New Reef Tank - please advise if it's going OK

[John]

Dear Group

I have 110gal tank with Ratz trickle filter/sump system, protien skimmer,
calc reactor, 2x150W MH & 2 Blue Tubes - 4 power heads gives total internal
flow rate of around 1400gal/hour (too high?!)

Plan to keep maily iverts & corals plus up to 6 clowns/goby's. Only been
running for 4 weeks with 60lbs LR, 2 clowns, Luby Worm & Feather Duster. All
water is RO - weekly 10-15% changes for last 3 weeks.

My aquarium supplier recommends salinity level 1.024 which i am concerned
may be a little on the low side. Also, he says ideal temp is 26degC which
other people & books suggest is a bit high?! I'm a novice so please excuse
my ignorance.

Tank appears to have fully cycled now with:
PH - from 7.9 (am) to 8.6 (before lights out)
Specific Gravity - 1.024
nitrite - 0
ammonia - 0
nitrate - below 12.5mg/l
phosphate - 0
Calcium - 420mg/l
Alk - 11DkH
O2 - 7mg/l

I'm concerned about wide PH fluctuations and have been adding Kent KH
buffers in an attempt to stabilise. Got quite a lot of green filamentous
algae which I presume came from phosphate which decayed to zero after 2
weeks.

Would appreciate any help or tips to ensure the tank is stable enough to
introduce more stock.

John

[Marc Levenson]

As your tank stabiliizes, you're pH will as well.

You need to bring your salinity up to 1.026, and at least double your LR
amount. 1 to 1.5 lb/gal

I don't know my celcius conversion, but the ideal range is 78F to 82F with many
people running their reefs between 80F and 84F. Myself, I try never to go
higher than 82F ever.

I'd not add any more buffers at this time (in trying to stabilize pH). It will
equalize out on its own when everything is done. That is a huge swing so I
wouldn't introduce fish or invertebrates yet. Are you using a pH Pinpoint
Monitor or are these the results of a test kit?

I strongly suggest you attempt to remove any of the green hair algae now:
http://www.melevsreef.com/gha.html

You mentioned a trickle filter which sounds like a wet/dry unit. Those are
better suited for Fish Only tanks, not reef setups. You'll want to remove the
bioballs. Check my site for information about sumps, which is linked below.

Marc


John wrote:

> Dear Group
>
> I have 110gal tank with Ratz trickle filter/sump system, protien skimmer,
> calc reactor, 2x150W MH & 2 Blue Tubes - 4 power heads gives total internal
> flow rate of around 1400gal/hour (too high?!)
>
> Plan to keep maily iverts & corals plus up to 6 clowns/goby's. Only been
> running for 4 weeks with 60lbs LR, 2 clowns, Luby Worm & Feather Duster. All
> water is RO - weekly 10-15% changes for last 3 weeks.
>
> My aquarium supplier recommends salinity level 1.024 which i am concerned
> may be a little on the low side. Also, he says ideal temp is 26degC which
> other people & books suggest is a bit high?! I'm a novice so please excuse
> my ignorance.
>
> Tank appears to have fully cycled now with:
> PH - from 7.9 (am) to 8.6 (before lights out)
> Specific Gravity - 1.024
> nitrite - 0
> ammonia - 0
> nitrate - below 12.5mg/l
> phosphate - 0
> Calcium - 420mg/l
> Alk - 11DkH
> O2 - 7mg/l
>
> I'm concerned about wide PH fluctuations and have been adding Kent KH
> buffers in an attempt to stabilise. Got quite a lot of green filamentous
> algae which I presume came from phosphate which decayed to zero after 2
> weeks.
>
> Would appreciate any help or tips to ensure the tank is stable enough to
> introduce more stock.
>
> John

--
Personal Page: http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com/oanda/index.html
Business Page: http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com
Marine Hobbyist: http://www.melevsreef.com

[Taff]

Hi
I live in australia with metric system and centrigrade not farenheight and i
find this conversion chart brilliant for when i need to convert gallons to
litres c to f etc etc.

