Dr.Brain Coral Posted July 28, 2014 Share Posted July 28, 2014 Tank-10 gallon aga Heater-cobalt 50w Salt-Reef crystals Light-Reef Breeders nano lite Test kit-Api Filter-ac 70 Rock-Sea life inc 50 dollar special Livestock-Neogonodactylus Wennerae or mated pair of neon gobies and 2 clowns Corals-Big zoa garden,shrooms, assorted lps and gsp Cuc-10 dwarf ceriths, 3 nerites, 4 nassarius and 3 ceriths Link to comment
Islandoftiki Posted July 29, 2014 Share Posted July 29, 2014 I'd ditch the API test kits, they are notorious for erroneous readings. 50 watts is a little high, but should be ok as long as the heater never sticks on. Which is fairly unlikely with a Cobalt Neotherm. What are you doing for filtration in the AC70? The CUC should make great snacks! Link to comment
Dr.Brain Coral Posted July 29, 2014 Author Share Posted July 29, 2014 Okay what are good test kits? I am going to be running filter floss and I may use the left over space as a refugium. Thats the plan. John recommended the above CUC thats why there are nerites on there. Link to comment
Dr.Brain Coral Posted July 29, 2014 Author Share Posted July 29, 2014 Also Should I get a shrimp goby pair or a mantis? Link to comment
Tamberav Posted July 29, 2014 Share Posted July 29, 2014 Also Should I get a shrimp goby pair or a mantis? I have both and mantis is cooler. Link to comment
Islandoftiki Posted July 29, 2014 Share Posted July 29, 2014 Also Should I get a shrimp goby pair or a mantis? Having had three different mantis shrimp as well as a Yellow Watchman Goby/Tiger Pistol shrimp pair, they are both very fun an interesting, but the mantis shrimp win out in my opinion. Goby/pistol shrimp are fun, but the just do their own thing. Mantis shrimp acutally interact with you. Okay what are good test kits? I am going to be running filter floss and I may use the left over space as a refugium. Thats the plan. John recommended the above CUC thats why there are nerites on there. Here's what I use and like. Alk, Calc and Mag: Red Sea Pro. Nitrate: Elos. Phosphate: Hanna tester. pH: pH probe connected to my Reefkeeper. I don't have any Ammonia or nitrate kits currently, all of my tanks have been cycled for a while and my old kits expired. Salifert, Elos, or Red Sea should all be decent options for Ammonia and nitrite. Double check the user reviews on Bulk Reef Supply and Marine Depot for other peoples opinions. The nerites probably won't last long, but will provide some fun for the mantis. For your AC70, I would highly recommend getting an InTank media basket. It's well worth the expense. Since you won't have the normal algae eating clean up crew, stay on top of your nitrates (Edit, I meant to say Phosphates) and keep them below .03 ppm (Which you will need a low range tester to measure). Link to comment
Islandoftiki Posted July 29, 2014 Share Posted July 29, 2014 GFO is your friend in a mantis tank. Keeping phosphates and nitrates really low (which is easy) is of paramount importance, unless you really like hair algae. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing, it will consume the nitrates and phosphates happily, but some people don't like the look of a GHA dominant tank. Link to comment
Dr.Brain Coral Posted July 29, 2014 Author Share Posted July 29, 2014 Okay. Lots of help full hints. Keep me coming haha!! Link to comment
Dr.Brain Coral Posted July 29, 2014 Author Share Posted July 29, 2014 Okay I meant to say I was going to run carbon also. I will make my own media basket. Is reef crystals a good salt? I have found mixed reviews. Since you won't have the normal algae eating clean up crew, stay on top of your nitrates (Edit, I meant to say Phosphates) and keep them below .03 ppm (Which you will need a low range tester to measure). What would be he normal algae cleanup crew? Link to comment
Islandoftiki Posted July 29, 2014 Share Posted July 29, 2014 Okay I meant to say I was going to run carbon also. I will make my own media basket. Is reef crystals a good salt? I have found mixed reviews. What would be he normal algae cleanup crew? If it were me, I'd run carbon and GFO (separately), purigen, Poly filter pad, and a small chaeto fuge (which the InTank baskets have). Link to comment
Tamberav Posted July 29, 2014 Share Posted July 29, 2014 Okay I meant to say I was going to run carbon also. I will make my own media basket. Is reef crystals a good salt? I have found mixed reviews. What would be he normal algae cleanup crew? They will most likely get ate so don't rely on a CUC and instead rely on filtration to keep algae from growing. I found my big cerniths and the dwarf cerniths survive the longest. During the day they hide so the mantis doesn't find them as often as other snails. Okay what are good test kits? I am going to be running filter floss and I may use the left over space as a refugium. Thats the plan. John recommended the above CUC thats why there are nerites on there. I use: Nitrate: red sea (found Salifert Nitrate hard to read) Alk: Salifert (found red sea Alk hard to read) Mg: Salifert atm but switching to red sea because its cheaper. Ca: API (found this to be a good kit even though its API. It's easy to use and has been accurate for me) PO4: Hanna checker Link to comment
