How long before Coralline...

[pgsasi]

HI All,
My new aquarium was installed on 05Feb. Since this was an upgrade from my old one, I used most of my old sand bed (along with 7kg of new one - Bio active Live Aragonite), live rocks along with 10Kg of new ones and the fishes from day 1. The aquarium size is 90x60x60cm and its an overflow type. Sump capacity is about 30L.

Fishes I have - 5 percula false clowns, 1 tomato clown, 1 watchman goby, 1 yellow tang, 2 purple dart fish, 1 damsel, few snails.... all these are perfectly fine.....

Light - 200W Metal Halide lamp.

I test my water once a month and below are the test results from the March & April tests.

22 March 2010
SG - 1.025 - Digital monitor
temp - 26 - digital thermometer
Ph - 8.4 - digital monitor
No2 - 0.05 ppm(Red Sea test kit)
No3 - Low 50ppm (Red Sea test kit)
NH4/NH3 - <0.25 (color was between 0 (yelloe) and 0.25 (green) and so I think its less than 0.25

24 April 2010
SG - 1.024 - Digital monitor
temp - 25 - digital thermometer
Ph - 8.0 - digital monitor
No2 - 0.05ppm (Red Sea test kit)
No3 - Low 5ppm (Red Sea test kit)
NH4/NH3 - <0.25 (color was between 0 (yelloe) and 0.25 (green) and so I think its less than 0.25 (Red Sea test kit)
Calcium - 450 (0.9ml of titrant) (Red Sea test kit)

Note: Between March and April, I did a partial change my filter foam..I change 30L of water every week. I use RO water to make my salt water. I had a diatom bloom about 5 weeks back and i bought 2 turbo snails to eat them... I see very little green algae growing on the inside of my glass now, which I clean once every week. No other algae and I have 3 pumps inside the aquarium for water circulation.

I see my Nitrate going down between March and April. And I don't see Coralline algae yet even though my calcium is at very good level. Can someone tell me what is going on here?

Should I be scared about the presence of very little ammonia in the aquarium? How good are the cultured Nitrifying bacteria ? Can I use them to get the Ammonia and Nitrite under control ? Please advise.... Thanks

Regards / Sashi

[rluix]

HI All,
My new aquarium was installed on 05Feb. Since this was an upgrade from my old one, I used most of my old sand bed (along with 7kg of new one - Bio active Live Aragonite), live rocks along with 10Kg of new ones and the fishes from day 1. The aquarium size is 90x60x60cm and its an overflow type. Sump capacity is about 30L.

Fishes I have - 5 percula false clowns, 1 tomato clown, 1 watchman goby, 1 yellow tang, 2 purple dart fish, 1 damsel, few snails.... all these are perfectly fine.....

Light - 200W Metal Halide lamp.

I test my water once a month and below are the test results from the March & April tests.

22 March 2010
SG - 1.025 - Digital monitor
temp - 26 - digital thermometer
Ph - 8.4 - digital monitor
No2 - 0.05 ppm(Red Sea test kit)
No3 - Low 50ppm (Red Sea test kit)
NH4/NH3 - <0.25 (color was between 0 (yelloe) and 0.25 (green) and so I think its less than 0.25

24 April 2010
SG - 1.024 - Digital monitor
temp - 25 - digital thermometer
Ph - 8.0 - digital monitor
No2 - 0.05ppm (Red Sea test kit)
No3 - Low 5ppm (Red Sea test kit)
NH4/NH3 - <0.25 (color was between 0 (yelloe) and 0.25 (green) and so I think its less than 0.25 (Red Sea test kit)
Calcium - 450 (0.9ml of titrant) (Red Sea test kit)

Note: Between March and April, I did a partial change my filter foam..I change 30L of water every week. I use RO water to make my salt water. I had a diatom bloom about 5 weeks back and i bought 2 turbo snails to eat them... I see very little green algae growing on the inside of my glass now, which I clean once every week. No other algae and I have 3 pumps inside the aquarium for water circulation.

I see my Nitrate going down between March and April. And I don't see Coralline algae yet even though my calcium is at very good level. Can someone tell me what is going on here?

