Newbie with questions and a big hello!

[Cheesecakes]

Hello all! I figured it was time that I finally register and post to say hello and ask some questions. I've been lurking around here for about a month now. I am pretty shy, so was hesitant to post. Then again, maybe it's that I'm a Michigan graduate in what seems to be Buckeye central!

Anyhow, I recently started a 29 gallon salt water tank in a new biocube with a protein skimmer and Koralia #1 powerhead. I removed the bioballs and sponges as others had recommended and started with new sand, some new fossilized rocks, new tufa stone, and 2 pieces of live rock. It's been cycling for about a month now and it is in the ever so lovely diatom stage which has been going on for about a week.

Ultimately, I'd like to get 2-3 fish, I was thinking clowns, and some soft corals. At the moment, all that is in the tank is my cleaner crew which consists of 1 emerald crab, 2 fighting conches, 10 blue leg hermit crabs, 4 cerith snails, 1 Mexican turbo snail, and 6 of oh dear I forget the name of the last kind of snail. I call them "submarine snails" because they burrow beneath my sand bed with their "periscope" up and when I drop a pinch of food or a bit of seaweed they come right on out. They have been in there about a week or so and all seem to be doing well.

Now for the barrage of questions.

I wasn't planning on doing this anytime soon, but I was wondering when I would know it was time to add the fish and corals to my setup? My plan was to go cleaners--->fish--->corals.

I had read a bit about drip acclimation. I didn't know about it when I added my invertebrates to the tank, so I just did the old float and add system and happened to luck out. What additions really require this method of acclimation?

I am currently living in Albuquerque, New Mexico which has very hard water. I didn't realize how important it is to only add RO/DI treated water to the tank. Additionally, I am also attending graduate school, so money is somewhat of an issue. I was wondering if there was an affordable alternative to a $150 RO/DI system, or if it even really matters that much as long as I dechlorinate the water? I guess the real question at hand here is what are good trace minerals and are there bad ones? I was thinking of using a Brita filter if nothing else, but like I said I'm new and don't really know.

I am not sure what I should put in the sump (I was just planning on using the 2nd chamber) or if I even need to add anything? The only thing that is in there at the moment is the heater. I've heard everything from nothing, to live sand, to live rock, to micro algae and all sorts of stuff, and I would really like to be set straight.

Finally, I went to the beach YEARS ago and brought back a whole mess of seashells I found. When I was setting up my tank I recalled that I had those and so rinsed them out and added them to the tank for aesthetic reasons. A few days ago however, I noticed that a few of the shells had holes in them, which I don't believe were previously there. Was adding the shells a bad move? Should I clear them out from the tank?

Anyhow those are all my questions at the moment. I'm sure I will come up with more as time goes on.

[Amphibious]

Anyhow those are all my questions at the moment. I'm sure I will come up with more as time goes on.

Welcome Sara. We certainly hope you come up with more questions. That's how you learn. We're here to teach. We also ask questions of you.

It sounds like you did some research before you jumped in, that's really good and very strange. Most newbies are to timid to ask or get their info from the LFS. Not a good idea you'll find out, if you don't already know.

The actual "best" way to introduce your critters to a new system is CUC, corals, then fish. the reason is fish are big polluters and mess up the "cycle" before it settles down. Corals are very lite polluters and therefore won't tax the system while the cycle bounces around. MOST reefers do it the other way around and pay a price with deaths and algae outbreaks. Algae will probably still appear doing it the "right" way but they will be less of a problem.

A questions for you. What test kits do you have?

When you get back to me on that I'll continue with lessons.

[Cheesecakes]

I just use the Jungle litmus stick kit that test for ammonia, nitrate, nitrite, alkalinity and pH.

[Amphibious]

What were the results?

[CarmieJo]

Hi Sara and to TR! We can be friends except for one particular Saturday in November. LOL!

I agree with what Dick (Amphibious) said above.

You will be much happier with the results in your tank if you use RO/DI or at least RO water. If you can't lay out the cash for an RO/DI system right now you can purchase water from the LFS. If that doesn't work, around here Whole Foods has RO/DI from their water machine and Wal-Mart and Krogers both have water machines for RO water. For all of these you have to bring your own jugs. You can either buy the kind that go on a water cooler or you can go to the camping section at the department store and pick up potable water jugs.

Here is an article on acclimating critters that you may find helpful. http://www.reefreaders.com/content/view/39/1/

[Amphibious]

Hi Sara and to TR! We can be friends except for one particular Saturday in November. LOL!

That must be the old Wolverine vs the Buckeyes game. Let's not forget the Badgers!!! That's where I grew up. Well actually I never grew up. That's where I grew old. Go Buckey!!!

Dick

[rroselavy]

I also strongly recommend the RODI, however you can obtain it. RODI is peace of mind - being able to eliminate one possible source of unwanted nutrients that can promote algae and toxins that can harm your organisms. RODI can reduce a lot of head scratching and heartache if things go awry.

[Cheesecakes]

What were the results?

When I last tested two days ago, almost everything was as it should be: nitrite 0, ammonia 0, alkalinity 300, pH 8.4 however, my nitrates were at 10 ppm. I'll test it again tomorrow during the day and report the results- I don't like doing it without natural light! Hrmm, I just realized I forgot to test the salinity, I suppose I can do that as well.

If that doesn't work, around here Whole Foods has RO/DI from their water machine and Wal-Mart and Krogers both have water machines for RO water.

I didn't even think of this. I'll probably end up going this route as the water from my lfs was $7 for two gallons! I've heard if I go to whole foods and bring my own container it's only like 45 cents per gallon. Here's to hoping this rumor is accurate.

