First BC 29

You're not being OCD at all. Swing arm hydrometers are crap, and you found that out, and you got a banged up product in the mail that wasn't working right. Nothing OCD about fixing those two issues.

No reason to rush on the cycle business IMO. Sometimes it can take a month. If you're feeling like it is taking too long, you can use a little bit of a bacteria supplement (Dr. Tim's people like, and I like and am occasionally still using the Brightwell Microbacter7 product for supplementing bacterial strains) to push the cycle along, but really, nothing good happens quickly in this hobby.
 
So got up to find my return pump blew up! the front tabs holding the front intake broke, glade no animals or anything, my power head was running at least :(
 
Test results today, Day 15

Ammonia 0~.15
Nitrite 1.0
Nitrate 40
PH 7.8
Salinity 1.026
Temp 77.5

Now I should dosage 2ppm ammonia to make sure it's cycled right? I have Dr tim's ammonia
 
You still have nitrites, your about halfway through your cycle. When the nitrites drop to 0, you can then dose ammonia up to 2ppm to "stress test" the biological filtration. If the ammonia and nitrites drop to 0 in 24 hours, your good to go. The only thing I would advise is to do a huge(75% or better) water change after stress testing to get rid of the eventual high nitrates your going to have.
 
Ok, I'm looking at a RO system now, I have 10 gallons ready just need some more mixed up before I guess. Thanks!
 
New skimmer installed, I'm hopping the micro bubbles in the tank are normal till break in?

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The ro buddie is not the greatest, but honestly if I didn't get a good deal on an old excellent system, that was what I was going to buy. It's probably not very efficient, and will probably burn through filters pretty quickly, but whatever, it'll carry you the few years till you upgrade to a bigger tank and get a better ro system.
 
Ok thanks, So the units that are better would be in the 200 $ range? are the bulk reef supply 4, 5 and 6 stage ones any good? I should buy a meter to check my water huh.
 
Yep, gotta have a TDS meter if you are looking for an RO/DI system. You should have one anyway, they're cheap, readily available (I've seen them at walgreens for testing tap/brita water), and they will tell you when it is time to change out filters on your RO system.

For an RO, $200 goes a long way. I opted to buy a good unit that was old and in bad shape, so that when it comes time to change out the filters, I'll still be ahead of buying it new. I have a Typhoon 5 (or 3, not sure, I bought it second and), and it's built like a tank, and will last forever. The original Air Water Ice Dual Home Reef system that I bought for my old tank about 10 years ago is still being used by my parents at their house, and I think they've only had to change out the filters once or twice.

They last forever, so don't hesitate on buying a good one if the price difference is $20-$50 more. A lot of the Air Water Ice units have been used for thousands of gallons for years without problems, and the company is still around and supports them.
 
So I think I have everything upgraded but the lighting. If I'm missing something or need something could you guys show me what or a better way thanks.

Chamber 1, Aquatic Life 115 and temp prob
Chamber 2, Intank media rack with floss, chemi-pure elite and purigen
Chamber 3, 100 watt heater, Tunze nano ATO and return pump.
Display tank, PP4/RW-4 wavemaker
Tools, RO buddy with DI, TDS tester, API master test kit with calcium and phosphate, misc cups, siphons, nets ect. for maintenance.
Labeled all my cords on the power strips. :)
I think i have everything ready, still have 1/2 of chamber 2 I can do something with, and LED retro-kit to find. :uhoh3:
 
API master kit is fine by me, and it's what I used for my first 6 months or more. I switched to Salifert for nitrate just because it has higher resolution (I can measure 0-5ppm nitrate, not just in 15ppm or so intervals), but for most early use, you're good.

Calcium and Alkalinity you want, and I'd recommend picking up Salifert, or API if you want simplicity. Phosphate, I would not spend the money on a test kit. I would either not buy anything at all (you shouldn't need it for 6 months or more) or buy a Hanna LOW RANGE PHOSPHOROUS checker. Nothing more nothing less.

If you want to read a recent excellent shootout on test kits, there is a great one in the chemistry forum here
 
Thanks for the link, I think the API is very hard for me to read, sometimes I can't tell if its 10 or 20 nitrates I have, the ammonia is also hard for me to read. Maybe I have a color blind issue lol.
 
I think for nitrate, API is the easiest. Is it red (high), yellow (low), or orange (in between)? Telling exactly 10 or 20 I can see some issue, but let me assure you, that is one of the most straight forward test kits I've ever seen. It's downhill from there, as you see with the ammonia. The ammonia was tough for me, it's always just some cloudy version of greenish blue if I recall correctly.

If you are having a hard time reading the nitrate, then buy all Hanna checkers. They are a pain in the butt, but if you can't discern colors easily, then they're the only way to go (a legitimate issue that some people have). I think with experience you'll figure it out easier, and honestly you shouldn't be using nitrate and ammonia test kits very often. The calcium and alkalinity tests are all titration, so they're "trip this syringe until the solution you're dripping into changes color" and it's an immediate and obvious color change that says for more than a second or two, so it's easier to read in that respect.

I know my wife hates titration, but it takes the question out of what color it matches/what the level is. Also worth doing some reading about what looking at a titration curve looks like, because the change may not be 100% abrupt, because it's a very steep curve, but it's a curve not a cliff for when it changes. Phosphate is the worst gradient scale test kit, and is almost impossible for most people to read, hence why I recommend buying the phosphorous checker instead of a test kit.

Example titration curve image (I have no idea what this is from, it's just an example of why it's a curve not a cliff):
titration_curves_img_1.png
 
This was a few days ago but ya I can read the nitrite fine just not the ammonia or nitrate, between 2 and 5 I think.
I like your LED setup to, I'm not afraid of DIY stuff I am an electronic tech and a big RC aircraft/FPV enthusiast so working with small wires and equipment is easy.


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I think my ammonia always looked that color :p I just went by a big spike in nitrates and giving it a reasonable few weeks, particularly if using liverock.

You'll find a lot of former RC hobbyists around here (myself included), but the FPV adds some additional electronics skill for sure. I never got into that. I was just very happy with my trainer P-51 that I put a .82 4 stroke till I had a prop come loose while bench testing it. Then moving around the country, and now where I am I'd have to drive an hour to get out of range of a real airport, bleh.


Aaaanyway, yea, this is a fun hobby, and you'll use some of those cross-hobby skills. And I love the rapidLED retrofit kit still. I finally had to crank up my power 5% or so since I felt it was getting dim, but it's been running for a year without issue (unless I caused the issue).
 
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