http://gocanada.about.com/library/xmetric.htm

hope it helps and pass it on

Taff
"Marc Levenson" > wrote in message
...
> As your tank stabiliizes, you're pH will as well.
>
> You need to bring your salinity up to 1.026, and at least double your LR
> amount. 1 to 1.5 lb/gal
>
> I don't know my celcius conversion, but the ideal range is 78F to 82F with
many
> people running their reefs between 80F and 84F. Myself, I try never to go
> higher than 82F ever.
>
> I'd not add any more buffers at this time (in trying to stabilize pH). It
will
> equalize out on its own when everything is done. That is a huge swing so
I
> wouldn't introduce fish or invertebrates yet. Are you using a pH Pinpoint
> Monitor or are these the results of a test kit?
>
> I strongly suggest you attempt to remove any of the green hair algae now:
> http://www.melevsreef.com/gha.html
>
> You mentioned a trickle filter which sounds like a wet/dry unit. Those
are
> better suited for Fish Only tanks, not reef setups. You'll want to remove
the
> bioballs. Check my site for information about sumps, which is linked
below.
>
> Marc
>
>
> John wrote:
>
> > Dear Group
> >
> > I have 110gal tank with Ratz trickle filter/sump system, protien
skimmer,
> > calc reactor, 2x150W MH & 2 Blue Tubes - 4 power heads gives total
internal
> > flow rate of around 1400gal/hour (too high?!)
> >
> > Plan to keep maily iverts & corals plus up to 6 clowns/goby's. Only been
> > running for 4 weeks with 60lbs LR, 2 clowns, Luby Worm & Feather Duster.
All
> > water is RO - weekly 10-15% changes for last 3 weeks.
> >
> > My aquarium supplier recommends salinity level 1.024 which i am
concerned
> > may be a little on the low side. Also, he says ideal temp is 26degC
which
> > other people & books suggest is a bit high?! I'm a novice so please
excuse
> > my ignorance.
> >
> > Tank appears to have fully cycled now with:
> > PH - from 7.9 (am) to 8.6 (before lights out)
> > Specific Gravity - 1.024
> > nitrite - 0
> > ammonia - 0
> > nitrate - below 12.5mg/l
> > phosphate - 0
> > Calcium - 420mg/l
> > Alk - 11DkH
> > O2 - 7mg/l
> >
> > I'm concerned about wide PH fluctuations and have been adding Kent KH
> > buffers in an attempt to stabilise. Got quite a lot of green filamentous
> > algae which I presume came from phosphate which decayed to zero after 2
> > weeks.
> >
> > Would appreciate any help or tips to ensure the tank is stable enough to
> > introduce more stock.
> >
> > John
>
> --
> Personal Page: http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com/oanda/index.html
> Business Page: http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com
> Marine Hobbyist: http://www.melevsreef.com
>
>

[Marc Levenson]

Thanks Taff, that is excellent! Now I know that 30C is 86F (and that is indeed
hotter than I prefer my tanks to be).

Marc


Taff wrote:

> Hi
> I live in australia with metric system and centrigrade not farenheight and i
> find this conversion chart brilliant for when i need to convert gallons to
> litres c to f etc etc.
>
> http://gocanada.about.com/library/xmetric.htm
>
> hope it helps and pass it on
>
> Taff
> "Marc Levenson" > wrote in message
> ...
> > As your tank stabiliizes, you're pH will as well.
> >
> > You need to bring your salinity up to 1.026, and at least double your LR
> > amount. 1 to 1.5 lb/gal
> >
> > I don't know my celcius conversion, but the ideal range is 78F to 82F with
> many
> > people running their reefs between 80F and 84F. Myself, I try never to go
> > higher than 82F ever.
> >
> > I'd not add any more buffers at this time (in trying to stabilize pH). It
> will
> > equalize out on its own when everything is done. That is a huge swing so
> I
> > wouldn't introduce fish or invertebrates yet. Are you using a pH Pinpoint
> > Monitor or are these the results of a test kit?
> >
> > I strongly suggest you attempt to remove any of the green hair algae now:
> > http://www.melevsreef.com/gha.html
> >
> > You mentioned a trickle filter which sounds like a wet/dry unit. Those
> are
> > better suited for Fish Only tanks, not reef setups. You'll want to remove
> the
> > bioballs. Check my site for information about sumps, which is linked
> below.
> >
> > Marc
> >
> >
> > John wrote:
> >
> > > Dear Group
> > >
> > > I have 110gal tank with Ratz trickle filter/sump system, protien
> skimmer,
> > > calc reactor, 2x150W MH & 2 Blue Tubes - 4 power heads gives total
> internal
> > > flow rate of around 1400gal/hour (too high?!)
> > >
> > > Plan to keep maily iverts & corals plus up to 6 clowns/goby's. Only been
> > > running for 4 weeks with 60lbs LR, 2 clowns, Luby Worm & Feather Duster.
> All
> > > water is RO - weekly 10-15% changes for last 3 weeks.
> > >
> > > My aquarium supplier recommends salinity level 1.024 which i am
> concerned
> > > may be a little on the low side. Also, he says ideal temp is 26degC
> which
> > > other people & books suggest is a bit high?! I'm a novice so please
> excuse
> > > my ignorance.
> > >
> > > Tank appears to have fully cycled now with:
> > > PH - from 7.9 (am) to 8.6 (before lights out)
> > > Specific Gravity - 1.024
> > > nitrite - 0
> > > ammonia - 0
> > > nitrate - below 12.5mg/l
> > > phosphate - 0
> > > Calcium - 420mg/l
> > > Alk - 11DkH
> > > O2 - 7mg/l
> > >
> > > I'm concerned about wide PH fluctuations and have been adding Kent KH
> > > buffers in an attempt to stabilise. Got quite a lot of green filamentous
> > > algae which I presume came from phosphate which decayed to zero after 2
> > > weeks.
> > >
> > > Would appreciate any help or tips to ensure the tank is stable enough to
> > > introduce more stock.
> > >
> > > John
> >
> > --
> > Personal Page: http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com/oanda/index.html
> > Business Page: http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com
> > Marine Hobbyist: http://www.melevsreef.com
> >
> >

--
Personal Page: http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com/oanda/index.html
Business Page: http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com
Marine Hobbyist: http://www.melevsreef.com