[Iron E]

Don't know if you have them in your area or if the water economy is so different, but Winco, Food For Less and Safeway in my area sell RO water for 25 Cents a gallon.

Tom

[CarmieJo]

I know you live in the desert but $7 for 2 gallons is highway robbery! I think that our Whole Foods is 39 cents a gallon.

[bma360]

Congrats on your plunge into salt water. You can also try WalMart for RO water, I'm in FL and they charge about $.89 a gal. $3.50 your being ripped. I hope every thing goes well for you on this. Good Luck.

[Cheesecakes]

Thank you everyone for all the well wishes!

Well, I ran my tests today and here are the results along with my thoughts:

Salinity: 1.0235
This seems a tad high to me, so I plan on doing water change later today to lower it a bit.

Nitrate- 15 ppm
This also seems high to me so the water change should help with this as well. I suspected I had been slightly overfeeding, so I will cut back on that and continue to monitor the levels. Regardless, the fact that they are still there tells me I need something in the tank to help manage them. With a 29 gallon tank I am not sure what the best addition (which I am assuming will go into the refugium) will be.

Nitrite- 0
Alkalinity- 300


pH - 7.7
This is really weird to me as I am not sure how the pH is so much lower than when I last tested. I've read that it can fluctuate with the day cycle. I tested this first thing in the tank's morning- i.e. as soon as the lights flipped on. Is this normal? I know they sell pH + and - buffers, but I'd rather not use them because they seem like just a bandage when really need stitches.

[Amphibious]

NSW's salinity is 1.025/1.026 so i'd raise it a bit if I were you.

Your alkalinity # is way out of whack, it should be around 8 or 9 dkh I think.
Are you maybe meaning Calcium? If so that's way low NSW is around 450 ppm.

pH will be low in the morning, 7.7 is a tad low. Does it raise as the day goes on?

Nitrates are getting toward the high range. A ball of Chaeto algae would help lower it along with cutting back on food.

Dick

[Cheesecakes]

NSW's salinity is 1.025/1.026 so i'd raise it a bit if I were you.

Your alkalinity # is way out of whack, it should be around 8 or 9 dkh I think.
Are you maybe meaning Calcium? If so that's way low NSW is around 450 ppm.

pH will be low in the morning, 7.7 is a tad low. Does it raise as the day goes on?

Nitrates are getting toward the high range. A ball of Chaeto algae would help lower it along with cutting back on food.

Dick

Thanks for the feedback.

The alkalinity test says "Alkalinity (KH) - ppm (buffering capability)." The pack said 300 was ideal, so maybe we're comparing apples to oranges?

I just called the LFS and they have some Chaeto, so after I pick that up I'm going to retest for pH and let you know.

[CarmieJo]

What test kit do you have? I think your kit is measuring alk in ppm CaCO3 equivalents but according to this Reef Aquarium Water Parameters by Randy Holmes-Farley - Reefkeeping.com that is still high. Randy Holmes-Farley is very well respected in the hobby. This article 1.3.1 Testable Parameters: Alkalinity seems to bear this out as well. It says 1 meq/l = 2.8 dKH = 50 ppm CaCO3 so 300 would be 6.0 meq/l or 16.8 dKH. I think if it was really that high the CaCO3 would be precipitating out and you would be seeing a snow storm in your aquarium.

By the way, I think your submarine snails are nassarius. I call them them zombie snails!

[Cheesecakes]

I think if it was really that high the CaCO3 would be precipitating out and you would be seeing a snow storm in your aquarium.

When I first set my tank up it was extremely cloudy. I am talking when I looked at the tank, I could not see the live rock in front of a black background. I initially thought that it was just kicked up sand that needed to settle. After waiting 2 days with no change in clarity I realized this was not the case. I replaced the carbon filter and waited and after about 3 more days, the water was finally clear and I removed the filter. During this time I recall thinking "I really don't like that rock set up" so I re-stacked them and in the process kicked up a lot of sand. I also added more tap water at this time to top off the tank. Just as before, the water got very cloudy. I waited 24 hours with no improvement, so I replaced the carbon once again and it cleared everything up in a day.

At any rate, I retested my pH and found that it's around 7.9 or so. I am also beginning to think I did not read the results correctly when I reported the much higher pH.

Interestingly however, I read the articles CarmieJo posted and these two paragraphs really struck me as what may be going on in my case:

That the alkalinity is at least 2.5 meq/L, and preferably higher at the lower end of this pH range. I base this statement partly on the fact that many reef aquaria operate quite effectively in the pH 7.8 to 8.0 range, and that most of the best examples of these types of aquaria incorporate calcium carbonate/carbon dioxide reactors which, while tending to lower the pH, keep the carbonate alkalinity fairly high (at or above 3 meq/L.). In this case, any problems associated with calcification at these lower pH values may be offset by the higher alkalinity.

and

A word of caution about the ppm CaCO3 unit is in order. The 'ppm CaCO3' unit reports the concentration of CaCO3 in pure water that would provide the same buffering capacity as the water sample in question. This does not mean the sample contains that much CaCO3. In fact, it tells you nothing about how much of the buffering is due to carbonates, it is only a measure of equivalency.

So perhaps my readings are funky since I originally used very hard tap water to fill the tank?

[CarmieJo]

A calcium reactor lowers the pH in the reactor by injecting CO2 in order to dissolve the media. The low pH of this effluent lowers the overall pH of the aquarium.

While high initial CaCO3 from hard water could contribute to high alk I believe that you would have a precipitation event if it was at 300 unless the Ca is extremely low. This would not be manifested so much as by cloudy water for days on end as by white stuff settling out all over everything.