I hate my tank!

jslaney · #1 01-25-2009, 05:14 PM

Thanks everyone for the Support. I will try and answer the questions in order.

1)I will try to give my tank more love. Its unfortunate she is such a cruel mistress.

2)I am just using tapwater with no treatment for topups. As I understand it, if you let it sit for 24 hours all the chlorine evaporates off.

3)I think getting my water tested at the LFS is a great idea. I will bring them a sample for sure and let you know how his values differ to mine. I am specifically interested in Specific Gravity

4)Regarding DOCS (dissolved organic compounds?) I did not realize that could happen. I agree water changes should be applied. I have been planning a tank build post for a while. I will try and get it going

5)I acllimated the snails over 2 hrs slowly adding my water to the store water. I used a shot glass to slowly add bits of water every so often. The shot glass was well rinsed and is a tank dedicated shot glass.

6)I have no idea why my Calcium is so high. I will have to do some more reading about it.

7)As I previously said, I don’t use prime as I always let my water sit. I think I will add prime to the water from now on regardless.

8)The live rock was fully cured when I got it.

9)I will try to be more patient in the future

10)If the cyano gets really bad again I will leave the lights off. For now it seems to be holding off.

11)I will have to look into dinoflagulates. Interesting possibility.

12)I am trying to do a lagoon tank so I am not putting a lot of flow in my tank. Its circulating about 4 times its volume in an hour so I think its ok.

13)I thought my nitrates and phosphate levels were really low. I will look into that book.

14)My test kit is a brand new instant oceans reef kit.

Conclusions
-Do more water changes
-Get my water level parameters checked at the LFS
-Start treating my top up water
-Consider getting a phosphate remover and RO/DI unit.

Additional questions

1)How do you test of TDS (Total dissolved solids?). Does that not include dissolved calcium. Is that not a good thing.

2)I have read that increased Calcium can be a good thing for stony corals. Why is it bad for Coraline? I am not treating calcium so it must be coming from my sand and water top ups.

If anyone has any other ideas based on my responses, feel free to let me know.

e46er · #2 01-25-2009, 05:24 PM

to test for tds you need a TDS meter they are around 35 bux i think

you calcium is sky high and if your not dosing it i would get someone else with another test kit to check your results for accuracy.

marie · #3 01-25-2009, 05:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jslaney

...
12)I am trying to do a lagoon tank so I am not putting a lot of flow in my tank. Its circulating about 4 times its volume in an hour so I think its ok....

Have you ever swam in the ocean? I think a tidepool has more flow then what you've got

Soft corals can take (and in some cases prefers) a lot of flow and even lps corals need enough flow to keep detritus and algae off them. I would shoot for at least 10 times preferably 20 times tank volume an hour

fdiddy · #4 01-25-2009, 05:48 PM

I used tap water for a long time, but the TDS outta my tap is 184 - not that bad actually. But my RO/DI is 0... alot better :P Considering a 5g jug to refill at sobeys is around 2 bucks that sounds worth it to me. Good Luck and keep at it. This hobby is VERY satisfying if you put you mind to it.

Matt · #5 01-25-2009, 05:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jslaney

Thanks everyone for the Support. I will try and answer the questions in order.
2)I am just using tapwater with no treatment for topups. As I understand it, if you let it sit for 24 hours all the chlorine evaporates off.

Chlorine will leave the water, eventually, but how fast will depend on the volume, surface area, circulation, temperature and starting concentration. No 24-hour rule exists. Likewise, resting the water won't deal with other contaminates. In short, if you're using tapwater (and loads of folks do, with varying success), don't do it without Prime or another quality water conditioner -- or you're just asking for trouble.

Tangman · #6 01-25-2009, 07:03 PM

Sorry to be blunt, but if you are not doing water changes/ top offs with RO/Di water all you are doing is feeding the problem. Useing treated tap water or letting it stand is useless, that may have worked with a fresh water tank but it won't work with SW. You can get a TDS meter at a LFS, but better money spent would be on a RO/DI, as others have said, in the SW hobby a RO/DI unit is part of the basic supplies to have a SW tank, and again , sorry to be blunt, but with out one, you will never have any thing but a slimey lagoon

Quote:

Originally Posted by jslaney

.
Conclusions
-Do more water changes
-Get my water level parameters checked at the LFS
-Start treating my top up water
-Consider getting a phosphate remover and RO/DI unit.

Additional questions

1)How do you test of TDS (Total dissolved solids?). Does that not include dissolved calcium. Is that not a good thing.

2)I have read that increased Calcium can be a good thing for stony corals. Why is it bad for Coraline? I am not treating calcium so it must be coming from my sand and water top ups.

If anyone has any other ideas based on my responses, feel free to let me know.

jslaney · #7 01-25-2009, 11:28 PM

So thanks to Syeve's suggestion I went and got my water tested. All I have for specific Grav is a red sea hydrometer. It was reading 1.026 which is perfect as I understand it.

When the very kind fellow at Ocean City tested my water using a refractometer it read as 1.033. So I am guessing that is the biggest problem.

I will still look into getting RO/DI and have allready bought chlorine remover for my top ups.

Lastly thank you for everyones help and I think the lesson here is dont ever trust crappy hydrometers and before you start adding life go get your water double tested.

Jon.

Snaz · #8 01-25-2009, 11:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jslaney

So thanks to Syeve's suggestion I went and got my water tested. All I have for specific Grav is a red sea hydrometer. It was reading 1.026 which is perfect as I understand it.

When the very kind fellow at Ocean City tested my water using a refractometer it read as 1.033. So I am guessing that is the biggest problem.

I will still look into getting RO/DI and have allready bought chlorine remover for my top ups.

Lastly thank you for everyones help and I think the lesson here is dont ever trust crappy hydrometers and before you start adding life go get your water double tested.

Jon.

Certainly the high SG is very bad.

The issue with your top ups is not the chlorine as you already address that by having it sitting out for 24Hr. The issue is the TDS, phosphate, copper and other crap from your tap. STOP PUTTING IN TAPWATER! If you can't get an RO/DI unit then do as I do and get the 20 litre bottles from a reputable water filter company.

Myka · #9 01-25-2009, 11:55 PM

You already have some great advice here. Did your LFS test your water for calcium? Did they get the same results? What brand of salt are you using? Are you using any additives at all? You aren't using Purple Up are you? I would also suggest upping your flow to 15-20x turnover. What types of corals are you wanting to keep? Both softies and LPS corals will do well with that type of turnover. Your low turnover combined with using tap water (+1 for getting an RO/DI and a TDS meter) are likely your biggest issues, not the high salinity. The high salinity would be contributing to the high calcium reading. Oh, and for the record, you can continue to use your hydrometer, just remember that your particular hydrometer is out by 0.007, so aim for 1.019 on your hydrometer, and that should put your sg at 1.026. you can always double check by taking some water to your LFS again.

Check out the guides in my signature, I think you would find a lot of the information in them very helpful.

randallino · #10 01-26-2009, 12:42 AM

May I be frank:
Priority 1 is your water source. I lived in Calgary I know what the water is like it's hard amongst other things. Don't think about it, buy it ....a good RO/DI filter.Po4 shouldn't be an issue with a new system unless you're using live rock from an older system and the water supply.
I hope this helps patience is the key ingredient
FYI
http://www.calgary.ca/docgallery/bu/...ity_report.pdf