unbreakabl
Member
Need advice please
- Thread starter unbreakabl
- Start date
unbreakabl
Member
Hey guys thanks for the advise! I am still going to attend college and wont be through for quite a while. The thing is though I have 2 friends currently living with me. They will help me out and that is why I want to go back and take care of it. They just recently moved in so this is why I am making this decision. It would look so nice in my living room so what should I test for? Nitrate nitrite? What else? I will do a 20 percent water change tomorrow. Should I clean the sand while I do the water change? Thanks for the help
azfishgal
Active Member
What do you currently have in your tank, what fish and corals? You really need to test for everything: ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, pH, and alk at this point. Also calcium if you have corals or want corals. Having roomates to help is great, just make sure they know what they are doing. You don't want someone using tap water for your top-off or water change. And if you are using tap water, STOP!!!! RO or RO/DI water is best, it will keep your algea to a minimum. And as far as cleaning the sand I wouldn't. Add a good clean up crew, snails, crabs, and they should take care of it for you. A Diamond Goby or Sleeper Goby will also help keep your sand clean.
unbreakabl
Member
Ok thanks guys you are very helpful. So should I add the snails in right away or should I wait a month or so? I am going to start doing a 20 percent water change every week like I used to. So im not sure when to start adding snails and stuff to help clean up my tank. I was using ro water but stoped and just started putting tap water in as top off water. I am going to stop and just use pure ro water. I am planing on adding coral in the future. I have one branch of xenias in the tank and one clown fish as it is right now. How long should I wait until I start adding things in again? I will post my water perimeters when I test for everything. Please post really need advise!
azfishgal
Active Member
I would add the snails right away, but check your parameters before adding anything else. Cerith and Nassarius snails are great at cleaning things up. Once your tank stays stable for a few weeks then it should be safe to add more, but add slowly so you don't increase the bioload to fast. I add a new fish every four weeks (I do QT first). Switching to RO water is also going to help in a BIG way. I would recommend a 20% water change now, but then I would lower it to 10% since you are going to do it weekly. Sounds like you are on the right track. Just remember it's going to take time to get the tank back to where it should be. Have patience and it will look great in a few months. (Take a picture of your tank now, then again in 3 months. It will be fun to see the difference and you'll be able to see the progress you made.)
Note about the Goby. Yes, it will get sand on your lower rocks and some corals that might be on the sand. But if you have good water flow it gets blown off pretty quickly and for me it's a trade off. My Sleeper Goby keeps my sand nice and white, so it's worth it to me.
Note about the Goby. Yes, it will get sand on your lower rocks and some corals that might be on the sand. But if you have good water flow it gets blown off pretty quickly and for me it's a trade off. My Sleeper Goby keeps my sand nice and white, so it's worth it to me.
unbreakabl
Member
Thank you all for the advise! I did a 20 percent water change today and am thinking about doing another one tomorrow or is that to much? I am going to go and buy some snails tomorrow and I wont mess with the sand bed. I have heard not to mess with it. I will post back with the test results thanks guys and keep replying!
exlfs
New Member
Check your water first. Period....end of discussion. Do NOTHING else before you do this.
You might be surprised at what you find, if you have no fish (or extremely ligh bio-load). I've had situations where tanks sat for a while in the absence of feeding fish (and the waste they produce) that have dropped nitrate levels from incredibly high down to literally nothing with absolutely no action on my part. For example, I keep a bunch of rubble rock in old salt buckets in my garage. I use them to attach frags to since I despise plugs, etc (people love my frags when they are growing on live rock instead of a fake plug). All I do for these, is provide them with an air stone and light....that's all. Sometimes, when I add the rubble right after shipping, the nitrates will jump to deadly levels (after the ammonia spikes, etc). A month or so later and the water is actually absolutely perfect! Perhaps a little low on pH or alkalinity, the the REAL important levels (toxic levels such as nitrate, ammonia and nitrite) are absolute zero.
