Welcome, there's quite a few of us from the Buckeye state!
New from Cincinnati
Welcome! I am born and raised in Ohio but have now migrated across the bridge to Northern KY. It looks like I might be a short drive around I-275 from you. Let me know if I can help.
Cleanup crew. Reverse osmosis and deionization unit.
OP
OP
Hey guys! Here’s an update..
i test the levels while I’m breaking in new equipment every two days. Here’s the levels. What would you advise that I add to the water? BTW the water is two huge containers I purchased at a fish store near me of real salt water!
i test the levels while I’m breaking in new equipment every two days. Here’s the levels. What would you advise that I add to the water? BTW the water is two huge containers I purchased at a fish store near me of real salt water!
Big box store?
The reason that I am asking is that those don't look like they are salt water safe, meaning depending on what they are they could be leaching things into your tank that you don't want.
Long ago I set up a freshwater planted tank with the help of my buddy. I put some bricks in the tank that I thought were kewl. Needless to say I started having algae problems. My friend laughed at me and told me to get them out. Sure enough algae went away after I removed them.
The lesson is that you have to be careful the type of rocks that you put in your aquarium.
OP
OP
The store is called Planet Pet in Lawrenceburg INBig box store?
The reason that I am asking is that those don't look like they are salt water safe, meaning depending on what they are they could be leaching things into your tank that you don't want.
Long ago I set up a freshwater planted tank with the help of my buddy. I put some bricks in the tank that I thought were kewl. Needless to say I started having algae problems. My friend laughed at me and told me to get them out. Sure enough algae went away after I removed them.
The lesson is that you have to be careful the type of rocks that you put in your aquarium.
purchased them AND THE WHITE BAG OF SAND AND BLACK SAND ( is that safe?) all at that store named above
Hmmmm ...
Do you have the brands on the sand? The black sand people have had problems with it leaching iron. The white sand if it is silicate isn't helping with buffering your tank, though other than that it is inert. Better to use a calcium carbonate based sand.
I really think those rocks should go though, I know that type of rock and they usually use it for cichlid tanks to buffer the ph, but I am pretty sure it leaches minerals into the tank. I am not sure exactly but it is usually iron.
I noticed on this thread there are several people from your area. Reach out to them to find a good salt water store in your area. Having a access to a good LFS (and their stuff not necessarily their advice) makes all the difference in the world.
I really don't want to tell you to change the sand because that would be a huge pain in the **** ... but
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You have biology in the sand, so I would keep a cup of it in the bottom of the tank if you decide you want to change the sand. That way the new sand will have something to seed it, and you can pull the cup of old sand out when the new sand is fully seeded.
If you do get new sand make sure that it is calcium carbonate based. CaribSea is usually the go to for sand for salt water tanks. They also make a 'live' version. This might be appropriate for what you are doing.
Sorry about all of this, but these kinds of things cause all kinds of problems in the long run with tanks often times leaving people scratching their heads as to why things are going south.
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This isn't good. At least the black sand won't leach ... ??? Right away. I would pull these sands.
You have biology in the sand, so I would keep a cup of it in the bottom of the tank if you decide you want to change the sand. That way the new sand will have something to seed it, and you can pull the cup of old sand out when the new sand is fully seeded.
If you do get new sand make sure that it is calcium carbonate based. CaribSea is usually the go to for sand for salt water tanks. They also make a 'live' version. This might be appropriate for what you are doing.
Sorry about all of this, but these kinds of things cause all kinds of problems in the long run with tanks often times leaving people scratching their heads as to why things are going south.
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