How badly did I mess up?

LeRenard · 02/10/2015, 10:10 AM

Hey folks,

I'm a newb when it comes to saltwater, and apparently I'm not very good at it because I keep making mistakes and I haven't even gotten the tank cycled or fish in yet.

I'm setting up my first saltwater tank- as a FOWLR for now but hopefully as a reef in the future when I'm more confident in my skills and after I upgrade my lighting. It's a 36 gallon bowfont. For background, I'm an engineer and have "most" of a masters in secondary biology education, so I know only enough to be dangerous.

My LFS initially advised me that I could use tap water for my FOWLR, so I tried that and discovered the joys of precipitating calcium carbonate. I made a 36 gallon snow globe. I decided to ditch that attempt because I would never trust the parameters, and drained and cleaned the tank.

For a second attempt, again at the LFS, I purchased 35 gallons of premixed salt water. I figured I should at least start with a known-good water supply. The LFS said I would be able to put my live sand and some live rock in straight away, and that sounded like a pretty good prospect, so I also purchased 40 pounds of live sand and 35 pounds of really gorgeous live rock covered in deep purple coralline algae. Their instructions were to place the sand, place the live rock, then fill with seawater.

When I got home, I placed my sand, then placed in the live rock. I was able to get a really nice aquascape quickly because after building rock piles for my cichlid tanks for so long the live rock is much easier to stack. I then carefully poured in my premixed water.

That's when it hit me.. the seawater had been cooling the whole time and I'd forgotten to take that into account. When I set up my digital thermometer the tank read 60 degrees F.

I got the heater plugged in, a 200 watt Eheim, and since I had it on hand I also threw in a 150 watt aqueon. I took about 2 hours to get the tank up to 80.

To make this all the more interesting, I work at a hospital in Massachusetts, and due to the 2 feet of snow we just had I had to pack up and bug out emergency style so I could make it to work in the storm. My family and I are staying with family so I can get to work with the commuter rail out of service. It doesn't happen often (maybe once before) but it figures it would coincide with setting up my new tank.

So, to recap.. I put my live sand and live rock in the tank, filled it with 60F water (DOH!), heated it to 80F, and then had to take off due to an emergency. I haven't seen the tank in two days (!!) and I'm absolutely terrified that I've killed my live rock, all the hitchikers, and that beautiful coraline algae I paid extra to get (

) When I left, I left an Aqueon 500 circulation pump running, the two heaters, and I turned on my AquaC Remora but pulled out the cup to add extra flow and oxygenation. I've been monitoring that the power has been steady at home.

Did I kill everything? The bacteria? The hitchikers? the coraline? Should I "nuke" the live rock and start over? Do I need to recure it? Will I need to reseed it? Help, what do I do when I get home tonight!? Should I bring anything? Some more live rock to reseed it? Some more seawater for a water change?

Any advice from someone who knows what they are doing will go a long way to calming my nerves. I feel like this is already overwhelming me and all I really want to do is keep a pair of ocellaris clownfish.

I'm just becoming less confident I know how to get from here to there.

tkeracer619 · 02/10/2015, 10:24 AM

It's fine. I doubt anything was nuked so I wouldn't worry about that. Even though the rock was already live it probably would need to cycle anyways. I wouldn't worry about the low temp at this point, I doubt anything you have was hurt the slightest.

Remember nothing good happens fast in a reef tank, you will need to slow down and let things happen. You can't force them to happen.

Let us know what it looks like when you get home, post a pic, and lets keep progressing forward. You have no reason to worry.

MysteryReef · 02/10/2015, 10:26 AM

Calm down, your fine. 60 degrees wouldnt be good for any inverts/fish but live rock life is surprisingly resiliant. I would start by reading all of the "sticky" threads at the top of the new to the hobby forum, there is a wealth of information that should answer most of your questions in those thread. If after reading them you have further questions, ask away. Good luck.

jimmy_beaner · 02/10/2015, 10:26 AM

Calm down. Live rock is pretty hardy. Yes, you probably killed *some* things off, but the vast majority should be fine. You'll still have beneficial bacteria present and whatever die off may occur will be food for the bacteria that did survive. The coralline will also survive (it's rather hardy). Give it a little time and see how it goes but I bet you'll see at most a mini cycle (which isn't that big of deal since you don't have fish in the tank).

whosurcaddie · 02/10/2015, 10:26 AM

CALM DOWN!!! LOL... Everything is fine. Your cycle will continue and you didn't kill everything. You need die off for the cycle to even work so stop stressing about it. You have about 6 to 8 weeks then you will be good to go.

whosurcaddie · 02/10/2015, 10:27 AM

LOL @ everyone... calm down.

LeRenard · 02/10/2015, 10:48 AM

THANK YOU. I imagine a bunch of the stress of keeping the hospital going (and getting there) these past two weeks spilled over into anxiety that I'd offed my lovely (and expensive!) live rock and would end up doing a three month cycle or having to start over again.

It seems silly but having a bunch of people say "don't worry about it" has put me very much at ease. When you're on unfamiliar ground you don't know if mishaps are huge or minor. Also thank you for the links to the information, I'll absorb as much of that as I can.

I'll try to post a picture when I get home tonight!

Reef Frog · 02/10/2015, 10:49 AM

Your bacteria colonies and coralline algae should definitely survive the brief exposure to 60F water. In fact they'll probably be unfazed. My bet is many hitch hikers like copepods will make it as well. If you had fish, they might have died - some corals would also would have likely survived but would definitely be stressed.

Hopefully your heaters were set correctly and won't over heat the tank. 450 watts seems like a lot of heat potential for 36g. Temps approaching 90F MAY be detrimental to certain hitchhikers and can certainly kill fish and corals.

So, all and all I am predicting you'll be OK and no drastic measures will be necessary - even if all the hitch hikers perish it won't be the end of the world. In any case I would proceed with a standard cycling protocol. Good luck.

LeRenard · 02/10/2015, 07:30 PM

When I got home this evening, heading up the stairs, I half expected my house to smell like a fish market. It turns out, however, everything looked pretty good! The sand had settled out, and I was able to see that I'd made a pretty big mess when I'd poured the water in. I guess I didn't go quite as slowly as I'd thought, even though I'd used a dish. I looked over everything pretty closely for about a half hour, but I didn't see any signs of life. I did, however, find an asterina star on the glass at the back of the tank.. so it's something I guess! I was hoping to see some copepods or something of that ilk, but I don't see anything moving in there. At least it smells good!

I tried to straighten out the sand a bit (it was bare glass in a few places) but it's pretty fine grain stuff and turns into a cloud if I look at it funny, so I stopped and decided just to leave it be for now. It did cloud up the tank a tad but it looks worse in the picture than in person. My lovely arangement shifted a bit, too, but I can live with how it ended up I think.. two neat little arches and lots of nooks and crannies.

My water testing came out:

Ammonia: .25 ppm
NO3: 0
NO2: 0
pH: 8.2
KH:120 ppm

Salinity: 1.021 (measured with a hydrometer)

It was also about 1 full gallon low, which I replaced with distilled water.

Savant · 02/11/2015, 07:36 AM

Nice "scape"!

Might want to get a controller for that much heater, if one decides to stick open you could go south pretty fast

jimmy_beaner · 02/11/2015, 07:45 AM

Nice, just a small cycle

Nina51 · 02/11/2015, 08:04 AM

like how your scape turned out! it looks like the rock is pretty close to the sides and you won't be able to get a magfloat in between rock and glass. not a huge deal unless you have ocd like i do and can't stand to see algae anywhere except on the back wall. LOL

your salinity is a bit low. you should shoot for right around 1.024-1.026. also, the little swing arm hydrometers can be inaccurate, especially over time. you should look into getting a good refractometer.

i just have one question...what did you guys do out there to tick off mother nature??? i mean, seriously, FEET of snow? i was raised in minnesota and never saw anything like what you're getting out there!!!

LeRenard · 02/11/2015, 12:43 PM

I took the 200 watt heater out, I'd only had it in there to help when the tank was at 60F. Right now there is an Aqueon 150 watt in there and it's hanging steady at about 80F. This morning on my way out the door I noticed the tank had reverted to being completely cloudy again. At first I thought maybe it was an bloom, but it turns out the maxijet pump had fallen off my Remora and was creating a lovely sand snow globe :/ It was a 30 second fix but I'm guessing it'll take a few days before the tank clears up. I've been running the remora with the cup out just to break the surface up a little.

