Newbie struggling with water parameters

[imhyder]

Welcome.
In my experience probiotic salt gives you test readings of 0.78 on PH all the time. It can’t be mixed very far in advance so you have to mix a new batch for every water change or it will get slimy. I thought probiotics would be a good thing but my tank is clearer since I switched. Other may have different experiences.
You don’t need a buffer yet.
What did you use to cycle the tank? Just live sand or bottle bacteria? Did you go through the cycle adding an ammonia source?
Have you tested ammonia and nitrates to be sure you’re cycled?

Do not buy a CO2 scrubber for 7.8. That falls within the margin of error for every test on the market.

Also +1 for start a new post in the new to saltwater thread if you haven’t already. Enjoy your tank!

Hey so in terms of cycle, I haven’t done much because the tank was already running for a few weeks with the same water, live sand and rock for about two months at the time I bought it.

I did test ammonia 0 ppm, nitrates 0 ppm and nitrite 0 ppm and they all came out perfect, the only issue was ph and salinity. So I assume the tank has cycled through, correct me if I am wrong.

The only thing that I have added to the tank is a cap full of prime and stability once as advised by LFS and some buffer maybe twice one teaspoon each time for ph.

And a table spoon of salt for salinity.

 

[FishyHotel]

Welcome to the hobby! I followed a similar path of getting a used system and I just started in November. As you are likely finding out there is a lot to learn, but it all comes in time and you will learn everything you need to, as long as you are willing to do the research!

A swing arm is a type of salinity gauge that has a floating arm that will measure salinity. Another type is a refractometer where you put a few drops on the lense and then look at a light source to get the salinity which is what I gather you are using.

I wouldn’t get too beat up about over spending on products, I think most people who are new do it quite a bit, I will say I certainly did.

As for PH mine was quite low for some time, but another thing that I didn’t realize when I started checking it is that it fluctuates through out the day like a sin wave. I am monitoring with an apex and what it shows is that it reaches it maximum value around (~8.3/2)5pm for me and it’s minimum about 8am (7.9). It’s all tied to what’a going on in your tank. The buffer will raise it for a little bit, but it’s more like a bandaid than a solution for the lower ph. Mine just started going up after the tank being run for almost a year. During my investigation of PH I found that oxygen exchange has a lot to do with keeping the ph moving higher.The more CO2 the more acidic your your water will be (think acid rain). My tank is near a window & door and if the weather is bearable outside I will open both up and can definitely notice the PH go higher than on days that the windows stay close. It seems that poor interior ventilation has something to do with it.

As for putting a fish in the water, some fish can stand the presence of some waste and are quite hearty like clown fish, but you will see both proponents for doing or not doing so based on the fish’s experience. I know it’s hard to know when to start, I would suggest trying to make sure you’ve seen a cycle before putting a fish in, but you need both the bacteria (like in the bottle) and a food source for them (ammonia). Putting a clownfish in there will give you the ammonia from its waste, but it can take some time to build the first round of bacteria to convert that to nitrite and then a second round of bacteria will convert that to nitrate which should show in that order if you are testing for each. Once the bacteria is established you shouldn’t see any sign of ammonia or nitrite but some nitrate is good for feeding any coral if you are planning to go that route.

I hope that this is helpful, good luck and just remember this hobby is incredibly beautiful but everything moves slowly and it’s great to enjoy what is currently in the tank for what it is because the waiting / wanting doesn’t go away and the less you change things with the tank the more stable and faster things actually happen as things adapt to their environment.

 

[imhyder]

I think this style of hydrometer is what he’s referring to

Awesome thanks

 

[NanoNana]

Hey so in terms of cycle, I haven’t done much because the tank was already running for a few weeks with the same water, live sand and rock for about two months at the time I bought it.

I did test ammonia 0 ppm, nitrates 0 ppm and nitrite 0 ppm and they all came out perfect, the only issue was ph and salinity. So I assume the tank has cycled through, correct me if I am wrong.

The only thing that I have added to the tank is a cap full of prime and stability once as advised by LFS and some buffer maybe twice one teaspoon each time for ph.

And a table spoon of salt for salinity.

I would add some fish food or a bottled ammonia source just to make sure that your tank is clearing the ammonia.

