a few questions

[bosco0633]

So I have been running my 150 for two weeks now, and have had 275lbs of fiji rock added to the tank. I noticed that much of the rock has lost its purple and turned white, which from what I have read is coraline die off. I then went to my local petsore, and purchased 25lbs of bali rock with tons of coraline. I have placed a few pieces in various spots around the tank.

I really hope that this will help to introduce the coraline back onto the rock.

I am not adding corals or fish for atleast 2 months. I want time to get use to water disipation, water changes, salt mixes, and water parameters before I go further.

I accidentally dropped an entire 500ml bottle of seachem calcium into the tank, which triggered a white out in the tank. This is what I believe to be percipitation from what I have read.

I rinsed the filters and did a 15% water change. My calcium spiked to 440, but since the water change has dropped down to 350.

So I started thinking, that I dont want my calcium to drop each time I do a water change so I have been coming up with some solutions.

I have decided to purchase a large rubber garbage style bin where I am going to be doing 10gallon water changes weekly with RO water. Is this enough or should I be doing 15gallon changes weekly. From what I read, it is personal but more water changes can keep things in check.

By adding this bin, I will mix my salt, add some chemicals and so on, but what is the best way to get that water to stay at 440 for calcium?? Should I be adding calcium to the new batch in this bin each week as well??

Lastly the water has finally cleared up, my skimmer is almost broken in now and things seem to be going well.

My alk is good and my ph is sitting high at 8.6. I am not sure if this is because I have nothing in the tank as of yet to drop the ph down or if it is a case of a crappy tester kit.

I plan on purchasing a digital calcium tester and ph tester in the next week or so.

along with the 10 or 15 gallon water changes weekly, I am also planning on atleast 5gallons a week of ro for top up.

Salt is at .023
I have not even began testing for amonia and what not as I am not planning on adding anything as of yet. As I get closer to December, I will start to test however, right now, weekly water changes with only rock I feel that I should be ok.

Any thoughts as to some of my issues??

Thanks for your anticipated responses

[thegrun]

A good salt mix should not deplete your calcium levels, in fact it should add to it. I would recommend purchasing a better salt mix that has higher Ca, Mg and Alkalinity levels. You may want to consider topping off with Kalk water (lime), it will help maintain your calcium and Alk levels.

[DustinB]

No need to add anymore rock, at 275+ pounds how can you even put your hands in the tank? Especially if it's fiji rock. The coraline will turn white from being exposed to the air but should come back on it's own. It could also turn white from various other things such as low alkalinity or just your standard bad parameters.

What salt are you using? At 1.023 most everything is going to be low. Most rated content, I believe, is at 1.026. Reef Crystals will give you good levels with salt alone.

As for the calcium, only so much can actually dissolve into the water based on your alkalinity and magnesium levels, the rest will precipitate as you noticed.

No need for a calcium meter, a salifert test kit is perfectly accurate.

I doubt I would even do any water changes for 3-6 weeks or so, you want to let the tank cycle, not remove anything manually. After the cycle, as you stated, water changes are somewhat of a personal preference. There are some people who do 10% a week, others that do 15% every 2 weeks, etc... There are even some people that change out a gallon a day. I personally change 15% every 3 weeks.

EDIT: 5 gallons a week evaporation is pretty hopeful. You are probably looking at closer to 15 gallons. My 90g evaporates about 10 gallons a week.

[jeff@zina.com]

Originally Posted by bosco0633

Any thoughts as to some of my issues?

Plenty, but you'll have to post your tank parameters to narrow the list down to something useful. Once your tank matures, a product like Purple Up will bring the coraline back.

Jeff

[bosco0633]

I am currently using instant ocean. before I started adding to the tank my calcium from salt mix was 350, so I am thinking that I need to add some type of extra. Lime water (kalk) scares me lol, i have always been affraid to use it.
I may slowly start to add seachem calcium daily to the tank to boost up my levels a bit.

1.026? my last reef that I had for 8 years was always at 1.023 that is why I put it there. That is good to know, thanks, I will slowly add salt to raise salinity.

as for the rock, I was shocked as well about the weight, but when I got everything into the tank, it didnt look like I had enough. I double weighed it when I got home, because I was not sure that they gave me enough.




the tank is still a little cloudy from the calcium accident but alot better.

