Prepping for corals

[ghurlag]

Okay, so I have a cleanup crew in effect now.  We'll see how things progress over the next few days.  For now, I would like to start thinking about what I need to do to prepare for softy corals.  What water parameters should I be testing and where should those parameters be?  Due to financial standing, I probably won't be adding much for awhile outside of what others give out of the goodness of their hearts, but I would like the tank to be ready ASAP.

[Reefd Up]

Ok, start with testing your...

Ammonia
Nitrite
Nitrate
Salinity
Temp
Calcium
Magnesium
Alkalinity
pH

But not just measuring those...measuring them over a time period to determine stability.  It is very unlikely you'll need to worry about calcium, magnesium, & alkalinity due to the low consumption of soft corals, but it's still a good idea to test so you can avoid problems or test if there are problems. 

[ghurlag]

Good - already monitoring:

Ammonia
Nitrite
Nitrate
PH
Salinity
Temp

That leaves:

Calcium
Magnesium
Alkalinity

How sensitive would they be against introducing new fish?  I still have that list to hit.

[Reefd Up]

What are your parameters?  I recommend posting them so we can take a look...it's easy to overlook a problem when you're trying to learn so much. 

[rayviv]

When reefedup says you are ready to add just let me know and I'll have some things to give you. I have to thin mine out abit.
Ray

[Reefd Up]

Lol! I'm not the coral police! I just know how many people think their parameters look ok, they may not be. Better to have a group of eyes look at it than just one. I have some "eagle eyes" zoanthids i'll donate to your tank.

[jd]

I'm not the coral police!

Coral police is better than the Tang Police 

[HUNGER]

that would be a good nickname for u

[cyberwollf]

Coral police is better than the Tang Police 

Here they come!!!

[HUNGER]

that should be my shirt for the frag swap

[jd]

Good one Wes. Heh

[~reefchik~]

Ah....a newb to foist my colt cuttings off on!!!!!   Mwhaaaaaa haaaa haaaa....

Let me know when you're ready.   

[rayviv]

Here they come!!!

Thats Awesome! I love it.

I wasn't implying that, Nikki. I was implying that you would know and they are lucky to have you helping them and they should listen or you'll put them in JAIL!        LOL,LOL,LOL, Just kidin    

And why couldn't I get any "eagle eyes" from you? 
         

[Reefd Up]

Probably cuz I was out at the time you were a newbie! 

[ghurlag]

Steph, I will totally take some colt off your hands.  Anyone have any button polyp colonies they need to thin?  I think they's perty

[ghurlag]

I was going to make some comment about Wu-"Tang", but I won't...

Here are the parameters I have right now (no budget for the rest of the test kits just yet).  These results are a few days old, and I just did a partial water change, so I'll post updated parameters some time this weekend:

Specific Gravity: 1.025
PH: 8.4
Ammonia: 0 ppm
Nitrite: 0 ppm
Nitrate: ~10 ppm (partial water change coming up in next couple days).

Since this test I have added a dozen blue-legged hermit crabs and five nerite snails (Thanks Joel!).  In the sump, I have added some chaeto (Thanks jjoos99!)

The cleaning crew has done a very nice job of cleaning up diatoms and nuisance algae.  I've noticed the crabs get a LOT done at night, with the lights out, and are the most fun to watch in the morning before they find a place to hide out until lights out.

[Reefd Up]

I would get those nitrates down before moving further along. 

I'm sure it's just due to your tank move, but we still gotta ask...

What are you feeding?  How much?  How big of a water change do you plan to do?  Do you have a deep sandbed...or do you plan on one? 

[ghurlag]

Water change was about 5 gallons, give or take...

Right now, the damsel gets the smallest pinch of frozen brine shrimp I can get (thawed, of course) once daily.  At least every other day, I add another pinch of spirulina/HiPro flakes (Aquadine).  The damsel is a voracious eater and is leaving less and less left overs (it seems its comfort level is increasing and it's learning to eat what I feed, when I feed). 

The sandbed isn't cery deep right now - about 1.5 inches.  I have more sand, but I'm not sure how best to go about adding it.  I thought maybe a cupful every couple days over a couple weeks would build up the sandbed with out affecting the ecosystem too badly.  Thoughts?

I'll be at the meeting tomorrow - looking forward to seeing everyone there and getting some pointers!

[ghurlag]

I just re-tested, and all my parameters are still as above (from 5 days ago, and after a water change), sooo...

I tested my makeup water, and it shows nitrates at the same level.

