My 10 gal tank has been up since saterday with LR and 1 small clownfish, reading are 0 ammonia 0 nitrite 1.021 salinity. Can i start with 10% (1gal) water changes today and how often should i do them, the water went from cloudy since sunday to clear as a bell today. :wave: also will my freshwater master test kit api work for saltwater if so i can test PH and nitrate otherwise i jave to get them test.
when to W C
- Thread starter zapirk
- Start date
Welcome to this group! Ask away!
Yes, now is the time for a 1 or 2 gallon change. Use RODI water to mix the salt with. For the next 3-4 weeks consider doing that every 2-3 days. After that, once every other week will do.
Please read the "Sticky"s at the top of this forum. They will tell you how to manage your tank. Regardless of the situation that you have on hand please do some research to progress with awareness.
Have Fun!
Yes, now is the time for a 1 or 2 gallon change. Use RODI water to mix the salt with. For the next 3-4 weeks consider doing that every 2-3 days. After that, once every other week will do.
Please read the "Sticky"s at the top of this forum. They will tell you how to manage your tank. Regardless of the situation that you have on hand please do some research to progress with awareness.
Have Fun!
reeftanker3295
New member
You really need to get a sw test kit and warch your ammonia and nitrite until they 0 out and stay 0 after some food is added. With a 10 gallon tank I'd do 1-2g a week, with smaller tanks more frequent water changes are needed.
hotelbravo
Active member
I would take the fish back to the store. also do not add anything else to this tank you should not have added the clown to the tank since its not cycled meaning the nitrifying bacteria is not present in your tank and your system will have a hard time keeping fish in there since fish poop and what not are fouling your water. normally you wait to add anything alive such as fish or inverts because the bacteria needs to grow so it can convert waste into less harmful forms so your water will not kill the inhabitants
I thought thats what the live rock was was cycled nitrifying bacteria. I am planning on doing a 60gal reef tank in the near future so i am taking all these suggestions in.
The liverock was from a LFS in a system if that makes a difference on if its cultured correct or not
The liverock was from a LFS in a system if that makes a difference on if its cultured correct or not
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oblio
New member
Not to be rude, you are not in any way qualified to do a 60 reef anything. You added a fish to a new tank 24hrs after turning it up? Obviously you did no research and either ignored your local fish store advice or the advice given was incorrect. Please please please, return your fish, then come back and read read read about cycling a tank. This hobby is absolutely amazing, but if you continue to do things before you make any attempt to research things about saltwater tanks, I am sorry to inform you that you are in for a very bad experience in this overall. This hobby will punish you if you don't understand your actions before you act on them.
hotelbravo
Active member
no thats not correct. yes the live rock hold the bacteria in it and yes you buy live rock to add the bacteria to your tank but you need to allow it to cycle after you add the rock.
the cycling process takes around 4 weeks this process is to build the exact amount of bacteria your tank requires to house fish/inverts and remove all the ammonia and nitrites (which convert to nitrates). you test your water to see if your ready for fish you dont just throw them in and say "okay i got fish now"
to know your ready get some tests not API they are not reliable.
test for nitrates, nitrites, ammonia, salinity using a refractometer not the little plastic thing that sits in your tank and the arm swings and stops on a mark like stores sell. once your ammonia reads 0 and nitrites read 0 you are ready to add fish SLOWLY each fish you add will increase the amount of bacteria that will grow in your tank. the bacteria grows larger with more fish inorder to make up for the increased bio-load you placed in your tank
when a tank is cycling you have to introduce ammonia into the system either by feeding the empty tank, adding bottled ammonia to the correct dosage, or less preferably adding a small fish which in cases(not all cases) kills the fish as a result. when doing a cycle with a fish its going to hurt the fish whether it survives or not is another story. which is why its prefered not to use a fish to cycle it.
CStrickland
New member
I dunno, it might be ok for now, depends on the rock. The issue with api ammonia tests is that they tend to give false positives. So sometimes it says there is .25 ppm when it's actually zero. There is also an ammonia badge that you can buy which will change color if any is present so you don't have to keep testing all the time. I would pick up some ammonia buffer asap, I use one called Seachem Prime but there are other brands too. As your new fish poops and pees and breathes on the water he may add ammonia faster than the bacteria that survived the trip home from the lfs can eat that ammo up and make nitrates that don't hurt fish (aka the nitrogen cycle). The buffer changes the ammonia and nitrites into something the bacteria can still eat but won't burn the fish's gills hurt in the meantime.