I'm not sure why the salinity is low. I checked it with a Tropic Marin hydrometer, but there's always a chance it's user error which is why I haven't corrected it yet. I had a mark on the tank where I'd filled it and I've only added enough distilled water to bring it back to that mark (RO/DI unit still hasn't arrived). I was thinking of taking a gallon of distilled water and mixing it to about 1.030 and then slowly adding it to the tank until it reaches 1.026. Is there a better way to do it?

Nina51: I wish I knew! If you figure it out, let me/us know.. I spent 5 hours commuting to work this morning. The MBTA had *one* train running on my line. smh.

FraggledRock · 02/11/2015, 12:48 PM

Everyone calm down its time to freak out!

tkeracer619 · 02/11/2015, 06:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LeRenard

I'm not sure why the salinity is low. I checked it with a Tropic Marin hydrometer, but there's always a chance it's user error which is why I haven't corrected it yet.

Get one of these. It is worth every penny. if i could prop bet what fails first i'd put a grand on the heater.
http://www.etcsupply.com/ranco-etc11...ller-p-86.html

Get a ATC refractometer and some 35ppt calibration fluid. Don't trust the hydrometer.

To increase salinity top off with 1.026 saltwater instead of fresh water until you reach 1.026. 1.021 isnt bad. 1.023 is safe

LeRenard · 02/11/2015, 07:42 PM

I took a water sample with me down to the LFS and had them check it with the refractometer.. 1.026 on the nose. I'm not surprised, I bought it premixed (at a different store) and it was 1.026 to start with and I've been downright retentive about topping up exactly. ATC refractometer ordered!

When I got home it was a snow globe *AGAIN*. I felt around looking for the pump that had fallen off last time, but I found it was still securely on the skimmer. This time my cheap Aqueon circulation pump had snapped right off it's mount and fallen to the bottom. WHAT IS UP WITH THE EQUIPMENT IN THIS TANK?? I'm going to give Hydor Koralias a try this time. Two 425s ordered! My poor credit card.

It was down a full gallon just today! BRS RO/DI should be here by the weekend, but clearly I need an ATO.

In regards to the heater controller, awesome, I've been looking for something like that. I've had a few freshwater friends cooked and I've gotten gun-shy with my heaters, which is why in the picture you can see I've got a temperature alarm hooked up that I can read from across the room.

Sk8r · 02/11/2015, 08:09 PM

I set up much the same with water and rock that had been trucked in by pickup in a snowstorm. Dunno what the temperature was, but it was probably well under 50. 60 is not good for fish and corals, but I had even corals survive the cycle.

We have a really comprehensive sticky up above ---SETTING UP. THat's able to answer a lot of questions, from the basic to the technical. You're ok.

A marine tank evaps about a gallon per 50 gallons of water daily, which is a good thing, but you will want that ATO. Sand kicks up until it's got a biological coating: that may be your snowstorm. You can get another kind by dosing calcium and buffer too close to each other--always allow 8 hours. There's a note in that sticky about water chemistry. Don't panic. You're doing fine. Just don't let it heat above 83 (2 more degrees is bad news ffrom there) and don't let it chill below 75 (lethality to some organisms starts at 62, but it varies, and warm rock retards that disaster.) NEver trust a heater indicator! Use a thermometer---better yet, have 2.
A little fishfood dropped in daily is all you need to cycle, 1 flake per 10 gallons. Every day for 4 weeks will do it. THen you get snails and little crabs. And quarantine your first fish. REmember---slow is good.

acabgd · 02/11/2015, 09:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tkeracer619

Get a ATC refractometer and some 35ppt calibration fluid. Don't trust the hydrometer.

That Tropic Marin hydrometer he's using (if it's the big one) is hand made and one of the more precise means of measuring salinity. So he should be fine there.

asylumdown · 02/11/2015, 10:17 PM

Just remember that all the critters on live rock are the same critters that can survive a trip half way round the world in the cargo hold of an airplane wrapped in nothing more than wet newspaper. Temporarily falling to 60 degrees wouldn't phase them.

Nina51 · 02/12/2015, 06:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LeRenard

When I got home it was a snow globe *AGAIN*.

i'm assuming you are using power heads that attach with suction cups? if that's the case, this will be an ongoing problem. ditch them and get the ones that attach with magnets. much more secure!!!

LeRenard · 02/12/2015, 12:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nina51

i'm assuming you are using power heads that attach with suction cups?

The first snow globe was from the MJ1200 falling off my Remora skimmer. That's probably my fault for not tightening the clamp enough.

