Flaco, when I mix up saltwater I let it mix for at least 12 hours with a powerhead and a heater in the mixing container. Maybe it's a bit much, but better safe than sorry. That way I'm sure that the salt has completely dissolved and the pH has stabilized.
ph problems
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well that is kind of what i did remeber i just started the tank i filled up the tank with ro di water then i add the salt let the heater on and the power head on for 24 hours then i added the sand waited another 24 hours sothe cloudyness would go away then i went and bought the lr rock and added it in
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ok here is a up dateon my pars.
my salinity.1.025-1.026
ammonia.0
nitrite.0
nitrate.0
phosphate.0
calcium.285
alkalinaty 11.5-12.2
ph 8.0-8.1
yeah i know my alk. is a little hight but it was at 13.1 so it has dropped and my calcium is a little low but i dont have anything in my tank but live rock and two snails that were hitch hikers so things are finally looking better i think?
my salinity.1.025-1.026
ammonia.0
nitrite.0
nitrate.0
phosphate.0
calcium.285
alkalinaty 11.5-12.2
ph 8.0-8.1
yeah i know my alk. is a little hight but it was at 13.1 so it has dropped and my calcium is a little low but i dont have anything in my tank but live rock and two snails that were hitch hikers so things are finally looking better i think?
IMHO (really, with all humility here, I'm not an expert), your salinity is a little high, calcium is low, and your alk is... er... broken? Ideal alk, IIRC, is somewhere between 2 and 3... How in the world did it ever get that high?
When did you measure pH? is that a night-time reading after lights out?
When did you measure pH? is that a night-time reading after lights out?
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well i am messuring the alk as dkh sorry and i have the lights out all the time right now i may turn on the lights for about an hour so the live rock which has alot of coraline on it keeps on looking good but i mostly keep it off because i have nothing in it
Oi, that would explain it.
pH is fine, then, for a lights-out environment, just drop that salinity a little and all should be well, but at this point, if your lights have been off a week or more, you should theoretically be algae-free. You probably ought to go ahead and start turning the lights on, if only for the beneficial organisms of various kinds that rely on photosynthesis, such as zooplankton, and other critters that were living in your live-rock and live sand, many of which really need light for various reasons.
I'd go ahead and get a pack of janitors somewhere. Fishy Business is the only place I know of locally to get them in anything like quantity, much less at a good price too. Otherwise, if you want to buy online, I recommend one of http://garf.org/">G.A.R.F.'s</a> janitor packs. They're more expensive than you can get many other places online, but they're guaranteed to be of the finest quality and a good mixture of the proper animals for your size tank.
Wherever you get your janitors from, I'd highly recommend getting a couple of pounds of [IMG]http://garf.org/algae2/janitor.html#grunge">GARF Grunge Plus</a>; it'll really get a solid biological process started in your tank before you add anything besides basic invertebrates.
Taking it slow with your tank is rarely a bad thing; get some Grunge and a good janitor pack from somewhere, get those lights on at least 6 hours a day, and your tank should be rockin' in just a few weeks.
pH is fine, then, for a lights-out environment, just drop that salinity a little and all should be well, but at this point, if your lights have been off a week or more, you should theoretically be algae-free. You probably ought to go ahead and start turning the lights on, if only for the beneficial organisms of various kinds that rely on photosynthesis, such as zooplankton, and other critters that were living in your live-rock and live sand, many of which really need light for various reasons.
I'd go ahead and get a pack of janitors somewhere. Fishy Business is the only place I know of locally to get them in anything like quantity, much less at a good price too. Otherwise, if you want to buy online, I recommend one of http://garf.org/">G.A.R.F.'s</a> janitor packs. They're more expensive than you can get many other places online, but they're guaranteed to be of the finest quality and a good mixture of the proper animals for your size tank.
Wherever you get your janitors from, I'd highly recommend getting a couple of pounds of [IMG]http://garf.org/algae2/janitor.html#grunge">GARF Grunge Plus</a>; it'll really get a solid biological process started in your tank before you add anything besides basic invertebrates.
