Fishdad's Reef Setup
- Thread starter FishDad
- Start date
No not now. I am actually using RO/DI water. Do you mean Prime or something like that? But yeah I'd say its overactivating the skimmer. You were right about the bubbles, as soon as I put the salt in I got that nice cappuccino look, and its making pure white foam in the cup. I lowered the water level to reduce the foam collection a bit.
I never used anything but tap water with my marine tanks. Funny, as I use RO water for some of my freshwater tanks to lower the GH/KH for some fish.
You are doing things right to go slow and test equipment out. So hard to figure out what is wrong when you've made several recent changes!
FYI - if you do ever use tap water and want a water conditioner, Prime works well. It won't overactivate your skimmer.
You are doing things right to go slow and test equipment out. So hard to figure out what is wrong when you've made several recent changes!
FYI - if you do ever use tap water and want a water conditioner, Prime works well. It won't overactivate your skimmer.
I wouldn't use tap water in a reef display tank. i dislike having an overabundance of nutrients and other things in my tap water that cause too much algae to grow and maybe some stuff can even kill coral, idk. my tap water is 600TDS lmao. if you had lower TDS tap maybe it would work and can save some money rather than getting RO/DI (might be more expensive than tap).
When I lived in Florida, we had to avoid doing water changes after huge rainfalls in the spring or fall, due to possible fertilizer runoff from citrus groves in the area. But because it usually rained a little every friggin' day for most of the year, tap water was never an issue to use. In fact, a store I used to collect with (capturing fish for sale while SCUBA diving) used tap water to make saltwater that they sold per gallon to those that didn't want to mix it themselves.
Prime is what I use for my freshwater tanks, but I'm assuming that chlorine and chloramine are removed through the filtration process in an RO unit.
Everything seems to be working well. Added the salt last night and today it measured around 33ppt or 1.025. Trying to get it to 35 or 1.265. Just added some more salt, we'll see where that gets me. Going to add live rock today as well. Not much, maybe 20lbs or so, just enough to fit in the sump. Then some dry rock in the DT and some live sand. I'll see if I can get some pics later.
Everything seems to be working well. Added the salt last night and today it measured around 33ppt or 1.025. Trying to get it to 35 or 1.265. Just added some more salt, we'll see where that gets me. Going to add live rock today as well. Not much, maybe 20lbs or so, just enough to fit in the sump. Then some dry rock in the DT and some live sand. I'll see if I can get some pics later.
It should remove both if functioning properly. I test my RO unit every month to see if filters need replaced. Depends on the size unit you have and how much water you make.
For my FW tanks that I use RO water with, I still use Prime, but its because I mix RO with tap. I dose for the whole volume (only 2 drops per gallon) rather than just the tap water portion, because I'm too lazy to remember what the ratio I'm mixing is LOL
So if I am using 2 gallons RO, 3 gallons tap, I still dose the bucket for 5 gallons. Seachem prolly loves me for that LOL!
For my FW tanks that I use RO water with, I still use Prime, but its because I mix RO with tap. I dose for the whole volume (only 2 drops per gallon) rather than just the tap water portion, because I'm too lazy to remember what the ratio I'm mixing is LOL
So if I am using 2 gallons RO, 3 gallons tap, I still dose the bucket for 5 gallons. Seachem prolly loves me for that LOL!
yep i'd also still use a bit of prime for the RO/DI just to be safe, especially around the time when you think the filters are about to go on the unit.
you'd actually want 1.025SG. when the water evaporates it'll likely get closer to 1.026SG and then you add FW to bring it back to 1.025SG as top off. so it goes back and forth.
you'd actually want 1.025SG. when the water evaporates it'll likely get closer to 1.026SG and then you add FW to bring it back to 1.025SG as top off. so it goes back and forth.
Honestly on the refractometer its nearly impossible to tell the difference between the two. It did look like the line was just a shade below 35 so it may very well be closer to 1.25 just from going of the conversion chart that came with the meter.
BTW, got some live rock today. Got about 20 lbs in the sump and about 20 in the DT. I'll post a pic tomorrow, the tank is cloudy right now from the live sand. Plus I think I was getting a bacteria bloom. Good sign.