You should see nitrates if the ammonia is being cleared. Nitrates are good. After 12-24 hours you should see no ammonia but a bump in nitrates. That will tell you for sure your cycle is done.

 

[Rappa]

So this salinity calibration fluid is it like an actual brand product or just some water from LFS’s tank ??

This is just an example. It's not exactly what I use but Brightwell is pretty reputable as far as salt water goes! The Amazon link should bring you to it.


Amazon product

 

[jsker]

 

[CO2TLEY]

@KrisReef which specific brand hydrometer are you using? I just dropped my tropic Marin float hyrometer . Thinking about trying a swing arm this time around

 

[KrisReef]

@KrisReef which specific brand hydrometer are you using? I just dropped my tropic Marin float hyrometer . Thinking about trying a swing arm this time around

I try to find the old Instant Ocean (Made in USA) versions that were a square box shape, clear plastic, black paint on top of raised numbers. They were reliably made but folks complain about getting bubbles on the arm that throw the reading off.

Heres a link that shows the original and compares them favorably, even with the newer models. Old ones have Made in USA printed on the face near the bottom.

Hydrometer rev pro

I'm not sure if they are not making them in the USA again?

Edit: I have been finding them on eBay and have a few new ones in reserve. They are easy to break when dropped.

 

[Jimbhoy13]

Welcome to R2R

 

[imhyder]

Welcome to the hobby! I followed a similar path of getting a used system and I just started in November. As you are likely finding out there is a lot to learn, but it all comes in time and you will learn everything you need to, as long as you are willing to do the research!

A swing arm is a type of salinity gauge that has a floating arm that will measure salinity. Another type is a refractometer where you put a few drops on the lense and then look at a light source to get the salinity which is what I gather you are using.

I wouldn’t get too beat up about over spending on products, I think most people who are new do it quite a bit, I will say I certainly did.

As for PH mine was quite low for some time, but another thing that I didn’t realize when I started checking it is that it fluctuates through out the day like a sin wave. I am monitoring with an apex and what it shows is that it reaches it maximum value around (~8.3/2)5pm for me and it’s minimum about 8am (7.9). It’s all tied to what’a going on in your tank. The buffer will raise it for a little bit, but it’s more like a bandaid than a solution for the lower ph. Mine just started going up after the tank being run for almost a year. During my investigation of PH I found that oxygen exchange has a lot to do with keeping the ph moving higher.The more CO2 the more acidic your your water will be (think acid rain). My tank is near a window & door and if the weather is bearable outside I will open both up and can definitely notice the PH go higher than on days that the windows stay close. It seems that poor interior ventilation has something to do with it.

As for putting a fish in the water, some fish can stand the presence of some waste and are quite hearty like clown fish, but you will see both proponents for doing or not doing so based on the fish’s experience. I know it’s hard to know when to start, I would suggest trying to make sure you’ve seen a cycle before putting a fish in, but you need both the bacteria (like in the bottle) and a food source for them (ammonia). Putting a clownfish in there will give you the ammonia from its waste, but it can take some time to build the first round of bacteria to convert that to nitrite and then a second round of bacteria will convert that to nitrate which should show in that order if you are testing for each. Once the bacteria is established you shouldn’t see any sign of ammonia or nitrite but some nitrate is good for feeding any coral if you are planning to go that route.

I hope that this is helpful, good luck and just remember this hobby is incredibly beautiful but everything moves slowly and it’s great to enjoy what is currently in the tank for what it is because the waiting / wanting doesn’t go away and the less you change things with the tank the more stable and faster things actually happen as things adapt to their environment.

Hey sorry was a little busy past couple of days.

thanks for explaining it all, I have just bought a floating hydrometer today to double check my salinity against readings from refractometer. Unfortunately haven’t been able to find calibration solution yet.

I have been getting a reading of between 1.024- 1.025. I also noticed my ph fluctuate and I think my new readings are putting it somewhere between 7.9 to 8.1 range I have also been adding buffer but with with 2-3 days gap and all up I would say since the very first time I used to date it would under 3 tea spoon.

I have also bought some fish food to test if my cycle has completed so will give you an update on that soon in this thread.

Really excited and looking forward to adding a couple of clown fish in the tank.

