150 Gallon Just Filled Now What ?

B

brownsugar

New member
Hi everyone

Finally got around to filling my tank.
Filled with tap water , added a bottle of JBL Marol- (DeChlorinates & Binds Metals in Water), then added the saltmix left it for a day.
Turned off protein skimmer & Lights. Have a powerhead running

Salinity after 2 hours was 1.023 , now dropped to 1.021 this was using a Coral life Deep Six Hydrometer.

Tested the pH which tested higher unsure on exact reading colour chart used in test kit shows 8.1 then skips to 8.4. water tested is in between 8.2 or 8.3

Need a more reliable test kit for ph. Havent tested anything else.

I have nothing to start the amonia cycle was told by the LFS to let the tank stand for 2 weeks before i start adding any live rock.

The tank just contains a fine aragonite substrate and a single powerhead.

Was cloudy when adding the salt but yeh running the system overnight in the morning water was crystal clean.

My question is basically shud i just wait for 2 weeks or am i able to start adding a small portion of live rock now ?

My second question is shud i lower the pH now or let the water stand for 2 weeks as told and then start adjusting the level to the desired 8.1 ?
 
First of all, what type of test kit are you using, titration or dip strip? Are you reading results using the same timing as recommended? Salinity readings will fluxuate with changes in temp variation. Water tests can be very subjective, and adding an extra drop of solution or even larger drops can change the reading, be certain that you are consistant in your methods and readings before changing or adding anything.
 
titration or dip strip ?

Sorry i apologise im still a newbie

Im using the Aquasonic Marine pH , Ammonia , Nitrate , Nitrite Test Kits.

They basically contain a test tube , testing solution in drip form & a colour chart to compare the water. They also have a small amount of adjustment chemicals e.g pH up - pH down

I havent started testing on a regular basis its only been the first day so far , have been consistent for the first day.
 
Once your SG and temperature is set you can add your live rock. Are you going to cure the rock in tank or getting precured rock? this is important for your next steps.

Using a refractometer will give you much more accurate readings for SG. Salifert are good test kits for all that you described.

Regards,

Pat
 
get your salinity stable (i keep mine at 1.024) and add your rock. that will start you cycle. once you do that the waiting begins. some of the stuff on your rock will start dying off and get you rolling. you dont have to wait two weeks to add
 
I remember that this is a very exciting stage. I put my live rock in after a few days of letting the system run and getting the temp and saline about right. 150 is a great size to start with. With just a little care and following some simple rules you will do fine. I bought uncured or partially cured live rock and watching things percolate was great fun if somewhat slow. Don't rush things too much.
 
sorry about my delay in reply

yeh i still havent added anything to the tank , i have discovered my first problem is the tank temp is running too high.

I dont have the funds to invest in a chiller which over here a decent sized one starts from approx $1800

Any ideas in chilling my tank without a chiller ? I have an A/C unit directly above have been running that and it has made a difference . Any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated

Currently using a stick in thermometer , will invest in a digital one which i have heard is more accurate.

The live rock i have chosen is precured, im not sure if i shud add anything with the temp problems i am having.

Was told i need approx 5kgs to start the cycle off .

Ive also figured out i overfilled my tank but have made appox adjustments .

Ive switched the protein skimmer on in the mean time just letting her run till live rock comes.

Ph is 8.1
S.g 1.022 now

When i add live rock what is the process in testing ammonia nitrate and nitrite. And when do i need to do a waterchange and how much ?

thank you
 
Dont mean to be blunt, but STOP, and do some research on this. Im not trying to say that you havent done any, but one of your first sentences raised an alarm. Tap water. You are going to have alot of algea problems using tap. If you have spent this much on the whole setup why not do it right. Go on ebay and spent the $120 to get a nice, cheap, but very effective ro/di.
 
You need to get the SG to 1.025 or 1.026. It's too low as it is now. Ph of 8.1 is fine.
If you are using precured rock you will still need to test for Ammonia, nitrite and nitrate. You could have some additional die off which could produce a small cycle.

You need to buy the test kits to measure those things. If you are going to be putting in cured live rock at different times you will need to monitor for Ammonia, nitrite and nitrate each time because again you could have a small cycle from additional die off. It is typically always better to put all the live rock in at once. If you cannot afford to then wait before getting any fish or a cleaning crew until all rock is in and you are sure that you will not have a cycle.

As for cooling your tank, if you have glass tops on it take those off. Buy a good fan and blow air across the top of the tank. It will hasten evaporation but it will also help cool your tank. Keep your lights off or at least keep them on for a bare minimum of time.

I hope this helps.

Regards,

Pat
 
o btw
<img src="/images/welcome.gif" width="500" height="62"><br><b><i><big><big>To Reef Central</b></i></big></big>

you prob wont need a chiller with a fowlr tank unless you are using some huge pumps inside an enclosed stand or have high house temps. those are usually used by reef tanks with metal halides that create alot of heat.
 