Should I be scared about the presence of very little ammonia in the aquarium? How good are the cultured Nitrifying bacteria ? Can I use them to get the Ammonia and Nitrite under control ? Please advise.... Thanks

Regards / Sashi

Don't mix clown species, the tomato is agressive, and am i right wen you say that you are fish cycling? then the tang will prob. get ich, and infect the other fish, tangs are the first fish that get ich in a tank, especially if you are fish cycling, and after this happens forget about the corals and ivert's because unless you have QT tank you will have to use ich medicine wich contains copper, wich kills corals and other inverts.
Also, copper are not good for the fish also, they don't like copper and overdosing can kill the fish.
The combination of No2, No3 and NH4 is letal, you have all those three together in one tank. coralline won't prob. apear.

Im sorry but, your tank is not cylcled, if it was nitrite and ammonia would be at 0. Did you do any research?

[Steve McKay]

Don't mix clown species, the tomato is agressive, and am i right wen you say that you are fish cycling? then the tang will prob. get ich, and infect the other fish, tangs are the first fish that get ich in a tank, especially if you are fish cycling, and after this happens forget about the corals and ivert's because unless you have QT tank you will have to use ich medicine wich contains copper, wich kills corals and other inverts.
Also, copper are not good for the fish also, they don't like copper and overdosing can kill the fish.
The combination of No2, No3 and NH4 is letal, you have all those three together in one tank. coralline won't prob. apear.

Im sorry but, your tank is not cylcled, if it was nitrite and ammonia would be at 0. Did you do any research?

+1

Coraline algae takes time to grow. You will not see any new growth for at least a couple months. Just keep your Ca,Alk and Mg levels up and you will have coralline algae in time. Don't add any so called additives such as Purple Up they will not speed up coralline algae growth.

[Ninong]

Sashi,

If your nitrate is 5 ppm, that's excellent, especially at this stage. Nitrite at 0.05 ppm is not a problem. I wouldn't be concerned about that. Ammonia test kits are notoriously inaccurate and none of them accurately measures ammonia below .50 ppm. In fact, Salifert doesn't even claim that their ammonia test kit is capable of measuring ammonia below 0.50 ppm. If your hobby test kit is measuring below 0.25 ppm, then I think you're okay.

Your calcium at 450 ppm is fine but you didn't post your alkalinity or your magnesium. Calcium, alkalinity and magnesium are all closely tied together. Remember, there is three times as much magnesium in the water as there is calcium, so it's important. Your calcium should be around 450 ppm, your magnesium should be around 1300 ppm and your alkalinity should be between 8-12 dKH.

I wouldn't worry about new coralline algae. It will show up on its own if your calcium, magnesium and alkalinity are all in balance.

I would agree with others that your tomato clown is a potential threat to harass your ocellaris clowns. I assume it was together with the other clowns in your previous tank, is that correct? How long have they been together?

How are your five ocellaris clowns doing together? This is one of the few species that seems to be fine in large groups like this in a tank of your size (90 gallons). Have your ocellaris clowns formed one family unit or two? In other words, do you have one female, one male and three sexually immature fish or do you have two females, two males and one sexually immature fish? If they're in two separate groups, you probably have two females. If they're in one large group, you probably have one female.

P.S. -- I believe you've had all of those clowns for more than three years now, is that right? Has the tomato been leaving the others alone all that time?

[pgsasi]

All, Thanks for the replies...

Ninong,
you are right...my clowns have been together for over 3 years now. Tomato clown is strong but doesn't harass the other clowns except during feeding..but I make sure everyone eats.... The ocellaris clowns move around in one group.. I have one LARGE female (bigger than my tomato clown), 1 male and others just follow these two. During nights, the male and female are always together and the others leave them alone... and yes these clowns were together in my old tank.. the new fishes I have added are the tang and purple dart fish..

I dont have a test kit for Magnesium. Let me buy one right away... ( any suggestions??) and I missed my alk test... Will do it tonight.. (wondering how I forgot)..

Thanks once again everyone..

Cheers / Sashi

[Ninong]

I used Salifert's magnesium test kit. It seemed to work okay.

[sfreefer]

HI All,
My new aquarium was installed on 05Feb. Since this was an upgrade from my old one, I used most of my old sand bed (along with 7kg of new one - Bio active Live Aragonite), live rocks along with 10Kg of new ones and the fishes from day 1. The aquarium size is 90x60x60cm and its an overflow type. Sump capacity is about 30L.