Islandoftiki Posted July 30, 2014 Share Posted July 30, 2014 Alk: Salifert (found red sea Alk hard to read) Wait a sec... Are you talking about the red sea pro alk titration test kit where it changes from one color to another when you reach your test reading? Or does red sea make two different kits? Mine is super easy to read the final result, but mine is the Red Sea Pro kit. It's also cheaper in the long run since any leftover titrant can be reused. Here's all of the reason I like Red Sea Pro kits; BRS pretty much sums it up in this video. Link to comment
Tamberav Posted July 30, 2014 Share Posted July 30, 2014 How does it work now? They had one that started as pink and ended as blue but it was kind of crappy. Looking like it now starts blue and end as pink? Does it turn and obvious bright pink? Link to comment
Islandoftiki Posted July 30, 2014 Share Posted July 30, 2014 How does it work now? They had one that started as pink and ended as blue but it was kind of crappy. Looking like it now starts blue and end as pink? Does it turn and obvious bright pink? Yeah, it's super easy to read. It goes from pink to blue, but it's a dramatic color change. Like hot pink to dark navy blue in a drop or two. If you test your water three times, you get the same result every time. I've tested mine against a different brand of test and it was within 0.2 dhk. I've been using it for a while now and it's my favorite of all of the tests. I particularly like that you can buy refills. Link to comment
Dr.Brain Coral Posted July 30, 2014 Author Share Posted July 30, 2014 awesome i will look into those Link to comment
Tamberav Posted July 30, 2014 Share Posted July 30, 2014 Yeah, it's super easy to read. It goes from pink to blue, but it's a dramatic color change. Like hot pink to dark navy blue in a drop or two. If you test your water three times, you get the same result every time. I've tested mine against a different brand of test and it was within 0.2 dhk. I've been using it for a while now and it's my favorite of all of the tests. I particularly like that you can buy refills. http://www.nano-reef.com/topic/349347-hannah-alkalinity-test-worth-the-buy/ Looks just maybe I got unlucky with a bad kit when I tried it awhile back but it looks like it might not be uncommon? How long have you been using it? Link to comment
Islandoftiki Posted July 30, 2014 Share Posted July 30, 2014 http://www.nano-reef.com/topic/349347-hannah-alkalinity-test-worth-the-buy/ Looks just maybe I got unlucky with a bad kit when I tried it awhile back but it looks like it might not be uncommon? How long have you been using it? I've been using it about a year now. I'm on my second batch of reagent. Link to comment
Dr.Brain Coral Posted July 30, 2014 Author Share Posted July 30, 2014 Are the api test kits alright to start out with? Link to comment
Islandoftiki Posted July 30, 2014 Share Posted July 30, 2014 Are the api test kits alright to start out with? Maybe, except the ammonia tests tend to read ammonia when there isn't any. Link to comment
Dr.Brain Coral Posted July 31, 2014 Author Share Posted July 31, 2014 okay. Aren't there ammonia indicators? Link to comment
Islandoftiki Posted July 31, 2014 Share Posted July 31, 2014 okay. Aren't there ammonia indicators? They make ammonia indicators that attach to the glass and warn you if you have really high ammonia. The only practical use for those is as a general indicator when you're cycling a new tank using pure ammonia. They aren't super accurate, so you still need a decent ammonia test to know when it's all gone. I used one when I cycled my 25 gallon tank, and it was just a quick visual indicator for me to know when the cycle was starting to kick off. I still had to do a bit of testing for actual numbers. Link to comment
Islandoftiki Posted July 31, 2014 Share Posted July 31, 2014 If you already have the API test kit, do this. Test ammonia, nitrite and nitrate with a fresh batch of salt water first and see if they all give you zero readings. That's the main complaint about API kits. They don't always read zero. Link to comment
Dr.Brain Coral Posted July 31, 2014 Author Share Posted July 31, 2014 I dont have the api I only have the tank. I am still planning for the most part. Link to comment
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