A fan pointed at the water surface should help with temperature. Do you have have some sort of tank cover? I'm not sure why the tank should be too hot already. What is the temperature?
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6615469#post6615469 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by brownsugar
sorry about my delay in reply

yeh i still havent added anything to the tank , i have discovered my first problem is the tank temp is running too high.

I dont have the funds to invest in a chiller which over here a decent sized one starts from approx $1800

Any ideas in chilling my tank without a chiller ? I have an A/C unit directly above have been running that and it has made a difference . Any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated

Currently using a stick in thermometer , will invest in a digital one which i have heard is more accurate.

The live rock i have chosen is precured, im not sure if i shud add anything with the temp problems i am having.
Click to expand...

What is the temp ? Live rock can handle higher temps than what you might realize.

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6615469#post6615469 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by brownsugar


Was told i need approx 5kgs to start the cycle off .

Ive switched the protein skimmer on in the mean time just letting her run till live rock comes.

When i add live rock what is the process in testing ammonia nitrate and nitrite. And when do i need to do a waterchange and how much ?

thank you
Click to expand...

5kg would be a very minimal amount but once the temp, SG and Ph are decent there's no point in waiting to add more cured LR.

There is more than one "correct" answer to your questions and you will get contradictory responses, I would say to run the skimmer while cycling and change at least 10-20% week (more is better), test at least weekly and figure on adding some algae eaters in about a month. I keep lighting to a min, only a couple of hours.
 
Hey guys sorry for the extended delays in my posts really do appreciate the help on offer

Just an update ive tried some of the cooling methods suggested really helped i had my glass tops for the tank on took them all off , turned the a/c unit , tank tempriture has been dropping.
Was running in excess of 33 degrees at one point - due to the heatwave like conditions we experienced in Sydney 4 or 5 days of 30 degrees sum days reached up to 40 degrees - did run into problems of evapouration
- to the point where the level in the sump dropped where the retun pump was also pumping air aswell which caused the water to go cloudy.

My salinity problems have been due to the fact the salt mix that i have been using is designed to give a specific gravity of 1.023 at max , i have decided on switching my water source to filtered sea water which is readily available from a very helpful LFS and at a cost which is lower than mixing it myself with salt mix.

And i have checked the sality of the sea water its 1.025. I basically assume the more i top it off the more the sality will rise , have been replacing evaporation water levels with the same filtered sea water.

The only reason i initially filled with tap water was due to the fact that alot of reef systems in the Sydney area use do the same. The water quality is fairly high and the LFS hasnt sold an RO/DI unit in a year.
The PH is conveniatly ranged at 8.0-8.1.
I have considered a UV steralizor as an option icase of any unwanted algae growth but that will be in future purchases.

Have been looking for chiller units for next summer - anyone have any opinions on TECO chillers - really like the modular concept of heating , chilling and UV steralization all in the same unit.

As far as the tank is concerned it is still running with nothing in it , there was a hesitation on the supply of live rock that i was going to recieve. Think it was due to the fact of seeing Mantis shrimp and a pistol shrimp in supposedly ''cured rock'' in abundance wasnt appealing.


Just a question on doing freshwater soaks for live rock specifially to get rid of mantis shrips (dont get me wrong i think they are cool but i dont want them in my tank would not go down too well with my eventual stocking plans) - how do i do one ?

Despite all this i am actually suprised at my patience , i guess its a good thing to have and not rush into this hobby , so cliche to type here about livestock losses , i know it will be eventual but also the reason in me waiting is just to minimise stupid mistakes that could be avoided.
 
Personally, I wouldn't do a live rock dip like that, since I think it'd kill off a lot of organisms on the rock. I'm not sure how long would really be necessary to kill off or remove a mantis shrimp. They might be pretty tough.
 
As stated above, get a refactometer for more accurate testing of your water's salinity. Those hydrometers, particularly the Deep Six are not at all accurate. Ours read 1.025 when our LFS told us it was at 1.031.

I really only say this as a warning to you and those who hopefully read this. We purchased the Deep Six in a jam on the first day and honestly it was the biggest waste of $10.95 because it's first test (without air bubbles) was inaccurate.
 
bump

Just been busy with the tank , have purchased approx 50 kgs of live rock , 20 kgs semi cured, 30 kgs uncured.

Interesting rock lots of hitch-hikers suspect ''shrimp hiding deep inside one piece of rock , doesnt seem to be pistol or mantis havent heard any clicking noises.

Just testing bi weekly ph, salinity, ammonia , nitrate and nitrite.

Slight traces of ammonia.

What should i be doing with the die off from rock ? leave it in there or siphon it out ?

Planning to add more sand after the cycle has finished.

Deciding on aquascaping , any ideas on keeping rock together , ive heard stories of binding rock together with wires etc what is safe and no polluting for the water ?
 
I wouldn't use wire, but acrylic bars, PVC tubing, and plastic ties all seem to be safe to use.

As for the die-off, you can siphon it out if you think it's ugly. Otherwise, it can be ignored, really.
 
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