The second one was from an Aqueon 500 circulation pump that snapped right off its mount by itself.. the suction cup stayed put, actually! To be honest, I didn't have very much faith in it, and it was destined to become my salt mixing powerhead already.

By the way, this morning the tank was crystal clear and I found a tiny 6 legged brittle star climbing the back glass, so at least two things survived. I'm "ghost feeding" 4 flakes a day and everything looks good so far.

Thanks everyone for all the help!

Rognin · 02/12/2015, 01:22 PM

I'd open that lid you have to help with gas exchange. That's my only suggestion.

tkeracer619 · 02/12/2015, 03:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LeRenard

In regards to the heater controller, awesome, I've been looking for something like that.

You're welcome, they are worth their weight in gold. The temp probe is self calibrating and if it sense an error it will let you know. You can replace the probe as well. I've had maybe 3 probe failures between ~15 units over the years but none of them resulted in an overheat. It was always a probe error and simply soldering a new probe had it back to new. Only thing they lack is an audible alarm for fault situations. That is where your reef controller comes in, mine will text me until I throw the phone or fix the tank.

LeRenard · 02/13/2015, 11:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rognin

I'd open that lid you have to help with gas exchange. That's my only suggestion.

Like this?

Ok, some of that is just a gratuitous brag shot of my new CPR AquaFuge2.

I'm hoping to make good use of that later.

I'm planning on retrofitting the flap/door from the old hood to the front for asthetics, later.. I just made this with some scrap egg crate as a short term solution. That Aqueon HOB is only there for some flow until I the replacement circulation pump arrives. Also I've got a Current USA Orbit Marine light on the way which will be replacing that flourescent light.

I can't go without a grate or cover because my two year old likes to "make fishies"...

LeRenard · 02/16/2015, 05:04 PM

I don't know what's up with my cycle. I figured the live rock die-off would be enough to start the cycle, and my tests have been .25 amm, 0 nitrite, 0 nitrate until three days ago. Thinking I might need more ammonia, three days ago I threw in an uncooked shrimp. It's now turned to a fuzzy lump, but my numbers are just .5 amm, 0 nitrite, 0 nitrate.

Should I throw in another shrimp to get the ammonia up or should that .5 be enough to get things moving? Shouldn't ammonia have been higher? I'd almost suspect my live rock bacteria had eaten some of the ammonia if it weren't for that 0 nitrates.

I'm using an API test kit (dropper and vials, not strips) if that matters.

02/10/2015, 10:10 AM	#1
LeRenard Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2015 Location: New Hampshire Posts: 116	How badly did I mess up? Hey folks, I'm a newb when it comes to saltwater, and apparently I'm not very good at it because I keep making mistakes and I haven't even gotten the tank cycled or fish in yet. I'm setting up my first saltwater tank- as a FOWLR for now but hopefully as a reef in the future when I'm more confident in my skills and after I upgrade my lighting. It's a 36 gallon bowfont. For background, I'm an engineer and have "most" of a masters in secondary biology education, so I know only enough to be dangerous. My LFS initially advised me that I could use tap water for my FOWLR, so I tried that and discovered the joys of precipitating calcium carbonate. I made a 36 gallon snow globe. I decided to ditch that attempt because I would never trust the parameters, and drained and cleaned the tank. For a second attempt, again at the LFS, I purchased 35 gallons of premixed salt water. I figured I should at least start with a known-good water supply. The LFS said I would be able to put my live sand and some live rock in straight away, and that sounded like a pretty good prospect, so I also purchased 40 pounds of live sand and 35 pounds of really gorgeous live rock covered in deep purple coralline algae. Their instructions were to place the sand, place the live rock, then fill with seawater. When I got home, I placed my sand, then placed in the live rock. I was able to get a really nice aquascape quickly because after building rock piles for my cichlid tanks for so long the live rock is much easier to stack. I then carefully poured in my premixed water. That's when it hit me.. the seawater had been cooling the whole time and I'd forgotten to take that into account. When I set up my digital thermometer the tank read 60 degrees F. I got the heater plugged in, a 200 watt Eheim, and since I had it on hand I also threw in a 150 watt aqueon. I took about 2 hours to get the tank up to 80. To make this all the more interesting, I work at a hospital in Massachusetts, and due to the 2 feet of snow we just had I had to pack up and bug out emergency style so I could make it to work in the storm. My family and I are staying with family so I can get to work with the commuter rail out of service. It doesn't happen often (maybe once before) but it figures it would coincide with setting up my new tank. So, to recap.. I put my live sand and live rock in the tank, filled it with 60F water (DOH!), heated it to 80F, and then had to take off due to an emergency. I haven't seen the tank in two days (!!) and I'm absolutely terrified that I've killed my live rock, all the hitchikers, and that beautiful coraline algae I paid extra to get () When I left, I left an Aqueon 500 circulation pump running, the two heaters, and I turned on my AquaC Remora but pulled out the cup to add extra flow and oxygenation. I've been monitoring that the power has been steady at home. Did I kill everything? The bacteria? The hitchikers? the coraline? Should I "nuke" the live rock and start over? Do I need to recure it? Will I need to reseed it? Help, what do I do when I get home tonight!? Should I bring anything? Some more live rock to reseed it? Some more seawater for a water change? Any advice from someone who knows what they are doing will go a long way to calming my nerves. I feel like this is already overwhelming me and all I really want to do is keep a pair of ocellaris clownfish. I'm just becoming less confident I know how to get from here to there.

