nut.meg Posted May 25, 2003 Share Posted May 25, 2003 Hey - I'm very very new to nano-reefing. I have a question about how sensitive LR is. I set up my tank, arranging the LR first and then adding fresh conditioned water so I could mix the salt in the tank, since there's no livestock yet. There's a powerhead and filter in the tank to circulate, so the salt dissolved very quiclky, but would all of this have damaged my LR? If so, what should I do to bring it back - if it can be brought back? Cheers Meg Link to comment
Physh1 Posted May 25, 2003 Share Posted May 25, 2003 No you didn't kill it but you did hurt it. You never want to mix water like that. You always want to mix the water outside of the tank in a seperate container. You killed quite a bit of bacteria but live rock is amazingly durable and hardy. Since it's a new tank the tank cycle will be a little longer in my opinion due to the dieoff that the freshwater caused but everything should recover. I'd recommend highly never to do that again:D. Good luck, Cameron Link to comment
tinyreef Posted May 25, 2003 Share Posted May 25, 2003 the 'live' in the LR should be fine. the bene bacteria exists everywhere in the world so even if you dumped the whole thing into a vat of bleach and then rinsed it off to re-introduce into the tank, eventually it would re-seed itself with the bene bacteria again. this is the whole concept behind bio-pore and other 'surface area' filtration products and the basis of the bacterial filtration of LR. there also is a microfauna filtration concept but you don't have to know that for the exam. the coralline, if any, would've have been the party to suffer more. sprung notes a sensitivity of coralline to salinity changes. honestly, i've never noticed it myself as i used to fresh mix or even pour salt directly into the system (sump area at least , but i still do on rare occasions to correct salinity for some odd reason). i also still top off directly into the sump area with an auto top-off from physh1. it seems to affect the coralline a little but not too dramatically imo. time heals everything. patience is the most important additive. when in doubt water change it out. don't talk to strangers. don't eat yellow snow. saltwater and electricity don't mix very well. reading is FundaMental. good advice for reefing and good advice for life. Link to comment
nut.meg Posted May 26, 2003 Author Share Posted May 26, 2003 Hey guys Thanks for the quick reply Good to know that I didn't kill everything. I keep a brackish 20gal too - so I always pre-mix my water, but thinking "hey - no animals yet, I'll just add the salt right in - doodoodooodooodoo - oh wait.. live rock is COVERED in them" Go figure. Anyways, now I'm having lots of fun with temperature issues - it's over 80 degrees. I thought it was the light (36W JBJ combo) - but just now the heater was on. The circulation should be fine between the filter and the powerhead, so I'm wondering if I should pick up an Ebo Jager from work - I have a little 50W Rena right now... How do you guys deal with heat issues? There isn't even a glass top on yet, which I want to add - but I'm forseeing that as compounding the temperature problem Cheers Meg Link to comment
harbingerofthefish Posted May 26, 2003 Share Posted May 26, 2003 about temp...how far over 80? 80, 81, even 82 your still good to go. My temp swings from 79-81 and everything seems fine. Link to comment
nut.meg Posted May 26, 2003 Author Share Posted May 26, 2003 I think it was around 83 actually. I haven't stuck a glass top on yet - that's coming in thursday. I want that because I'm getting a lot of splashing to the JBJ hood. I'll let the light run again all day tomorrow for about 10 hours and see how that goes. I'm wondering about the heater - it was still turning on despite being set at 76, so I'm wondering if it's the problem. I will leave the heater off tomorrow when I turn the light on, and see how that goes. Cheers Meg Link to comment
tinyreef Posted May 26, 2003 Share Posted May 26, 2003 where's the thermometer located (in relation to the light or heater)? i always try to setup a system with at least two thermometers if not more. (e.g. my display tank has four) temp can become critical if your reading is suspect. light heat interference or low flow area, for instance. then again it could be the rena. : edit: just saw your tank. thermo looks fine where it is, i'd move it down to half way but that's just me being anal. probably the rena then if it's still going on while the tank temp is higher than its setting. Link to comment
newbiefishgirl Posted May 27, 2003 Share Posted May 27, 2003 Gosh I am glad I read your post, I did the same thing.... but I don't see a change in the rock yet. I hope I don't because its been about two days. My tank wont cycle for at least 4 weeks. I believe I have my salinty too low... so this time when I add the salt it wont be to the tank... but to the water first!! Link to comment
nut.meg Posted May 29, 2003 Author Share Posted May 29, 2003 It was probably the heater in my case. I bought an EJ, but even that has to be left down a couple of degrees. I stuck a glass top on, and that has levelled things out - it's now pretty easy to keep around 78-79. As for my LR, it's doing fine. Salinity is good, stuck a couple of hermit crabs in to get the ball rolling, so I will just keep an eye on water conditions and once things have been stable for a while I'll add more livestock. I'm going to be gone 6 nights a week for 9 weeks this summer, so nothing can get added until late august - so the LR/LS should be in nice shape by then, I hope. Cheers meg Link to comment
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