distilled water

[gothicrose5]

Hi i am wondering besides salt what chemicals would i need to add to distilled water to get it ready to use...Im just cycling 2 tanks currently 1 with live rock and sand...the other with clean dead live sand and live sand mix and no live rock....the first was already setup and running when i bought it so i kept it the same i added a gallon and a half of distilled matched to the salinity of the tank....and the other i got the samility to be in both tanks 1.023 to 25 it bounces around from the filter and depending on where i take the water reading at...

 

[lmforbis]

Nothing but the salt mix, everything you need initially should be in it at the right concentration. The salinity should be the same all over the tank if it is well mixed. Are you using a hydrometer or a refractometer. If you don't have a refractometer I'd get one they are much more accurate than hydrometers.

 

[gothicrose5]

ok ty very much..... im using a hydrometer....i have been looking at the refractometers and im leaning towards the electric ones thanks for your help...and yes on my 37 gallon tank one side reads different than the other side of my tank weird i know....but moving both hydros to each side of the tank i get the readings to be 23 to 25 so i now am leaving that tank alone and waiting 8 weeks before i introduce fish....

 

[lmforbis]

Are you providing a source of ammonia to feed the bacteria you are trying to establish? Raw shrimp, ghost feeding etc. are you testing for ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate to monitor your cycle?

I have a Milwaukee digital refractometer. I love it..

 

[gothicrose5]

i used 16 pounds live sand about 15 pounds of cleaned dry live sand and i put in prime and api quick start.....i just got the tank to be the right salinity on wednesday....im letting it rest till saturday...then ill check them out with the test kit....i used tap water to start and by the time the 8 weeks are up it will all distilled water....i do plan on adding thawed frozen mysis shrimp once or twice a week to help 1 cube split for the 2 times a week....this is my second go around i had all my tanks crash when i used thawed live sand that was frozen then i thawed so why im waiting 8 weeks before i do anything

yes i have the milwaukee saved in ebay list.......

 

[one-fish]

Both tanks will require LR to become the biological filter once cycled. Use of tap water is not recommended you need a good purewater source from the start. Good plan for checking water parm Saturday and ghost feed as required What size tanks do you have? What other equipment do you have? Do you have a Livestock plan?Patience here is the golden rule Good Luck....

 

[gothicrose5]

i have a sun sun hw-304b with built in uv 200 gallon 525 gph canister on the 37 gallon tank...the other is a 5 gallon fluval spec what ever is on that i bought the fluval set up and cycled already that has the live rock the fluval im thinking i will maybe put the 4 black clowns in until the 37 is ready for them.....but if i dont i want to do dwarf seahorses in the fluval spec i can have 4 per gallon of those.....but the 37 gallon tank will have the 4 black and white clowns to start and a goby blenny a fish to eat bristle worms if i get them again from the live rock and live rock when i get closer to the 8 week mark....also each tank will have some type of cleaner snails.....i have 2 75 gallon freshwater tanks with the same filter on each of them one has cichlids and the other angelfish and a few others....the filter pads im using instead of carbon pellets or rocks have the ammonia pad phosphate pad and carbon pad so all 3 in each canister...i just rinse and reuse until they look like their getting tired....i also use bio balls with a sponge in each and ceramic rings...i use the blue filter pad and 2 white pads as well...if the 37 goes well after afew months ill upgrade to one of the 75's for saltwater and get more clowns....thankyou for the good luck...

 

[lmforbis]

Dwarf sea horses are pretty much impossible to keep. They have feeding requirements that are difficult to meet because they are so small. Sea horses also require a lower temp (my understanding this is because they are very susceptible to infections) which will necessitate a chiller.

You want to add rock early. The surface and also the ******** of the rock is where your bacteria grow. The point of the cycle is to develop a good bacterial colony to handle the waste when you add fish. The rock is essential to that. It can be dry rock with just one piece of live but it needs to be in place during the cycle.

Don't worry about bristle worms. They are an a good part of the clean up crew.

 

[jay0705]

Agreed on horses. They need much cooler water then most sw fish. 65-68 range. They can be difficult to feed and need a species only tank. With very few exceptions

 

[lmforbis]

There are a couple of species that can be kept in an aquarium if the water conditions are right but definitely not dwarfs.

 

[jay0705]

Agreed. The captive raised are much easier. Still not appropriate for a normal sw community tank tho. They can be kept with pipe fish and mandys I've read

 

[gothicrose5]

i will take some of the live rock from the 5 gallon tank and put it in the 37 gallon tank mainly all but 2 they are small untill i can get bigger ones thanks for the advise of the dwarfs.....

 

[gothicrose5]

my 37 gallon tank perimeters are with 1 frozen brick of brine shrimp im using the api master saltwater test kit and a hydrometer untill i can get a refractometer: 37 is salinity 1.024 trates 0 trites 0 monia 0 ph high 7.8 to 8.0 1 week running tommrow........5 gallon previously setup before purchased salinity 1.022 rates 40 rites 0 ammonia 0 ph high 7.8......both tanks will get a 10 percent water change on the 5th