set my tank up but have ?s

oceanist

oceanist

Member
Hey I finally set my tank up , its 55 gallons i put 40 pounds of uncured live rock and like 10 pounds of live sand mixed with crushed coral rock , now i have questions , Last night (when I segt it up my amonia was at .5 ph 8.0-8.4 Alk over300 nitrate 15 and nitrite 3.0
today it is amonia .5+ , ph 8.4+ , alk 300+ ,nitrie 3.0 nitrate 20 , what should i do , should i do water changes ,just let it cycle , keep lights on/off , I dont know , Oh my temp is 82.2 and my salinity is about 1.028
 
D

dholmblad

Guest
You should be doing plenty of water changes while it is cycling. This is normal.
 
S

sensesfail

Guest
Whoa, I wouldnt do any water changes until the tank fully cycles. Then when it does cycle, do a 25% water change.
 
oceanist

oceanist

Member
ok so no water changes , what if the water smells foul , that probably just part of the cycle from the uncured rock , so when should i do my first water change , and should i use additives right now , also i was told dont run the carbon right now , i also have 2 powerheads that each push 400 gph, i have opne hooked up , should i hook up the other one?
 
prelag

prelag

New Member
You can hook up the other powerhead and be fine. As far as the not using "carbon" that is a personal preference and more likely then not used to speed up the cycle. I always cycle my tanks with a power filter using carbon. It takes longer but you dont get the nasty smell.
I would do a 20 percent water change once the cycle is up. Also, what additives are you trying to put in your tank?
 
oceanist

oceanist

Member
right now , if i dont need additives , i dont want to use them , but if there are specific ones i should be using , i was just wondering what they are , also can i put a few crabs in right now to keep things clean or should i wait on that?
 
prelag

prelag

New Member
You shouldnt need additivies. There are certain fish stores that sell bacteria in a bag that suppesdly helps speed up the tank cycle. Ive never tried it so I cant comment on that.
As far as the crabs go it depends on the size of your tank. In anything over 30 gallons I would say they SHOULD be ok. Is there a chance they could die? Sure, but hermit crabs are pretty cheap. If you want to buy a few and throw them in there I say go for it.
 
oceanist

oceanist

Member
right on , thank you prelag , yeah i have a 55 gallon , as far as how long the cycle takes i dont mind im pretty patient , i just want it done right . :)
 
carshark

carshark

Active Member
whoa!!!first are you using a hydrometer or refractometer to measure salinity? your salinity IMO is a little high! id aim to be around 1.025 if you are going to maintain inverts, also the smell and high water perameters is a result of massive die off from the rock you put in. also did you use tap water to fill the tank? and if you did, did you use a water conditioner? my fav. is "prime" thats the best on the market IMO. was the rock you purchased cycled before you put it in, what i mean is, did you buy it from a LFS then put it in your tank? or did you order it online etc etc. if it was shipped to you that seems like an aweful high level of ammonia and others as well...how long has the rock, water, and substrate been in there?
oh and no never do any water changes during the cycling!!! that defeats the purpose...
 
prelag

prelag

New Member
I agree Carshark, I didnt catch the salinity was 1.028. So, I guess you are looking at a slight water change. Take out say 5-10 percent of your tank water. Refill, test salinity, then go from there. I know it sucks, but thats the only way to get it back down! =[
Also, expanding on what carshark said...
I only ever use R/O water. It can be readily/cheaply attained from local supermarkets. I used 5 gallon sparklett bottle jugs to get mine. With 3 5 gallon jugs it took me 2 trips to fill my 30 gallon.
Using tap water will in most cases cause a lot of nasty algae!
 
prelag

prelag

New Member
One more note. When I say refill after taking out 5-10 percent of your water, I mean refill without any salt. Just add some R/O water then test salinity. If its low, add a wee bit of salt and wait a few minutes for it to dissolve. Then, test again.
Personally, Id shoot for 1.023. But 1.026 is the highest id go.
 
carshark

carshark

Active Member
my salinity is usually at 1.022-1.024, inverts like higher salinity like at 1.025 but no more than that really, also maybe try bringing your temp down a bit, SLOWLY, like a small turn of the gauge every day until it drops to about 80 or less, i keep mine at about 77-78 but thats personal preference i guess, also tap water will raise levels a bit because of all the minerals thats in it, RO water (reverse osmosis water) from the grocery store is a must, the best solution is to get an RO unit, it will save you time and money in the long run, but i live in a condo which is temporary so installing one would be a hassle. your PH is on the high side as well, id try to get to around 8.2 if you can but wait to see what that does after it cycles, the live rock once its cycled will probably drop it a bit, but watch it closely....means that your alk is high as well, but again wait till it cycles. now as far as the salinity, you will have to drop it and a water change is neccessary for this situation, id say itll prolly take about 10 gallons to get it down, if not more, try that first and then see, use RO water!!!!!!, it may also bring down your levels so just keep testing till its right, once the levels go down and stabilize, wait about 2-3 weeks and do a water change(if neccessary), and you should be ready for fish! only one though, slowly!!!!!!!
 
the reef

the reef

Member
I would imagine if you take out some watter and add watter with no salt untel you get your sg to 1.025 this will also help lower your alk and your ph your ph may not lower right away but will slow down because the buffer will not alow it to drop rapidly but it will flucate during the cycle
 
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