clownishfish
Yesterday at 1:44 pm
just started this today read alot about your inputs and i have a few ?'s my 10 gal tank has been cycleing for a week today my friend said it will eventually fill with green algae how long until that happends and all i have is a hydrometer right now what else will i need? ty
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spanko
Yesterday at 1:53 pm
If the hydrometer is the plastic kind with the swing arm be aware that you must keep it spotlessly clean and when you use it to take a reading you need to make sure there are no bubbles on the arm itself as that would cause a false reading. If you have a glass one they are a bit more accurate. The best piece of equipment is a temperature compensating hydrometer.
About the algae well that depends on your tank as to how much you will get. Do you have live rock that came with algae on it? There are many types of algae and they will all have a chance to grow if the conditions are right for them. To keep algae out you need to keep the fertilizer that they grow from practically non-existent.
Do you have test kits for ammonia - nitrite - and nitrates? These are the basic kits needed to do the initial cycling, the build up of a colony of nitrifying bacteria.
Have you gone to the new hobbyists section and read these posts yet?
https://forums.saltwaterfish.com/forum/thread/301033/101-tips-to-beginning-and-maintaining-a-saltwater-aquarium
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https://forums.saltwaterfish.com/forum/thread/264597/a-list-of-extremely-helpful-threads-for-all-hobbyists
Do you have a tank thread started so you can show how you are progressing along and ask pertinent questions along the way?
clownishfish
Yesterday at 2:22 pm
dont have any test kits my friend told me i could wait a few wks and then buy some test strips and i dont even know what a thread is ok this is what i did last monday went out and bought 109$ wrth of stuff filter,salt 9 lbs live rock,black live sand and its been cycling for a week now i check the salinity every day it stays around 124-125 and yes it is a corallife plastic one so am i in the right tract yea or nea? and there are a few pods that come out of the live rock and i was told that is a goood sign?
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spanko
Yesterday at 2:32 pm
To start a thread on your tank go to the new hobbyists section, click on Start A New Thread. Give it a title then introduce yourself, tell about your tank, equipment, what you have done so far etc. etc. Then you can keep going back to your thread to ask questions, get answers, post pictures of your tank and so on.
Pods are good. Again I don't trust the swing arms because they are so sensitive to things that will give you a false read.
I don't agree with your friend about testing but if you trust him who am I to say anything.
I would not buy test strips, spend a little more and get yourself an API Saltwater Master test kit, around $20.
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Pods are good!!!!
I guess one other thing here, you know that water evaporates, as it does from your tank it leaves the salt behind. This will raise you Sg above the levels you want to keep. To avoid this you need to test and replace evaporated water with fresh RODI or distilled water
NOT saltwater.
