Water Readings With New Tank....

[cm11599ps]

I finally set my tank up last night using all dry rock and sand. Here's a shot.

http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e191/yourbasicdj/a94d6b98.jpg

I don't know how I feel about the rock work. I really didn't play with it. I kind of just tossed it in as I went along. I do have to move things around a little bit because my mag float won't reach certain areas because the rocks are too close to the glass. I tossed in a media bag with 2 raw shrimp last night and here's where I stand a day later.

Salinity 1.005
Temperature 73.9
Calcium 180
Carbonate 5 or 89.5
Phosphate .5
pH 8
Nitrate 10
Nitrite 0
Ammonia .25

[125G Reefer]

Right on man. Good luck.

[vorm]

Salinity 1.005


Why do you have it so low?

[cm11599ps]

Why do you have it so low?

It's a 55 gallon with a sump/fuge underneath. I pump my RO water into two 32 gallon brute cans in my garage. I've got float switches in the cans so they stop filling up a few inches from the top. One can is top off, the other for salt mixes and I've got pumps and tubing leading from each can into my tank to make top offs and water changes a hell of a lot easier.

Anyway, I made a batch of salt water and pumped it into the tank. I didn't want to put salt in my top off can so I simply pumped the plain RO water into my tank and have been adding a cup of salt every so often to bring it where it belongs. I hope to be around 1.025 tomorrow. I didn't have enough time today because the house is still a mess from me setting the tank up and the wife was starting to get annoyed. lol Tomorrow's another day!:spin1:

[imolaragazzo]

Yah definitely move around those rocks. Also yes that salinity is really low, and you sure you tests your calc right? since nothing's using it up I'd imagine it to be right around 400 with this fresh salt. You have any heaters in there to bring the temp up as well? SOmewhere around 78-80 is a good place to have it.

Edit: I guess you were doing it in mg/l so your calc is right, I was just thinking in ppm

[vorm]

It's a 55 gallon with a sump/fuge underneath. I pump my RO water into two 32 gallon brute cans in my garage. I've got float switches in the cans so they stop filling up a few inches from the top. One can is top off, the other for salt mixes and I've got pumps and tubing leading from each can into my tank to make top offs and water changes a hell of a lot easier.

Anyway, I made a batch of salt water and pumped it into the tank. I didn't want to put salt in my top off can so I simply pumped the plain RO water into my tank and have been adding a cup of salt every so often to bring it where it belongs. I hope to be around 1.025 tomorrow. I didn't have enough time today because the house is still a mess from me setting the tank up and the wife was starting to get annoyed. lol Tomorrow's another day!:spin1:

Ah, gotcha. :)

Setting up a new tank is a bunch of work, makes a big mess, and very tiring. Looking good though, but diffidently move the rock around before you're done. Then you'll move it 10+ more times later trying to get it "just right". :D

Making sure there is enough room to get a cleaner magnet around it everywhere is a smart thing to do though, especially on the front and sides.

[cm11599ps]

The readings are all on the low side as the temperatures are starting to climb. I only turned the heaters on a few hours ago and plan to bring the salinty to a normal level tomorrow.

[cm11599ps]

I finally got my salinity to the proper level so here is where we are standing today....


salinity 1.026
Temperature 78.2
calcium 420
Carbonate 11
phosphate .1
pH 8.25
nitrate 10
nitrite .5
ammonia 2


I'm still scratching my head on the phosphate. When I did my initial leak testing I used tap water and then drained it before adding my RO water. I didn't get ALL of the tap water out of the tank though, I got what I could. When I tested the phosphate a few days ago it looked to be around .5. Now it seems to be in a shade between 0 and .25 on my color card so I'll call it .1 lol

Now that that excitement is over I can wait a few weeks for the cycle to finish. lol