# New proposed coral reef tank - pic



## Bartman (Mar 17, 2009)

Here is a picture of my new tank set up. In day 2 of cycling. Can't wait!


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## Cody (Dec 22, 2007)

I like the caves in the rockwork. A little too high for my liking, but I love it. 

Can't wait to see it progress. And 40G right?


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## onefish2fish (Jul 22, 2008)

i like the rockwork too, what kind of lights are you planning? 

whats in the canister filter? your going to want to remove that as they do more harm then good.


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## Bartman (Mar 17, 2009)

good to hear, this was my first attempt. Thank you! I may change it again if I don't like it, we'll see how I like it.


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## Bartman (Mar 17, 2009)

The canister filter just has a nylon carbon bag and some pieces of live rock. I figured it's sort of like a extra place for live rock and I heard carbon bags or okay to remove phosphate, that true?

Edit: I will be purchasing T5 lighting once I start to get livestock. I assume that'll be in 3 weeks or so.


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## onefish2fish (Jul 22, 2008)

just carbon is fine in the filter, which removes in-organics not so much phosphate. phosban would remove phosphates but needs to be run at a much slower rate then carbon. i have heard if your phos grinds up it can poison your tank ( which im not sure about ) anyways i would just put the live rock in the main tank. an extra peice or two wont add much more the display and will prevent anything from getting stuck to it inside the filter which may cause issues. 
its prob. going to be alittle longer then 3 weeks. even then it will only be picking up a few snails and then waiting another week or two for your first fish. do you have stocking plans? nows the time to start thinking about it, also corals.


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## Pasfur (Mar 29, 2008)

Where is the protein skimmer? 

The rock display is well organized, from a functional point of view. Not a ton of sand to rock contact, which is beneficial for water flow.... helps control cyno outbreaks. 

Continue to be patient before adding livestock. Wait for the diatom bloom, then add a few crabs and snails. Give it a couple more weeks after before adding sturdy fish.


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## Cody (Dec 22, 2007)

Skimmer is in the back-left corner.


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## Bartman (Mar 17, 2009)

Yes, the skimmer is hiding in the left corner. I honestly am not planning fish at all at this point, even down the road. It is the coral and inverts that caught my attention to begin with  

As for corals, I will do a little more research as far as choices go and then get back to you folks to see if they are good to keep, easy to manage, how to care for them, etc. I'll get back to you guys about that.

As for a clean up crew, I got some suggestions, if I need more when the time comes I will ask.

So I think I am just going to disconnect the canister filter all together then I guess. I mean it is not necessary and i've only heard potentially harmful effects. I had it running for now because I wanted to clear up the water from what the sand created, what a cloudy mess. Now it is clear so I am going to disconnect the canister.

Thanks!


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## Bartman (Mar 17, 2009)

Ok so day 3 test results:

Nitrates - 20 ppm
Ammonia - 3.0 ppm
Nitrites - 1.0 ppm
PH - 7.8
Calcium - Turned final color at 29 drops, seems very high, equals to 530ish ppm
Phosphorous - 0.25 ppm

Day 4
Carbonate Hardness - 13
Calcium - same as day 3, around 530 ppm
Ammonia - Dropped to between 0.25 and 0.5!! Strip test measured 0.5, API test measured at 0.25
Phosphourous - 0.25
Nitrite - 1.0 ppm
Nitrate - 20 ppm
PH - 7.8

So from day 3 to 4, ammonia has dropped

I will be using this thread as a personal place to keep my results lol, but you are all welcome to follow  And you better wish me luck


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## Pasfur (Mar 29, 2008)

I am going to take a wild guess that your pH reading came from a test strip. Please confirm this is correct. After you confirm this is the case, you need to retest your pH with a liquid kit. Please test at night, shortly before the lights go out. 

For now just entertain my thought process. I see something that raises a red flag. I'd rather not go into details until we confirm the pH. Hopefully you are just using a flawed test strip.


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## Bartman (Mar 17, 2009)

Uh oh then...I did use a liquid kit. Maybe its better to take pictures of the test results.

So whats up...

Used API liquid kit


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## Bartman (Mar 17, 2009)

PH was tested after the lights were on for the entire day, I tested and then turned them out as it is 8pm here and I will be leaving shortly.


