mike

Just completed 4 test on my 75 gallon the results were

salinity 1.025
calcium 440
kh 11 (ppm kh 196.9)
phosphate 0.25
nitrates 80 ppm
i added the water and 60 pounds of sand, 5 was live sand, on 12-27-06. 1 week later 40 pounds of live rock with amazing growth (rock added on 1-3-07) i have done one water change 12 gallons on saturday how does this look? any sugestions. thanks

Radom

Calcium, salanity and alkalinity are fine. Phosphate and nitrates are high and your goal is to have them undetectable. To be honest its too early to test your water if you are cycling unless all you did was move your sand/rock from old to new tank (give more history, is this a new tank, rock from local store and not exposed to air during shipment etc..). You also stated that live rock came with an amazing growth. I'm assuming that this is uncured rock and most of that growth will die (possible thats your source of high nitrate) in next few weeks. As things start to die you will see ammonia level go up then come down and nitrite will spike and then it will be converted into nitrate.

Moreover, what's your ammonia and nitrite and ph levels at? Knowing this you can determine better what's happening. Post more info on the state of the rock (store cured, from someones tank, shipped "fresh" from Fiji etc...)

mike

the rock is store cured one of the peices is completly covered with coraline alage about 5 inches across lots of tube worms, and this is a new tank nitrates are 80 ppm do i want my ph at 7.0 or a little bit higher

Loman

Mike,
The pH will be a bit higher in salt. If I recall correctly 7.4 to 7.6 is considered ideal. My tap water has a high pH 8.0 and there is no ill effect. In general I think it is better to go with the natural pH than to try and chase it around unless the pH is way way off.

__________________
Loman

24 Gallon Saltwater Aquapod
1 Royal Gramma
1 Blue Devil
1 Bicolor Chromis Lyretail
1 Scooter Blenny
1 Chocolate Chip Star Fish
Crabs and Snails

20 Gallon Freshwater
Swords, Zebra Danio, Neon Tetras, Albino Cat Fish, Plecostomus, snails

10 Gallon QT Saltwater
10 Gallon QT Freshwater (Divided)

Tommy Gun

You will always want a Ph level in the range of 8.2 to 8.5 or close to that in a saltwater tank. Unlike freshwater, the Oceans are generally the same Ph and the SW fish do not adapt well to high or low Ph like freshwater fish do. If you are using a good salt mix, then it should be pretty close just because of the trace elements. Some people have problems keeping thier Ph stable in saltwater when using tap water because then both the water and salt mix have trace elements which affect this....hence one of the reasons why RO water is usually made and used in combo with the salt mixes.

The nitrates in your tank will not matter a whole lot while cycling until you start adding a clean up crew. To do a water change in the middle of your cycle to reduce nitrates will also reduce ammonia and nitrites, hindering the ability for the bacteria to grow due to a reduced food source for them. I also read that it may help out to keep the tank temp a bit higher (85 to 90 degrees) while cycling as this is ideal for the bacteria while fishless cycling. Up to you on that one though. Otherwise, it is going to be hard to have no trace of nitrates in your tank, especially a young tank. Once the tank is completely cycled, meaning that not only is the nitrogen cycle complete (the one that you have to wait to add fish for), the tank has gone through the algea stages and what not, it will become easier and easier to reduce nitrates since some of the critters and other life in the tank will feed from them or otherwise take them out of the water. This is why people generally advise against keeping certain things in your tank for a year, like sensative corals, anemones and even some fish...so it can completely cycle.

Loman

Mike,
Tommy is correct on the pH. I zoned and cited the ideal for fresh water. Saltwater from my notes is ideally between 8.0 and 8.4. The substrate in saltwater often helps establish and buffer the pH .

__________________
Loman

24 Gallon Saltwater Aquapod
1 Royal Gramma
1 Blue Devil
1 Bicolor Chromis Lyretail
1 Scooter Blenny
1 Chocolate Chip Star Fish
Crabs and Snails

20 Gallon Freshwater
Swords, Zebra Danio, Neon Tetras, Albino Cat Fish, Plecostomus, snails

10 Gallon QT Saltwater
10 Gallon QT Freshwater (Divided)

Radom

Tommy always got the answer. And good luck with the new tank. One thing to remember is that with sw tank you need to be patient. Wait till your water chemistry is right and cycling is over before placing corals/fish (cleaning crew can be added earlier but not too many at once due to limited food source in a new tank).

Tommy Gun

Thanks Random, but I am only 'spitting' back information that I learned a few months ago when I was starting out. It is nothing special at all.

The one thing I wanted to add is that water testing will be your very best friend here. I still test my tank at least twice a week and more often when I something has been added or changed. I test most regularly for ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, Ph, phosphates, and calcium (because of the few corals I have).

I would also use a good quality salt mix as this will put everything you need in the tank all at once for you and in the appropriate amounts. You will know what is the right amount by attempting to keep the salinity right at all times. Remember too that as water evaporates, the salt stays behind so you want to add freshwater to it. Only add saltwater when you are doing a water change.

If you have ANY questions, this is a great place to ask and I assure you that there are tons of people on here with great information that is mostly based upon real life experiences.

mike

thanks for the input everyone my wife and kids said they saw a tiny white starfish on the glass with three arms ?????? also i have lots of feather dusters emerging and what i beleive to be aptasia one is clear and the others are a redish color will all these things die during the cycle? any thoughts

Tommy Gun

The aptasia is generally considered a problem or pest in a tank, but the good news is that a lot of options as far as fish and inverts that will rid your tank of them easily.

I am not sure if they can survive during the cycling process, and I am sure that depending on the severity of the cycle (based upon how cured the live rock/sand was or is when you added it), some things can make it easily and others cannot. I have a few 'feather dusters' on my live rock still, but I did not go through a real pronounced cycle. I also think that what I have are not feather dusters either but a type of barnicle or other critter that is sort of common. Not 100% sure on that, but I read about them a while back. I should see if I can find that and post more information on it.