[missy88]

right now.....i have my 28 bowfront aquarium set up with a biowheel for the time being until the store gets its shipment in for my prisim protein skimmer which is coming monday. i have 24 lbs of live rock (so beautiful) it already has pylops? is that how you spell it? anyway my salt is at 1.026 is that good? my temp is at 81 degrees is that bad? i get my lighting system monday as well which is going to be a fortune but im going to go all out. i cant decide if i want to just do a protein skimmer alone or get power heads? what do you think? today i tested water everything is great except the ph was WAY too low. so i got ph reef buffer fixed that problem. all i have right now is live sand which has been used in another tank i got from a friend. so the sand is good! what all should you have for a reef aquarium like chemicals and stuff. i tried to find some threads about what you should have but i just dont have the time. i have a hydrometer and i read that there is a better one? than a plastic 12 dollar one you get at petco? please i know im new but yell at me all you want im just trying to learn and get it right! help dont make fun of me please. help. tell me what i should have esp when emergencies come with the water. now i didnt do the ro/di thing. i just used regular water and i used the right chemicals for it also so im niot completely dumb i have kept freshwater fish all my life and know a thing or two about chemicals im just new to the reef hobby. if you can help me out in any way i have aim and you are welcome to IM me help me please! my aim is - Mmalcomb88
if you can suggest books? threads. anything i would love to hear personal experiances also. i will be honest i dont know a whole lot yet about reef keeping. so....help me change that! i appreactiate it

have a wonderful day and thanks

Missy

[Alicamo]

Hiya,

First off, heres a page with all the parameters on it (salinity, temp, ph ect.): Maintaining Proper Aquarium Water Conditions: Ideal Water Parameters

1.026 is a little too high, you may want to take a few gallons out and put normal water in to bring it down, or if you have the room just put more water in. 81 is also i bit to high on temp, but thats easy to fix.

I would try to use RO water because it is a lot more stable than normal tap water. You can buy it at a local fish store(usually ) I used tap for a while and i just kept getting algae blooms.

You didn't actually say how long the tanks been running, new tanks need time to cycle even with live rock and sand. You can tell when the cycle is over when the parameters are stable (ammonia, nitrite, nitrate = 0)

What lighting are you getting? Wattage wise, you need 4-6watts per gallon if your planning for a reef aquarium, but in fish only tanks the lighting isn't as necessary.

I would also caution you about sticking too many critters in at once, go slow so the tank can keep up. You should probably consider buying a tank cleaning crew and one of the first things you get.

good luck

[missy88]

its been running for 4 days. when do i need to buy a cleaning crew?

[Alicamo]

hmm not quite sure, i would wait a while with a tank that new to see what the parameters do... probably wait like a week or two to give the organisms time to get set up. Also, you don't have to introduce them first, in fact most people buy a cheap damsel fish to cycle the tank then take the fish out after, note that damsels can get territorial and if you want to keep it you will have to tweak a few things to introduce more fish(learned that the hard way >_<). I would introduce the cleaner crew after your first or second fish, as there biggest job is cleaning up dead organics(mostly food) as well as algae, there a big help in keeping the aquarium stable, and clean hehe

Heres a beginners guide i found that has a few references and stuff as well as basics:

Saltwater Aquarium Setup

[missy88]

i got a reef test kit today and my calcium is 340mg/L and it says it needs to be 400-500? is that right? do i need to buy soemthing for that? then i tested my hardness (KH) and it never turned yellow from blue so i guess my water is pretty hard is that bad? then my phosphate is 0 and nitrate is 10 so thats what i got so far! so i can add a damsel fish?right now? or later?

[Alicamo]

Ya your calcium is probably low atm, you can add calcium if you wish but it is not as necessary for you at this time because you don't have any sizable inverts. KH is a measurement of a buffer, you may want to raise it in the future to prevent a swing in PH. Mostly i would be concerned about PH, Ammonia, Nitrite, and Nitrate. A nitrate level of 10 isn't bad.

You can add a damsel, there a very hardy fish. Just remember when you go to add the next fish to take some steps to avoid a conflict. Re-arranging the rock is a common one.

[missy88]

thank you so much for everyones help i really am glad i have you guys to help me!

[Alicamo]

np, if ya need more help stop by

[missy88]

ok so i have green hair on my live rocks just a couple of them what do i do>?

[stephaniesquires]

Originally Posted by missy88

ok so i have green hair on my live rocks just a couple of them what do i do>?

