New And In Trouble

[james]

Hi All ,
Bought testing kits etc while in Australia ,

Did two tests one week apart.

Amonia :
OK, came up zero both times.
Nitrite No2 :
OK, both tests Less than 1mg/l

PH:
1st test 8.0 ,
2nd test 7.5.

Nitrate No3:
1st test 10mg/l ,
2nd test 40+ mg/l

Specific Gravity:
1st test 1.027 Salt 37.
2nd test 1.025 Salt 33
I removed tank water and added bottled water over a couple of days to reduce the SG.

Have read that I should be doing a 25% water change every two weeks .
Tank had a complete water change nearly a month ago .

Problem: Due to ongoing flooding here in Jakarta the aquarium supplier is temporarily closed . I have a plastic container of saltwater left over from the aquarium installation two months ago .
Is this water OK to use for a 25% water change , is 25% enough ?
I tested a sample of the spare water and got these results.
SG 1.028 Salt 38 .
Nitrite Less than 1mg/l
Nitrate zero
PH 8.0

Any advise would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks Dita and Jim

[james]

Hi ,
An update on our shopping trip.

Unfortunately left the aquarium supplies to the last minute and had to compromise .
Didn’t have a refractometer in stock so bought an “Instant Ocean” brand hydrometer . It’s easy to use . Also picked up a complete Sera Aqua Test Kit , could only get the Fresh water one as we didn’t have time to try for another supplier . The manual comes with both Fresh/Salt water testing procedures and has all the basic tests we were told we needed. Again they only had one book on Salt Water Aquariums which we purchased.
“The Marine Aquarium Problem Solver “ by Tetra Press 1996 . Doesn’t show our filter / tank set up but the basics are all there.

There’ll be more shopping trips in the future and we’re seriously thinking about buying over the Internet as the variety available is amazing.

Will update.

Regards,
Jim and Dita

[yote]

Hello James
You can add a little fresh water to that left over to bring the salinty down to where 1.025.I dont really see any problems with using it.other than the salinty needs to come down a knoth or 2.

[Bifferwine]

Your tests sound pretty good, considering what you've had to go through! I think that with regular water changes you'll be in pretty good shape soon enough. I don't know if you can use the old water or not -- I'd rather let someone with more experience answer that! But even without a water change right away your parameters seem to be fine.

[james]

Thanks Everyone , will do a 25% water change tonight after we get the SG down as suggested.

Thanks and Regards,
Jim and Dita

[JellyMan]

Hello james good to see you posting again so its been rough there lately, thats not good your in our prayers. 25% water change is acceptable recommendations if it is all set up is 10% so 25% would be good let us know if you have any other questions or concerns that is what were here for.

[james]

Thanks Jellyman, My wife and I are OK , it's the Little People in the Kampung's(settlements) that are suffering .

Changed just under 25% of the water after reducing the top up water's SG.

Retested Tank, SG is 1.025 but the No3 is still really high. Will that reduce in time? I've only got four fish in the tank .

Thanks,
Jim

[Bifferwine]

You've got a small tank, so four fish in a small tank may mean you need to do more frequent water changes to keep up with it. Nitrate will not reduce on its own. Short of adding things to the water or buying special filter media, all you can do is water changes to get rid of it.

[james]

Thanks Bifferwine , Am trying to reduce fish stocks , the smallest Clown Fish has Fin Rot but I can't catch the little Bugger!! Got to get 'em when the Wife's not around.

Thanks,
Jim