Can't Figure Out Chemicals

[sunshineissunnie]

Hi ,
Im new to saltwater I got a 30 gallon saltwater setup I read the directions and followed but I just can'nt get the salt level straight, the lady at the lfs told me to take a few gallons out and replace with fresh tap water this will lower the salt level but it hasn't it is still off the charts any help would be great.................thanks sunnie

 

[Ter]

what salt are you using? and well u should use tap water... whats your specific gravity at?
Ter

 

[sunshineissunnie]

what salt are you using? and well u should use tap water... whats your specific gravity at?
Ter

im using instant ocean salt and the specific gravity is at between 1.030 & 1.028

 

[Navarre]

What are you using to measure the SG with? Im assuingits a hydrometer.. either the floating type one or the swing arm? Im a little confused what you mean about charts.

The tanks SG should read between 1.022 and 1.026 preferrably.

OK you replied as i was posting...

The SG is a little high but nothing that cant be rectified.

Take out 1 bucket of water (between 2 and 5 gallons and replace with fresh water... Preferrably RO water not tap water. Tap water will give all sorts of problems later in during the tanks maturing process with increased nutrient levels and high algae growth.

OK you replied as i was posting...

The SG is a little high but nothing that cant be rectified.

Take out 1 bucket of water (between 2 and 5 gallons and replace with fresh water... Preferrably RO water not tap water. Tap water will give all sorts of problems later in during the tanks maturing process with increased nutrient levels and high algae growth.

 

[tmreynolds]

Hi ,
Im new to saltwater I got a 30 gallon saltwater setup I read the directions and followed but I just can'nt get the salt level straight, the lady at the lfs told me to take a few gallons out and replace with fresh tap water this will lower the salt level but it hasn't it is still off the charts any help would be great.................thanks sunnie

You should really be using reverse osmosis or distilled water rather than tap water aswell.

If you remove amounts of the salt water and replace with RO water the salinity will gradually lower.

Any livestock in there yet?

 

[sunshineissunnie]

ok good .....im using the swing arm type is that a good one to use?

 

[tmreynolds]

A refractometer is better, but a hydrometer is OK, if you get it tested against a refractometer maybe at your LFS so you know its accuracy. If you know your hydrometer is spot on, or reads high/low, they can be OK

 

[sunshineissunnie]

i don't have any fish in there yet the lfs lady said to use black mollys to cycle for a few weeks is this good? or should i use something else

 

[Navarre]

Do NOT use fish to cycle your system. They will be put through immense stress whilst enduring the ammonia spikes.

Before we go any further lets discuss what you intend to do with this setup.

What type of filtration are you going ot use? Will you be using liverock?
If you use liverock in high enough quantities then you wont need to cycle in the same fashion as you would normally.

If you need to cycle the tank then go down the local food store and purchase some prawns and put a frowzen prawn in the system. This will kickstart the cycle and no pain will be administered to any livestock.

 

[sunshineissunnie]

ok i got the chemicals right now iam looking for live rock is there a certain amount to put in the lfs said 1lb per gallon i have a 30 gallon tank and that sounds like alot of live rock and not to sound stupid what is prawn? and how do i put it in?

ok i got the chemicals right now iam looking for live rock is there a certain amount to put in the lfs said 1lb per gallon i have a 30 gallon tank and that sounds like alot of live rock and not to sound stupid what is prawn? and how do i put it in?

 

[Navarre]

Yep thats right, 1lbs per gallon minimum. It sounds alot and the cost seems alot but its the best you can have for your tank.

As for prawns.. just go to your local supermarket and buy a bag of prawns.. the kind you have for a meal.. like prawn coctails or something similar.