Going forward, this is a good website to learn about fish before you buy them: http://www.liveaquaria.com you can poke around to see what fish you like and there are filters to show you only "easy care" or "reef safe" fish. There's also a section for "nano" tanks, which is what you have. I'm thinking the clown will out grow a 10g really fast. Usually it's better to buy for the tank you have not the one you want, and a lot of stores are either dumb or greedy so you want to check the web before you buy. Also, once you see how few fish can really thrive in a ten, you'll be motivated to get that bigger tank running
A good option for a little tank is using distilled water from the supermarket at less than a buck a gallon. It's very pure and many nano reefers use it for their changes. I'd go ahead and get started if I were you.
Welcome to the hobby! We all started somewhere, you'll be a pro in no time
Going forward, this is a good website to learn about fish before you buy them: http://www.liveaquaria.com you can poke around to see what fish you like and there are filters to show you only "easy care" or "reef safe" fish. There's also a section for "nano" tanks, which is what you have. I'm thinking the clown will out grow a 10g really fast. Usually it's better to buy for the tank you have not the one you want, and a lot of stores are either dumb or greedy so you want to check the web before you buy. Also, once you see how few fish can really thrive in a ten, you'll be motivated to get that bigger tank running
A good option for a little tank is using distilled water from the supermarket at less than a buck a gallon. It's very pure and many nano reefers use it for their changes. I'd go ahead and get started if I were you.
Welcome to the hobby! We all started somewhere, you'll be a pro in no time
I dunno, it might be ok for now, depends on the rock. The issue with api ammonia tests is that they tend to give false positives. So sometimes it says there is .25 ppm when it's actually zero. There is also an ammonia badge that you can buy which will change color if any is present so you don't have to keep testing all the time. I would pick up some ammonia buffer asap, I use one called Seachem Prime but there are other brands too. As your new fish poops and pees and breathes on the water he may add ammonia faster than the bacteria that survived the trip home from the lfs can eat that ammo up and make nitrates that don't hurt fish (aka the nitrogen cycle). The buffer changes the ammonia and nitrites into something the bacteria can still eat but won't burn the fish's gills hurt in the meantime.
Going forward, this is a good website to learn about fish before you buy them: http://www.liveaquaria.com you can poke around to see what fish you like and there are filters to show you only "easy care" or "reef safe" fish. There's also a section for "nano" tanks, which is what you have. I'm thinking the clown will out grow a 10g really fast. Usually it's better to buy for the tank you have not the one you want, and a lot of stores are either dumb or greedy so you want to check the web before you buy. Also, once you see how few fish can really thrive in a ten, you'll be motivated to get that bigger tank running
A good option for a little tank is using distilled water from the supermarket at less than a buck a gallon. It's very pure and many nano reefers use it for their changes. I'd go ahead and get started if I were you.
Welcome to the hobby! We all started somewhere, you'll be a pro in no time
I am using stability by seachem i have had success with this product on FW and a local i know had success with it in SW tanks. I also have Prime that stuff is the best.
Is spring water the same as distilled? Im at store now
ericarenee
New member
NO Do not use spring water. Its usually full of organics and heavy metals.
CStrickland
New member
What she said.
Distilled and rodi don't taste very good without the minerals and stuff.
Distilled and rodi don't taste very good without the minerals and stuff.
ericarenee
New member
usuns dont mind helping you.uns to keep your animals Happy and alive. :debi:
hotelbravo
Active member
please post and ask questions we want to help.
inform us about plans and things and we can give advice to make them better (if needed) or we can just fully support and cheer on the plans that are not needing our advice
inform us about plans and things and we can give advice to make them better (if needed) or we can just fully support and cheer on the plans that are not needing our advice
Like i said before my future plan is a 60 gal tank ither Fowlr or reef . Just have to build a toddler proof stand for it and to house a sump and equipment under it. I will be lurking the DIY board untill then for ideas. Will a 10gal glass tank work for sump or do i need a 20L?
