Couple of questions about my tank? Apologies :(

If you use conditioned tap water, you will be adding phosphate and worse to your tank, which you will need to get a GFO reactor to deal with, with its pump, and expensive medium, because the hair algae that feeds on it will take over your tank. You pay to do it right or you pay to clean it up, simple way the thing works. We ALL want cheap. We do it the cheapest way we can, with rare exceptions. We do it the way we do it because not doing it that way can cost more money. There are ways to save: your fish qt doesn't need a light. Your sump light can be an 8.00 Lowes shoplight cone and a 5.00 CFL flood bulb. You MIGHT be able to keep corals alive for a while with that shoplight flood, if you get a 6500 k flood light. 72 days, not so sure. But it would likely work with softies.
 
Sk8r said:
If you use conditioned tap water, you will be adding phosphate and worse to your tank, which you will need to get a GFO reactor to deal with, with its pump, and expensive medium, because the hair algae that feeds on it will take over your tank. You pay to do it right or you pay to clean it up, simple way the thing works. We ALL want cheap. We do it the cheapest way we can, with rare exceptions. We do it the way we do it because not doing it that way can cost more money. There are ways to save: your fish qt doesn't need a light. Your sump light can be an 8.00 Lowes shoplight cone and a 5.00 CFL flood bulb. You MIGHT be able to keep corals alive for a while with that shoplight flood, if you get a 6500 k flood light. 72 days, not so sure. But it would likely work with softies.
Click to expand...
What if I bought distilled or purified water at like Walmart in gallon jugs?
 
mjc041800 said:
Thank you so much! :)

1. Do the phosphates harm the corals or other things?

2. What about your coral and inverts?
Click to expand...

1. If they get too high. You should read this on phosphates. It will help you understand what phosphates are, what they do to the life in your tank, and how to control them: http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-09/rhf/index.php

2. Not as crucial as fish, because you have the option of coral dipping. Some people quarantine their corals, and some simply dip them. Some do both. I, personally, will do both, because nasty things can hitchhike on a frag. I'd rather have to battle it in a small empty tank than my DT, but that's just me. Personal preference.

Inverts: I don't know. I've heard many people don't quarantine inverts, but I don't want to give you false or misleading info. Maybe someone else can chime in or correct me on anything above.

P.S. RODI helps not introduce even more phosphates to your tank.
 
mjc041800 said:
so I have this old log decoration from an old tank, if I put it in the QT as a hiding spot will it start to cycle?
Click to expand...


Have you decided on lights? I would go with the 24" fixture, I think you're talking yourself into going beyond a softie tank. :) Either way you can have higher light corals right below the fixture, and lower light ones in the outer areas or farther down.

I wouldn't put an actual log in. If it's ceramic, sure. It'll get covered in good bacteria, yes. The lines in your sand look like the powerheads are moving sand around and making a shadow? The back of your tank will get covered in coralline algae, but you can put anything you like on the outside of it.

You don't need an ATO if you don't mind adding (fresh!) water to your tank as required. Your seawater isn't unstable, it's just that evapouration only removes fresh water and leaves the salt behind. So if it's hot where you are and you lose a gallon of water, your salinity goes way up.

Sure you can buy distilled water. I have an ro/di system and I cannot get it set up properly. Even if it was working, it wastes 3-4 times the water it purifies. (They all do this, it's a function of how the ro membrane works) If you live somewhere with water restrictions or pay a lot for water that will be a problem. I'm going to use the wastewater for my plants, we'll see how that goes. You still have to buy new membranes and filters and media, perhaps as often as every 6 months. Your city water might be great, or it could be 'oops all my inverts died' levels of bad. The conditioner doesn't remove all the bad stuff. You should be able to get a report on your water by googling around, or phone the water treatment plant and ask them.

I dip corals and just temp acclimate inverts. My tank was wiped out by dinoflagellates. In my case I think it was due to my dry rock rather than anything I bought/was given. I doubt quarantine would've caught it, but I'll never know. Don't look up dinos, you aren't going to get them and it will just freak you out unnecessarily.

Keep an aquarium log! If you test anything, write it down. Make general observations like 'what's with the streaks in my sand?' , or 'bought 3 turbo snails'. I made a calendar in Outlook (I have to have it for work, don't judge me ;) that's only for my tank. It's very handy to look back, and see what started when and general trends of alkalinity, ca etc. There are lots of apps, too, some of which make pretty graphs of numbers over time.

Buy a good magnet cleaner. Consider a floaty one, the yoga required for me to re-attach mine in a deep tank is ridiculous. It doesn't scrape well either.

Find or buy a long plastic stick. Handiest thing ever for seeing if that hermit is actually stuck, picking suspicious gunk, scooting the stupid magnet cleaner over when it detaches..

Look into macroalgae? Lots of super cool inverts but you should pick your fish first. Lots of fish think they're a nice snack.

Find your local reefers club. They'll know all about your water, where the good stores are, they'll have cheap frags/algae/used stuff for sale and are generally really helpful for panicky newbs.

hth
Ivy
 
Last edited:
MD Aquatic said:
just spend the money on the RO/DI unit bud. like $200. If you don't have the money now than just save some, it will save you money and heartache in the long run
Click to expand...
Could you just let me know about my question and not anything about the ro system I don't think I am going to head that direction? please and thank you
 
If you do not want a ro/di system, the ro water sold at kiosks is passable, but get a TDS meter, relatively inexpensive item, and do not use any water from a container that tests a higher TDS than 0. Use rejected bottles for drinking, washing, any household purpose, but do not put it in your tank. This is a hobby that, if you succeed, will teach you a lot of chemistry real fast.

I know it is a lot of expense. But that is why I strongly suggest not starting until you have assembled all your needed items. I suggest you start not with fish, but with micro-hermits, shrimp, and cerith snails, and keep those first, then after you're sure things are going to stay alive, and have accumulated that experience, starting your first (1) fish in quarantine. Marine tanks have a lot of detail and take time, and inverts can be quite entertaining. Enjoy the system at all levels of development from inverts up, just as the ocean developed.
 
I think if you aren't going to use rodi, distilled water is the choice for tanks. Supermarkets sell it for use in baby formula and steam irons, stuff where you want just H2O like in a reef tank. The ro water from kiosks is for drinking, you do not want just H2O for that because it tastes pretty bad. The kiosk companies either leave in, or add back, minerals and salts for flavor. For this reason you will not see zero tds "drinking water." Depending where you live, sometimes it's not a whole lot better than using a Brita (which isn't good enough). The industry is fairly self regulated, but here is the fda standards if anybody's curious
http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cdrh/cfdocs/cfcfr/cfrsearch.cfm?fr=165.110 There's a lot there you don't want in your tank.

That "ocean in a bottle" stuff is just this side of being a total scam. Whichever source you choose, having the purest water you can get and mixing in your salt allows you to use the same stuff for topoffs, change salinity to acclimate new arrivals gently, play around with diff salt brands to get your parameters where you want them, and save money. I would treat anything but self-made rodi water with something to bind heavy metals, like Prime, on the chance that they use copper pipes.
 
TDS meter will turn up any contamination of that sort, I think. If it isn't 0, something's in it that shouldn't be.
 
+1 ^

I pick up a few jugs of rodi from the fish store and mix my own. I know what's going in it and I know it is consistent. Don't use petco for anything but supplies like heater, etc. Whenever I go in there, the fish department is always neglected and typically staffed by someone who has little to no knowledge. Petco is a pet store, not a fish store.

It's great to ask questions here but I think you would learn a lot and save yourself some time and potentially money by doing a little bit of your own research. A few of your questions could be answered with a quick google search.
 
I would def get my own tds meter to double check if I was buying rodi from a fish store. I've seen a lot of threads where they don't keep up with filter changes, or only use Ro stage like a kiosk. Obvi, if their coral looks really good that's an indicator that the water is good too.

@sk8r I agree the tds meter would pick up some of the stuff in kiosk water. I'm saying you aren't going to get zero out of there, it would only be realistic to expect it from distilled or rodi (from a store or homemade)
 
mjc041800 said:
Could you just let me know about my question and not anything about the ro system I don't think I am going to head that direction? please and thank you
Click to expand...

Your going to have a huge headache with algea problems and possibly nitrate problems and trying to figure out where they're coming from without an RODI system. To be honest...there's even a huge difference having only an RO unit that produces water tds of anywhere from 3-10, then having an RODI unit that produces 0 tds. It really makes a difference. Some people have success without them...very small percent of people...and some people dont. With the little knowledge you have you likely won't have success without an RODI system. I'm just trying to help you. Getting water from somewhere else can be a headache and not ideal.