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## Pasfur (Mar 29, 2008)

Bartman said:


> Carbonate Hardness - 13
> Calcium - same as day 3, around 530 ppm
> Ammonia - Dropped to between 0.25 and 0.5!! Strip test measured 0.5, API test measured at 0.25
> Phosphourous - 0.25
> ...


Ok, like I said, red flag. Not an emergency. Maybe nothing to be concerned with.

I'm trying to figure out why your pH is only 7.8 when both your DKH and Calcium are high. These numbers don't generally go together. I would expect to see a pH of 8.2 or 8.4.

By chance did you test a bucket of mixed saltwater prior to adding it to your aquarium? I wonder what these same readings are prior to being in the aquarium?

What brand of salt do you use? How are you adjusting calcium and alkalinity? Or are you at all?

Nitrate of 20ppm.... hmm... are you using tap water? Again, have you tested the water prior to adding it to the tank?

I can't get past a pH of 7.8. This isn't easy to accomplish with high DKH and calcium readings.


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## Bartman (Mar 17, 2009)

The tank was previously a fresh water tank. All I did before I set up the salt water tank was empty the water, remove all the decor and wipe it dry. I didnt want to use any cleaning agents so does it have something to do with that?

Brand of salt is H2Ocean. Not adjusting anything at this point, just testing.

Tank was filled with RO water from my kitchen
Have not tested the water before adding to the tank, should I?

Is it bad to have a 7.8 PH with higher calcium and DKH readings? Calcium is quite over the range, that is really the only odd thing I noticed right away. The DKH reading was just outside of the range that the API book says. Something like 12 to 13, not really that exact there, I can test again tomorrow.

So what do you think could be going on? And what does this mean?


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## Bartman (Mar 17, 2009)

*&(%...I just looked under my kitchen sink because I know my father installed a new handle for the instant hot which now runs the instant hot and RO unit, but found the RO unit was closed off and the cold water from there was coming straight from the city. UGHHHHHH

So i've reconnected the RO unit, it is running now. Is there any way to reverse my steps or do I have to dump this project and start agian?? I want to die...


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## Bartman (Mar 17, 2009)

PS, I have a filter installed on my main and all the water in my house runs through a water softner. Would that account for anything?

Pasfur, help meeeeeee


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## Pasfur (Mar 29, 2008)

I am not an expert on home water softner / RO systems. However, i can say this with great confidence. I have read from many reputable authorities in our hobby that home water softner systems do not produce water that you want in a marine aquarium. The salt exchnage process doew not produce the end result you are looking for.

Knowing what I know, I would personally start over. Given that we have a pH level that is lower than normal, i think we have additional support that something is not quite right.

A pH of 7.8 by itself is not horrible. But combined with a high DKH and high calcium, you have something out of sorts.


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## Bartman (Mar 17, 2009)

So starting over would require what?
Could I get away with just emptying the water or is all the live rock gone? Could I just empty the water, mix salt and RO water and then dump it back in the tank?


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## willow (Sep 9, 2006)

oh no 
and you were doing so well.


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## Bartman (Mar 17, 2009)

So what do I do now?

I am lost...


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## Bartman (Mar 17, 2009)

Checked PH today, it is at a definite 8.0. Not sure if it could change over night but I did take far more time to make todays tests. Most things were the same. Nitrites seemed possibly lower. dKH was a definite 12 today. Yesterday I was a bit unsure. 

I hate these color comparison charts, wish I could get digital read outs...I am sure that would require a full size lab


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## Pasfur (Mar 29, 2008)

Lets give this a couple of days before making a decision. I would not use the same water source in the future, but if your pH stays at 8.0 or higher and your calcium & alkalinity levels are within the zone desired, you may be fine.

Sorry I dropped the ball on communication yesterday. It was my moving day for my reef. Good times.

On the subject of live rock, the rock is fine. It is only pH control that I am concerned with, along with the long term impact of calcium & alkalinity adjustments.


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## Bartman (Mar 17, 2009)

Haha thank you Pasfur, I thought you gave up on me  So we'll wait another few days and see. I will test again on Sunday. 

I actually found a couple things that may be growing in the tank off the live rock. I will take pictures and maybe someone can ID these for me.

Thanks guys!


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