R&J_Mako Posted October 7, 2012 Share Posted October 7, 2012 Newbie here. Got a AquaEuroUSA 28 Gal starters kit. Day 1 - 9/17. filled the tank with tap water, added salt mixture. some amonia conditioner. Cloudy. (tank plugged in and running. Day 2 - 9/18. Salinity @ 1.031 - removed 3 pitchers of saltwater, 3 pitchers of tap water back in. Later Salinity @ 1.025 late nite - placed live sand and live rock. 9/22 - Rhonda impatient wants some fish. Local pet store has SOME fish. we got a sand sifting sea star. blacktail dormselfish and a yellowtail dormselfish Sea star LOVES the 2 1/2" of Bio Activ live Aragonite reef sand. 10/5 - removed the long sponge filter (far left compartment) and cleaned and rinsed with tap water, drip dry and replaced into filter compartment. (tank was a tad cloudy after stirring it up.) Another cleaning of glass inside and out. (had to clean the outside of tank with the nephews and cousins little fingerprints.) 10/6 - Today we went out of town shopping. (lunch at Olive Garden. YEA!) Again, Rhonda was on a mission to find Nemo. We came home with a clownfish and an Orchid Dottyback. This is pretty scarey. Some money is in that tank there, swimming around. Some only 4.99 and another was 19.99 but mostly Rhonda wants this tank to work out. She wants me to make it happen. I'm doing OK, I think... Now, at home and all is peaceful, she calls me and with eyelashes flickering, she shows me her Ipad and tells me she wants ONE MORE THING, a sea horse?????????????????????????? Oh my. Am I getting in trouble here? Let me see about some pics from my computer to the site. till then. I think I need more input on #1 - my Nitrates are increasing. I think I need a water change? R&J_Mako (John here...) Link to comment
Aquatic Posted October 7, 2012 Share Posted October 7, 2012 You should never use tap water for your saltwater aquarium. Saltwater tanks require the use of RODI water. There's too many impurities in tap water which can result in havoc down the road. Either invest in a RODI unit and make your own water, buy premixed RODI Fresh/Saltwater from your LFS, or find a local reefer who can hook you up. Most people would suggest that you only keep about 2-3 fish in your sized tank since adding more would make your bioload a lot bigger and create all sorts of problems. I would suggest about the same for stocking ideas imo. Other people may have differing opinions. Seahorses should be kept in a species only tank and have different requirements when taking care of them. If I were you, I would use RODI water as soon as you can and do multiple water changes til most/all of the tap water is gone. The impurities in the tap will lead to bad algae outbreaks and you won't want that. One of the best things to do before setting up a saltwater tank is to do as much research as you can before setting it up so you know what you're getting yourself into. Link to comment
R&J_Mako Posted October 7, 2012 Author Share Posted October 7, 2012 You should never use tap water for your saltwater aquarium. Saltwater tanks require the use of RODI water. There's too many impurities in tap water which can result in havoc down the road. Either invest in a RODI unit and make your own water, buy premixed RODI Fresh/Saltwater from your LFS, or find a local reefer who can hook you up. Most people would suggest that you only keep about 2-3 fish in your sized tank since adding more would make your bioload a lot bigger and create all sorts of problems. I would suggest about the same for stocking ideas imo. Other people may have differing opinions. Seahorses should be kept in a species only tank and have different requirements when taking care of them. If I were you, I would use RODI water as soon as you can and do multiple water changes til most/all of the tap water is gone. The impurities in the tap will lead to bad algae outbreaks and you won't want that. One of the best things to do before setting up a saltwater tank is to do as much research as you can before setting it up so you know what you're getting yourself into. The tap water had been treated and let stand for a bit before using wtih the salt mixture, yet our emphesis on purity of the water was not as it should have been. Thanks for making that point. Priority list of things to change with regard to our saltwater reef tank. We have been reading up on the use of tap water, and you make a good point. I see the importance and need for purer water. Our current focus will be on the water quality used during changes. The LFS didn't place the emphesis on tap water and all that. (several posts on the ill effects of reliance on LFS) Thanks again for sharing the experience. Current homework assignment therefore is: a RO/DI unit. R&J from Cali Desert Link to comment
R&J_Mako Posted October 8, 2012 Author Share Posted October 8, 2012 I looked up our local tap water. (Adding these variables into the tank...?) *********************** Bicarbonate (ppm) 2007, 2011 121 88–160 Boron1 (ppb) 2007, 2011 616 200–1,300 Calcium (ppm) 2007, 2011 24 4.2–43 Magnesium (ppm) 2007, 2011 2.4 ND–6.3 pH (Units) 2007, 2011 8.2 7.2–8.8 Potassium (ppm) 2007, 2011 1.6 ND–2.8 Sodium (ppm) 2007, 2011 92 41–180 Sulfate (ppm) 2007, 2011 38 24–51 Total Alkalinity (ppm) 2007, 2011 111 92–140 Total Hardness (ppm) 2007, 2011 65.1 9.6–120 Vanadium2 (ppb) 2007, 2011 16.8 ND–71 *************************** Chloride (ppm) 2007, 2011 500 NS 63.1 16–200 No Runoff/leaching from natural deposits; seawater influence Specific Conductance (μS/cm) 2007, 2011 1,600 NS 501 300–920 No Substances that form ions when in water; seawater influence Total Dissolved Solids (ppm) 2007, 2011 1,000 NS 309 190–570 No Runoff/leaching from natural deposits **************************** I don't know what is good and what will end my short career as Aquarist! Link to comment
R&J_Mako Posted October 8, 2012 Author Share Posted October 8, 2012 As a noobie, and before asking in the forums, I am directed to do a quick search, do my homework first, and I tryed several searches and came up with null results. As I read these posts then I could get the terms down enough so I can do a legit search. Sometimes I find that the "stupid question" does not have an answer using the search on this site. RO/DI for example, didn't come up with any results. "rodi" "ro" "DI" ******************* Unfortunately your search didn't return any results. Try broadening the search parameters by searching by different keywords or altering the format of your search. Remember to use the wildcard '*' to increase the number of matches. Apple* will match 'apple' and 'apples'. Search Again? *************************** Ok, after going to the local water company site and learning what TDS means etc... A visit to HD site, then with some more surfing I found out that RO/DI really means Reverse Osmosisi / Deionization water purification system. With that I returned to this site and did a quick search and the result was... ************* 26 Pages 1 2 3 > » (Search results limited to first 1000) ******************* Now that came back lots better than the mature language of the forum. Let me do another search of the site and see what I can find BEFORE asking a stupid question like what do you mean by HD? DI See Deionization Diatom A microscopic single-celled alga that has a cell wall of silica. Usually one of the first forms of new life to appear in a new aquarium. DOC Dissolved organic compounds. DOS Dissolved organic solids DSB Deep sand bed. Generally 4 inches or deeper. HA Hair Algae HD Home Depot, home improvement store Herbivore An animal that eats plants. Herbivores such as snails are an important part of a reef tank because they help keep algae under control. HOB Hang on back filter HTH Hope this helps (forum lingo) ******************* Got some study to do. (flashcard time.) Link to comment
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