I just filled my 90 gallon reef on yesterday with RO water and red sea pro salt mix... I have checked my salinity and I have a constant reading at 1.027. Upon filling I added 45 cups of salt mix per instructions that I was given (2 cups per gallon)... So I guess my question is... Do I need to try and bring it down 1.024 or will it adjust by itself. And also if I need to tweek it myself how should I go about doing it. My second issue is with my sealife impact skimmer. I am not sure if I have it adjusted correctly. I woke up this morning to find water in my skimmer cup and it was running out freely from the little valve on the front of the skimmer cup. Can someone please advise me on what I would need to do to resolve these two issues other than these things set up has went well as far as I know...lol
set up issues
- Thread starter pisces79
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any livestock in it yet?
if not then your in good shape and can get it inline on your next water change during the cycling process.
not too sure about your skimmer issues but if you dont have livestock and just put water in i dont beleive you need to run it right now.
if not then your in good shape and can get it inline on your next water change during the cycling process.
not too sure about your skimmer issues but if you dont have livestock and just put water in i dont beleive you need to run it right now.
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It's not going to adjust itself down. As evaporation occurs, it will only get higher unless you are very religious about topping off with RO, or you run an auto top off setup.
I always find the instructions with the various salts I've used to be inaccurate, but I assume your's doesn't say 2 cups per gallon!
Personally, I don't think running at 1.027 is all that bad as long as you acclimate everything VERY slowly. If you want to adjust it down, just siphon off a few gallons and replace with RO water, check it, rinse and repeat!
As for your skimmer issue, I haven't a clue as I've never used one of those. Perhaps someone else can chime in. Welcome to the board!
I always find the instructions with the various salts I've used to be inaccurate, but I assume your's doesn't say 2 cups per gallon!
Personally, I don't think running at 1.027 is all that bad as long as you acclimate everything VERY slowly. If you want to adjust it down, just siphon off a few gallons and replace with RO water, check it, rinse and repeat!
As for your skimmer issue, I haven't a clue as I've never used one of those. Perhaps someone else can chime in. Welcome to the board!
Thanks- and no I dont have any livestock in yet... only dry rock and that was another thing apart from the live sand I need to find something to start ammonia because I have 100 lbs of marco rock but I need to seed it with live and I am not buying anymore rock right now so aside from that would it be possible to just add another gallon or two of ro water to get the salinity down?
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I would pull out 3 gallons of water, add 3 gallons of RO. Check the levels and then adjust accordingly. What are you using to check your SG?
As stated before, if you're just starting to cycle the tank leave it as is. You won't be doing any benefit and just wasting your time. Wait a week or two and do a water change with a slightly decrease salinity. As for the skimmer it sounds like you need to adjust the height of the water in the skimmer. How is this adjustment made? Sounds like you are either skimming too wet or the skimmer is sitting in too much water. How high is the water level in the sump where the skimmer is sitting?
I am using a hydrometer... And the skimmer may be sitting in too much water... I am using a 29 gallon sump and it is like past three quarters full. I will be posting a build thread with lots of pics soon and I would like to welcome all advice, suggestions and constructive criticism...
you can use a peice of shrimp to kick start your ammonia cycle, dont worry about the rock, it will become "live" over time - then you dont have to worry about the bad live rock hitchhikers we have all encountered at one point or another. just be patient and you will be rewarded.
if you MUST get your salinity down, which you really have no needs to worry right now - then yes, pull a couple gal, replace a couple gal...keep checking it. if you are relying on a hydrometer for your SG readings then you could be higher/lower and not even know it. a refractometer is your best bet for measuring SG.
Take the next few weeks and research, research, research while your tank is cycling. if you rush things you will ultimately be dissapointed and broke....ok, either way you'll be broke :lol2:
Do you have your test kits yet? Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate test kits will be the minimum needed to move forward. Buy a good test kit, it will be one of your better investments over the next few months. if you run that skimmer during your cycling process, it will increase the time it will take to cycle.
and welcome!!
small note for you - paid members of the ARC get discounts at our sponsor stores - 10% off livestock if not more at some sponsors.....that will come in handy when stocking that 90 when you are ready. sounds like youve done some homework to get this far, can wait to see pics - we love pics here. you will have no shortage of feedback here...we are a very active club
Yeah I can see that... I have been really patient...lol... I bought my tank as a birthday present to myself mar 09 and as of yesterday 051510 I finally filled it up thanks to George at PURE REEF...Thanks for welcoming me and I look forward to being a member and attending my first ARC meeting.
lol... yeah if I got a penny for each time I have heard that my reef would have been up a long time ago. I used it to my advantage by researching and I have learned a lot considering I didnt know the first thing about saltwater. When I bought this set up I had every intention on keeping malawi cichlids until I was ultimately fascinated with the in wall 600 gal reef in marine fish and that was the day I left freshwater for life.
