what to do to get rid of ammonia????

saltwaternewb

saltwaternewb

Member
Just do a water change and start a cycle. Do like monk said and ghost feed or use the shrimp method and get your cycle started. First take out all the live stock and return them to the LFS so they don't have to suffer. Once your tank is properly cycled ad critters. Stay away from chemicals as much as possible because in the end they will do more harm than good.
 
m0nk

m0nk

Active Member
There are pH buffers, Seachem makes one that I use on my QT, though it changes alk as well so I don't use it in my DT. You could go ahead and do it since you're in the early stages, but how far off is your pH? When a tank is cycling (or has a mini-cycle) pH is usually a little off, but it also doesn't really matter too much until you have livestock in there...
 
m0nk

m0nk

Active Member
Originally Posted by beenbag497
its not too far from 8.0

If it's anywhere between 7.8 and 8.2 I wouldn't worry about it, sometimes you'll see pH swings in the .2 range between day and night. If it gets below 7.8 you'll need to figure out why, but a pH buffer might then be a temporary solution. In a QT environment, there typically aren't any natural buffers (live rock and sand buffer pH almost perfectly), so I tend to keep pH artificially buffered.
 
beenbag497

beenbag497

Member
Originally Posted by m0nk
If it's anywhere between 7.8 and 8.2 I wouldn't worry about it, sometimes you'll see pH swings in the .2 range between day and night. If it gets below 7.8 you'll need to figure out why, but a pH buffer might then be a temporary solution. In a QT environment, there typically aren't any natural buffers (live rock and sand buffer pH almost perfectly), so I tend to keep pH artificially buffered.
yeah i think its about 7.8 but someone told me 8.0 to 8.4
 
m0nk

m0nk

Active Member
Originally Posted by beenbag497
yeah i think its about 7.8 but someone told me 8.0 to 8.4

7.8 should be fine. Of course, 8.2 is optimal, but try testing it in the morning, mid-day, evening, and late night and see how it fluctuates. It likely has a low-point of 7.8 and high-point around 8.0 or so.... just a guess though, which is why you might want to check for sure.
 
beenbag497

beenbag497

Member
ok i'll do that tommorow,im just so upset my tank has to cycle for a whole nother month!!(one more thing im going to the lifs today to get the food,first what kind should i get,second,anything else i need,and third and third I CANT BELIEVE ITS GONNA TAKE ANOTHER MONTH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
m0nk

m0nk

Active Member
Originally Posted by beenbag497
ok i'll do that tommorow,im just so upset my tank has to cycle for a whole nother month!!(one more thing im going to the lifs today to get the food,first what kind should i get,second,anything else i need,and third and third I CANT BELIEVE ITS GONNA TAKE ANOTHER MONTH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I can't say whether things are going to take another month, my last tank took 2 weeks to cycle fully. As far as food, it really depends on what fish you intend on keeping. You should research what each fish eats and get food based on that. Mysis shrimp is a good starter, a frozen flat-pack shouldn't cost more than a couple bucks if you want to get that a while, but as far as regular diet, you should have a mix of things so you're not feeding the same thing every day... but again, wait to decide on what else to get until you know what you'll be keeping.
 
beenbag497

beenbag497

Member
Originally Posted by beenbag497
well i plan on keeping two clowns,one snowflake eel and i dont know the third??(maybe a firefish)
so is there any thing else i'll need to pick up??
 
m0nk

m0nk

Active Member
Originally Posted by beenbag497
so is there any thing else i'll need to pick up??
I can't comment on the eel, I've never had one, but the clowns will eat just about anything and stay healthy; they're omnivours. You could pick up a small container of flake food, mysis, and maybe some other type of frozen food like Emerald Entree, and they'd be happy. You could even use Cyclop-eeze, my clowns go crazy for that stuff too.
Like I said, a variety will keep your fish much healthier in the long run.
Also, a though occurred to me on the pH issue... do you have a glass lid or some other type of solid covering on the top of your tank? If so, this might be a part of the low pH. Gas exchange from having an open top can definitely help keep pH much more stable and help it stay at the better level. If you have a glass lid try swapping it out for egg-crate (lighting diffuser). That might help.
 
m0nk

m0nk

Active Member
Originally Posted by beenbag497
i have an aquapod
(not mh)
Yeah, pH will likely always be a slight bit off, though you can see if other members have mods for the Aquapod that can let more fresh air in.
As far as the eel, I don't think you'll be able to get one into an Aquapod (even if it's the 24gal). They need bigger tanks, most eels get really big. I know a guy who has a snowflake that seems too big for his 180g, but he's upgrading to a 300 so it'll have more room.
 
m0nk

m0nk

Active Member
Originally Posted by beenbag497
well i wouldnt keep it all its life......and some other guy did it
Well, just cause someone else did it doesn't make it a good decision.

Again, you might want someone else's opinion on that since I've never had one, but I would recommend against it because of how big they do get, even for the short term.
 
m0nk

m0nk

Active Member
Originally Posted by beenbag497
well i really have my heart set on it

Well, it's like the whole "tang" debate. Someone might come along and say you can do it if you want to, but for the sake of the eel's health, I suggest against it. Feel free to do what you want, but I'm sure there will be several others that recommend against it too. If you really have your heart set on it, then buy a bigger tank.
BTW, most sites say 50 gal minimum for small snowflake eels...
 
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