newbe bought tank w/fish and all, no filtration

meg&ran

meg&ran

Member
Originally Posted by brolik1
Well for starters the ammo has to be at .0, and a nitrate of .5 isnt bad but for a tank with corals zero is preffered. I would bring the ph to about 8.0-8.3. Water changes will bring the nitrates and ammo down for you, and a wet/dry filtration is good for your tank. Emporers have bio wheels which in my case is a nitrate factory, why a bio wheel when you have LR and LS? Try and put more LS you will need about 2-4" of it and then I believe you are fine. The next water chage you will should be next week or so.

but like i siad i changed water two hours ago. to soon to see any change???
for the ph what do. add a buffer? ive got two different bottles i got with the tank and all..
 
ktsdad

ktsdad

Member
Since the ammonia is at .5, that might indicate the tank is starting a cycle.
When we transferred everything from our 60 into the 250 we went thru the same thing.
After a few weeks everything worked itself out.
How long has the tank been set up at your place?
Maybe let things settle for a few weeks, if it is going into a cycle it will work itself out.
Keep an eye on the PH, and get a test kit for Calcium, Alkalinity and Magnesium (they are all connected chemistry wise in salt water tanks). Salifert makes great kits for all 3 mentioned.
Good luck and keep us posted!
 
ktsdad

ktsdad

Member
for the ph what do. add a buffer? ive got two different bottles i got with the tank and all..

Don't use buffer to increase PH regardless of what the label says, you are asking for trouble!
Bang Guy (and others) have posted allot of really good information on what do to fix this problem, try a search for PH and you should get some good results.
 
scubadoo

scubadoo

Active Member
Originally Posted by meg&ran
but like i siad i changed water two hours ago. to soon to see any change???
for the ph what do. add a buffer? ive got two different bottles i got with the tank and all..
Ammonia is deadly.......and test kits can be inaccurate. Are they new kits or did they come with the system?
I'd be more concened with the ammonia then the PH. Make sure that is an accurate reading...what tpe of fish are in the system.?
 
meg&ran

meg&ran

Member
i will get the kit for those three. i moved the tank a day and half ago. i put all but six gallons of water back in allso.
but for the ph when do i need to do something about it. and how fast will it change to BAD. so i guess the ? is, how aften do i need to test it?
 
brolik1

brolik1

Member
Im sorry I forgot you did a water change, and you are just cycling the tank.....oops

Ok, since the tank is kind of new being that you added sand then dont do water changes because you will interupt the "cycle" and we wouldnt want that to happen.One question what do you have in the tank as we speak?
 
meg&ran

meg&ran

Member
Originally Posted by ScubaDoo
Ammonia is deadly.......and test kits can be inaccurate. Are they new kits or did they come with the system?
I'd be more concened with the ammonia then the PH. Make sure that is an accurate reading...what tpe of fish are in the system.?
the test kit is "saltwater master" brand new. and for fish i have
three yellow tangs
one coral Beauty
one copperbanded butterfly
five gromys??
spiny starfich
and many blue crawl fish
ive change water 1/3
 
scubadoo

scubadoo

Active Member
Ammonia kits can sometimes give false readings. Also, the system is too samll to house three yellow tangs to adulthood. Tangs ,angels and butterflies are very sensitive to ammonia. If they look good and are eating you may have a false reading.
I would verify that reading. perhaps you can have a lfs test the water for you. At this point. be more concerned at verifying the ammonia reading as opposed to the ph. A 7.8-8.0 ph at this point is okay. Any trace of ammonia and/or nitrite is not good and can kill the fish.
Tangs are big waste producers so if you had bio -filter die-off in the sand or live rock then it could be an accurate reading. I question it though if all are doing well, eating, etc.
 
meg&ran

meg&ran

Member
yah the fish are good Im new so i take it "lfs" means the fish store, i will but dont know b/c i bought the same one they use.
 
birdy

birdy

Active Member
Ok, since the tank is kind of new being that you added sand then dont do water changes because you will interupt the "cycle" and we wouldnt want that to happen.One question what do you have in the tank as we speak?
I am sorry but I disagree with this comment, ESPECIALLY if there are fish in the tank, if you are showing Ammonia readings above .25 in any tank regardles of during the cycle or at any other time, you should be doing water changes, DAILY if necessary to keep the ammonia levels down so the fish are not effected.
Moving a tank often puts a tank into a temporary cycle, water changes are your best method of keeping things stable.
Don't worry about filtration, a HOB emporer will do nothing to help if you have plenty of LR and LS.
 
meg&ran

meg&ran

Member
thanks, to day the test is better i think lol
pH_7.8
ammonia_.25
nitrite_00
nitrate_0.0
is the ph and ammo in a safe place.
the thing i dont like about this testers, is some times there hard to tell witch color it is shading to. Is there a better tester that dont have you guessing or am i just crazy and it dont mater.
 
birdy

birdy

Active Member
Some tests are better than others, but almost all of them using a color changing system.
IMO Salifert are the most accurate and easy to read.
 
1journeyman

1journeyman

Active Member
Originally Posted by meg&rayn
five gromys??
Probably "Chromis". You can look on this site under "Damsels" for pics of Chromis to make sure.
 
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