Preparing Marine water

[BlueTerror]

Hi!

I have read about so many stories of hair algea and diatoms appearing in new tanks. Well im in the midst of setting up a 2FT Fish n live rock only tank, really scared of these problems.

I have already mixed about 7 gallons of salt water in my 1.5ft tank reservoir. This is from tap water that have been left overnite. I also a powerhead in there circulating the water. Salinity ranges 1.023-1.024

There is slightly powdery white residue on the floor, using Tropic Marin salt.

Now i read about phosphate causing these hair algae problems, is there an alternative way to remove it besides buying a RO machine? How do i know if my present water is safe to enter the main tank?

I would like to know in details how you guys prepare ur water.

Thanks for reading, this has been a great forum!

[Tanzy]

I prepare my water in a bucket, tapwater goes in, dechlorinator next and then salt slowly. Stir it up a bit using a powerhead. Measure salinity, adjust as necessary. Measure pH, once it is about 8.1-8.4, I dump it straight into my tank. I do big water changes so I'm not able to make seawater before and let it stand overnight. Corals aren't affected, in fact the LPS remain open throughout the water change. My water change sessions takes on average 5-6 hours for 10 buckets full. I'll leave some powerheads in the tank running but everything else is shut down. Acropora that are high up on the rocks are taken down and place in a separate container.

This is not recommended. I do this only because I know those guys in my tank can take it.

[BlueTerror]

hi!

u use tap water? how big is ur tank? any diatoms/hair algae problems? how do you avoid these?

im quite concerned about having these problems pop up like the rest of the new tanks in the forum.

also, has anyone tried the Geoliquid mineral magic for marine aquariums?

[newdamsel]

I saw that also, but what is that for??? I did not ask the lfs since they are seldomly reliable.... <_

[Tanzy]

My tank 4 feet only 75gal. I used to have algae problems but it was not related to tap water. I avoid algae problems by using a plenum NNR and a good skimmer combined with not overstocking and overfeeding.

Is it that monkey thingy liquid? Seen it around for one year but I have no idea how it works, but as usual all of these additives claim to do wonders. No such thing exists. The only additives you will ever need to add is calcium, alk, buffer and maybe magnesium.

[Phang]

Tanzy,

Just to confirm this... once saltwater is mixed, what I do is just add in additives (Seachem's Reef Builder) to increase the water to desired hardness (dKH).... Calcium and other additives only come on later when the water is in the tank.....

Is there a necesssity to balance Calcium levels at these stage...

When you mention buffer... you mean PH buffers??

[Tanzy]

Phang,

Why would you want to add Reef Builder to freshly made seawater?

Adding additives to a bucket is difficult because the volume is so small. In a bucket, the Reef builder can easily be overdosed causing the pH to rise quickly. There are also some precipitate in the bucket that might cause the calcium to precipitate out if you add the reef builder.

I won't add anything to fresh seawater. If you feel that something is not right in the water parameters, then get another brand of salt. Don't be too obsessed about calcium and alkalinity. Add only when required or it will be wasted money. Freshly mixed seawater usually gives decent levels of calcium and alk.

Yes I mean pH buffer/Reef Buffer.

[BlueTerror]

My tank 4 feet only 75gal. I used to have algae problems but it was not related to tap water. I avoid algae problems by using a plenum NNR and a good skimmer combined with not overstocking and overfeeding.

so for my 2ft tank, is it recommended to get a protein skimmer and shld i use it during the cycle?

would a protein skimmer remove phosphates?

[Tanzy]

BlueTerror,

A protein skimmer is almost always recommended. There is no harm leaving it on during the cycle.

A skimmer gets rid of phosphates by removing the 'dirt' in the water that will eventually decompose to release phosphates. It is also thought that phosphates have an affinity for the air-water boundary on bubbles, so they will be 'blown' into the air by the skimmer.

[BlueTerror]

okie i will go read up on protein skimmers. this hobby really needs lots of patience to do everything.

keong seong got this surface skimmer for $12. is that a protein skimmer? suitable for 2ft tanks?

[Sinn]

surface skimmer is not a protein skimmer ( protein skimmer has bubbles generated in them either by air stones,venturi or other means )..

dont do that stupid mistake that i did.. ( really feel like a fool, anyone wanna buy my surface skimmer? )

might wanna read up on protein skimmmer

www.saltaquarium.com ( they have a whole lotta info abt ps )

and only then would u understand how it really works

and one more thing,

dont waste money on really cheap skimmers ( feel like a fool again cause i bought a practically useless co-current skimmer which cost ard $14 ) cause it doesnt even take much gunk ( most of it is just the salt water ). my $40 venturi seems to be doing the job ( ive never been so excited to see brown gunk ).

just my 2 cents worth

good luck...

[Sinn]

reading up would have saved me $50

the air pump, air controller, surface skimmer, co-current skimmer and all are now redundant.....