Thinking Of Going From Fresh To Marine

[orange shark]

did you read that post?

keep going like this and ignoring advice and you wont have anything left alive in your tank

 

[GShorty1981]

Your a wind up merchant mate...go bug someone else's thread.

The only time you need a powerhead in a water change bucket is if it is left sitting..as you were informed in your thread.

And yeh i read it before you edited it....handy that button isent it,I noticed you got someone banned recently aswell...and judging by your posts you seem to argue and flame alot.

And can i add that you have only had a marine tank about 4 weeks longer than me anyway judging by your previous post's + topics and you have had all kinds of problems from really bad algae (something i havent got) to losses of your clean up crew,to over stocking,equipment breaking down.....so I'd rather listen to some advice from experienced fish keepers....stick to trashing your own tank.

Funny thing is your answering my questions and asking them yourself in other threads.

 

[n3ont3tra]

FWIW I agree with orangeshark, you should mix the salt for longer than ten minutes...

You seem to think you know a lot especially considering you haven't even had your tank for a month yet... slow down, and listen to our advice! I noticed you completely ignored what we said about the RO water.

 

[GShorty1981]

Woah woah i never knew any different to be fair i'm just going by the guidelines on the box...i just don't like the sarcasm.

Yeh i did ignore the RO water thing,i don't need it IMO thats just personal preference,Orange shark started using RO water and his tank is a green mess,I use tap water and my tank is crystal clear...thing is i take everything on board but I'm not gonna just jump off a cliff because you tell me to.

Everything points to the fact that RO is beneficial for Inverts and keeping things like phosphates and nitrates down,and I'm not having any problems with any of that.

I never used it with Discus either and kept them for a decade in tap water with lowered PH,I may look at RO in the furture but i don't want to use it.

Yes it may be better but i'm happy with this...Honestly guys my parameters are fine and im getting called a liar and being accused of mistreating my fish...lay off me a little.

My point with Orange shark is not that i dont listen to his advice its the sarcastic comments from a dude whos thread is a total disaster and he's doing everything by the book...

I mean hes taking the P**s out of me whilst in another topic he's posted less than 2 months ago titled 'what is a RO unit'.

Like i tried to say earlier if it was that bad i would have bad ammonia readings,fish/invert losses and i certainly would not have new inverts (feather dusters) popping out here there and everywhere.

Don't get me wrong i totally appreciate advice,but i don't appreciate a n00by bashing.

Cage,shibby etc have taught me a fair bit in this thread...this guy is just reaction posting.

 

[GShorty1981]

I'm having a bad night ignore me..normally i wouldnt rise to flamebating.

 

[n3ont3tra]

Woah woah i never knew any different to be fair i'm just going by the guidelines on the box...i just don't like the sarcasm.

Yeh i did ignore the RO water thing,i don't need it IMO thats just personal preference,Orange shark started using RO water and his tank is a green mess,I use tap water and my tank is crystal clear...thing is i take everything on board but I'm not gonna just jump off a cliff because you tell me to.

The thing is... using RO water wouldn't cause an algae bloom. I haven't been watching orange sharks' journal so I don't know whats going on there but I looked at some of the recent pics and it looks fine.

Everything points to the fact that RO is beneficial for Inverts and keeping things like phosphates and nitrates down,and I'm not having any problems with any of that.

That's what's strange - you SHOULD be having these 'problems'. They are normal for a new tank.

I never used it with Discus either and kept them for a decade in tap water with lowered PH,I may look at RO in the furture but i don't want to use it.

Freshwater is completely different, it doesn't matter how long you kept discus in tapwater, tbh.

I'll post more later, TFF seems to be really slow tonight.

 

[GShorty1981]

Maybe i got good tap water then,theres no point going over and over on this,all info is taken on board i'm just choosing not to use RO....if i get a algae outbreak I will take it into consideration....if I get real corals I will certainly go down that route.

On the Discus point...they are extremely sensitive to tap water...the metals dechlorinates don't remove etc...however my point was they were always extremely healthy fish that i kept,so i was using it as a example of good tap water,when keeping them everyone said i was stupid to keep them in tap water to....but i did and no issue.

I'm not having these problems imo for these reasons.

Daily tank maintenance (syphoning the excess food attatched to the fluval and to the sand,scrape off that weird white stuff that clings to the thermometer,powerhead and filter)

Not rushing to put fish in my tank...my stats were perfect,first thing i did was rot half a prawn in there for the first few days...then after the small ammonia spike settled down i added 2 Hermits...once the stats settled i added the 2 2" clowns and there fine.

Live sand is working as stated by the shop....looks like you guys have hopped on the hype train that the stuff don't work...the shop agrees its not as good as LR for bigger tanks as it does not contain enough bacteria but everyone in the shop agrees that its perfect for nanos.

Anyways on a postive side (as i feel pretty damn negative about this thread right now) 7 days on my clowns are fine and showing off as normal.

todays water stats

Ammonia 0ppm
Nitrate 0ppm
Nitrite 0ppm
Salinity 1.022 (so much for the 24 hours to make salt dissolve/needing a powerhead for water changes/heater)
PH 8.3

So nothing has changed in a week since my last 10-15% water change except for small fluctuations on the nitrate (minute)


I'm still waiting on this disaster your all telling me I'm going to have...anybody want to place some bets?...let me guess it takes a month for ammonia to appear in a marine tank haha.

 

[GShorty1981]

Just bought 1kg (all i can afford at the mo) of LR from Taunton Aquarium Center (atleast i know this stuff is cured) gonna keep a close eye on Ammonia.

