RO System ?....1st time RO user....Confused

[jamie289]

Okay, have been reading all kinds of threads regarding water used for the tank. Tank only set up for about 1 month, doing good, getting ready to "break" the cycle since levels spiked, past 2 days started dropping, brown algae growth everywhere. 1st ?, can I get a clean up crew this weekend to get rid of the brown algae? Don't like the algae look. lol 2nd ?, started tank on tap water, just purchased a Kent RO system due to everything I have been reading on water and want to change over, silly ?, how do I change over? 3rd ?, do I wait until my tank has completely cycled then do my water change with the new RO system? I get everything else, when it comes to the RO system, it seems to be little confusing to me. Any suggestions or comments would be greatly appreciated. Thanks so much for all the help in advance.

 

[dragonzim]

You can add your cleanup crew once your levels are back down to zero from your cycle.
As for the water, if your cycle is complete you should be OK to start doing water changes. I would just change out a little at a time and use your RO water now instead of tap water. Technically you can do up to a 50% water change without any problems but I dont think I would do that much. I'd start with doing maybe 10-20% changes a maybe twice a week. You can do this while you've got your cleanup crew in there. Give it 2 weeks or so with just the cleanup crew and you should be all set to slowly add some fish.
How big is the tank?

 

[mie]

Welcome to the forums and good morning. Once your ammonia levels are zero your cycle will be done this usually takes about three weeks and a good indicator that it is done is your alage bloom will sudenly stop growing or grow significantly slower. I would suggest purchasing a 50 gallon or so rubbermaid garbage can and filling it up with ro water and mix up your salt in that,and routine water changes will get your system totally on ro water in no time. I ran tap for the first 5 months.And it sounds like your cycle is done just do a water test and let us know, good luck.

 

[mie]

you beat me

 

[jamie289]

55 gallon, theres already some inverts & some fish in there with 30 lbs LR so far and LS. I went the fish route for cycling vs the ghost feeding, etc. Remember new to this and probably should've cycled differently. 15% water change twice a week with the RO system until I have replaced 1/2 or all the water? Once that's done then always use the RO system vs any other water, etc? Is is okay to have ammonia leval of 1, can't seem to get it @ 0. Any other ?s please ask. I'm just thankful for the help and this forum, just became member a week ago or so.

 

[jamie289]

Thanks so much, I can't get my ammonia level @ 0, it's been @ 1 for 2 days, the trite and trate levels are 0 though. Is that okay?

 

[mie]

Just continue to do water changes untill it goes to 0, (do not use chemicals)
A reading of 1 will not kill your fish but it is not good for them either. and yes reg water changes of twice a week like dragonzim said is going to be just fine, And how many fish do you have? What type of filtration do you have? i.e to much fish, to much waste, not enough filtration or live rock = ammonia.

 

[jamie289]

Went with a wet/dry filtration system, $300, have the following fish: 1 clown, 1 yellow tang, 3 damsels, 1 lawnmower blenny, 1 bicolor pseucromis (spelling ?), and a little clean up crew, 8 hermits, 2 peppermint shrimp. Have LR & LS. Do you think to many fish, I would think the filtration system purchased would handle the couple fish? What do u think?

 

[mie]

(Pseudochromis ) The bi load is right there, the tang should be in a larger set up min 75 gallons,and they produce alot of waste, this might be part of the prob. I woud'nt freak out just be diligant on your water changes feed every OTHER day and make sure you have alage or seaweed for the lawnmower blenny and the tang or they will starve. Also watch the Pseudochromis around your shrimp he could become a snack. (The shrimp could be eaten)

 

[jamie289]

I read about the tang being in 75 ga, the LFS told me he'd be okay in 55 ga since it is small and they grow large. He seems to be the only problem if any, except the ammonia being @ 1. I have PLENTY of algae since @ end of cycle and also feed both romaine lettuce and seaweed every other or 2 days, both tang and blenny love it, seaweed more than the lettuce. Thanks again for the help, now have more confidence on the RO. Edit, just checked water and for the 1st time ammonia level @ 0. I want to jump for joy. So happy. I guess I can start my 1st water change this evening with the new RO. Will let everyone know how it works out. Again thanks soooooo much for all the help.

 

[mie]

Try not feeding the tang and blenny any seaweed for a while see if they can help with that alage problem. and dont always listen to lfs, small now but they will get bigger. Good luck

 

[ophiura]

Did your LFS sell you all of these fish to a cycling tank?
YOu need to IMMEDIATELY stop shopping there. IMMEDIATELY.
You should ideally not have any fish in the tank right now...but wow.
The filtration system is not "seeded" it is the bacteria that grow during the cycle that actually do a lot of the filtration. You are way overdoing it on that front. So you will have trouble, and you may continue to have trouble for some time. I would remove some of the fish, definitely cut down on feeding, and let the tank properly cycle.