On the other hand......I've had customers over the years, who had excessively high nitrates, and they have water changed until they are blue in the face and their nitrates are still unacceptabel (even in the absence of fish). This is because (though it's a bit more complicated than this) they have caclum-based substrates which can hold on to enormous quantites of nitrate-nitrogen (nitrates as we measure them typically). As you reduce the level of nitrate-nitrogen in the water column, the calcium-based substrate will begin to chemically release (leach out) that nitrate into the water (which has a lower concentration of nitrate than that which is being held in the substrate). The end result is that the water will come into equilibrium with the amount of nitrate that can be saturated within BOTH the substrate AND the water (anything with a dangling oxygen molecule unfortunately). So, you might water change, and water change and water change, and your nitrates keep going right back up....sigh!
So.....given the results of your water tests (mainly your NITRATE results IMHO), you might be in great shape, or BAD shape. Your nitrates will tell.
Test....the re-post your results. Then we can give you some more appropriate suggestions.
Best of luck and God bless!
You might be surprised at what you find, if you have no fish (or extremely ligh bio-load). I've had situations where tanks sat for a while in the absence of feeding fish (and the waste they produce) that have dropped nitrate levels from incredibly high down to literally nothing with absolutely no action on my part. For example, I keep a bunch of rubble rock in old salt buckets in my garage. I use them to attach frags to since I despise plugs, etc (people love my frags when they are growing on live rock instead of a fake plug). All I do for these, is provide them with an air stone and light....that's all. Sometimes, when I add the rubble right after shipping, the nitrates will jump to deadly levels (after the ammonia spikes, etc). A month or so later and the water is actually absolutely perfect! Perhaps a little low on pH or alkalinity, the the REAL important levels (toxic levels such as nitrate, ammonia and nitrite) are absolute zero.
On the other hand......I've had customers over the years, who had excessively high nitrates, and they have water changed until they are blue in the face and their nitrates are still unacceptabel (even in the absence of fish). This is because (though it's a bit more complicated than this) they have caclum-based substrates which can hold on to enormous quantites of nitrate-nitrogen (nitrates as we measure them typically). As you reduce the level of nitrate-nitrogen in the water column, the calcium-based substrate will begin to chemically release (leach out) that nitrate into the water (which has a lower concentration of nitrate than that which is being held in the substrate). The end result is that the water will come into equilibrium with the amount of nitrate that can be saturated within BOTH the substrate AND the water (anything with a dangling oxygen molecule unfortunately). So, you might water change, and water change and water change, and your nitrates keep going right back up....sigh!
So.....given the results of your water tests (mainly your NITRATE results IMHO), you might be in great shape, or BAD shape. Your nitrates will tell.
Test....the re-post your results. Then we can give you some more appropriate suggestions.
Best of luck and God bless!
unbreakabl
Member
Ok I just tested my water for nitrate and here is the result!
Nitrate=40
I also tested my regular tap water that I had recently been adding as top off water and it also tested 40! So what should I do now? Thank you guys been much of help keep replying!
Nitrate=40
I also tested my regular tap water that I had recently been adding as top off water and it also tested 40! So what should I do now? Thank you guys been much of help keep replying!
unbreakabl
Member
Thank you and yes I just tested my ammonia and it is 0! So I am going to go get a clean up crew today! Should I do another water change today or would that be to much? Thanks again guys
azfishgal
Active Member
You said your tap water was 40, but what about the RO water you are now using? You said the water you "had" been using. Are you still using that water? If the water you are using now is at 0 your nitrates should come down with your water changes. My nitrates were at 40 at one point and I didn't lose anything, but you do want to work on getting them down. Also, see about getting some macro-algea like cheato, it eats up the nitrates in the water. I agree with puffer, if your ammonia level is at 0 you can get a clean up crew. Your nitrates are not in "no man's land" but still work on getting it down.
I can't remember, but do you have any type of sponge filter. If so that needs to be washed out (with salt water) weekly. It will be a nitrate factory if left for to long. When I do my water change I simply use the water I took out of my tank to rinse my sponge. It's amazing how much junk builds up after just one week.
I can't remember, but do you have any type of sponge filter. If so that needs to be washed out (with salt water) weekly. It will be a nitrate factory if left for to long. When I do my water change I simply use the water I took out of my tank to rinse my sponge. It's amazing how much junk builds up after just one week.
unbreakabl
Member
Thank you all for your advice! You all have been very helpful! I will post back when I get a clean up crew. Should be getting them in about 2 or 3 days. I am so excited! I will post back with all of my test results!