Do you think that this looks ok or should I move some stuff around. I wanted it to look less like a mountain and more like little islands.

As for the ph level???? any idea how to drop it down a bit? I have read about soda water being added

[Palting]

Originally Posted by bosco0633

Any thoughts as to some of my issues??

Thanks for your anticipated responses

1. You need to get your salinity to 1.026 if you want a reef tank.
2. Check the salinity and calcium on a freshly mixed batch of saltwater. If your salinity is 1.026 and calcium is less than 400-420, you need better salt. I use Reef Crystals.
3. Coraline will bleach while your tank is cycling. After you go through the various blooms, the coraline will come back with a vengeange.
4. I do 10% of the total system volume water change weekly. !50 g DT + 20 g 'fuge + 30 g sump = 200. So, I do a 20 g WC weekly. There are other choices, but I feel this is best.
5. Until you get livestock that actively consume minerals, like a lot of stonies or an abundance of coraline, dosing additives at this stage is a waste of time and money. Water changes with quality salt is all that you need for now.

Your welcome

[DustinB]

Personally, I would just raise the salinity and leave it alone for a few weeks. Everything should balance out on it's own. From there you can start looking at upping the calcium, though I would probably switch to a salt with higher alk/cal/mag levels such as reef crystals. This will save you a lot of time and money as your tank likely will have little to no demand for a few months, probably several months until you have a fair number of calcifying corals with good growth.

[bosco0633]

does kent make reef crystals?

so should I stop using instant ocean.

I guess my idea of chemicals being introduced now was to assist in the coraline development of my tank. But if you think that this will be ok with just salt mix, then I will take the advice, Thank you so much

I am almost out of instant ocean as the just was almost completely used for my initial mix upon set up.

Ill try and see if I can find reef crystals at my LFS this week.

So should I be doing water changes over the next month or so?? From what I am reading here, I shouldnt be doing water changes now, but the salt mix is what will help keep my levels up?

Thanks again, I love this site, so informative.

and what about aquascape?? any suggestions??

[DustinB]

Nothing wrong with using the rest of your instant ocean to bring the salinity to 1.026, reef crystals is made by instant ocean. It just has higher alk/cal/mag levels.

If the rock was already cured you can probably start doing water changes in 2 weeks or so. Maybe do a 30% water change and add your cleanup crew if everything is good. After a few water changes your levels will come up to where they need to be. The way I look at it is you have nothing in the tank right now and you have to at least do a small cycle anyway, so there's no reason to rush into changing any levels drastically.

Aquascape looks good to me. Trust me, you don't want me to comment more than that. You'll change it and 2 days later I won't like it. Rinse and repeat.... I just got to where I liked it when I was done and forced myself to leave it alone.

EDIT: Just out of curiosity, what are you measuring the salinity with?

[bosco0633]

I have an instant ocean hydrometer right now. I just finished adding more salt to the water, I am at 1.025. I will keep it here for now, as I am out of salt.

Can you purchase reef crystals in the big pales?

You mention clean up crew.

I was wondering the same, any suggestions for my 150??

[Palting]

Yes, reef crystals come in pails, good for 160 gallons.

Shrimp, snails, hermits....these are your basic clean up crew, usually added when the ammonia and nitrites are zero. How many depends on you. Look on-line to get an idea, then get LESS, since they have a tendency to over sell, IMO.

Here's one link: http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/a...lies.cfm?c=420

[Ethan_W]

yes u can get buckets of reef crystals. i dont think its gonna take 3-6 weeks to cycle with that much LR and LS. do u have any diatoms yet bosco?

[bosco0633]

nothing as of yet, fingers crossed. Not waiting 3 to 6 weeks for cycle, I just want to make sure that I have everything under control and learn my system before I add anything.

I have been away from this hobby for 8 years and things have changed a bit. My last tank was a 46 gal bow front and this is a 150. So things are slightly different and I need to get my feet wet slowly.

Everything that I have done in my life is quickly and I rush into it. As I am getting older I am trying to learn to make this a true hobby.

