Mixing Water

[jswinberlin]

My tank has been up for about a year now. I've been buying "real water" ready made saltwater. I'm looking to mix my own to save money. I buy RO water for topping off and I'm hoping to mix with Instant Ocean. I'm concerned that the pH will not be right. Should I be concerned?

Is it necessary to add something to achieve the proper pH?

I've always used the "real water" to keep from making mistakes and keep some control as I learn but I'm ready to take the "training wheels" off.

Thanks for any input!

 

[NanoReefer]

do you have any coral?

 

[yote]

Just get yourself a good refractometer and go for it.
The PH should remain stable for the most part.Doing your water changes shouldn't be enough to effect the PH either way.Might change it +/- .01 one way or the other,but thats not enough to matter.

 

[jswinberlin]

I mean't "real ocean" water actually. I have a refractometer and no corals. It's a FOWLR tank. I've been using quick dip test strips, but I'm thinking about stepping up to an api master kit. Having only been doing this for about a year I've been taking things slow and feeling my way around. I just don't want to get too sure of myself and kill the 7 fish I have.

Also, with a 45 gallon tank, am I reaching my stocking limit? Currently I have 1 green chromis damsel, 2 clarkii clowns, 1 bi-color blenny, 1 pajama cardinal, 1 firefish and 1 six line wrasse. Of all of them, the damsel is the biggest, at about 3 - 3.5 inches. I was hoping to get a couple more pajamas since I know they are schooling fish.

It doesn't look crowded and my protein skimmer doesn't seem to be having trouble keeping up. I do 5 gallon water changes weekly or bi-weekly and sometimes 10 gallon if I feel necessary.

 

[sen5241b]

If you do regular water changes Ph should not be a problem. But if a water change results in a big Ph changein the tank you could get 'Ph shock'. I've never seen it myself but I've heard others speak of it.

 

[little_fish]

Id say you are at your stocking limit. Even if it doesnt look crowded to you, each fish is going to have some amount of territory and the more you put in there, the more the fish are going to be stressed and agitated about the encroachment on their space.

 

[yote]

+1 little Your pretty much at your limit for the tank.

All you can do now,is get a bigger tank.:D