adding salt water

[scotts]

Ant, why did I change to the new tank? Well sometimes bigger is better.

My old tank was too crowded IMO, plus I happened to look at the classified here and someone was selling this tank locally for a good deal. Then I also got the chance to use the old one as a sump. BTW my kids are still at that stage where when they help me I can figure on the job taking twice as long as I thought. Oh well.
Clowns, first of all you should know there are many different types of clowns, Check out this fish section here to see some of them. I would also recommend getting the aquacultured ones, that means they have been bred in a tank, not caught in the wild. But if I am right all clowns are born male. Then when they pair up one of them will turn female, this one will be the larger of the two. This is why you should only have 2 clowns in your tank. I know you only want 2 but just thought you should know. In my case I was able to get 2 clowns out of the same tank at the lfs that seemed to like each other already. Even so after a couple of months they seemed to be fighting a lot. They even had a break up with one staying on the other side of the tank for a moth or so. Eventually they made up and are best friends now. I had it explained to me that they were just figuring who would be the female. HTH.
BTW your story reminded me of my daughters third and last surgery. The surgeon had 2 other surgeries on that day. Our was supposed to start at 1:30 and last 1 1/2 to 2 hours. the previous surgeries ran long and our started at 5:00. ABout an hour and a half later a nurse came out to tell us that he was almost done cutting throuhg all the adhesions and then we would start what the surgery was for. The surgery ened at 11:00 that night. I just imagined that doctor being in surgery all day and then ours taking 6 hours, it is not like he could stop in the middle and say I am tired I think I will finish tomorrow.
Scott

 

[ant]

Scott-WOW! That is really amazing about the clowns. I had no idea they did that. It's great info thanks. I don't know what you paid for the tank but it is really beautiful.
Well, I have launched the shrimp! I say again...I have launched the shrimp. I had to buy frozen(uncooked of course)with shell still attached. Hope that will work. My husband was NOT thrilled about the idea. So, 4-7 days then remove? Do I still wait for the nitites/nitrates to be zero before I add the clean up crew or should I say party of one? Guess I better go back and read the cycle section again. Thanks for letting me ask you so many questions. You can quit any time. Don't forget to say goodbye.
I have a little bit of advice, hopefully you won't need it and you might have heard this before. If you, or any of your family members needs to have surgery again, ALWAYS try and be the first case of the day. ESPECIALLY for children. If it's an emergency then there's no choice except next available, but if you have a little leeway, choose to be there first thing in the morning. I hate that they made your poor little girl wait. Children should NEVER have to wait...in a perfect world. It's hard for them to understand why they can't eat or drink anything. They're just hungry and thirsty. As for the surgeons, on long cases like that, they usually provide them with OJ or Power drinks during the case. Sipping through a straw with nurses help of course. Still, it really can be grueling. Glad I'm not a doc!

 

[9lives]

Be careful about trusting your hydrometer. My hydrometer said my sg was 1.024.but after problems with a new mushroom and yellow polyp not looking good at all,I borrowed a refractometer and found out my sg was actually 1.032. Needless to say,the hydrometer went into the trash and a refractometer was ordered.now everything is stable at .023 and looking much better.

 

[bang guy]

I honestly didn't read the entire thread.
Did anyone inform Ant that all the LR in the system is dead rock since it was submerged in low Salinity water?

 

[scotts]

Ant, are you still breathing after reading Guys post. Don't panic yet.
Guy She mixed her water, reading 1.022 same reading for 2 days. Added the LR the SG reading went down to 1.018. Swing arm meter. Kept that way for a day or so and has been slowly raising the SG. She is just starting the cycle on her tank. Your thoughts? Esepecially since isn't this the range for a FOWLR?
Ant sounds like you should take a sample of the water to the lfs and have them double check your water readings.
Scott

 

[ant]

And Breath....:nervous: Thanks Scott. I didn't even know what to think or how to respond. I guess I'm on my way to the LFS store tomorrow. I did raise the water level to 1.025 today so far. Will recheck tomorrow. Funny, the rock still has the same green and red stuff as the start and the green plants are still hanging around that were on them. Guess I might need to buy better gage. In for a penny in for a pound with this hobby.

 

[bang guy]

It could be alright then. I don't understand the swing in S.G. unless the temp was raised when the rock was added.
I should have read the entire thread first.

 

[ant]

Whew!:nervous: I feel a little better now.

