How do you keep fish alive???

[konrade]

I have a 29 galon sw with a damsel, an sfe I know I know, and a coral beauty. It is not as hard as everyone makes it out to be imo they are just saying that because of what they have read or heard, no offense. I do 20% water changes a week and have three 150gph bio wheels and 20 pounfds of lr. Everything is fine and if you do what these people say then it will be a success they know there stuff.

 

[rstiles]

snipe
your right,about it being a refractometer-from what I'm reading thay have a fish only tank.

 

[snipe]

They have crabs and snails in there so it isnt a fish only

 

[hansgraf]

O.k. I'm back for more input. :jumping:
Sat. I went out a bought a bunch on RO water from walmart. I bought an ammonia tester and a Nitrite tester and a ph buffer. Sat night my levels were -
PH - 8.1
Nitrite - .2
Nitrate - 10
Ammonia - .1
Salt - 1.023
I did a 10% water change on Sun. using RO water that I had opened and put salt in on Sat. night. It sat overnight and through most of Sun before I added it.
Today my levels are
PH - 8.1
Nitrite - .1
Nitrate - 5
Ammonia - 0
Salt - 1.024
So the way I see it, all levels are o.k. I just need to bring my salt and PH up. I put the PH buffer block in yesterday and it has not completely dissolved yet so I will watch that.
How do I bring my salt up slowly. One point per weekly water change or add alittle bit of RO water with dissolved salt every couple of days. Suggestions!!!!!
When can I try to add another fish??? My last one died on FRi.
rstiles and snipe - I have two chromies, a brittle star, an emerald star, 6 turbo snails and numerous other smaller snails and hermit crabs. So what kind of tank do I have???? :thinking:

 

[snipe]

You have a kinda inbetween a FOWLR and Reef tank. You have fish and inverts but no coral. IMO one more small addition of RO water with a small amount of salt will get your SG up to .026. Salt dont evaporate so when your water evaporates and you go to topoff add alittle salt to the water first (top off with some saltwater). It will bring it up and you will be good.
Wait till your nitrites are 0 and try adding 1 fish and see if that works.

 

[merredeth]

Originally Posted by hansgraf
How much salt do you put in 1/2 gallon of water?... I do a 10% water change every week using tap water. By the way, what is RO water?
1/2 a cup per gallon of water is what the directions are on my salt. Therefor, you would use 1/4 cup of salt for half a gallon. Aerate the salt. I generally mix my salt and water for 24 hours with an air stone and attach it to pump and let it mix. I mix in 5 gallon water jugs I have purchased from my R/O water supplier. Which brings me to your next question.
R/O is reverse Osmosis. You can buy R/O water from places that sell water conditioning products - like Culligans or Rainsoft. You can buy the water or rent the equipment. Rainsoft is over-priced and you can buy or rent other models if you want one installed in your home.
Using tap water is mistake. More than likely your city is adding chlorine to the water which could be a big part of your problem.
Denise M.

 

[merredeth]

Originally Posted by hansgraf
Answers,
I do a 10% water change once a week. When I do the water change, I dipp a 1/2 gallon pitcher in the top and take some water out (4 times). I have a 2 gallon bucket that I fill with water and add Stress Zyme water conditioner/dechlorinater and then add the salt and let it dissovle before adding it back to the tank. Any input on my water change method?
Don't you vaccuum the tank when you do the water change?
Denise M.

 

[oreo12]

It realy sounds to me like your tank has just not fully cycled yet. Don't do water changes to bring your leveals down just let the tank take care of that then you should not get any more spikes unles you over feed a hole bunch or you add more life than a 29 can suport. I have a 29 with 5 fish a large star fish many snails some type of shrimp and some corals. It has been up 11 years +- I also have a 75 gal with 7 large fish that are also doing great I have never done a water chage on the 75 gal it has been up 4 months and was a 54 gal coner until i moved the contents plus some sand and rock to the 75. unless you have corals water changes don't in mo just top off with ro water and dont let the pacific gravity change much and you should be fine. water changes in the reef are inportant because the salt mix has addaitves the corals use up.

 

[merredeth]

Originally Posted by oreo12
water changes in the reef are inportant because the salt mix has addaitves the corals use up.
I don't do corals... yet. I'm still researching the heck out of some of the ones I like so I can make wise choices for my tanks.
I use a product called Essential Elements from Kent that replenish the additives every so often. Are you using any kind of additive replenishment in addition to water changes with your corals?
Now, instead of such frequent water changes for a coral system, why could'nt one just use an additive to the water? Or can it be done? Now, I'm a little confused here. :thinking:
Denise Me.

 

[lennon]

It realy sounds to me like your tank has just not fully cycled yet. Don't do water changes to bring your leveals down just let the tank take care of that then you should not get any more spikes unles you over feed a hole bunch or you add more life than a 29 can suport. I have a 29 with 5 fish a large star fish many snails some type of shrimp and some corals. It has been up 11 years +- I also have a 75 gal with 7 large fish that are also doing great I have never done a water chage on the 75 gal it has been up 4 months and was a 54 gal coner until i moved the contents plus some sand and rock to the 75. unless you have corals water changes don't in mo just top off with ro water and dont QUOTE]

Wow, great info Oreo. So you don't feel you need water changes unless I do coral?
I am getting ready to get a 49 or 55 gallon DT and was not sure if I should do FOWLR or what. I did need to cut down on maintenance and not having to do water changes every week would be great!!!
What equipment do you have?? I would love to get items that were successful and appreciate any advice you experts can give.

 

[oreo12]

I have had fish in the 29 gal for 11 years +- I never did water changes in there untill I added the coral no I only add iodine to my tank with corals the kena tree and xenia seem to do better when I add it. My 75 gal has been up since fathers day with out any water changes. My nitrates are real high high as they go on the chart but the fish don't seem to mind and I keep the alage scraped out. I have 2 power heads in the 29 . 4 power heads on the 75 with a prizom skimmer and an interal power filter with live rock inside insteed of media a small wisper power filter with carbon in it. That is what works for me but might not work for you. O yae I have 300lbs of sand in the 75 and 100lbs live rock. in the 29 I use a skilter the large one with carbon it has crushed coral because I never changed it and that was what we used way back then when I sat it up I have 40lbs of rock in it. Live rock seems to be the key in mo.

 

[oreo12]

here is a photo of my set up