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29gallon newbie

T

timdmb

gasket on the inside, been leak free since i applied the new one about a week now, btw that Automated Water Change System, very cool... hope i can get to that point at some time
 
R

roadking05

I don't trust that swingarm hyrdometer. Make sure you tap it so that you don't have trapped air giving you false reading. Do about 10% waterchange with RODI water like killagoby says.
 
T

timdmb

are all hydrometers quirky? Yesterday i was getting readings of 1.03 today after topping off with about 2.5 gallons of distilled water the needle isnt even moving its staying at 1.016... suggestions? Also yesterday i had pristine clear water, today after cleaning the brown/film algae off my glass yesterday its become fairly cloudy.. is this normal? should i expect the water to become cloudy e verytime i clean my glass?
 
M

mladencovic

timdmb said:
are all hydrometers quirky? Yesterday i was getting readings of 1.03 today after topping off with about 2.5 gallons of distilled water the needle isnt even moving its staying at 1.016... suggestions? Also yesterday i had pristine clear water, today after cleaning the brown/film algae off my glass yesterday its become fairly cloudy.. is this normal? should i expect the water to become cloudy e verytime i clean my glass?
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Assumption is that temperatures of both specimens were roughly the same. Temperature affects salinity measurements very significantly. So, if those were the same (and even if they were not):

Before you use the hydrometer, you need to "wash" it well. That is, if you haven't rinsed it very thoroughly after the previous use, there will be salt deposits on it that will a) impede the free movement of the swing arm (it can be glued to the sides, or the joint can become sticky), b) skew your results by making the water in the instrument more salty then it is.

Therefore, rinse the instrument with the water you want to measure, for couple of minutes, until you observe the very free movement of the swinging arm. Also, while it is not the case in your particular question, after very prolonged and frequent use, the instrument can slowly develop the calcium deposits on the arm which will also distort the measurement (buoyancy changes). Soak it in vinegar for a while and then thoroughly rinse.

Finally, the precision (as of any instrument) should always be verified and calibrated. Simply find someone in your area and you both compare the measurements on your instruments on the same sample of water. And before you get annoyed at your hydrometer, be aware that this 10$ piece of plastic can be far more precise then 60-70$ refractometer.
 
R

roadking05

mladencovic nailed it again. I wouldn't worry about your water being clody. you might of kicked up crap that was on top of the sandbed. You are going through diatom stage with brown film.
 
T

timdmb

so its from my understanding the diatom is commonly seen when a tank is approaching the end of a cycle, it is also to my understanding that diatom outbreaks are usually common in tanks with high phosphate levels, correct me if im wrong, but im asuming that phosphates were high probably due to the initial use of conditioned tap water to start the system, i plan to use distilled water in the future (just easier for the time being until i decied to get ro/di system) will using the distilled water cut down on the diatom/film? and is there a way to clear out the phosphates of the system now (as i dont think water changes would be good considering the tank is stil cycle ie. slow down the cycle)?
 
K

KillaGoby

timdmb said:
so its from my understanding the diatom is commonly seen when a tank is approaching the end of a cycle, it is also to my understanding that diatom outbreaks are usually common in tanks with high phosphate levels, correct me if im wrong, but im asuming that phosphates were high probably due to the initial use of conditioned tap water to start the system, i plan to use distilled water in the future (just easier for the time being until i decied to get ro/di system) will using the distilled water cut down on the diatom/film? and is there a way to clear out the phosphates of the system now (as i dont think water changes would be good considering the tank is stil cycle ie. slow down the cycle)?
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Get a phosphate reactor. Two Little Fishies makes them. It's one of the best things I've done for my tank. You can run one right into your sump.
 
T

timdmb

killa... in regards to the overflow, i have as of lately been getting a gurgling sound coming from the overflow every so often the overflow fills up some then lets out a large amount of water and it gurgles kinda loud, is there a fix for this?
 
K

KillaGoby

timdmb said:
killa... in regards to the overflow, i have as of lately been getting a gurgling sound coming from the overflow every so often the overflow fills up some then lets out a large amount of water and it gurgles kinda loud, is there a fix for this?
Click to expand...

Are you running the return pump at full throttle? That return is only meant to run at a max of 600GPH.
 
T

timdmb

its not going at full throttle, i turned off everything cleaned the glass and when i turned it all back on the gurgling stopped, i also noticed once i have some evaporation and the water goes down to a certain level in the sump the gurgling stops as well
 
R

roadking05

Test your water. If everything read zero, you should be ready to add inverts first. I personally don't think you are ready yet. Patients is a key to success. LOL
 
T

timdmb

def not at 0's yet, what about live rock tho, i figure its gonna go through another mini cycle when i add it anyways, no?
 
S

sinkingbeach

You should be cycling with LR, add the LR now and wait a few weeks before adding critters.

timdmb said:
def not at 0's yet, what about live rock tho, i figure its gonna go through another mini cycle when i add it anyways, no?
Click to expand...
 
M

mladencovic

timdmb said:
how do i know when im ready to start adding things to my tank? ie.. clean up or live rock
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If the live rock is fully cured, you add it immediately so that it becomes a part of nitrogen cycle. If it is not fully curred, some people prefer to cure it first (additional 2-3 weeks before you put in the tank) and some people prefer to cure it in the tank. That way the biomass that the curring is removing, becomes the food for the cycling process and cycling process becomes more prolonged (ammonia and nitrite levels get much higher). Potential problem with adding uncured rock in the tank is that there is greater possibility of introducing unwanted hitchhikers.

You can start adding life to your tank from the day one. However, how much bioload you can add depends on how fast and efficiently your cycling goes. I prefer to start with a few hermits and after couple of days (allowing algae to start growing) a few snails. Some people prefer to wait a long time before introducing first fish, but in reality, there is really no need for that. After a week or two (if the rock was fully cured), you can add small fish and the rest of the cleaning crew. The fish will help the cycle become more intensive. Unfortunately most people use damsels in the cycling process because they are small and cheap (logic being that they would not mind loosing/replacing them after the cycling is done). Problem is that those fish are then difficult to remove from the tank afterwards and the can become very aggressive towards other tankmates and in the end counterproductive. So, if you do not plan to keep damsels forever, do not introduce them in thetank in the cycling process. Plenty of other hardy fish you can use in the cycling process (clowns for example). Just do not use large fish or fish that requires established tanks (pods, algae etc) for feeding.

In any case, monitor all parameters diligently during the cycling process. And remember that nitrogen cycle in the tank is dynamic process that NEVER stops and the only thing that happens is that after some time it finds an equilibrium between various stages and in each step there is a balance between the demand of the nutrients and their supply from the previous step.
 
T

timdmb

so lets just go with the option that i add another 10 pounds of rock to the tank (cured live rock) how do i keep the die off down? water changes often? and as far as unwanted hitchikers, is it that much of a concern? i mean shouldnt i expect the possibility some of the hitchikers may die off as well? and lastly i would think it would be beneficial to the cycle by adding the live rock by adding other types of algae, beneficial bacteria, maybe if im lucky a snail or something no?
 
R

roadking05

Yes,no,yes,yes.LOL Add more rocks and wait a week. During that time do few small water changes and you should be ready to add some life. Come over and I'll give you some critters to start off with.
 
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