Fixing tank back up

martinc909

martinc909

Member
i did a 15 g WC on my 120 g on sunday.
these are my parameters as of
jan 17 2012
salinity 1.024
nitrates 160+?
ammonia 0
ph 7.5
nitrites 0
calcium 580
nitrates 160+?
phosphates 4.0
kh 161.1
temp 79
after testing. we did a 20 gallon WC. on tuesday.
added 6 tsp of kent marine pro buffer dkh.
i have another batch of fresh sw 20 gallons waiting.
would changing 20 g daily or every other day be too much?
 
bang guy

bang guy

Moderator
Can you do larger water changes or is there nowhere to store the water? A 40 gallon change will have a better result than a 20. To answer your question - 20 every other day is not too much.
You Alkalinity seems fine, why are you adding so much "kent marine pro buffer dkh"?
 
martinc909

martinc909

Member
Would peppermint, fire, and skunk cleaner shrimp get along?
my two skunk cleaner shrimp died. i think because one of the water changes i made, changed the salinity too fast..
i would like to combine all three shrimp in my 115 gallon.
three or four of each species work?
there are currently only 3 peppermint shrimp in the tank.
another q... i noticed in an inverts book i got that there are two classes of peppermints.
one saying they need colder water... but i cant tell the difference between the two...
 
bang guy

bang guy

Moderator
They will all get along provided they are all about the same size. If some are a lot smaller than the others then they are at risk for being eaten. That doesn't mean they WILL be eaten but there's a high risk until they reach adult size.
There are more that two types of Shrimp that are commonly called "Peppermint Shrimp". Be sure you know the details of what the Lysmata wurdemanni look like, for example the color of the legs. Especially if you live in California.
 
martinc909

martinc909

Member
ok. yea my peppermints were a bit larger then my skunks. but i think the change in salinity got to them...
i would have to get larger new shrimp.
20 g WCs havent been helping. ill be doing 50 g WCs every other day..
btw thanks bang..
 
martinc909

martinc909

Member
added two larger fire cleaner shrimp and one larger skunk cleaner shrimp.
i thought i was getting them close to the same size with my peppermints but i must of miscalculated.
peppermints look small.
i got one skunk and one fire shrimp to eat from my hand already.
also added a royal gramma.
are all anthias reef safe?
with all these WCs, nitrates dont seem to come down..
did 2nd 40 g WC today. will test again tomorrow.
have another 40 g mixing for friday.
 
S

smallreef

Guest
yes anthias are reef safe, though DONT add any until you get your nitrates under control.. they are not hardy when first added supposedly(???)
 
martinc909

martinc909

Member
ok thanks.
there was a real nice one that looked like mango juice color and had purple in its eye. its back tail fins were larger... but it wasnt for sale.
id like to get a dragonette, small angel, and maybe a small tang..
couple clown fish.
and some kind of goby.
and of course an anthia.
still have alot of work to do though..
 
S

smallreef

Guest
can you see a decent amount of copepods in your tank? a dragonette will mainly eat them, most will take some frozen food but their main sustenance is pods...
 
martinc909

martinc909

Member
ill make sure i have a lot of pods in my fuge first..
PROBLEM.....
i put 40 g to mix since yesterday. i just got home and i noticed that the water looks dirty..
this salt is from a new bucket of Reef Crystals..
it looks like saw dust floating on top of the water...
what should i do?
 
S

smallreef

Guest
got a fat skimmer? id skim the top and check the salinity and everything....
 
martinc909

martinc909

Member
could it of been because the salt was added too fast.?
the pump im using to circulate is about 500gph.
its a 40 g tub.
the tub was full w rodi water and we added the salt to it.
its not like we didnt have enough water i there.
right now im using API to test.
what works best... API, SALIFERT, or the HANNA INSTRUMENTS COLORIMETER?
 
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