Tank Runningf Or A Week

[emsvaughan]

Well the tank has been up and running for a week now, and I have added another 10kg of LR. Im looking to add a further 20-30kg in the next few weeks. I was going to post pics, but photobucket is down at the mo.

A few questions

Ive read that it would be better to put the LR on egg crates, I want to build it up pretty high, to hide the equipment. I have some aquascape, but this would be an expensive way of 'glueing' the rock together, is there any other way?

The rock is changing colour, getting slightly darker, and more algae growth. Is this normal?

I have the lights on for 8 hours a day.

I have now taken readings on Sunday ( a day after adding the new rock)
Ammonia 0ppm
PH 8.2
Nitrite 0.25ppm
Nitrate 20ppm

Today's reading

Ammonia 0ppm
PH 8.2
Nitrite 0ppm
Nitrate 20ppm.

Im thinking these readings are pretty good? Im not planning on adding any fish for a while, but how soon could I add a CUC?

Sorry for yet more questions

 

[nanocubeking]

Get the readings a bit lower then to a big water change and then you sould be able to add the CUC.

 

[emsvaughan]

So im basically looking at ph of 8.2 and everything else at 0.

Im going to test every other day for the next week, as I hope to add more LR this weekend. What water turnover rate should I be looking for pr hour.

The tank has a fluval external, an internal, powerhead, this gives 10 times. Can the skimmer be added into that equation, or should I leave that as a separate amount? Ive looked at the wavemakers, are they worth purchasing?

 

[jeasko]

turn over of the tank as a rough guide would be 15-20 x the volume of your tank per hour, personally i dont add my skimmer or external filter into that equation but some do.

As for readings I really would wait until the nitrite is down to 0 as this is a big toxin for live stock, as nanocubeking says wait a week then do a big water change and take some more readings to check all ok before adding anything.

The algae growth on the rock is likely diatoms and is common in new setups, one of the things you could do to help get rid of this is add phosphate remover to your filter such as rowaphos and reduce your lighting time right down while nothing is in there, 4 hours would be fine, just remember that you will need to replace a phosphate remover at some point as once the media is saturated it will cease removing any.

anther quick question for you, is the LR your buying cured? if so how long is it out of the water for while you transport it home?

 

[nanocubeking]

Ammonia-0
Nirate-0
Nirite-0
pH-8.2-8.3
Thats the best right there. But there are alot of things in this too like alk and calcium too.

 

[emsvaughan]

turn over of the tank as a rough guide would be 15-20 x the volume of your tank per hour, personally i dont add my skimmer or external filter into that equation but some do.

As for readings I really would wait until the nitrite is down to 0 as this is a big toxin for live stock, as nanocubeking says wait a week then do a big water change and take some more readings to check all ok before adding anything.

The algae growth on the rock is likely diatoms and is common in new setups, one of the things you could do to help get rid of this is add phosphate remover to your filter such as rowaphos and reduce your lighting time right down while nothing is in there, 4 hours would be fine, just remember that you will need to replace a phosphate remover at some point as once the media is saturated it will cease removing any.

anther quick question for you, is the LR your buying cured? if so how long is it out of the water for while you transport it home?

Thanks jeasko

I have had the lights on for 8 hours, so will lower that to 4 from tomorrow.
The rock I am buying is cured, at least that is what they are selling me. I can definately see stuff living in and on it.
The lfs is only about an hour away from me, so the rock gets in the tank pretty quick

Ammonia-0
Nirate-0
Nirite-0
pH-8.2-8.3
Thats the best right there. But there are alot of things in this too like alk and calcium too.

Thanks Nanocubeking, ill aim for that before I put anything in

 

[jeasko]

just remember while those figure are the ideal sometimes they just are not acheivable (in my case i can never get rid of all nitrates) but its the goal we all strive for!

I only ask about the LR as if its out of water for a long period of tme it will in effect become un cured, best way to tell when buying is the smell (you will understand if you smell it) if it smell like the seaside then its prob cured.

also when increasing the lighting time again remember you will prob get an outburst of this stuff unless you increase slowly while there is a CUC in there to help munch it!

out of curiosity what lighting are you using?

 

[nanocubeking]

just remember while those figure are the ideal sometimes they just are not acheivable (in my case i can never get rid of all nitrates) but its the goal we all strive for!