I deduce that one of two things is happening.  1) the test kit is giving faulty readings.  2) my tap water has nitrates at 10ppm

Yes, I know I should be using RO, but I had to set it up more quickly than I anticipated.  I bought some RO at Jack's this week for evap top offs, but it hasn't done much for the nitrates.  Of course, that places a lot of faith in Jack's properly maintaining their RO system.

So what do I do until I can get an RO unit, or a trustworthy source of water???

[Reefd Up]

And there's the source of the nitrates....

The longer you use tap water, the worse time you'll  have getting the tank to a good healthy spot.  If you cannot find someone to buy some RO/DI water off of (including other members), you'll probably need to make yourself a deep sandbed in the sump (or a remote deep sandbed in a 5g bucket).  That will help act as a nitrate sink.  I wouldn't do anything to increase your bioload (buy more fish/feed more). 

Speaking from personal experience...  When I started this hobby, I couldn't afford it, but I didn't realize what I was jumping into.  the more I bought, the more I had to buy to fix more problems.  When tap water caused my tank to be nothing but green hair alage, we resorted to just purifying water through a Brita filter.  Yeah, no joke.  It wasn't much better, but it was better than tap water!  It was cheap on the short term, but would be terribly expensive in the long run.  Some people buy gallons of (distilled, I think) water from the grocery store. 

I'd also skim wet if I were you. 

[rayviv]

Meijers has RO/DI here in the hts. for29c a gal and when I was buying it last year it was still a new machine. I think that would be Much better than Jacks' water.

[cyberwollf]

Meijers has RO/DI here in the hts. for29c a gal and when I was buying it last year it was still a new machine. I think that would be Much better than Jacks' water.

if you go this route, borrow someones tds meter to check it. They don't change filters very often, I've heard of people that couldn't find the source of their problems only to find out grocery store "rodi" was >100 tds

[rayviv]

good point; I had a TDS meter to check. Plus the store was new.

[Reefd Up]

Ahhh, I love the Huber Meijer......  lol (sorry...I just really do...)

[ghurlag]

Being former law enforcement, and altogether a little passively cynical, I tend not to trust large commercial organizations at their word (unless I know the proprietor personally).  I don't like having to trust that water I am paying for is what it is purported to be, especially given the body of information indicating that poor quality water is the norm.  

I am looking at RO/DI units now...  Buckeye Field Supply looks to be the winner so far.  Any other suggestions for price/performance?

[rayviv]

Get the one that has best ratio of good to bad water to save on water bill. E-mail Russ or call him and he will do rite by you. I have a 100GPD and ratio is 3-1 at o TDS most of the time. I push usage on filters and cartridges    

[Reefd Up]

Even though BFS isn't a sponsor anymore they are VERY helpful and have really good quality equipment.  Russ gave us a great demonstration on different quality RO/DI units, what to look for, trouble-shooting, etc.  I'm sure some of us can give you some pointers at the meeting.

[ghurlag]

The way I see it, if BFS can't sponsor because of the economy, it's the club's duty to reciprocate the support they have provided in the past so they can return as sponsors ASAP (that and they are the least expensive I can find )

[Reefd Up]

The way I see it, if BFS can't sponsor because of the economy, it's the club's duty to reciprocate the support they have provided in the past so they can return as sponsors ASAP (that and they are the least expensive I can find )

Great way to look at it!  It concerns me how we can keep sponsors like BFS since RO/DI parts aren't something we buy all the time (twice a year for replacement cartridges for me...and that's it.) 

[ghurlag]

That is a tuffy...

[rayviv]

Even though BFS isn't a sponsor anymore they are VERY helpful and have really good quality equipment.  Russ gave us a great demonstration on different quality RO/DI units, what to look for, trouble-shooting, etc.  I'm sure some of us can give you some pointers at the meeting.

Are they still going to honor the gift certs. that are pending?

[lazylivin]

I think that sponsor gift certificates expired at end of year.

[Reefd Up]

I know some sponsors have in the past honored them beyond the current year (especially when they were from December), but it is entirely up to each sponsor.  Some sponsors placed expiration dates on their cards.  Best thing to do is just contact them to see if they will still honor it.

[Wall_Tank]

The card I have says Expires Dec 2010

[ghurlag]

Thanks, Reef'd Up for the "contribution."  I'll be watching closely to see what develops.  What kind of coral is it?

[Reefd Up]

It's just a few small, hardy, zoanthids (button polyps).  They're called "Eagle Eyes".  If they don't make it, no worries...there's more where that came from.  Just figured it'd be a cheap, nice start to your coral collection.  If they do well, you can move on to something else.