gone fishin
New member
Since your fish are gone I would take a step back, take a breath.
77 degrees is fine for your tank, if that is where it is at leave it alone consistency is the key. For salinity 1.026 is what to aim for but a little under is fine for now, consistency.
There is a sticky at the top of the forum called setting up, look for the big red arrow. It is full of good info and I believe it will help you.
Now equipment it seems you have a mixed bag. Before getting more fish I would get a few pieces to help you out first. From what I gather you do not have a powerhead and it seems there is a tight budget. Take a look at the Hydor Koralias they are on the low side price wise. I think a couple of the koralia nano 425's would do for now.
For daily top off you want to use fresh water not salt water. When your tank is full to where you want it with the salinity that you want, place a piece of tape or use a marker and mark the water line on the back corner of the tank. 24 hrs later look at where the level is in relation to the mark you made, it should be below the mark. This is your daily evaporation rate. Add fresh water back to the mark. This will go a long way to keeping your salinity consistent. When your able look at the JBJ auto top off it is relatively cheap compared to some of the others.
Using tap water is not the best. It is not only the chlorine/chloramines to worry about but also all the other minerals, metals that can accumulate over time. When possible get a RO/DI unit. If your in Canada I do not know if the sponsors on here ship there or not, but there are a number of Canadians on here. You may be able to find a local club that can give you some one on one help and possibly some deals on equipment.
I can't get the pest guys out of the picture. If you have a hang on back filter you can put on the tank to run some carbon, this will help to remove any possible contaminants from these guys. In addition I would do a water change. There was a guy on here a year or so ago that was having problems with fish dying. It turned out it was the plug in air freshener that was shooting out fragrance into the room.
Good luck just my 2 cents.
77 degrees is fine for your tank, if that is where it is at leave it alone consistency is the key. For salinity 1.026 is what to aim for but a little under is fine for now, consistency.
There is a sticky at the top of the forum called setting up, look for the big red arrow. It is full of good info and I believe it will help you.
Now equipment it seems you have a mixed bag. Before getting more fish I would get a few pieces to help you out first. From what I gather you do not have a powerhead and it seems there is a tight budget. Take a look at the Hydor Koralias they are on the low side price wise. I think a couple of the koralia nano 425's would do for now.
For daily top off you want to use fresh water not salt water. When your tank is full to where you want it with the salinity that you want, place a piece of tape or use a marker and mark the water line on the back corner of the tank. 24 hrs later look at where the level is in relation to the mark you made, it should be below the mark. This is your daily evaporation rate. Add fresh water back to the mark. This will go a long way to keeping your salinity consistent. When your able look at the JBJ auto top off it is relatively cheap compared to some of the others.
Using tap water is not the best. It is not only the chlorine/chloramines to worry about but also all the other minerals, metals that can accumulate over time. When possible get a RO/DI unit. If your in Canada I do not know if the sponsors on here ship there or not, but there are a number of Canadians on here. You may be able to find a local club that can give you some one on one help and possibly some deals on equipment.
I can't get the pest guys out of the picture. If you have a hang on back filter you can put on the tank to run some carbon, this will help to remove any possible contaminants from these guys. In addition I would do a water change. There was a guy on here a year or so ago that was having problems with fish dying. It turned out it was the plug in air freshener that was shooting out fragrance into the room.
Good luck just my 2 cents.
:crazy1::reading:
