My First Questions

[aw64]

Hi to you all and thanks to those of you who gave me a warm welcome x
So here goes my questions - Tank set up 26th feb 07 with live rock, read to many books hence the discovery of bristleworms, on book advice removed all rock into a cold bath for 20 mins (dont laugh), set tank back up with about a 50% water change this was on 5th march 07, no bristleworm! But did get one out of tank last tuesday using pilers! Have done a 10% water change each week, had no Ammonia peak yet, im using Salifert test kits which today read as follows, with very little change from day one - Ammonia 0.25
Nitrates 15
Nitrities 0.1
Ph 8.3
I have got that horrible brown algae which i beleave is ment to happen and will one day die off (i hope) i clean the glass and coral stuff when i do a water change, so what am i doing right and or wrong can i start to add clean up crew yet i.e snails to start with, oh and salinity is 1.024 and water temp is 75f, thanks for all help and advice x:dance2:

 

[jojo22]

Quit changing water, it will only prolong your cycle.

 

[aw64]

Thanks jojo had read that on here today but wasn,t sure water changes now stopped!

 

[Reefscape]

ok, as JoJo states, there is no need to be doing water changes while you are cycling the tank..Its just a waste of good saltwater in my opinion...When the cycle has finished, do a 40 - 50% water change and then you will kick into your maintenance routine of about 10% every week..

How quick you cycle is, will all depend on how cycled the Live Rock was that you put in there...When i cycled my FOWLR tank, i bearly ever registered any ammonia or nitrites and nitrates only went as high at 18ppm...do your water tests every 2 - 3 days and see how the results pan out...You may not get a proper ammonia peak...

The brown algae is what nearly all new tanks get..I have just recently setup my new Reef and i am going through the brown diatom phase now...its horrible and annoying, but, all part of the process..just keep scrubbing it off...

You can start to add your cleanup crew once the ammonia has stayed at Zero...

Niko

 

[aw64]

thanks niko thats great least im not doing anything too wrong then is the pump, filter ect ok as i brought it as a package deal.

 

[Reefscape]

mate, your not doing anything wrong..like i said, its all down to opinion...

Well, the filter itself, is only just about good enough if your going to be using it. It is only rated for a 25Gal tank ( we are talking UK gallons here by the way )....What is the model of the V2 skimmer?

Niko

 

[aw64]

V2 Skimmer is a V2 skim 400 hope thats what you ment, filter is up and running now, guessed it would be basic as it was package deal (and yeah im on uk gallons) as i plan one day in the far off future to have 4 or 5 fish plus the crabs and stuff which filter do you recomend cos so far read alot of your stuff and like what i read, loved the tank you built, im not even stocked yet but know ill want bigger tank, and maybe need bigger house! lol

 

[Germanman]

id go for a bigger house

 

[Catpicklesdog]

One piece of advice I think I can confidently add (which I learnt about on this site) is don't panic about the Bristleworms unless they really start getting out of control!!! My book didn't give them a glowing report either and I used to stress about them and enjoyed killing them!!, but general consensus on here seems to be "don't panic".

Did I get that one right guys?? (Niko, Germanman!!!)

 

[aw64]

think your right germanman some of pictures on here are great!