Fishes I have - 5 percula false clowns, 1 tomato clown, 1 watchman goby, 1 yellow tang, 2 purple dart fish, 1 damsel, few snails.... all these are perfectly fine.....

Light - 200W Metal Halide lamp.

I test my water once a month and below are the test results from the March & April tests.

22 March 2010
SG - 1.025 - Digital monitor
temp - 26 - digital thermometer
Ph - 8.4 - digital monitor
No2 - 0.05 ppm(Red Sea test kit)
No3 - Low 50ppm (Red Sea test kit)
NH4/NH3 - <0.25 (color was between 0 (yelloe) and 0.25 (green) and so I think its less than 0.25

24 April 2010
SG - 1.024 - Digital monitor
temp - 25 - digital thermometer
Ph - 8.0 - digital monitor
No2 - 0.05ppm (Red Sea test kit)
No3 - Low 5ppm (Red Sea test kit)
NH4/NH3 - <0.25 (color was between 0 (yelloe) and 0.25 (green) and so I think its less than 0.25 (Red Sea test kit)
Calcium - 450 (0.9ml of titrant) (Red Sea test kit)

Note: Between March and April, I did a partial change my filter foam..I change 30L of water every week. I use RO water to make my salt water. I had a diatom bloom about 5 weeks back and i bought 2 turbo snails to eat them... I see very little green algae growing on the inside of my glass now, which I clean once every week. No other algae and I have 3 pumps inside the aquarium for water circulation.

I see my Nitrate going down between March and April. And I don't see Coralline algae yet even though my calcium is at very good level. Can someone tell me what is going on here?

Should I be scared about the presence of very little ammonia in the aquarium? How good are the cultured Nitrifying bacteria ? Can I use them to get the Ammonia and Nitrite under control ? Please advise.... Thanks

Regards / Sashi

You are doing okay with your water parameters. No way you can trust any of those water test kits. And don't listen to rluix suggestion of not mixing those clowns together. If they are doing okay then keep it the way it is.

[Steve McKay]

You are doing okay with your water parameters. No way you can trust any of those water test kits. And don't listen to rluix suggestion of not mixing those clowns together. If they are doing okay then keep it the way it is.

No, don't listen to you. Tell me wise one, how do you know what your water parameters are without test kits. Are you one of those people that tastes their water and can tell it's alright. Your one of the three stooges in the thread my 125 ltr tank aren't you.

[Ninong]

Okay, let's not turn this thread into another you-know-what.

[Ninong]

It's clear from reading the posts, that rluix mistakenly believed that Sashi was brand new to the hobby and that this new 90-gal tank was a brand new undertaking. He didn't realize that Sashi has been keeping all of these fish together for more than three years and that the livestock, live rock and some of the sand were all transferred from the old tank.

However, his advice to avoid mixing a tomato clown with ocellaris clowns is reasonable advice to offer to a new hobbyist who may not know that this is a risky idea. If he had known that Sashi has been keeping them together in a smaller aquarium for the past three years, I'm sure he might have worded his post differently. In any case, it's valid advice in most cases.

As far as sfreefer's comment about not trusting test kits, there is a lot of truth to that statement even if it is overly broad. I used many different types of Salifert test kits and I had problems with several of them. Some of them were stale -- very, very stale! Others provided inaccurate results in spite of the fact that they were supposedly fresh. All you have to do is read the experiences posted to Salifert's sponsor's forum on that other very large reefkeeping bulletin board. You can no longer read any of those very lengthy threads describing problems with Salifert's test kits because Salifert asked that the forum be removed from public view.

My comment to Sashi that I used Salifert's magnesium test kit and that it appeared to be okay is based on my personal experience with problems with other Salifert test kits, including their iodine, phosphate and boron test kits. They agreed to replace the phosphate and boron test kits. They did replace the phosphate test kit but they decided to simply refund my money on the boron test kit after I complained to them that the replacement boron kit they sent me was also more than six years old.

So I agree with sfreefer that some hobby test kits are unreliable. In fact, some of the cheaper ones are a total waste of money. I used LaMotte's test kits for calcium and alkalinity but I used Salifert's for everything else. I liked LaMotte's test kits but they're a little pricey.

