new and i need help

[homer1475]

RO/DI is best but distilled will work. If your planing on upgrading to a bigger tank, you may want to look into purchasing an RO/DI unit. They can be expensive, but a basic 75GPD unit is around 100 - 150$. And again. will save you money in the long run. Buying water can get expensive especially if you all of a sudden need to do a large water change.

I usually mix up my water the day before I'm going to use it, But I only need 5 gallons for a WC. Quite a few people with larger tanks keep water mixed up at all times. As long as its kept agitating and usually warm, it can be kept for a very long time.

FYI, if your going to use a trash can, the BRUTE brand is popular and known to be reef safe. Never use a metal can or anything that can possible leach something into the water.

 

[homer1475]

also i haven't got a definitive answer on lighting. should i run solid blue lights more or white and blue or ???

While you'll likely get a 1000 answers on whats right, typically you want quite a bit of blues, and just enough white to make it pleasing to your eye. The photosynthesis process requires light wavelengths in the blue and violet spectrum, white helps also but isn't quite as important. This is why you see alot of tanks with a lot of blues in them.

 

[chrisbahn2002]

RO/DI is best but distilled will work. If your planing on upgrading to a bigger tank, you may want to look into purchasing an RO/DI unit. They can be expensive, but a basic 75GPD unit is around 100 - 150$. And again. will save you money in the long run. Buying water can get expensive especially if you all of a sudden need to do a large water change.

I usually mix up my water the day before I'm going to use it, But I only need 5 gallons for a WC. Quite a few people with larger tanks keep water mixed up at all times. As long as its kept agitating and usually warm, it can be kept for a very long time.

FYI, if your going to use a trash can, the BRUTE brand is popular and known to be reef safe. Never use a metal can or anything that can possible leach something into the water.

raising the salinity, stupid question but i have to ask. remove and add? or can i add very small amounts of salt to the tank?

 

[AndrewNC]

Yes it's best to avoid dosing all that crap in there. Another issue could be your lights. I could be wrong as I'm no expert on leds but I believe those are .08w per led which might be an issue for coral. I owned a led marine USA lights and I couldn't keep anything with those. I switched to t5s and what a difference. Also your ph is a bit low. Ideal would be 8.0-8.4

 

[homer1475]

raising the salinity, stupid question but i have to ask. remove and add? or can i add very small amounts of salt to the tank?

As water evaporates just add some 1.026 instead of plain water. Once you reach 1.025 - 1.026 just topoff with plain water.

Never add plain salt to the tank. You could replace some water, but it might be too much of a swing. Fish and corals can handle salinity lowering much better then raising, thats why raising is done slowly over the course of a couple days.

 

[AndrewNC]

new and i need help

raising the salinity, stupid question but i have to ask. remove and add? or can i add very small amounts of salt to the tank?

I would add saltwater when water is evaporated until you get the salinity you want (1.025/1.026) then go back to topping off with ro water

 

[chrisbahn2002]

As water evaporates just add some 1.026 instead of plain water. Once you reach 1.025 - 1.026 just topoff with plain water.

Never add plain salt to the tank. You could replace some water, but it might be too much of a swing. Fish and corals can handle salinity lowering much better then raising, thats why raising is done slowly over the course of a couple days.

good, i was wondering. common sense told me it was a bad idea but thought to ask anyways

 

[HammerLover]

And please add more liverock. Based on the FTS you've posted it seems to be lacking for live rock.

And please rehome your tangs, the tang police will really get you

 

[T Haynes]

Rehome the tangs. Even a 90 is on the small side for one

Get your ph up around 8.3

Get your salinity up to at least 1.024 ( 1/2 cup salt per gallon water change once you get it up)

Start testing for mag, calc, and alk in addition to the normal ones you should run

Err on the side of less is more when it comes to "can I add another fish?"

Never buy a fish saying "well in a couple months I'll be upgrading my tank" may not work out that you can

If you have any questions ask first

Don't dose what you can't test

If you're using distilled water you shouldn't need to add any of that extra stuff besides maybe trace elements. Keep the amquel handy incase you have an ammonia spike. Saved my tank one time having that handy.

Stop going to that LFS for advise. Maybe for livestock and rock but they sold the **** out of you on that other stuff

All things I wish I knew when I started

 

[T Haynes]

Also idk what lights you're using but the t8 that comes in the kits ain't gonna cut if for corals. You also need to research the proper lighting and water flow for said corals

 

[chrisbahn2002]

Also idk what lights you're using but the t8 that comes in the kits ain't gonna cut if for corals. You also need to research the proper lighting and water flow for said corals

i have a fluval sky 20000k and a fluval sea marine 25000k both led

 

[chrisbahn2002]

could anyone tell me exactly what kind of brain coral i have in my tank? it is in the first part of the thread