New tank, new to reef tanks, few questions

[Vic74]

Hi,

We have just started setting up our reef tank. I don't know how many gallons (we are in Australia and it's approx. 189 litres) but it's 4' x 1' x 2' (I think) We put the sand, water and LR in 5 days ago so are just starting to cycle the tank. We have a bit of brown dusty looking stuff on the rock, algae I presume but the last couple of days I noticed some white fluffy stuff growing on the rock as well. Is this normal or should we get rid of it?? I can't really find anything definite about what it is and whether we should get rid of it or not. Should we vacuum it out? As far as I can work out we just let water cycle and test but don't do anything about it for the first month or so, is this right?? My DH tested the water a couple of days ago and level readings were as follows:-

PH(B) - 7.6
PH - 7.9
KH - 100
Fe - 0
Ammonia - 0.03
CA - 100
NItrate - 10
Phosphate - 0.5

Not sure about nitrite levels or whether we were supposed to do all those tests but just got our new test kit and he wanted to try it out . Anyway, do these levels look okay? This is all so new and confusing, but very exciting. Also, is there somewhere we can go and look for pics of what's good and bad critters/algae in the aquarium? I have looked at the Melev's Reef one and it's great but we have things in our aquarium that aren't shown!

Sorry if that's too many questions but we have been researching this for about 6 weeks before we put anything in the tank but it's hard until you see things happening IYKWIM. Thanks to anyone who can help!

Vickie.

 

[Vic74]

Anyone??

Vic.

 

[DeeJayQuest]

Hi Vickie,

I think 189 litres is about 45-50 gallons (not 100% certain).

As for water parameters, ideally you need them to read as follows:

PH 8.2 (although 8.0-8.3 is acceptable)
Ammonia - 0
Nitrite - 0
Nitrate - 0 (less than 20ppm is acceptable, but the lower the better)

Not sure about the stuff on your LR or your inhabitants, maybe some pictures would help?

Paul

 

[Vic74]

Hi,

Thanks for your reply Paul. I have just taken these photos but they are not very clear. Best I can do for now I'm afraid. Hope they help. Should I not have the lights on?? Just not sure what to do.

We have written down what the parameters should be but since we've only been cycling the tank for 5 days should we just leave it for the month before we do any adjusting??

Any help would be great!

Thanks,

Vic.

 

[Vic74]

Oops,

Sorry the pics are so big. Haven't done that before. The white stuff is really smoky looking. I think there is plenty of water flow so not sure whether it's "normal" or not.

Thanks again,

Vic.

 

[kau_cinta_ku]

what is your salt level?

 

[DeeJayQuest]

Can't see the pictures from my work PC (hosting site must beblocked by the firewall). I'll have a look when I get home.

Don't worry too much, patience is the key. Just keep checking your water parameters every few days until ammonia and nitrites are at 0, thats when you know your tank has cycled.

Also, what is the SG level and temp?

When your tank is cycling, the lighting isn't too important, but does encourage algae growth. Probably best to put it on a timer so its on about 8-10 hours a day.

When you have coral/fish, maybe increase to 10-12 hours.

Others may disagree, thats just my opinion.

 

[Vic74]

Hi,

Thanks for the replies. As for the questions, the salt level was down to about 1018 so we have adjusted that and it is now on 1020, so will adjust that a bit more today, the water temp has been hovering around 29-30 degrees celcius (not sure in farenheight) so a little high but should have the chiller up and running in the next day or so so that should fix that problem (I know, I know, we probably should have had that set up from the start but tell that to my DH!!) We are also setting up a refugium which should hopefully also be up and running in the next day or two so maybe we'll just wait and see if it fixes itself?? Otherwise we have a great lfs and maybe they will be able to help us. Just thought you experienced reef tankers would be able to shed some light.

Thanks again, must say I am enjoying this website and being able to read other people's posts about this new obsession of ours!!

Vickie.

 

[Joshthenosh]

get thats salt up to 1025

 

[colettem]

Have seen similar pics of that white stuff on here before- afraid I can't remember what it is called but the general consensus was that it is completely harmless. I have seen some in my new tank from time to time as well with no ill effects.

 

[Vic74]

Hi,

Thanks again for the replies. I tested the Ammonia level before and it's up to 2.4 so I guess it's spiking. As I said will resolve the salt level issue today and hopefully get the chiller up and running and see what happens next week. Hopefully it will sort itself out. Thanks again.

Vickie.

 

[aquawolf]

Congrats on your new tank. Keep taking your time, testing, reading, and posting here and you will see it goes by quicker than you might think.

Good luck with everything and keep us posted.

 

[nemo g]

good luck, and keep the pics coming