 

[jdragunas]

Ant,
I put two damsels (same family as clownfish) in my tank at a SG of 1.025. They died the next day. I lowered the SG to 1.023 and have had two clownfish, a bangai cardinalfish, yellowtail blue damsel, brittle star, and a coral banded shrimp, and they are all perfectly fine... for the most part.
When i put the damsels in at the SG of 1.025, they began breathing heavily through their mouth, not their gills.
You might want to get your SG to where you think it would be ok, and buy like a green chromis, or a cheap fish to test the water settings. That'll tell you where you can go from there.

 

[ant]

Thank you for the info. I thought it might be too high but the seems to be the the preffered SG level that I've heard so far on this sight. Interesting. I'm not ready to put any fish in the tank yet. It's just started to cycle. I don't want to try damsels because I've heard they're hard to get out at the end of cycle. I'm planning on taking a sample of H2O in to the lfs today.

 

[scotts]

Hey Ant, well now that I fell somewhat vindicated I think I can start helping you again. Since there are many variables involved in a salt water tank I must tell you that there are many things that could have killed JD's fish. Highly doubtful that it was just the specific gravity.
So anyway here is my tip of the day. Do not use Windex to clean the outside of your tank. Some people here have posted that doing this has wiped out their tank.
Scott

 

[ant]

Hey Thanks...I certainly appreciate your help and everyone else who has added their two cents. Learning is fun...and frustrating.
BTW, I used windex on my tank glass today! I must say that I sprayed the towel and not the glass but that is good to know. How do you get the glass clean then?
Did you see the rock on the other post? I took my water in to the lfs store to get tested and guess what they used to test SG. Give up? A SWING ARM HYDROMETER!!:scared: Now how do they keep their fish alive if it's not close to right? :notsure: They have a beautiful reef tank and the guy has been taking care of it for 2 years. My amonia was high and nitrites were rising but he didn't give me numbers. I told him I wasn't going to put any fish in until my tank was cycled. I also bought some RO/DI water and added a little to the tank.
Scott-what do you keep your SG/salinity readings on your tank?

 

[scotts]

Hey Ant, first off I am one of those people that keep their salinity around 1.025, highlight on the around. It is kind on interesting, I tried to pass on what I have learned to you on general topics and it turned into this. On my last post I was going to mention beating a dead horse, and well still kind of feel that way. So while others may continue to offer their knowledge I for one will be walking past this dead horse. I sond stupid don't I. I have been sick, had the kids all day today and I am tired.
So anyway I never did thank you for your kind words about my tank. I think it looks OK. Needs some work but it is coming along. That is good to hear that you numbers are rising, means your cycle is starting WooHoo:cheer:
It is actually easy to clean the outside of your tank. You can use water a squegee (sp?). Actually the best water to use is the RO water.
Hopefully you are not sick of me, just trying to help.
See you on you other thread.
Scott
Oh yeah, did you know that you can add an avatar to your profile now? Get a picture and resize it to 100 x 100 pixels, then edit your profile by clicking on the "user cp" button above.
Scott again

 

[neoreef]

A great way to raise salinity (salt levels) in a tank is to wait for evaporation to occur. If you want to keep the water level even, top off the tank with saltwater as it evaporates. This will add salt slowly so as not to shock all the lovely hitchhiking invertebrates that have survived thus far on your rock.
Be very careful how you use the swing arm hydrometer. Find out which temperature it has been calibrated to, and get a temp conversion chart. Rinse it thoroughly with tap water after EVERY use. Make sure you fill it properly, read it level, and make sure there are no air bubbles in there holding up the arm. Note the temp of the water you are measuring, and use the chart to determine salinity. Most folks like 35ppm for a reef tank. FOWLr tanks also.
I suspect that your salinity did not change with the addition of the rock, but that your hydrometer technique did. It may be a good idea to take it to your LFS and check it with a refractometer there.
Or, the best and easiest idea is to buy a refractometer (this site sells an inexpensive one) of your own.
Good luck, and have fun!

 

[ant]

Neoreef-thanks for the great info. I need to find an lfs store that uses a refractometer because the one that i've been going to uses a swing arm as well. I read package instructions about 20 times and I think I have a better idea of how to use the hydrometer now. If fills up from the bottom at 6 inches below the surface and decreases bubbles in the chamber. You don't even get your hands wet. I was dunking my whole hand in there to get water. My SG has been holding at 1.024 so far. My temp has remained the same. I like the way you add salt water. I will remember that for the future.-Ant.

 

[jdragunas]

Scotts,
sorry if i hurt your feelings by putting my two cents in. I was just trying to teach what i learned... i'll try not to disagree with you anymore...