 

[imhyder]

This is just an example. It's not exactly what I use but Brightwell is pretty reputable as far as salt water goes! The Amazon link should bring you to it.


Amazon product

Thanks for sharing the link, unfortunately it's not delivering to my location for some reason.

I did find a different brand one on a LFS website for a good price so will be picking it up soon as they are charging too much for delivery lol.

Hope it turns out ok.

 

[imhyder]

This is just an example. It's not exactly what I use but Brightwell is pretty reputable as far as salt water goes! The Amazon link should bring you to it.


Amazon product

Thanks for sharing the link, unfortunately it's not delivering to my location for some reason.

I did find a different brand one on a LFS website for a good price so will be picking it up soon as they are charging too much for delivery lol.

Hope it turns out ok

 

[west co reefer]

Welcome!

 

[Buckster]

Hello and Welcome to R2R! I used the hanna checkers which I felt had reliable results. I use the MA871 Milwaukee digital refractometer which I feel if very reliable. As mentioned by other members, some cheaper fish like damsels could be the course to go to help cycle. I wish you the best in deciding your next step with the suggested input

 

[forestsofkelp]

hello amazing people!!!

A intro about me and my experience to date:

I had been wanting to get into this hobby for years now and finally have managed to buy my very first saltwater tank.

The tank I have bought is a Red Sea MAX Nano Peninsula G2. It was bought second hand due to being so very expensive from Facebook market place and is in excellent condition.

The tank itself is great and all its accessories and parts work perfectly fine.

However there are some issues that I currently am facing and I am not sure if it’s something I am doing wrong or how silly/dumb these may sound to you guys so please bear with me as I would love to learn from your experience and knowledge.

My tank currently has live sand from the previous owner who had put the sand from his other bigger aquarium into this one and some brand new rocks (not live) but now been in the tank for about 4-5 weeks.

Overall the tank looks great and appears to be running fine.

On the day I bought the tank I went to my local fish shop to buy some RODI water and was advised by the shop owner to purchase some additional stuff to help me prep the tank for live stock, currently there is nothing in the tank accept for water, rocks and live sand.

On shop owners recommendation these are the things I bought:

-Mixed Macro Probiotic Salt™ -reef essentials
-Stability - seachem
-Prime- seachem
-reef buffer- seachem
-saltwater master test ki
-salinity checker

Now the issue I am facing is the PH and salinity.

So my ph has remained at about 7.8 and it fails to rise even with the buffer so not sure what to do, i was advised to get a co2 scrubber but i have seen so many videos of people running the same exact tank with only what comes in the box and that’s what I’d like to do too unless there is no other option.

The second issue is salinity, so when I checked my salinity it showed to be 1.024-1.025 but I had forgotten to zero it using tap water or rodi water at the time.

So I took the water into the shop to have it tested to see if it’s ready for fish but the shop said it was 1.021 and suggested to increase it before putting in any fish I took some of his water home to cross check my results against his and this time I was very careful so washed the checker than zeroed it using rodi water and checked my water and it did come out to be low as he had advised at around 1.021-1.022 but when I checked the water from his tank it was showing at 1.029 or 1.030 and according to the shop they are running at 1.026.

Now this has left me so confused and doubting myself whether it’s me doing something wrong or is it the checker that’s broken

I would love to hear what you guys have to say and sorry if all this information was unnecessary but I thought I’ll give you guys a full picture

I would ignore ph for now. Focus on maintaining alk, nitrate, phos and calcium without additives. You probably don’t need any, and they just add variables for when problems crop up.

Spend your time and money on good, clean salt, a good clean water source (eg your own ro/di) and reliable test kits.

Buy a glass hydrometer. It does not need calibration. It’s always correct.
You can use it to calibrate another method if you like. Other methods have too many variables….contaminated controls, lighting, dirty equipment etc. SG has a very narrow window.

The secret to success in this hobby is clean, clean water, good flow, good light, consistency and clean clean water.

Don’t overcomplicate; start with good sources and use reliable tests.

Nearly every problem I have had in 20 years has been chemistry related, either not recognizing an issue or being lazy with maintaining parameters/testing.

 

[PharmrJohn]

Greetings and Welcome to our collective obsession!!!!

 

[phillyb614]

 

[Reef Wizard]