 

[jamie289]

LFS sold all except the yellow tang, that was an impatient purchase, plus had a firefish in, that's the only 1 that was lost to this point. Thought the RO was confusing, don't know what "seeded" is? The LR was cured already from the LFS, wouldn't that help with bacteria? What am I overdoing? What will I have trouble with later? Feeding everyother or 2-3 days is too much? What do u recommend for the tank to "properly cycle"????

 

[ophiura]

Seeded means that the wet/dry is basically useless for several weeks, while bacteria colonize the bioballs. This typically occurs during the cycling period, but there will be a significant lag time where ammonia will be present. Any ammonia in the tank is a stress to all the animals in there.
Cured LR is definitely good - but how do you know it was cured? How long did the LFS have it or did you buy it from a mature system? If they only had it a couple of weeks, my guess is it wasn't cured. What did it smell like?
Cured LR in a slightly stocked tank will be sufficient to carry the bioload. If you had ammonia in the tank, the LR was not sufficient for this. You exceeded the ability of the bacteria to use the ammonia, and there was a lag time for it to "catch up." Unfortunately this results in stress for the fish.
Fish cycling often relies on a "worst case scenario" approach of heavy feedings. If you don't give a darn about the fish (typically damsels), most people don't care. But if you put valuable fish in there, you can't do this method of cycling. You must stock slow and feed only a little, or you can end up in a pretty dire situation (ammonia).
IMO, the tang is a high waste producer and definitely shouldn't be in a new tank just due to water instability. IMO, 7 fish in a brand new 55g is heading for big trouble . Overstocking, and stocking two quickly are probably the two biggest reasons new tanks fail. And the LFS is MORE than happy to take your money while you do this.

 

[jamie289]

Sorry for the late response. Thank you for the clarification. Which brings me to more ?s. LFS sold all and said LR was cured, now beginning to think just taking my money, lol. Don't know if was cured, thinking probably not since having problems with my levels. Have had the tank up and running for about 1 month with all the above in it, didn't cycle right away, starting cycling maybe 2 weeks into the tank. Have been checking the levels every day and not sure what's going on except probably overstocked, maybe, thanks to LFS. The levels all spiked about 1 week ago however taking a little longer to go down, have the brown algae everywhere but not slowing up or going away. My levels as of this am are as follows:
Ammonia--- 0.25
Nitrite--- 5.0
Nitrate---- 40 (this is where my problem is, was really low couple days ago)
Salinity--- 1.023
PH--- 8.2 to 8.4
Only feed every 2 days, feed cyclop-eeze and prime reef flakes, alternate. Am carefully watching to NOT over-feed. Could you please help or give me some insight as to why my Nitrate level is so high when just days ago all 3 main levels were under 1. Thanks in advance for all help given. I greatly appreciate it.

 

[tat2tillidie]

well sometime a tank can get break through cycles which means that your tank is cycling again!! my tank did it and it fouled me all up i was confused to why it was doing that. my 2 cents is that whenever i add any new livestock i put a little (tlc) in there or i suggest buying ( biosphira) which is bio in a bag its expensive but it cycles your tank fast.

 

[jamie289]

Thinking about doing my 1st water change with RO water this evening in hopes of lower Nitrate level. Should I wait until tank completly cycled before I do a water change or can I do it now, would it hurt? Also this weekend upgrading my PS to a bigger 1, the ASM G4 Series, I think. Also want to get a clean up crew this weekend, is it too early, only adding little @ a time, like maybe 5 more hermits and some snails to get rid of the ugly brown algae from cycling, or maybe I should wait on the clean up crew until tank done cycling. I'm confused again. lol. Just when I think I might know or figured it out, another twist. lol. Any suggestions please. Thanks again.

 

[ophiura]

Nitrate is the least of your concerns. Having ammonia and nitrite are huge concerns if you have fish, as both are significantly more toxic than nitrate. You have nitrate because your tank is going through a cycle. Especially if you had higher levels of ammonia at some point, you would hope that you developed higher nitrates (it means something is working ).
I personally would not spend money on biospira if you have live rock already. Personal preference, but you already have the bacteria. I see no reason to feed the cyclopeeze at this point. Most of it will be wasted and just cause issues.

 

[jamie289]

please help! Really confused. My tanks parameters on Monday is above. Monday evening I did a 15% water change with RO water (previously started on tap). Checked my parameters again today and they went up???? Not sure why??? Only feed every other day sometimes 2 to make sure NOT over-feeding. What is happening or what can I do to get my water levels where there supposed to be?? Today are as follows:
ammonia---0.25
Nitrite---5.0 & above, dark purple
Nitrate---80/160, really red
Salinity---1.022/23
PH---8.4 to 8.8
What am I doing wrong. please help a newbie. Thanks in advance.

 

[ophiura]

IMO, if you really want to solve this, I would remove the fish.
I don't know if I asked already (don't see it) what test kits do you use, and do you have these readings verified at the LFS (or at a different LFS if you only get readings at the store).
Stop feeding cyclopeeze immediately. How often are your rinsing off any sponges (eg a prefilter sponge) in your system?
What are the readings on your newly mixed saltwater (eg need to make sure you are not adding things in the water).