That is 100% true if you could get the levels that low you are the King of all reefkeeping!!!

 

[xxBarneyxx]

Yeah as mentioned ammonia and nitrite should be 0, Ph should be around 8.0-8.2 and nitrate should be as low as possible. There are other parameters to consider but at this stage are not such a concern (they should stay stable as long as regular water changes are done) and some of them are only likely to become an issue if you start keeping sps corals.

Unless you have a denitrification filter (is filter the best way to describe these?) it is unlikely that the nitrates will drop by themselves. You will only be able to drop the nitrate by doing water changes. Using RO water (if you are not already) will help keep your nitrate and phosphate down as tap water often contains both in varying amounts (which makes it more difficult to keep these levels low).

With regards to flow it depends what you are planning to keep. For filtration with liverock then 15-20 times the tank volume is fine. If you are keeping corals though then it is normally recommended to go for 25-30 times the tank volume.

What size is the tank? When you say wavemakers do you mean the power strips that you plug powerheads into and its turns them all off and on to create random current or a wavebox which is one unit that goes inside the tank to create a wave effect?

Both are good investments from what I have read (do not use either yet but will be using a wavebox on my larger reef tank) as they create non-linear flow which most fish and corals prefer. It also helps to eliminate dead spots in the tank where debris can build up.

The wavemakers (power strips with programmable on/off timers) are probably better for smaller tanks. Make sure you get good quality powerheads which can cope with the constant switching on and off though.

Waveboxes are probably better for larger tanks (5ft+ length and 2ft+ tall). They can move a LOT of water so not sure I would want to use in a smaller tank (they can be adjusted but for the price you pay you can get 3 or 4 good powerheads and a wavemaker which would be just as good without fear of having waves going over the side of your tank )

How do you have the internal and external filters set up (ie what media do you have inside)? Personally I would take the internal filter out and replace it with a powerhead and remove the filter media in the external filter and fill it with liverock rubble and/or chemical filter media )phosphate/nitrate removers).

As mentioned above if you use chemical filtration media it will need replacing regularly (check the instructions on the pack).

I would agree that you are probably quite safe to add the CUC after a big water change (try and get the nitrates down under 5ppm before you add them, this will also help to stop any big algae blooms).

Lastly don't say sorry for asking questions. Thats a big part of what the forum is here for and there are some really knowledgeable and friendly people on this forum who are very happy to help. (I don't class myself among the first group but like to think I fit into the second ).

 

[emsvaughan]

You guys are great. Im really soaking up all your knowledge.

Jeasko, the lighting I have is T5's. I will check what wattage and type of tube in a bit, when its cooled down. The LR does smell like the seaside. I was also told to turn it as I placed it in the tank, to remove any air within it.

Barney. The tank is a fluval vicenza bow fronted. Its 120 cm in length, 60cm high. Its stated capacity is 260 litres, obviously this is reduced by rock etc.
Yes I mean the strips you plug the powerheads into. Figured I didnt need anything else in this tank.

The filters all came with the tank, and the intenal has justa foam cartridge, I did think at the time, maybe I should change this. The external has the normal media. Ive read alot about the correct media over the past week or so, and have realised that maybe the best thing is to use liverock rubble, and phospate remover.

I am going to a lfs in abit, so may pick up a couple of powerheads, and check out how much their LR is.

 

[xxBarneyxx]

To be honest I don't see why LR rubble is any better then your normal FW filter media. The argument is that the normal filter media is a debris trap which then causes your nitrates to rise. Also the bio media does the ammonia to nitrite to nitrate but has nothing that can do denitrification which also causes nitrates to rise.

The things I dont get are:
If the filter is collecting debris then surely there is debris in the tank anyway. If it is in the tank (I assume canister filters dont magically create debris) its going to rot and produce ammonia/nitrite/nitrate, etc so surely its better to have it all sucked into one place where it is easy to removed it once a week?

If bio media is going to process ammonia and nitrite "too efficiently" and increase the nitrates surely LR rubble will do the same (guessing that it doesn't have enough internal capacity for denitrification).

So though I recommend LR rubble above I do so because it is "common knowledge that its the best way" but I dont 100% agree with it (unless someone can put me right on the above?)

I would still remove the internal filter though mainly just because it takes a lot of space and doesn't add much.