So when it comes to hobby test kits, my advice is caveat emptor.

[Steve McKay]

As far as sfreefer's comment about not trusting test kits, there is a lot of truth to that statement even if it is overly broad. I used many different types of Salifert test kits and I had problems with several of them. Some of them were stale -- very, very stale! Others provided inaccurate results in spite of the fact that they were supposedly fresh. All you have to do is read the experiences posted to Salifert's sponsor's forum on that other very large reefkeeping bulletin board. You can no longer read any of those very lengthy threads describing problems with Salifert's test kits because Salifert asked that the forum be removed from public view.

Don't worry I'll only state my comment one time and then drop it, it's like this statement "Never argue with an idiot. They will drag you down to their level and beat you with experience". He made a broad statement that test kits were no good. His statement "No way you can trust any of those water test kits". We both know some test kits are inaccurate but without test kits you would not know what your water parameters are in the first place. Secondly if you had a problem how would you go about solving it? And lastly if you go to the thread "my 125 ltr tank" and read it you will find yourself dying with laughter because you have now read statements from two of the three stooges stumpy316uk and sfreefer.

[stumpy316uk]

Don't worry I'll only state my comment one time and then drop it, it's like this statement "Never argue with an idiot. They will drag you down to their level and beat you with experience". He made a broad statement that test kits were no good. His statement "No way you can trust any of those water test kits". We both know some test kits are inaccurate but without test kits you would not know what your water parameters are in the first place. Secondly if you had a problem how would you go about solving it? And lastly if you go to the thread "my 125 ltr tank" and read it you will find yourself dying with laughter because you have now read statements from two of the three stooges stumpy316uk and sfreefer.

thanks for that steve didn't know you care and what a stooges?? did u get that from one of ur books again

[rluix]

thanks for that steve didn't know you care and what a stooges?? did u get that from one of ur books again

Why are you here? Do you have to follow everyone? Don't you nothing better to do? Just wanted to say this, im off, i won't reply to any of your PM's or Messanges no more.

[rluix]

It's clear from reading the posts, that rluix mistakenly believed that Sashi was brand new to the hobby and that this new 90-gal tank was a brand new undertaking. He didn't realize that Sashi has been keeping all of these fish together for more than three years and that the livestock, live rock and some of the sand were all transferred from the old tank.

However, his advice to avoid mixing a tomato clown with ocellaris clowns is reasonable advice to offer to a new hobbyist who may not know that this is a risky idea. If he had known that Sashi has been keeping them together in a smaller aquarium for the past three years, I'm sure he might have worded his post differently. In any case, it's valid advice in most cases.

As far as sfreefer's comment about not trusting test kits, there is a lot of truth to that statement even if it is overly broad. I used many different types of Salifert test kits and I had problems with several of them. Some of them were stale -- very, very stale! Others provided inaccurate results in spite of the fact that they were supposedly fresh. All you have to do is read the experiences posted to Salifert's sponsor's forum on that other very large reefkeeping bulletin board. You can no longer read any of those very lengthy threads describing problems with Salifert's test kits because Salifert asked that the forum be removed from public view.

My comment to Sashi that I used Salifert's magnesium test kit and that it appeared to be okay is based on my personal experience with problems with other Salifert test kits, including their iodine, phosphate and boron test kits. They agreed to replace the phosphate and boron test kits. They did replace the phosphate test kit but they decided to simply refund my money on the boron test kit after I complained to them that the replacement boron kit they sent me was also more than six years old.

So I agree with sfreefer that some hobby test kits are unreliable. In fact, some of the cheaper ones are a total waste of money. I used LaMotte's test kits for calcium and alkalinity but I used Salifert's for everything else. I liked LaMotte's test kits but they're a little pricey.

So when it comes to hobby test kits, my advice is caveat emptor.

Also, yes, i didn't know he had the tank for 3 years, and was that missing info more the test results that made me make that reply, im sorry

[stumpy316uk]

Why are you here? Do you have to follow everyone? Don't you nothing better to do? Just wanted to say this, im off, i won't reply to any of your PM's or Messanges no more.

my name was said on here so i reply yeah i have got lots to do but it can wait. i haven't pm or message u so don't worry bout it.

would liketo speak sorry pgsasi for the spam on here by somepeople