Ok, so heres where I'm at

[Nedim]

The cycle is nearly complete now, and I even noticed a tiny feather duster growing on my LR.

Right now I'm at-

pH-7.8
Nitrite-.1 mg/l
KH-10
CO2-5 mg/l
Ammonia-0 mg/l

My salinity is a tad high at 1.026, but I'm hesitant to do a water change before the cycle completely finishes. I do however add about 5 gallons of fresh water a week to compensate for losses due to evaporation. I started adding pH buffer and dKH buffer last night, so by tomorrow I should have a correct pH reading of about 8.3. I also ordered all the gaskets and the o-ring for my canister filter, so that will be up and running by next week.


I have a few questions- is it true that anenomes need very bright lighting? The reason I ask is that we have a few in a tank at our store and they're under flourescent lighting and seem to be doing great.

And does anyone know anything about sweetlip clowns? We had one the other day and it was sold almost as soon as it arrived.

 

[bobby]

Yes anemones need very strong light, at least 6 watts per gal. They do good in the stores under florestant lights, only becuse its for a short time. If you notice the anemones that are there for a while start to blaech out, and if they bleach then it is my understanding that they will most likely die. The only reason a store doesnt use stronger lights is becuase they hopefully wont be there long and they probably dont want to put more money in on lighting to keep there caost down.

 

[bobby]

Oh and a salinity of 1.026 is fine, alot of people with reef tanks have theres at 1.026. I wouldnt go higher than that though.

 

[JellyMan]

I have raised some under pc they just didnt agree with the powerhead. Sweetlips I know nothing about.

 

[bobby]

I would say stay away from it your tank is not nearly big enough. They need 2 to 3 feedings a day of meaty food and get large around 28 in. They need at least 150 gal tank, and will eat crabs, snails, and small stars. I applaud your asking and finding out about them first.

 

[Nedim]

I'm definately doing my research with this tank.

I figure all I really want/need is a skimmer, ro unit, light fixture and about 20lb LR.

I did some browsing last night and I have a few things that I would appreciate if someone judged, before I actually dish out the money.


The light Im looking at

CURRENT WHAT'S NEXT

Ro Unit

Kent Marine Hi-S Maxxima 60 GPD RO/DI System - Marine Depot - Marine and Reef Aquarium Super Store



and for the skimmer Im between the Super Skimmer, AquaC Remora and Prizm.


What do you think?

 

[bobby]

SOunds good, on the light make sure you get the dual light with 2 96watt bulbs, that ro unit sounds good I heard kent was agood brand but I dont know for sure because I've never used one, however, airwaterice.com has a 5 stage ro/di unit with a tds meter for 139. on there home page, again I dont know much about this either, but have heard here on this site the airwaterice is very good, on the skimmer I would suggest the aqua c or the css. I have the prizim and like it exspecialy after I did the mods, but I think the css or aqua would still be a better buy. If you do go for the prizim to save money check out my thread (good news for biff,dfrech,or anybody else with a prizim) the thread explains mods for the prizims and since I did the mods to mine it has more than doubled the performance. The guy who first did the mod did a test against the css220 and they ran toe to toe in the test, just a thought for if you chose to go that way.

 

[Bifferwine]

Which one of the lights are you looking at for your tank?

 

[Nedim]

Biffer, I'm looking at the 36" satellite dual.

Bobby, thanks a million for that link, check out this RO Unit. About 50 bucks cheaper than the Kent.

www.airwaterice.com Compact Reefkeeper with TDS meter

A question about GPH. How exactly does that work? And you can hook up the unit to a faucet, right?

 

[bobby]

I dont know much about ro units, but there should be a phone # and I heard there very helpful.

 

[bobby]

Wait I was looking at the link and at the bottom of the page the adapter is seperate for 6.95, also there is a hose adapter for 3.95.

 

[Nedim]

I think Im gonna go with the 5-stage from airwaterice.


Thanks for the help.

 

[Bifferwine]

That's 192 watts, that should be fine for most stuff you would want to keep.

 

[JellyMan]

good luck with it ned and let us know how it is going.

 

[Nedim]

Ok, I have updates.

I got a new test kit and I tested my parameters. pH is 7.8, trites are 0ppm, Ammonia is 0ppm and trates are 20 ppm.


Should I do a 20% water change tomorrow?



Oh, and I've noticed my LR turning white....like REALLY white. I hope thats corraline. Any clues?

 

[Bifferwine]

Looks like you're done with your cycle. Now you just have to keep your nitrates on track via water changes. The white rocks could be coralline, it is sometimes white... This seems to be a common question lately on the forums!

 

[bobby]

Yes do the water change, if you dont have animales in there yet do a large one like 50% to take the trates down to half. Also before you add anything get the ph up, and you should be fine. Well your finally there, good luck.

 

[Nedim]

I'm adding buffer to the water, but still no change. IO really sucks. I think Im gonna get the red sea pH balanced mix next time. It has more calcium too.

 

[AndyB4784]

what is your Alk at? getting your KH up to around 8-12 should raise up your PH. also do you have a sump? if so you could drip Kalk into it and maintain a good PH this way also.

 

[JellyMan]

Yes your ph is low get a kh test as stated above and give us the results on that as well please.