Just to be sure...

[illinifish]

This thread will definitely show my newbie-ness, but I want to be sure I'm doing things correctly.

Here's the story (it's a long one):
Purchased a 24g nano cube new approximately 6 weeks ago. Added 20 lbs live sand, and purchased a piece of the RedSea Max Artificial Live Rock that had been in the LFS system's tanks (so I thought it might have a tiny bit of bacteria). I'm avoiding live rock this time around.

Two weeks ago, my husband thought the tank was cycled (had been feeding it every day and ammonia was 0) so being the nice guy he was bought a green chromis to make sure it was cycled and add something to the tank.

Needless to say, things did not end well for the chromis, and when he saw the little guy not doing well, he did a water change of probably 8 gallons or so to try to save him....unsuccessfully. Now we both feel awful, and probably restarted the cycle.

The LFS sells us some bacteria in a bottle that I normally don't believe in, but I think my hubby added it for a few days. He also threw in a raw shrimp, which has been in for 10 days and looks to be about gone.

I moved in last weekend and brought filter media from a friend's tank and put it in the back.

So today, I checked the water and my parameters are as follows:

pH 8.0
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 5 ppm

So what's my next step? I'm guessing I should pull out what remains of the shrimp, and do serial testing for another week or so before I add anything...and then only a CUC.

I'm going back to Urbana for the final load of moving and would like to bring back my clownfish (who is hanging out at a friend's tank) on the 21st. I want to make REALLY REALLY sure the tank is cycled first before I add her.

Am I doing everything right? Any suggestions?
Thanks for reading this ridiculously long story and putting up with me

 

[fazgood]

Sounds like you are on the right track. A couple of things come to mind.

What are your salinity readings?

What is the temperature?

What is your Alk reading?

For salinity, don't trust a swing arm hydrometer, take a sample to a store or use a calibrated refractometer. You might want to verify your readings at a different store or different test kits just to be sure.

Get an alkalinity test kit and see what that is.

Your PH is a bit low so that might be a clue.

You might try some black mollys. I like to cycle tanks with them. If you change them over slowly most if not all will survive. Put them in a bucket with an air stone and take a day or two to slowly add salt water to the bucket until the water is the same as your tank. Once you put them in, they will pick at any algae and you can take them out when you get your clowns home. I am sure someone would take them off your hands. (I can trade you for some frags).

Post back when you get those readings and we can go from there.

Faz

 

[illinifish]

Hey there!

Well, I just re-tested my water and now my salinity is 1.028 (even though I have only ever used LFS pre-mixed water and never topped off).
All other parameters are exactly the same, except for my nitrates have increased to 20.
Temperature is 80 degrees.

I don't have an alk test, but I had the water checked at LFS and they said it was 8, which is a little high.

I might try the molly method.....

For now the LFS guy said to do a 1 gallon water change and replace with freshwater.

Sound good?

 

[fazgood]

Excellent!

Some stores reduce the salinity on their fish systems to help combat parasites. That might explain the sudden death. If the fish was in 1.018 water and was then introduced to 1.028, that would be pretty stressful.

Nitrates are not as big of a factor for fish but you might ask the store to test the water they sell. When the RO/DI units start to get to the end of life, nitrates and phosphates can start to climb. The Alk reading seems to be ok for now.

Suggestions:

- If you have fish only get the salinity down to 1.021 to 1.023
- Ask the place you buy fish from where they keep their salinity
- Mollys will take longer to adjust to high salinity so if you go that route, extend the acclimation time, if one dies, I usually just let them decompose and feed the system
- Come to the SEASL meeting this Saturday and fill us in on your progress and we can try to help get things on track
- Be sure to use RO/DI water when doing your water change/dilution, don’t use tap water

Sounds like your LFS guy has you going down the right path.

Faz

 

[allen2656]

Greetings and welcome to RC!
I agree with Faz you seem to be on the correct path.
I would listen to Faz and take his advice, you are very lucky to have found such a good mentor!

Allen

 

[achillestang2002]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14579544#post14579544 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by illinifish


I don't have an alk test, but I had the water checked at LFS and they said it was 8, which is a little high.

Is the alk test in dKH? If so, a dKH of 8 would not be considered high. Most people run the alkalinity around 8 to 10 dKH and usually closer to 10. The lower the alkalinity the more your pH will fluctuate. Meaning the pH at night (lights off) will be lower than during the end of the day (lights on).

The cycling process of an aquarium is acidic and usually lowers the alkalinity and pH. You can raise these numbers with a buffer - most do pH and alkalinity some do alkalinity only. Whatever you do make sure you measure pH with a meter and don't rely on color strips. A well maintained and calibrated meter will give you the best readings.

Best wishes!!!!