Welcome!
As mentioned, patience is the biggest asset you can have in this hobby. I also wouldn't worry too much about the salinity. Get your cycle started and you can correct that as you do your water changes. As for the skimmer, you won't be able to really do much with it, except get it broken in. There's nothing in the tank for it to skim at this point. With new water it will continually fill the cup. Just set the water level in the skimmer to it's lowest setting and let any water that collects in the skimmer cup drain back into the sump. Once it's broken in and you have something in the system for it to skim, then you can start "tweaking" it. You can even discontinue using the skimmer for a while until you have the system up and running for a time.
As mentioned, patience is the biggest asset you can have in this hobby. I also wouldn't worry too much about the salinity. Get your cycle started and you can correct that as you do your water changes. As for the skimmer, you won't be able to really do much with it, except get it broken in. There's nothing in the tank for it to skim at this point. With new water it will continually fill the cup. Just set the water level in the skimmer to it's lowest setting and let any water that collects in the skimmer cup drain back into the sump. Once it's broken in and you have something in the system for it to skim, then you can start "tweaking" it. You can even discontinue using the skimmer for a while until you have the system up and running for a time.
@ Amberjack... the skimmer I have is identical to the asgm skimmers and the rock I have is dry rock. I will add a few pieces once the water clears. I just added sand today and (slapping my head) I let one of the little packets of bio stuff from the sand get lost in the cloudy water which means I will probably have to sift the sand for it once the water clears. As for the skimmer I dont know if I will have to remove some water or what...As I said earlier I have a 29g sump and when I power off it is nearly full to capacity. I am trying to work all my kinks before I add any creatures. I dont care how long it takes I just want a healthy tank so I am willing to do whatever it takes without emtying my bank account...lol
Ha - been there!
Pisces - I would take Amber Jack up on that advice to get some live rock to seed that base rock....your post sounded like you were kinda done buying rock for now but it will be the best way to cycle really - without the shrimp..
Ive heard that higher salinity drives hitchhikers out of live rock so you may have a win win!
90g reef ready with 2x250w mh 14k and 2x54w t5 retro (coralvue)...29g sump, sealife impact skimmer, 9.5 mag pump and 2 koralia 4 powerheads and 18 5 gal containers of ro water that I carried to my 3rd floor apartment alone in the rain and heat yesterday that I mixed with red sea pro salt mix.
you may need to raise the skimmer itself out of the sump a little - find out how much water the mfr recommends for in sump use for your skimmer and calculate from there - i used some flat stones from Home Depot to raise mine about 4" up. once settled, the skimmer will need near constant water level in that section of your sump so plan accordingly.
up the stairs in that humidity! time for an RO unit bro...Yeah I know... I will buy one soon... My wallet just needed a small break from reefing...and as for the skimmer I knew that part of set up would be my biggest challenge!! I looked forward to my face off with the skimmer. The gate valve is completely submerged underwater. I even got the overflow quiet!! (pat myself on the back) It was sounding like a toilet flushing over and over. Anyway, the cycle wouldnt really start without the liverock right?
That is debatable - you can cycle your tank in many ways, and many people on here will have different opinions. Live Rock is the preference for many reefers. you can use straight ammonia (the pure stuff found at a hardware store), you can use shrimp, you can use live rock, you can use live sand, you can use store bought bacteria, you can use fish food, you can use fish but we wont discuss that as it is not a humane cycle. some type of ammonia is needed to kick start the nitrogen cycle and anything listed above will do that.
you can get it going with a peice of raw shrimp - leave it in for a couple three days or a week and pull it out and wait...
also - check your flooring support, you have about 1,000 lb on that floor. - i would hate to live below you!!