02/10/2015, 10:24 AM	#2
tkeracer619 Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Westminster, CO Posts: 17,289	It's fine. I doubt anything was nuked so I wouldn't worry about that. Even though the rock was already live it probably would need to cycle anyways. I wouldn't worry about the low temp at this point, I doubt anything you have was hurt the slightest. Remember nothing good happens fast in a reef tank, you will need to slow down and let things happen. You can't force them to happen. Let us know what it looks like when you get home, post a pic, and lets keep progressing forward. You have no reason to worry. __________________ Hobby Experience: 9200ish gallons, 26 skimmers, and a handful of Kent Scrapers. Current Tank: Vortech Powered 600G SPS Tank w/ 100gal frag tank & 100g Sump. RK2-RK10 Skimmer. ReefAngel. Radium 20k.

02/11/2015, 07:36 AM	#10
Savant Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2013 Location: N.E. Pa Posts: 402	Nice "scape"! Might want to get a controller for that much heater, if one decides to stick open you could go south pretty fast __________________ ____________ Will Tank Info: 105g DT l 100g sump l remote fuge 40g l Photon 48V2 LED l Diablo XS200 l APEX to run the show

02/11/2015, 08:04 AM	#12
Nina51 biggliest cofveve champ Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: 5th floor, Illinois, gewgaw expert Posts: 3,506	like how your scape turned out! it looks like the rock is pretty close to the sides and you won't be able to get a magfloat in between rock and glass. not a huge deal unless you have ocd like i do and can't stand to see algae anywhere except on the back wall. LOL your salinity is a bit low. you should shoot for right around 1.024-1.026. also, the little swing arm hydrometers can be inaccurate, especially over time. you should look into getting a good refractometer. i just have one question...what did you guys do out there to tick off mother nature??? i mean, seriously, FEET of snow? i was raised in minnesota and never saw anything like what you're getting out there!!! __________________ of all the things i've lost, i miss my gary the most. Never hold your farts in. They travel up your spine into your brain, and that is where crappy ideas come from. Current Tank Info: i gave my reef away and i feel like a bird out of a cage!!

02/11/2015, 12:48 PM	#14
FraggledRock Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2014 Location: New York, New York Posts: 2,185	Everyone calm down its time to freak out! __________________ “For most of history, man has had to fight nature to survive; in this century he is beginning to realize that, in order to survive, he must protect it.”― Jacques-Yves Cousteau MarineBio.org Current Tank Info: 40 Gallon Breeder w/ Bean Animal Overflow 20G Sump, Mixed Reef.

02/10/2015, 10:26 AM	#3
MysteryReef Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2014 Location: Northern Illinois Posts: 70	Calm down, your fine. 60 degrees wouldnt be good for any inverts/fish but live rock life is surprisingly resiliant. I would start by reading all of the "sticky" threads at the top of the new to the hobby forum, there is a wealth of information that should answer most of your questions in those thread. If after reading them you have further questions, ask away. Good luck.

02/10/2015, 10:26 AM	#4
jimmy_beaner Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: Clive, IA Posts: 692	Calm down. Live rock is pretty hardy. Yes, you probably killed some things off, but the vast majority should be fine. You'll still have beneficial bacteria present and whatever die off may occur will be food for the bacteria that did survive. The coralline will also survive (it's rather hardy). Give it a little time and see how it goes but I bet you'll see at most a mini cycle (which isn't that big of deal since you don't have fish in the tank).