BTW, got some live rock today. Got about 20 lbs in the sump and about 20 in the DT. I'll post a pic tomorrow, the tank is cloudy right now from the live sand. Plus I think I was getting a bacteria bloom. Good sign.
i'd say 1.025SG-1.026SG is the range would want to be at for a reef environment with fish. i don't think fish mind being up that high since they live on reefs in the wild. that should be your target range. it's what i always aimed for and kept mine at, and its always what i read others were doing. you just need to keep it as constant as possible and everything will be ok.
Looks like I lost about a gallon of water since last night. SG came in at 1.025. So I may need a little more salt, I'll see what happens after I top off.
Small set back however. With all the equipment running, lights and NO HEATER my tank is at a steady 85 degrees. I don't see any way around holding off on livestock until I get a chiller.
What do you guys think?
Small set back however. With all the equipment running, lights and NO HEATER my tank is at a steady 85 degrees. I don't see any way around holding off on livestock until I get a chiller.
What do you guys think?
Hah, Hot in Cleveland? isn't that a tv show? It was 82 today and could easily be 49 tomorrow.
I just did some pricing on chillers for my size tank and that's just simply not going to happen. So I think I'm going to have to ditch the versa tops again to try and let the tank release heat. I'll just deal with the evaporation. I also read about people who fixed little fans above their tanks to shoot air across the surface. Not a bad idea.
I just did some pricing on chillers for my size tank and that's just simply not going to happen. So I think I'm going to have to ditch the versa tops again to try and let the tank release heat. I'll just deal with the evaporation. I also read about people who fixed little fans above their tanks to shoot air across the surface. Not a bad idea.
For my tanks (this was in southern Florida), I had fans built into the canopies that ran only when the lights were on. This served to blow off some of the heat produced by the lights, so it didn't get the chance to heat up the water as much.
However, I don't think 81 is too high. As with a lot of aquarium parameters, I think its sudden changes that stress our aquarium fish/inverts. My tanks ran mid-80s in the summer months with no problems or die-off of coral, sponge, or fish.
Look into the data of the temperatures of tropical reefs in the wild. Those I dove had temps at the bottom (80ft or so for where I lived) that stayed 78-82 in the summer months. The shallower were even hotter, topping at 85ish.
However, I don't think 81 is too high. As with a lot of aquarium parameters, I think its sudden changes that stress our aquarium fish/inverts. My tanks ran mid-80s in the summer months with no problems or die-off of coral, sponge, or fish.
Look into the data of the temperatures of tropical reefs in the wild. Those I dove had temps at the bottom (80ft or so for where I lived) that stayed 78-82 in the summer months. The shallower were even hotter, topping at 85ish.
i remember my pico reef survived a summer heatwave topping out at around 90F water temps. but i could tell the corals were stressed at that point and some of my zoas lost a little color. this is nearing the extremes for reef tanks. i still think 85F is too hot.
fans are a good idea. you can also glue some metal shaft to a large heasink and then run a fan on top of that heatsink so that it will suck the heat out of the water. this is how an iceprobe chiller works i think. i used to own two of those. idk if the concept will work for a big tank like this though...probably not so forget i even said this haha...
fans are a good idea. you can also glue some metal shaft to a large heasink and then run a fan on top of that heatsink so that it will suck the heat out of the water. this is how an iceprobe chiller works i think. i used to own two of those. idk if the concept will work for a big tank like this though...probably not so forget i even said this haha...
Thanks guys. My light fixture does have fans built into it. Last night I removed the lids and this morning the temp is down to about 80. I'd like to keep it there. Good to know that they can survive in the 80's. I thought above 78 was a big no no.
On another note I wish I would have bought a RO unit with an auto shut off. To set up an auto top off would be a nice thing to have.
On another note I wish I would have bought a RO unit with an auto shut off. To set up an auto top off would be a nice thing to have.
yes i had auto top offs on my 10 gal nano and 3 gal pico before. very convenient as i could leave both tanks for a month with 5-10 gals reservoirs each and they would be completely fine when i got back (a bit of algae growth but nothing too bad).
i think auto top off is really worth it. get a bucket reservoir and hook up an airline to it or something with another aqualifter connected to an ATO system or float switch.
i think auto top off is really worth it. get a bucket reservoir and hook up an airline to it or something with another aqualifter connected to an ATO system or float switch.