of scrap paper.

[maresapc]

How do you lower ammonia? The tests that I've run say that it is a little high..

[bnumair]

Originally Posted by maresapc

How do you lower ammonia? The tests that I've run say that it is a little high..

amquel, prime, ammonolock etc any ammonia reduction bottles available in LFS or pet stores will reduce ammonia. a natural way will be adding established live rock.

[toky916]

Man pricy thinking of only FOWLR tank only now

[maR1o]

great read.

[FaronREO]

My brain just exploded.

[ctazmartin]

Sk8r,
Thank you, thank you thank you!! I believe I will laminate the "9 Commandments" until I have them memorized.

Chris

[Lemontree]

The rules say I cannot PM someone until I have 10 posts, and I could really utilize this chart for my reef, so I figured I'd start with this post, my first!

I'm usually a lurker, have gotten a bunch of great information on this site, and just today decided to get serious about it and purchase a membership and start being responsible.

I've had a 100 gallon system for years, and just upgraded to 300 gallons- so this tool will be hugely helpful. As soon as I reach 10 posts, I'll PM you, Sean.

Thank you for being on this forum~

[SantaMonica]

I'm another kalk drip person, as was stated above. Works really well for reefs, at adding cal and alk at the same time as topping off the evaporation water. Raises pH too. Just don't add it too fast, or too much, or the pH can get over 10.0 before you know it.

[Chris Abbott]

great info

[FLSteve]

Newbie here and I have some questions about my water chemistry. Hope this is the right spot to ask. I've read all the stickies over and over and think I'm on the right track but just want to make sure. Here's my results and the tests/equip used for test.

Temp 79 to 80 (digital probe and stick on thermometer)
ph 8.1 (Milwaukee PH100 digital probe)
Sal. 1.023 (Instant Ocean Hydrometer)
amon. Nitrite 0 (API test)
Nitrate .15 to .25 (Salifert Test)
KH 9.8 (Red Sea Test)
MG 1360 (Red Sea)
CA 400 (Red Sea)

I want to get into some soft corals probably shrooms at first but am wanting to be able to maintain a good water chemistry first. I would like to raise my salinity to 1.025 and have the water level where I want it. My plan is to let water evaporate until sal is 1.025 and then top off to desired water level with 1.025 water. Is this the proper way to raise salinity? I don't have an ATO but I just ordered 2 (one for my QT) and should be here in the next few days.

I realize my KH is a little high. This may be due to me being new to these tests. Out of the Red Sea tests this one seems to be the hardest to see the end color. I'm sure with more practice it will get easier. Before doing anything I plan on letting it run and checking again in 2 wks when I do my WC. Is that a good idea or...?

The last time I did testing I accidently washed the measuring spoons for the salifert nitrate test and the spoon for the Red sea CA test (I think it was CA, the test that requires the spoon). I had put everything in the sink and was using a jug of RO water to rinse everything out and the spoons were gone, even took the drain trap apart with no luck Any idea where or how to replace these with out buying new tests? I'd be more then happy to pay shipping and for your time if anyone has extras.

I made some mistakes setting up and getting into the hobby that could have been avoided if I would have found RC before hand. I apologize for the long post, just trying to avoid any more mistakes and learn how to do things right! Thanks!

[SantaMonica]

For salinity you can just dissolve the salt in a gallon of tank water, then add it back to the tank slowly.