02/10/2015, 10:26 AM	#5
whosurcaddie Registered Member Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 2,354	CALM DOWN!!! LOL... Everything is fine. Your cycle will continue and you didn't kill everything. You need die off for the cycle to even work so stop stressing about it. You have about 6 to 8 weeks then you will be good to go.

02/10/2015, 10:27 AM	#6
whosurcaddie Registered Member Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 2,354	LOL @ everyone... calm down.

02/10/2015, 10:48 AM	#7
LeRenard Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2015 Location: New Hampshire Posts: 116	THANK YOU. I imagine a bunch of the stress of keeping the hospital going (and getting there) these past two weeks spilled over into anxiety that I'd offed my lovely (and expensive!) live rock and would end up doing a three month cycle or having to start over again. It seems silly but having a bunch of people say "don't worry about it" has put me very much at ease. When you're on unfamiliar ground you don't know if mishaps are huge or minor. Also thank you for the links to the information, I'll absorb as much of that as I can. I'll try to post a picture when I get home tonight!

02/10/2015, 10:49 AM	#8
Reef Frog Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2013 Location: Maryland Posts: 3,121	Your bacteria colonies and coralline algae should definitely survive the brief exposure to 60F water. In fact they'll probably be unfazed. My bet is many hitch hikers like copepods will make it as well. If you had fish, they might have died - some corals would also would have likely survived but would definitely be stressed. Hopefully your heaters were set correctly and won't over heat the tank. 450 watts seems like a lot of heat potential for 36g. Temps approaching 90F MAY be detrimental to certain hitchhikers and can certainly kill fish and corals. So, all and all I am predicting you'll be OK and no drastic measures will be necessary - even if all the hitch hikers perish it won't be the end of the world. In any case I would proceed with a standard cycling protocol. Good luck.

02/10/2015, 07:30 PM	#9
LeRenard Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2015 Location: New Hampshire Posts: 116	When I got home this evening, heading up the stairs, I half expected my house to smell like a fish market. It turns out, however, everything looked pretty good! The sand had settled out, and I was able to see that I'd made a pretty big mess when I'd poured the water in. I guess I didn't go quite as slowly as I'd thought, even though I'd used a dish. I looked over everything pretty closely for about a half hour, but I didn't see any signs of life. I did, however, find an asterina star on the glass at the back of the tank.. so it's something I guess! I was hoping to see some copepods or something of that ilk, but I don't see anything moving in there. At least it smells good! I tried to straighten out the sand a bit (it was bare glass in a few places) but it's pretty fine grain stuff and turns into a cloud if I look at it funny, so I stopped and decided just to leave it be for now. It did cloud up the tank a tad but it looks worse in the picture than in person. My lovely arangement shifted a bit, too, but I can live with how it ended up I think.. two neat little arches and lots of nooks and crannies. My water testing came out: Ammonia: .25 ppm NO3: 0 NO2: 0 pH: 8.2 KH:120 ppm Salinity: 1.021 (measured with a hydrometer) It was also about 1 full gallon low, which I replaced with distilled water.

02/11/2015, 07:45 AM	#11
jimmy_beaner Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: Clive, IA Posts: 692	Nice, just a small cycle

02/11/2015, 12:43 PM	#13
LeRenard Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2015 Location: New Hampshire Posts: 116	I took the 200 watt heater out, I'd only had it in there to help when the tank was at 60F. Right now there is an Aqueon 150 watt in there and it's hanging steady at about 80F. This morning on my way out the door I noticed the tank had reverted to being completely cloudy again. At first I thought maybe it was an bloom, but it turns out the maxijet pump had fallen off my Remora and was creating a lovely sand snow globe :/ It was a 30 second fix but I'm guessing it'll take a few days before the tank clears up. I've been running the remora with the cup out just to break the surface up a little. I'm not sure why the salinity is low. I checked it with a Tropic Marin hydrometer, but there's always a chance it's user error which is why I haven't corrected it yet. I had a mark on the tank where I'd filled it and I've only added enough distilled water to bring it back to that mark (RO/DI unit still hasn't arrived). I was thinking of taking a gallon of distilled water and mixing it to about 1.030 and then slowly adding it to the tank until it reaches 1.026. Is there a better way to do it? Nina51: I wish I knew! If you figure it out, let me/us know.. I spent 5 hours commuting to work this morning. The MBTA had one train running on my line. smh.

