# General Hardness



## Mattcot (Nov 10, 2010)

I am still cycling my tank but me GH is still very high reading 16 on "tetra dip test"
do I need to lower this before adding live rock and if so what can I do to lover the GH?


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## Mattcot (Nov 10, 2010)

to add sum more info.

I have a 60cm by 30cm by 30cm tank witch is about 10G tank!
I have put 1 to 1.5 inch of crushed coral in the bottom with sum full sea shells that all got washed thoroughly before putting in the tank.

I have 1 tub light in the lid (don't know what power as it was given to me)
I also have 2 smallish submerged water pumps (one at ether end of the tank)
I have put 2 air stones under the crushed coral

I am wanting to have a "FOWLR" tank with live rock and a par of clown fish and sum thing that will help with cleaning maybe sum sea snails.

I have done a 10% to 20% water changed each week (my tank is only 2 weeks old)

my lasted readings are
No3 - 25
No2 - 5
GH - 16
KH - 3.5
PH - 8
CL2 - 0.4
salinity - 35.5
SG - 1.0265

what do I need to do before I can add sum live rock?


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## pretzelsz (Jan 14, 2010)

Mattcot said:


> to add sum more info.
> 
> I have a 60cm by 30cm by 30cm tank witch is about 10G tank!
> I have put 1 to 1.5 inch of crushed coral in the bottom with sum full sea shells that all got washed thoroughly before putting in the tank.
> ...


I have a couple of things to say. First I would say lower the SG to maybe 1.024-1.025 by adding in fresh water. Also take out the airstones I have heard that they mess with the parameters. If the substrate was dry and not live then Go buy Live rock now and then wait for the cycle. 

Also are you using tap water or RO water? If your using tap are you treating it? and RO I have read is not NECESSARY for a FOWLR.

Just my thoughts(What I would do)


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## Pasfur (Mar 29, 2008)

Is it safe to say that this is your first saltwater aquarium? If so, congratulation, I think you will enjoy it. The type of setup you have chosen is unconventional, but actually rather easy to care for.

I think you are on the right track by choosing to use live rock as the primary life support system on this tank. I agree with the given advise that you should add the live rock now, and then wait for the tank to cycle. You will want somewhere in the neighborhood of 8 to 15 pounds of live rock to begin with, erring on the upper side because of your choice in substrate. Had you used a reef grade aragonite sand, you may have saved some money by having less rock. Unfortunately crushed coral provides very little benefits in a marine aquarium because of the size of the individual coral pieces. 

I also agree to remove the air stones, which will cause the tank to be much more difficult to care for. They cause salt creep and fluctuating salinity levels, and provide almost no benefits. The water pumps are plenty for circulation.

I do think your long term goal is attainable, provided you purchase Ocellaris Clownfish, hopefully tank raised. They do good in pairs, stay reasonably small, and are hardy when purchased TANK RAISED.

After you get the rock in place within a week or so you will see the ammonia and nitrite go away. I would strongly suggest you wait a minimum of 4 to 6 weeks on a small tank before adding fish. You could add a snail or small hermit crab, but otherwise just let the tank mature. I would continue with 2 gallon weekly water changes at this time. 

For the record, I would not worry about testing for alkalinity weekly on this tank, given the weekly water changes. A monthly test should be sufficient, targeting 10 to 12 DKH.


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## Mattcot (Nov 10, 2010)

pretzelsz i am buying pre salted RO water.

Pasfur this is true it is my 1st salt-water aquarium and also my 1st aquarium at all. 

haw is sand be beter then crushed coral?

funds do not allow me to buy 8 or 15 pounds if live rock but at my local aquarium store they have sum old live rock that is not live at present but I am guessing if I buy sum of both, The active live rock will spread onto the old live rock.
would I be correct in that assumption?

the water pumps are at the bottom of the tank and I was told that I needed to have movement on the surface of the water. That is way I have add air stones.

Ocellaris Clownfish was the one I was looking to get. I will be getting a tank raised par.

I have notice a small amount of algae on sum shells could I add a couple of snail at the sham time as the live rock?


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## Pasfur (Mar 29, 2008)

Mattcot said:


> haw is sand be beter then crushed coral?


Aragonite sand, reef grade grain size, is better than crushed coral because it promotes denitrification and is the proper grain size for microfauna to spread in the substrate.



> funds do not allow me to buy 8 or 15 pounds if live rock but at my local aquarium store they have sum old live rock that is not live at present but I am guessing if I buy sum of both, The active live rock will spread onto the old live rock.
> would I be correct in that assumption?


Yes. Aim for 20% new live rock, 80% old.



> the water pumps are at the bottom of the tank and I was told that I needed to have movement on the surface of the water. That is way I have add air stones.


Raise the pump towards the surface. This will promote better gas exchange without causing excess salt creeop.



> I have notice a small amount of algae on sum shells could I add a couple of snail at the sham time as the live rock?


Yes, but wait some time. It is natural to get algae during the early phase of the aquarium, especially brown diatom algae.


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## Mattcot (Nov 10, 2010)

thanks agen pasfur.

the tiny spots of algae look like "brown diatom algae" from my google search.

would adding sum "Aragonite sand, reef grade grain size" on top of my too grades of crushed coral help?

as I have corn size pieces mixed with fin crushed coral (like lard sand size) which I have mix myself to give the effect of grater depth from the front to the back.


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## bearwithfish (Sep 29, 2009)

if you get snials and such that will mix the substrate then yeah adding will be fine with out them though the smaller particles will eventually settle to the bottom and push the CC to the top creating a lot of places for stuff to settle...


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## Mattcot (Nov 10, 2010)

just added about 3KL of live rock and 3KL of dry rock to my tank  not happy with the arrangement of it yet but will work on it.

all so got too red hermit crabs.


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