I am looking to learn just how much was evaporates for top up
how much salt I need to make my mix
learning where my water starts and what I need to add to adjust
and I want to give the coraline a chance to flourish before I start adding to the tank.

I am not sure if my LFS sells the reef crystals, however, I will purchase them as soon as I can.

I hope between the 250lbs of aragonite and the 300lbs of live rock, this will assist in my filtering.

[DustinB]

Originally Posted by bosco0633

I have an instant ocean hydrometer right now. I just finished adding more salt to the water, I am at 1.025. I will keep it here for now, as I am out of salt.

Can you purchase reef crystals in the big pales?

You mention clean up crew.

I was wondering the same, any suggestions for my 150??

You can buy reef crystals in 160g buckets or 200g boxes. I have an IO hydrometer and it is off by .003. At 1.023 your salinity was likely at 1.026 where it should be. It is probably 1.028 now. You may want to buy a refractometer or take a sample to your LFS to verify with their refractometer.

I still use my hydrometer for mixing salt as it is consistent, just always off by .003 so I add .003 to the result.

[Ethan_W]

it will help assist a lot. imo the more the better as long as your fish have the appropriate swimming room

[aleonn]

I like your aquascape, btw. Definitely buy a refractometer. Got mine on ebay for half the price of most online vendors. I also use Tropic Marin Pro Reef salt, and it works fine for me.

[pramberg]

If you're going to use a swing arm hydrometer, make sure you rinse it with freshwater after testing your saltwater. Those things get sticky and can get way off. Refractometer's the way to go eventually.

[bosco0633]

good to know info, for 8 years that I did salt previous I only used a hydrometer. The idea of a refractometer was not possible when I was younger. Plus digital testers were sooooo expensive.

I always rinse in fresh water after each use, however, I am currently looking for a good deal on a digital ph, calcium and now refractometer.

Brands to get any suggestions for the above???

It is interesting I went from specific gravity of 1.023 to 1.025 today. I tested my water before and after and my calcium has gone from 350 to 450!!!

This is amazing to me, 8 years of salt water expierence and I still learn new things everyday!!

The ph is still resting at 8.6 (but I dont know if this is a bad kit or just high right now)

alkalinity is in an normal range according to my test kit. I need a new one

and that is all that I am testing for right now.

I want to purchase a better test kit, and am looking to buy a salifert calcium, phosphate, ph, alk, amonia, nitrate, nitrite for now.

Once I find a good online deal I will grab them. In Canada it seems impossible to find this stuff, and when you do it is twice the price as if I were to buy online. Luckily I live close to buffalo and have a mailing address that I ship all of my stuff to.

Well, I feel great, learning that the proper salt level stabilized my calcium. That is great news, and I am going to purchase sea crystals this week if they are at my LFS.

I really appreciate the input on the layout. I am the only one of my friends into aquariums, so its hard to get the input that you need.

[aleonn]

Always something new with this hobby . I've learned a lot from RC!

Salifert test kits, as you've decided upon, are great. A lot of online vendors ship for free (not sure about Canada, though, but at least you have a different address) if you purchase a certain amount, so I'd bunch your order into one big order.

[oxford]

Keeping your salinity closer to 1.026 should keep your Ca up. I also use Instant Ocean and have never measured under 400.

[bosco0633]

Salinity and calcium and alk all in check. Woo hoo. Ph 8.6 so I am not sure what's up there. I want to get another kit. Will order salifert kits this week. Anyone use marinedepot??

[Palting]

Originally Posted by bosco0633

Salinity and calcium and alk all in check. Woo hoo. Ph 8.6 so I am not sure what's up there. I want to get another kit. Will order salifert kits this week. Anyone use marinedepot??

[aleonn]

Marine Depot is great, and is an RC sponsor. I got all my Salifert kits from there, actually.

[bosco0633]

good to know thanks so much for the input.

[frozenreefer]

i would switch to reef crystals like everyone said i loved it. also maybe look into a ato...auto topp off unit...they can really help to keep levels in check and i think keeps happier creatures in the tank. also it looks like your running hob skimmer? do you have a sump on the tank? if not its something to look into, i would not run a tank without one? you seem like your eager to learn so thats a good thing. your on the right path, just ask any question dumb or not...there are so many knowledgeable reefers on here!