chiliaddik Posted May 16, 2003 Share Posted May 16, 2003 OK..newbie here with a couple questions...ok, maybe a lot of Q's...OK, maybe this is gonna be a book.... I have: 10 gal. tank - converted from fresh to salt 65W PC lighting - just got on tank today glass top 20 lb. live sand 8 lb. live rock - just got this in there 2 days ago 4-5 lbs. base rock - been there since day 1 ebo jager heater 50w a small powerhead - Mini-Jet 404 1 hermit crab and a junk filter - currently with a replaceable filter in it, but I cut the top of the filter and threw out the carbon, replaced with marineland carbon for now... seems to be working...(didn't want to leak phosphates) I can't get marineland replacement filters for this particular "filter" - it's a walmart junkie OK...I started this tank over a month ago, however, just got my 65w PC lights in today (Coralife - Aqua Lights) (Had been running the hood that came with tank with 2 Coralife 50/50 10w bulbs in it for the time being) Hydrometer says 1.017-1.019 most days..it's a pc. of crap, waiting on an in-tank floating hydrometer to get here next week. I have been testing my water almost daily..some days it's good, some days it's not... When I do water top-off, my pH always drops...I use strictly RO water only. How can I keep my pH more balanced??? How do I keep my nitrates more balanced? Some days it's .25, others it's 0. My nitrates are staying below 30 for now Ammonia is 0. I do water 20% changes religiously every week...water quality jacks up every time I do it. Should I buy a skimmer? Do I have to have one? I have been looking and I am stuck between a few different ones, but I want something small and not too powerful...I guess I have to look for one to hang on the back, since I don't have a lot of room inside and my glass hood will only allow about a 1.5 inch opening. I don't want to spend a huge amount of money here...something under $50 preferrably. I do not have any fish in this tank now...I did buy a strawberry pseudochromis and started the tank out with it, but it developed ich 2 times and it sent her to the grave...I have 1 hermit crab, who appears to be living? Haven't seen it move all day...I had a coral banded shrimp in there, he lost his boxing claws and he went to the grave, yesterday...I want to move my baby maroon clown to the tank this weekend given all goes well, (it currently resides in my 29 gal, but my other clown doesn't like him) This is going to be strictly a reef tank with 1 fish (preferrably my maroon clown) and corals. I am just seriously confused about a lot of stuff and you can't trust the LFS to tell you anything worth a damn...I have learned to read, read, read and read about everything and only go to the LFS to buy what I need without asking Q's. I am a newbie and I have another tank - a 29 FOWLR tank. This tank is doing really good so far. I just know that small tanks can go straight to hell in a really quick time. I want to learn how to do things correctly to avoid the "grave" issues. Thanks in advance for help or advice that anyone can give me. Tanya Link to comment
chiliaddik Posted May 16, 2003 Author Share Posted May 16, 2003 How do I keep my nitrates more balanced? Some days it's .25, others it's 0. That was suppose to be NITRITES, not the nitrates...sorry Tanya Link to comment
WorldNation Posted May 16, 2003 Share Posted May 16, 2003 let me intergrate some of my af cichlid know how into this mwuhahaha, i love talking about my fish ;p anyways, to keep your ph buffered high, add crushed coral to either your substrate of your filter media. its still been only a month, ive had tanks where it took the nitrites to lvl off for like 4. as long as u keep doing those water changes, everything should be fine. about the skimmer: i dont know this from personal experience, but i was reading an article here that was saying that protein skimmers take out many trace elements from the water, and if i'm not mistaken, thats a bad thing for a reef tank. but i'm new, so not sure. i know it is ifor african cichlids, but thats besides the point. anywyas, i wouldn't get a skimmer, the only ones that do anything are the expensive ones, and thats more for heavily fish populated aquariums....i believe....lol Link to comment
chiliaddik Posted May 16, 2003 Author Share Posted May 16, 2003 OK...crushed coral added in my filter?? How do I go about doing this? Just add some in a baggie (like the ones you use to soak up phosphates)?? I swear...the more you know about this hobby...the less you know! LOL! Tanya Link to comment
chiliaddik Posted May 16, 2003 Author Share Posted May 16, 2003 Oh...also...yeah i know about the protein skimmer info that it says about taking out the good stuff as well as the bad stuff... Is it easier/better to run a PS maybe once a week for a day or do religious water changes every week...??? What i want to avoid is starting this tank with corals and then they die...I have well over $1500 between 2 SW tanks and I'd rather spend money on the right stuff instead of the wrong stuff. The money is not the issue, persay, it's just spending it correctly and more wisely. ~Frustrated and Confused...as always~ Tanya Link to comment
freakaccident Posted May 16, 2003 Share Posted May 16, 2003 No crushed coral. Dont worry about ph right now. Was the live rock cured or uncured? Does it smell? If it smells it is uncured. If it is uncured it will take a month or so to be cool. You just added the rock. Give it time. Dont add anymore fish until you test all zeros. You cant a get a good skimmer for $50 so don't worry about it. Keep up with your waterchanges and you should be good. If the rock is uncured then do waterchanges more often until you are at 0 0 0. When you get 000 come back and ask about the ph issue. Or better yet search and start reasearching. Reefcentral.com has great articles on ph vs. calcium vs. alk. If you read this stuff and get the right test kits you should start using b-ionic. Thats my opinion of course. Some people like other products. Link to comment
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