02/11/2015, 07:42 PM	#16
LeRenard Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2015 Location: New Hampshire Posts: 116	I took a water sample with me down to the LFS and had them check it with the refractometer.. 1.026 on the nose. I'm not surprised, I bought it premixed (at a different store) and it was 1.026 to start with and I've been downright retentive about topping up exactly. ATC refractometer ordered! When I got home it was a snow globe AGAIN. I felt around looking for the pump that had fallen off last time, but I found it was still securely on the skimmer. This time my cheap Aqueon circulation pump had snapped right off it's mount and fallen to the bottom. WHAT IS UP WITH THE EQUIPMENT IN THIS TANK?? I'm going to give Hydor Koralias a try this time. Two 425s ordered! My poor credit card. It was down a full gallon just today! BRS RO/DI should be here by the weekend, but clearly I need an ATO. In regards to the heater controller, awesome, I've been looking for something like that. I've had a few freshwater friends cooked and I've gotten gun-shy with my heaters, which is why in the picture you can see I've got a temperature alarm hooked up that I can read from across the room.

02/11/2015, 08:09 PM	#17
Sk8r RC Mod Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Spokane WA Posts: 34,628 Blog Entries: 55	I set up much the same with water and rock that had been trucked in by pickup in a snowstorm. Dunno what the temperature was, but it was probably well under 50. 60 is not good for fish and corals, but I had even corals survive the cycle. We have a really comprehensive sticky up above ---SETTING UP. THat's able to answer a lot of questions, from the basic to the technical. You're ok. A marine tank evaps about a gallon per 50 gallons of water daily, which is a good thing, but you will want that ATO. Sand kicks up until it's got a biological coating: that may be your snowstorm. You can get another kind by dosing calcium and buffer too close to each other--always allow 8 hours. There's a note in that sticky about water chemistry. Don't panic. You're doing fine. Just don't let it heat above 83 (2 more degrees is bad news ffrom there) and don't let it chill below 75 (lethality to some organisms starts at 62, but it varies, and warm rock retards that disaster.) NEver trust a heater indicator! Use a thermometer---better yet, have 2. A little fishfood dropped in daily is all you need to cycle, 1 flake per 10 gallons. Every day for 4 weeks will do it. THen you get snails and little crabs. And quarantine your first fish. REmember---slow is good. __________________ Sk8r Salinity 1.024-6; alkalinity 8.3-9.3 on KH scale; calcium 420; magnesium 1300, temp 78-80, nitrate .2. Ammonia 0. No filters: lps tank. Alk and cal won't rise if mg is low. Current Tank Info: 105g AquaVim wedge, yellow tang, sailfin blenny,royal gramma, ocellaris clown pair, yellow watchman, 100 microceriths, 25 tiny hermits, a 4" conch, 1" nassarius, recovering from 2 year hiatus with daily water change of 10%.

02/11/2015, 10:17 PM	#19
asylumdown Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2009 Posts: 437 Blog Entries: 5	Just remember that all the critters on live rock are the same critters that can survive a trip half way round the world in the cargo hold of an airplane wrapped in nothing more than wet newspaper. Temporarily falling to 60 degrees wouldn't phase them.

02/12/2015, 01:22 PM	#22
Rognin Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2012 Location: Quebec, Canada Posts: 387	I'd open that lid you have to help with gas exchange. That's my only suggestion. __________________ Fish Stock: N/A, starting over Corals: Want SPS, LPS with zoas Current Tank Info: Custom 145 gallon.

02/16/2015, 05:04 PM	#25
LeRenard Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2015 Location: New Hampshire Posts: 116	I don't know what's up with my cycle. I figured the live rock die-off would be enough to start the cycle, and my tests have been .25 amm, 0 nitrite, 0 nitrate until three days ago. Thinking I might need more ammonia, three days ago I threw in an uncooked shrimp. It's now turned to a fuzzy lump, but my numbers are just .5 amm, 0 nitrite, 0 nitrate. Should I throw in another shrimp to get the ammonia up or should that .5 be enough to get things moving? Shouldn't ammonia have been higher? I'd almost suspect my live rock bacteria had eaten some of the ammonia if it weren't for that 0 nitrates. I'm using an API test kit (dropper and vials, not strips) if that matters.