Neptune Aquatics

Tank Journal : Converting Fresh water to a Saltwater Tank

Added the Chaeto and powered it up. The O-Ring problem that people been complaining about is real. It's a pain to put the O-Ring on, takes about 15 minutes for me on my 2nd attempt. Going to get a timer and set the schedule for night hours, opposite of when the Display tank lights are on as recommended by Skimz. Overall the unit looks pretty cool. I can open the drawers at night and have a disco party :).


93d68ea36c9ee35d0865cb5baf0a30bf.jpg
c1282f60968645e0cc60dbc338024a66.jpg


Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk
 
Been about 8 days since my last update.
  • Did a nitrate test today, and the the reading is 0ppm, going to keep a close eye on this.
  • Over the past couple of weeks, had a chance to visit all the local aquarium stores to view the lighting options (Kessil, Radio, AI ) in person.
  • Somehow I got side tracked and loaded up on fish, I think I shouldn't get anymore but the hawkfish looks very interesting.
    • 1 yellow tang
    • 1 flame angel
    • 1 diamond goby
    • 1 red firefish
    • 4 blue/green chromis
    • 2 flasher wrasse
    • 1 6 line wrasse
    • 1 solar wrasse
    • 2 darwin clowns
    • 1 melanurus wrasse
    • 4 lyretail anthias (one will probably not make it)
  • Next Step is lighting, I was originally planning on Kessil AP 700, but leaning towards the Radion XR15 Pro Gen 4.
  • Protein Skimmer is breaking in, not too much skimmate.
  • Loudest part of my tank is now the DC pump on the Skimz MBR157 - Will check it out in 4 weeks or so to see what the chaeto looks like.
 
Fish Boss said:
Wooooow! Did you add all of those fish in 1 day! If so, I would check ammonia once a day for a few days to ensure that your bacteria can handle that bioload
Click to expand...

I think it was around March 23, when I first started to add fish. I checked ammonia/nitrite a few days ago, and they were both reading 0 ppm. Since then I haven't tested for them, and only checking on nitrates :).
 
Hey Guys,

Wanted some opinions on water changes. Before when I my fish tank was freshwater, I did about 40-50% water change every week. It was pretty inexpensive since all i had to use was tap water and prime. I usually changed it once/week due to nitrates hitting to 20 ppm range or more.

It's been over 2 weeks since my last water change on my saltwater tank. I was planning on doing a 30% water change this week and maybe moving forward do a 30% water change 2/month. When I tested the water the parameters read.
Nitrites: 0
Ammonia: 0
Nitrates: 10 ppm
Phosphates: 0

I'm also running Phosguard in a reactor with an Algae Reactor also. Should I wait to see an increase in phosphates/nitrates, and determine the length of time and do a water change schedule based on what i observe or just do a water change bi-weekly or monthly?

Forgot to add: I'm feeding about 3x/day.
  • 2x/ocean nutrition flakes
  • 1x/ 1cube frozen mysis shrimp.
  • occasionally marine algae on a clip.

thanks!
 
Well, we don’t really know that you have ZERO phosphate until we know what test kit you are using. It may be lower than what you can detect. But if you phosphate is truly zero it can slow your coral growth down and reduce your algae reactor growth.

Water changes are generally meant to export nutrients, clean detritus (if you siphon the bottom), bring parameters back to “normal”, and replace trace minerals. You may not need to do be doing water changes if you are satisfied with the state of your tank in regards to the above. Many successful reefers do not perform water changes.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Test Kits:
Nitrites: (API)
Ammonia: (API)
Nitrates: (API)
Phosphates: (Salifert)

Currently the fish tank is a FOWLR, until I get the lights set up. Radion XR15 on the way :).
 
All the fishes that are alive is doing well. Doing well means swimming around and eating, very active. I did have a few casualties, but they didn't seem health related.

Fish Deaths:
  • Red Firefish - hopped out of a 5 gallon home depot container during acclimation
  • Diamond Goby - Jumped out of the tank overnight - (I was working on the top screen cutout for the auto feeder since I'm using flakes instead of pellets)
  • 6 line wrasse - Not sure how, but the hermit/emerald crabs had a feast
  • lyretail anthias - had a feeling this one wasn't going to make it from the beginning, never ate, never swam around, lasted 1 day.
There definitely seems to be aggression within the tank but it's not visible all the time. I'll post a video soon :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top