IA Newbie.

[ZLTFUL]

So, my fiancee and I picked up a 47 gallon vertical tank on the cheap and dove right in with both feet having no real idea of what we were doing...

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1125098

That about sums up our knowledge level.

Needless to say, no new livestock until we get our water issues sorted.

Anyone around the DSM area who enjoys giving advice feel free to PM me.

THANKS!!

 

[jtesdall]

What kind of questions do you have?

 

[jtesdall]

OK, I just read a bunch of your other post.

1. Ditch the airstones, those are for fresh water.
2. Comments on RO/DI are correct. Depending on where NE of DSM you are your water could be terrible.
3. Get a Protein Skimmer.

You are going to be doing some water changes until things even out. It sounds like your tank needs to be cycled. How long was it supposedly running before you got it?

 

[xroads]

Hey,

Welcome to the hobby. You have found a good place (RC/GIRS) We have alot of events throughout the state that you can attend. Good luck with the new tank.

 

[Ziggy692]

Hi welcome to reef central

 

[glaspie69]

First off Welcome, glad you found us.

Tank wise I would definitly recommend finding some ro/di water, make sure to pre mix your water for at least a day before you do water changes, this should help get everything down where it needs to be. Changing water with your current tap water is probably just fueling the fire, I'm not sure why your tap water would have a ph that high.

You should take a sample of water to the lfs, something doesn't seem right with your readings. Ammonia is the first part of the cycle, with having ammonia you should have both nitrite and nitrate.

I would defintely look into getting a skimmer, my only point of knowledge would be not to skimp....everyone wants to and everyone also ends up buying a different skimmer after the cheap one the bought broke or doesn't work as well as it was suppose to. The skimmer will help keep the proteins down which will help with the nitrates.

You definitely don't need air stones, the only thing there really good for is salt creep.

Heres the link for the Greater Iowa Reef Society, were the state waide club for reef keepers.

http://www.greateriowareefsociety.org/site/Home/tabid/36/Default.aspx

HTH Jason

 

[leeweber85]

glad you found us!

 

[ZLTFUL]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10003087#post10003087 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jtesdall


You are going to be doing some water changes until things even out. It sounds like your tank needs to be cycled. How long was it supposedly running before you got it?

She said they had it up and running for nearly a year...but she did mention that the only fish that seemed to survive was the Maroon Clown we have now.

We will be doing some water changes but we are going to give it a little bit more time as it seems patience is also a virtue here.

I am afraid the drop in pH(we are down to 8.2 for about 24 hours now) and seem to be holding strong. I think we will wait a few more days on the ammonia side of things as seriously, the fish doesn't seem to be stressed at all. We will see if it drops a little bit and the nitrites come up a little bit. If that happens, then I have a feeling that all we will have been seeing is just a cycle.

I am also in the market for some cheap(read cheaper than a LFS) live rock. If anyone has some extra they want to get rid of, let me know.

I did send a PM to Dano about his sell off...hopefully, adding more live rock a little at a time will help stabilize things as well.

Thanks for the welcome folks!!!

 

[jtesdall]

ZLTFUL, read the post on LR for $110 shipped.