50 gallon cube

Allbread · 02-01-2010, 08:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kellsindell

That's a sick tank! I like the bracing on it, a very clean look.

Maybe i missed it, but i didn't see what type of water you are using. Is it RO/Di or is it tap. Perhaps your source water is putting some nitrates into that water?

Using tap water with de-chlorinator drops, pre-mixing with aeration and then in the tank. I wondered if the tap water is problem so I tested the saltwater that I have on standby in another bucket and it registered zero nitrites.

I do, however, rinse out the protein skimmers cup in untreated tap water (then shake it all out and replace it) - could that small amount be a problem?

Allbread · 02-01-2010, 08:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pasfur

This isn't quite right. Yes, you want to maintain correct levels of calcium and alkalinity to encourage coraline algae growth. Just keep in mind, that alkalinity and calcium do not necessarily have to move together. There are many buffering ions that make up marine saltwater, and calcium just happens to be the dominate element that bonds with carbonates. The reason that balanced products, such as BIonic, are so popular, is that they keep the natural ratio of these major and minor buffering ions in tact.

So, you need to test Calcium in addition to Alkalinity. You will probably find that you dose for Calcium more frequently than buffering for Alkalinity, as calcium is used by coraline algae, corals, and to form carbonates.

Its complicated, but so long as you dose both and test regularly, you will get the hang of it pretty quick.

Sounds like I have some reading to do.

Should I suck up some of that algae and do a water change while I'm still showing some nitrites in the water or should I just let it ride until it drops to zero?

Kellsindell · 02-01-2010, 11:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Allbread

Using tap water with de-chlorinator drops, pre-mixing with aeration and then in the tank. I wondered if the tap water is problem so I tested the saltwater that I have on standby in another bucket and it registered zero nitrites.

I do, however, rinse out the protein skimmers cup in untreated tap water (then shake it all out and replace it) - could that small amount be a problem?

Reads zero? That's unusual. I would recommend getting a RO/Di unit. I got mine off ebay, but the company is Air, Water and Ice and i got it for 40 less then online prices and that's after shipping. So i saved about $60. It cost a bit, but it's worth it. You may be getting Zero for NO3, but other thing trace minerals such as metals could be present in the water. Better safe then sorry IMHO.

As for the skimmer thing... i doubt that's the cause of the NO3 in the water. The declorinator will not remove NO3 so if your test kit is correct then you have zero nitrates in your source water and can not worry about it. Have you tested it again just to make sure it wasn't a fluke or anything like that? I find it hard to believe it has nothing in there... (or maybe i'm in aww and it's too late at night for me [i wake at 4am every morning]).

Allbread · 02-02-2010, 08:14 AM

I was testing for nitrites, not nitrates. And, to be clear, I didn't test the tap water but the treated, pre-mixed saltwater that I have on standby for water changes.

I'm not concerned about the No3 levels in my tank - they're at 10ppm which seems like normal levels towards the end of a cycle, right?. I'm just confused as to why the last 1 ppm NO2 won't go away. NH3 is gone so as soon as NO2 hits zero than I can do big water change to get rid of some of the NO3.

Just wondering if I should go ahead and do the water change now and syphon up some of the algae while I"m at it.

Allbread · 02-04-2010, 10:40 AM

Finally a little movement on this tank. I got some sand from the LFS to help seed my rock and sand. THat was two days ago and today my Nitrates are finally going up. I don't see any change in Nitrites but I figure the Nitrates must be coming from somewhere so hopefully they'll start to go down soon.

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