I'm gonna add it all slow,1kg a week or something

Still no plans on RO,but i want to get this thread back on route rather than get a bashing about everything,I am trying i have just been misinformed..alot.

 

[Jonny967]

I've had all this before when i first started keeping marines! The problem is that people try to over complicate keeping marines when in reality its easier then keeping a freshwater tank.
I too was told that a powerhead or airstone should be used for mixing salt and that warm water should be used. I looked into this a little further and conducted a few tests. I mixed room temp RO water with salt by hand and the refractometer read 1.022, i let it stand for 24 hours then mixed/tested it again at 1.022 so therefore there was no change. I then hooked up the RO unit to the warm water tap and regulated the temperature to 26 degrees, the water was then mixed by hand to 1.022 after this i put a powerhead in for 24 hours and retested the water at 1.022. Again there was no change so whatever method you use there is no right and wrong way it is just personnel preference.
Although the type of salt used could be a factor as some may mix quicker than others.
One thing i am 100% sure on though is that RO water is a must for any marine tank reef/FO/FOWLR and i wouldn't want to do any tests to confirm otherwise

 

[GShorty1981]

When i got my Live Rock (good stuff witch is nearly completely purple with algae and both bits have weird coral like things growing out of them all over) I asked them how important RO water is,they said its only important if you don't want hair algae...and that came from Mark in Taunton Aquarium Center..one of the most respected shops in the UK.

However.... the RO in T.A.C is much much cheaper than in Watermarque so i probably will use it,it was £5 for the original container (full) then £2 for 25 litres everytime after or £3.50 for 25 litres of mixed salt water....which is around about the same price as doing it yourself.

I also told them Orange Sharks story about the heater and powerhead in teh bucket for 24 hours before you are allowed to use it and all 3 shop members nearly fell over laughing.

I have stopped using the other shop 'watermarque' turns out thye have got a bit of a bad reputation anyway so i'm gonna stick to TAC.

 

[ben1987]

thats a step in the right direction. Iv heard of TAC. i agree with orange shark on the powerhead and heater thing though, thats how i do mine anyways. I just dump salt and water togther in a bucket and go off somewhere. The powerhead just circulates the water so the salt goes in. Its not a must but i find it easier. My spare heater and small powerhead were £3 off ebay (for both)

what do tac say about LR?

 

[seffieuk]

Glad you made the change. Your LR sounds fantastic

I think you will find the general concensus of opinion is to heat and mix your RO water and salt for 12 to 24 hours to ensure all the salt is dissolved, it's at the correct temp and to add oxygen I wonder why people would laugh at good husbandry!

Anyways, glad that you have found yourself a reputable lfs - they can be worth their weight in gold - just remember, that usually even the best shops have a few staff whose knowledge base is not the best. Stick to the staff you know, know their stuff - ask on here for a second opinion and then makes your choices

Good luck

Seffie x

:fish;

ps - we are only trying to help you, try to remember that

 

[GShorty1981]

what do tac say about LR?

They said they wouldn't advise how i'm doing it (without the LR) because it is a much slower process,however if my water parameters are fine then i got nothing to worry about and to check my water everyday.

They said its still the best idea to get LR that way you know the tank will be stable.

Glad you made the change. Your LR sounds fantastic

I think you will find the general concensus of opinion is to heat and mix your RO water and salt for 12 to 24 hours to ensure all the salt is dissolved, it's at the correct temp and to add oxygen I wonder why people would laugh at good husbandry!

Anyways, glad that you have found yourself a reputable lfs - they can be worth their weight in gold - just remember, that usually even the best shops have a few staff whose knowledge base is not the best. Stick to the staff you know, know their stuff - ask on here for a second opinion and then makes your choices

Good luck

Seffie x

:fish;

ps - we are only trying to help you, try to remember that

Cheers Seffie,yeh i understand you guys are trying to help,nothing against anyone other than Orange Shark's n00by bashing,look at his post's/topics and you'll see what i mean he likes a forum fight by the looks of things..and you cant tell me he wasn't being sarcastic because he was.

The person i spoke to was Mark Strawbridge,the owner of TAC ive known him for about 6-7 years but rarely get the chance to get into TAC has its in a weird place in town with nowhere to park! Watermarques the easiest to get to for what i want.

They said as the box says on Tropic Marin 'stirr for ten minutes' and not to listen because thats all they do out the back.. (same thing as watermarque advised me)

Cheers for the feedback


Now I'm wandering what the hell these tubey things are (looks like feather dusters but a green colour instead of white and its sunflower shaped on top the top bit that hides)that are growing out of my LR and hiding everytime i get near ..think i just been stung by something moving the rock to,..got 2 tiny blisters come up on my finger!

Also theres a fair amount of algae on the LR shall i pull it off (not coraline just that grassy green stuff)

 

[ben1987]

i use tropic marin salt aswel, i notice un-dissolved salt making the water slightly cloudy at least an hour after starting the mix. You cant knock peoples methods till you have tried them. I would say bucket, salt & powerhead was the most widley used method, my lfs certainly does it this way - just on a bigger scale

dont sound like feather dusters to me - put pics up, possibly a rogue nem if it hides and stings

 

[GShorty1981]

I'm not the one knocking mate,i'm getting knocked if you read it....you lot are saying I'm wrong and I'm saying I'm not..so don't knock my method till you try it

Plus no cloudy water here.

*sigh* I'll say something write at some point in this thread

I'll post some pics in a min