Help!!!
- Thread starter clown boy
- Start date
lion_crazz
Active Member
I would feed 2 cubes of food per day. The Ocean Nutrition food you are feeding is excellent though, stick with that!
lion_crazz
Active Member
I am not saying you need to copy my process, but I am just posting this to give you an example of how I do water changes on my tanks and the tanks I maintain.
I have 2 trash cans. A good water bucket, and a bad water bucket. The two are never mixed. I have "good" on one, and "bad" on the other. Since I do 40 gallon water changes, I use a 45 gallon trash can.
Fill up a trash can with water. Pour the salt in. Guess-timate it the first time. Put a heater in, and heat it to the exact temperature of the tank. For the first 24 hours, put a powerhead on the bottom of the bucket/trash can to mix the water with the salt. Salt will fall to the bottom, so this is where you want your powerhead. After 24 hours has passed, bring the powerhead closer to the top to increase the oxygen. Dissolving salt with water uses the oxygen up in the water, so you need to replace this.
After the first 24 hours has passed, check the salinity and pH and adjust accordingly. If it is too high, add regular water. If it is too slow, add more salt. If your pH is different from your tank, check your alkalinity. Many times, you need to buffer alkalinity because there are some salts that you give a low alk level.
Once the salinity, pH, kH, and temp are nearly EXACT to your tank, you are ready to do the water change.
When I do a water change, I never dump water into the tank. I have a 5 gallon bucket that I use to take water from my trash can. I put the five gallon bucket on the floor and pump water from the 5 gallon bucket to my sump using a small powerhead and some tubing. This way, the fish are not getting stressed out by you adding a lot of water to the top of the tank. They do not even realize that you are adding water to the tank because it is calm, plus all the water levels are identical to that of the tank. (Plus, this way is a lot less messy).
I have 2 trash cans. A good water bucket, and a bad water bucket. The two are never mixed. I have "good" on one, and "bad" on the other. Since I do 40 gallon water changes, I use a 45 gallon trash can.
Fill up a trash can with water. Pour the salt in. Guess-timate it the first time. Put a heater in, and heat it to the exact temperature of the tank. For the first 24 hours, put a powerhead on the bottom of the bucket/trash can to mix the water with the salt. Salt will fall to the bottom, so this is where you want your powerhead. After 24 hours has passed, bring the powerhead closer to the top to increase the oxygen. Dissolving salt with water uses the oxygen up in the water, so you need to replace this.
After the first 24 hours has passed, check the salinity and pH and adjust accordingly. If it is too high, add regular water. If it is too slow, add more salt. If your pH is different from your tank, check your alkalinity. Many times, you need to buffer alkalinity because there are some salts that you give a low alk level.
Once the salinity, pH, kH, and temp are nearly EXACT to your tank, you are ready to do the water change.
When I do a water change, I never dump water into the tank. I have a 5 gallon bucket that I use to take water from my trash can. I put the five gallon bucket on the floor and pump water from the 5 gallon bucket to my sump using a small powerhead and some tubing. This way, the fish are not getting stressed out by you adding a lot of water to the top of the tank. They do not even realize that you are adding water to the tank because it is calm, plus all the water levels are identical to that of the tank. (Plus, this way is a lot less messy).
lion_crazz
Active Member
Originally Posted by Clown Boy
You mean no brine shrimp?
Brine shrimp is a good treat for your fish. I would only use it once or twice a week though, since it really is not nutritious.
You mean no brine shrimp?
Brine shrimp is a good treat for your fish. I would only use it once or twice a week though, since it really is not nutritious.
clown boy
Active Member
Originally Posted by lion_crazz
If your pH is different from your tank, check your alkalinity.
Do I need an alkalinity test kit? I was told that I only needed ones for ammonia, nitrate, nitrite, and pH.....
Originally Posted by lion_crazz
Many times, you need to buffer alkalinity because there are some salts that you give a low alk level.
I use Coralife salt. Is it a good salt?
If your pH is different from your tank, check your alkalinity.
Do I need an alkalinity test kit? I was told that I only needed ones for ammonia, nitrate, nitrite, and pH.....
Originally Posted by lion_crazz
Many times, you need to buffer alkalinity because there are some salts that you give a low alk level.
I use Coralife salt. Is it a good salt?
lion_crazz
Active Member
Coralife is not bad. Right now, your pH is low because your other levels are high. In the future, you may experience pH issues with good ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate levels. kH determines why you have such pH issues most times. You should get an alkalinity test kit though, especially being that you keep a reef aquarium.
lion_crazz
Active Member
No problem! I am here to help anytime you need it :happyfish