advice wanted

nice nurse

nice nurse

Member
i have a 30 gallon tank bio filter with wheel, whisper filter, tank is 86 degrees,
amall amount crushed corral, live sand, royal gramma that is doing good. live rock that has green algee growing on it. is this normal ? the algee i mean. what can i do about it im afraid it is going to kill rock.
ph is also 8.8 and i cant seem to get it any lower any ideas?
hydrometer is at 1.023
nitrate is 20mg/L
amonia 0.50mg/L
nitrite is 0ppm
i want to make sure tank is good before adding anything else to tank.
all advise is welcome
obviously i am new at salt water tanks but i have always wanted one. now that i have one i want to do this right without killing a bunch of fish.
any and all advise is welcome
 
fbm

fbm

Active Member
Need to lower your water temp, I think most people keep there about 78 to 79 degrees. Your ph is real high as well. Do you know what your alkalinity is? This may be caused by using tap water. Try and get RODI water and do you water changes with this and it should lower that ph down, try to shoot for 8.2.
How are you reading you SG if you are using a hydrometer you will have to temperature correct it for 77 degrees I think. As you lower you temperature you will have a more accurate sg reading as well.
 
katieb

katieb

Member
I am fairly new also, but that temp seems a bit high to me, should be about 76-80, Maybe try some searies of water changes to try to get rid of amonia and high ph. My ph always runs high also and the only thing people suggest is to do water changes. How long is tank set up though?
 
cjml

cjml

Member
:thinking: Hello-I am no expert by any means--still always learning--I think your temp might be a little to high -I think 78-82 degrees is the best for most tanks--and ammonia should be "0". Is it a new set up? Maybe still cycling? Hope some experts from this site add some info! There are alot of very knowlegeable
fish keepers here! :happyfish :happyfish
 
cjml

cjml

Member
Originally Posted by nice nurse
thank you all for the advise. what is RODI?
It is filtered water-takes out all the bad thing that are in tap water. :happyfish :happyfish You should be able to get it from one of your local fish stores until you can get your own unit-well worth it!!! :happyfish
 
katieb

katieb

Member
You can also test your tap water to see if the readings are off to rule out the water if you are not ready to purchase something new right now..
 
cjml

cjml

Member
Originally Posted by nice nurse
what is RO/DI water and where can i get it at? :
Your local fish store should have it...
 
cjml

cjml

Member
Originally Posted by nice nurse
i am willinbg to try anything to help my tank at this point
Just take your time-patience is the best thing for a new tank!! It can take several months to get it right! Well worth it! :happyfish :happyfish
 
fbm

fbm

Active Member
rodi is reverse osmosis distilled water....
I just use RO water that I get from a local water place and pay about 40 cents a gallon. I have not get enough together to get a RO/DI unit yet. But you should definately not use tap water.
I used tap water to fill up my tank and I wish I didn't because I had a lot of brown algea and since then I have done a few water changes to try and get rid of the nutrient build up from tap water. Also I think I might of had some copper in my tap water because I have been unable to keep any type of shrimp in my tank. So know I am doing water changes and running carbon to remove any trace of copper if I have any.
 
nice nurse

nice nurse

Member
i have alot of algee in tank on rock right now when i get ro water in it and lower temp will that take care of algee or should i do anything else?
 
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