Taking it slow with your tank is rarely a bad thing; get some Grunge and a good janitor pack from somewhere, get those lights on at least 6 hours a day, and your tank should be rockin' in just a few weeks.
Flaco, you might want to try running a normal light cycle for a while and see what happens to your pH.
I have heard that running a tank in the dark for an extended time can lower the pH.
Just a shot....in the dark...so to speak.
Glad to see the pH moving up a bit.
One thing that helps with my BioCube when I do water changes and flush out the rear chambers is to siphon the water out from the last chamber, remove the media from the middle chamber (leaving the live rock rubble) and blast the middle chamber with a turkey baster to help stir up the debris that collects back there and get it siphoned out. Sometimes I'll even dump the water I siphon out back into the middle chamber in batches while continuing to siphon to make sure I rinse them out real good. It's amazing how much gunk collects back there.
You might want to do a fairly large water change with fresh water with a good pH / alk just to make sure that your trace elements are good if your initial salt didn't dissolve well for you. This should also help with the pH and get rid of anything from your minicycle that might be influencing the tank.
I also think a full light cycle would help your coralline to keep growing once you get your calcium and trace elements back up. With calcium that low it might start to fade.
I have heard that running a tank in the dark for an extended time can lower the pH.
Just a shot....in the dark...so to speak.
Glad to see the pH moving up a bit.
One thing that helps with my BioCube when I do water changes and flush out the rear chambers is to siphon the water out from the last chamber, remove the media from the middle chamber (leaving the live rock rubble) and blast the middle chamber with a turkey baster to help stir up the debris that collects back there and get it siphoned out. Sometimes I'll even dump the water I siphon out back into the middle chamber in batches while continuing to siphon to make sure I rinse them out real good. It's amazing how much gunk collects back there.
You might want to do a fairly large water change with fresh water with a good pH / alk just to make sure that your trace elements are good if your initial salt didn't dissolve well for you. This should also help with the pH and get rid of anything from your minicycle that might be influencing the tank.
I also think a full light cycle would help your coralline to keep growing once you get your calcium and trace elements back up. With calcium that low it might start to fade.
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You are a few weeks ahead of me, I'm getting such good info on your threads.
I've been reading a set of articles on about.com that you may find helpful. One things they do recommend is a 50-75% water change after the cycle in order to replace the lost trace elements as suggested above. If your wanter is good, that is supposed to bring your numbers in line as well.
I've been reading a set of articles on about.com that you may find helpful. One things they do recommend is a 50-75% water change after the cycle in order to replace the lost trace elements as suggested above. If your wanter is good, that is supposed to bring your numbers in line as well.
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thats cool balagan good luck
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ok guys i am finally getting all my pars under control here they are my salinaty is 1.025
ammonia 0
nitrite 0
nitrate 0
phosphate 0
ph 8.1
alk.3.77meq/l
calcium 310-350
magnisium 1080ppm
i know my calcium and mag.are abet low but i am not to concern with it yet cause i dont have any corals in there except for the one blue stripe mushroom that hitchhiked his way to my house.i really didnt do anything but waite and i did a 20% water change earlier today now that everything is looking better i am going to start with my clean up crew 2 peppermint shrimp 4 nass 4astrea and 4 margarita no hermits for now maybe one scarlet any advice on how to bring my two pars (mag,cal) up with out really messing with my alk dont mind if my ph goes up a little but my alk is still a little high thanks all in advance
ammonia 0
nitrite 0
nitrate 0
phosphate 0
ph 8.1
alk.3.77meq/l
calcium 310-350
magnisium 1080ppm
i know my calcium and mag.are abet low but i am not to concern with it yet cause i dont have any corals in there except for the one blue stripe mushroom that hitchhiked his way to my house.i really didnt do anything but waite and i did a 20% water change earlier today now that everything is looking better i am going to start with my clean up crew 2 peppermint shrimp 4 nass 4astrea and 4 margarita no hermits for now maybe one scarlet any advice on how to bring my two pars (mag,cal) up with out really messing with my alk dont mind if my ph goes up a little but my alk is still a little high thanks all in advance