The number one purchase that I am most glad I bought has to be an RODI unit. Hands down. Everyone will tell you the same thing. It's a small but very necessary investment in this hobby.
 
Quiet_Ivy said:
Have you decided on lights? I would go with the 24" fixture, I think you're talking yourself into going beyond a softie tank. :) Either way you can have higher light corals right below the fixture, and lower light ones in the outer areas or farther down.

I wouldn't put an actual log in. If it's ceramic, sure. It'll get covered in good bacteria, yes. The lines in your sand look like the powerheads are moving sand around and making a shadow? The back of your tank will get covered in coralline algae, but you can put anything you like on the outside of it.

You don't need an ATO if you don't mind adding (fresh!) water to your tank as required. Your seawater isn't unstable, it's just that evapouration only removes fresh water and leaves the salt behind. So if it's hot where you are and you lose a gallon of water, your salinity goes way up.

Sure you can buy distilled water. I have an ro/di system and I cannot get it set up properly. Even if it was working, it wastes 3-4 times the water it purifies. (They all do this, it's a function of how the ro membrane works) If you live somewhere with water restrictions or pay a lot for water that will be a problem. I'm going to use the wastewater for my plants, we'll see how that goes. You still have to buy new membranes and filters and media, perhaps as often as every 6 months. Your city water might be great, or it could be 'oops all my inverts died' levels of bad. The conditioner doesn't remove all the bad stuff. You should be able to get a report on your water by googling around, or phone the water treatment plant and ask them.

I dip corals and just temp acclimate inverts. My tank was wiped out by dinoflagellates. In my case I think it was due to my dry rock rather than anything I bought/was given. I doubt quarantine would've caught it, but I'll never know. Don't look up dinos, you aren't going to get them and it will just freak you out unnecessarily.

Keep an aquarium log! If you test anything, write it down. Make general observations like 'what's with the streaks in my sand?' , or 'bought 3 turbo snails'. I made a calendar in Outlook (I have to have it for work, don't judge me ;) that's only for my tank. It's very handy to look back, and see what started when and general trends of alkalinity, ca etc. There are lots of apps, too, some of which make pretty graphs of numbers over time.

Buy a good magnet cleaner. Consider a floaty one, the yoga required for me to re-attach mine in a deep tank is ridiculous. It doesn't scrape well either.

Find or buy a long plastic stick. Handiest thing ever for seeing if that hermit is actually stuck, picking suspicious gunk, scooting the stupid magnet cleaner over when it detaches..

Look into macroalgae? Lots of super cool inverts but you should pick your fish first. Lots of fish think they're a nice snack.

Find your local reefers club. They'll know all about your water, where the good stores are, they'll have cheap frags/algae/used stuff for sale and are generally really helpful for panicky newbs.

hth
Ivy
Click to expand...
Thank you :)

So using distilled water as a top off would be OK?

And the log is a decoration you would get at the pet store, if I have a cycled sponge in the QT also would the log still cycle to dangerous levels for fish?
 
ID? Again there is more off this build up on my sand, I don't know what it is. Is it detritus build up? It is behind my tank too. uploadfromtaptalk1437941279058.jpg
 
Log. As in logbook. Little spiral notebook in which you write things down, so as not to forget what your alkalinity was on Tuesday.
 
mjc041800 said:
Thank you :)

So using distilled water as a top off would be OK?

And the log is a decoration you would get at the pet store, if I have a cycled sponge in the QT also would the log still cycle to dangerous levels for fish?
Click to expand...

Yep distilled is good.
I just double checked and ceramic *does* absorb copper and some of the dye medications. If you're going to be treating your qt you might want to stick to pvc pipes for the fish to hide in.

Cycle to dangerous levels? It might absorb medication, but otherwise no, bacteria will establish on anything and everything in a tank. It's harmless unless you get a wild overgrowth, which likely won't happen unless you're dosing bacteria, vodka, etc.

I think that is detritus in your second pic. Stuff comes off live rock and accumulates. You can gently siphon it out or ignore it.

You must be pretty close to the end of your cycle by now!

hth
ivy
 
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