Congrats - looks like you're progressing just fine!! Have you had a diatom bloom yet?? That's the rust colored stuff that covers everything... If your water parameters are good add a clean up crew and they will take care of the algae....

[missy88]

no i have not had a diatom bloom yet. so i should get a clean up crew now?

[rlcline76]

I would wait until you are closer to the month mark for the clean up crew. I would wait to put any chemical additives into that water. I would leave the damsel at the LFS, an ammonia spike could burn its gills and ruin its quality of life. Try a piece of shrimp, that will help the cycle along. I would use RO/DI for topoff.
Patience. Patience. Patience.

The Consciencious Marine Aquarist by Robert Fenner is my recommendation.

[missy88]

my dkH is 16.......what do i do? i got kent liquid calcium b/c my calcium was so low it didnt even read at the fish store. i have kent iodine which i wont use often he said...? and the kent essential elements. also i got my prizm skimmer what is it suppose to do? all it does is it runs water through the bottom part and into my tank. i know its suppose to do that but in the top of the skimmer where there is no/little water isnt it suppose to bubble up? ive seen pics where skimmers do that. mine isnt. also do peppermint shrimp shead? im sorry im just trying to learn! lol. i have also a lawnmower blenny. hes doing just fine. he hides a lot i hope thats not bad. i see him everyonce in a while

[stephaniesquires]

Originally Posted by missy88

my dkH is 16.......what do i do? i got kent liquid calcium b/c my calcium was so low it didnt even read at the fish store. i have kent iodine which i wont use often he said...? and the kent essential elements. also i got my prizm skimmer what is it suppose to do? all it does is it runs water through the bottom part and into my tank. i know its suppose to do that but in the top of the skimmer where there is no/little water isnt it suppose to bubble up? ive seen pics where skimmers do that. mine isnt. also do peppermint shrimp shead? im sorry im just trying to learn! lol.

Do you have any livestock in the tank??? And I believe peppermint shrimp 'molt' (saltwater term for shed ). What time of day did you test the dKH? How long had the lights been on? What are your other water parameters?
Water chemistry is very complicated and confusing (at least to me ) The best thing to do is read as much as possible and look into the MACO classes. Here is an article on basic Alkalinity Alkalinity Wet Web Media has lots of other articles.
Skimmer will (in basic terms) skim out the biological waste.

[missy88]

i tested the dkH arund 3:00pm the lights are on everyday but right now i dont have the right lights for them its just floresent right now i am getting my new reef lights on the 3rd of jan, the lights have been on everyday 8-10 hours a day. pH is 8.3, salinity is 1.023 and nitrate is 15, niteirw is 0, ammonia is 0.

[stacef]

Originally Posted by stephaniesquires

Do you have any livestock in the tank??? And I believe peppermint shrimp 'molt' (saltwater term for shed ). What time of day did you test the dKH? How long had the lights been on? What are your other water parameters?
Water chemistry is very complicated and confusing (at least to me ) The best thing to do is read as much as possible and look into the MACO classes. Here is an article on basic Alkalinity Alkalinity Wet Web Media has lots of other articles.
Skimmer will (in basic terms) skim out the biological waste.

Steph, That alkalinity site was a great reference Thanks so much!

[missy88]

yes i agree it helped me a lot! thanks!

[patrick1234]

just relax a little it will be fine take your time no rush to get it all right as long as you hold off on coral and fish you wont be able to kill off to much stuff have you been cheeking your temp? id hold off on the iodine for some time how is the flow in the tank did you cheek for dead spots?

[missy88]

78 is the temp. dead spots?

[patrick1234]

places the water dose not move i.e if you have live rocke staced up and say you put some food in dose it kinda fall under one spot and just stay flowting around it will look like its in a tornado you can fix it by moving your power heads around

[patrick1234]

Salty Slang « Sea Creatures & Me
home this will help you it help me alot with the words

[missy88]

thank you for your help im trying to learn everything! bare with me im new at this please i want to learn everything i can possibly comprehend. you know what i need to do.....before i post another thread i should just take a day and loook and read everything i can on this site i havent had much time lately. but i will make it a thing to do tomorrow or the next day sorry if im making people irratated.

[patrick1234]

its all good some times reading sucks and you can read all you want and as much as you want and do it for 20 years you still not be able to fig it all out and hey that is what this site is for asking questones

[missy88]

what are these white blooms they just came up yesterday i think....

[missy88]