Jan

Hi, me again . I just spent too much money on bottled water so now I'm searching for a RO unit. I don't want to spend a lot. I know nothing about these units or how they work. I've seen them range in price from $80.00 for a used Kent Marine RO 2 stage unit to $140.00 for a Coralife pureflo w/post deion RO. What should I be loooking for? Do they all pretty much do the same thing or are some better at filtering than others? What should it do? What brands do you like? Are they easy to install? What is the upkeep like? Thanks Jan

Tom, It was great meeting you. She looks great! Thank you so much.

I purchased the one piece of live rock from Super Petz about a week or so ago. They'd just gotten a shipment in. They told me that all of their rock was cured. Well it wasn't. When I took the rock out of the tank it stunk like rotten fish. There was a dead clam on it and sponge and other really bad smelling stuff. Before I put it in my tank I rinsed it off and dislodged anything that didn't look right, but I missed a clam and some sponge. They looked like rock. We live, we learn, and we stay up late doing many many water changes. Tom's going to house the clown for me until everything settles. You're all amazing. I've gotten water from one person and a place to house my fish from another. Everyone has given me good sound advice. You guys really care. I'm so happy to be here. There are so many knowledgeable people here. I'm very fortunate. Thank you all for coming forward to help. Thank you for caring enough to take the time. I hope I can do the same for you. Jan

This is interesting because the Instant Ocean I purchased yesterday showed an ammonia level of .50 after I mixed it. That's .25 more than the other stuff. I never thought to test the mix. This is bizarre. I also bought a live rockfrom Super Petz last week. Its the only one that didn;'t come with the other things in the tank. I forgot all about it. It looks like a lot of iot died off. Should I take it out? This morning the ammonia level was up to 2.0 but the fish are still doing fine. Many star fish are out. Hermits look fine too. I mixed another 10 gallons and let it sit until the temperture got up to 78F. I also had a nano wave maker in there to mix it up. I replaced what I took out....about 5 gallons. I'm going to try to make my way to a pet store. I'm going to purchase another ammonia kit, just in case. No one in the tank is in distress. Thank you. Please keep the thoughts and information coming. I really enjoy all the information and reading.

Petland has been around for a long time. They were the ones that got me up and running with my tanks 20 years ago. This was in New York. They were the best! Always very helpful. They got me whatever I wanted. I recently found Petland in Fairfax and I had the same experience I had 20 years ago. These guys were great. They took their timewith me. There is a really nice guy that takes care of the salt water tanks. I forgot his name. He's always in the back. Then there's the owner. He gave me his card and told me to call whenever I needed help. He said that when I was ready to buy livestock for my tank if there was something I wanted and he didn't have it all I'd have to do is ask and he'd try to get it for me. Really nice guys. I was there last week. A couple of the reef tanks needed a little color or something, but their frags, clams and anemones were really beautiful. Bright, open and healthy looking.

Oh I don't feed daily. Once every other day. There's only 1 clown and 1 damsel.

No, I didn't wait and age the mix. Caustic wouldn't necessarily mean there is ammonia in it, would it? I'd think the PH would be affected too and that's fine. I'm baffled, really. I just swapped out 7 gallons with 7 gallons from a beautifully well maintained tank. The ammonia is still 1.0. I dunno, might be the test kit too. The fish are doing great. There's no heavy breathing, no rubbing up against rocks or anything. They're out and eating. The clown fish keeps doing a shimmy with his tail in the sand, but clown fish do strange things, don't they?

Hi Hilary, Weren't you TOMT? Gorgeous!!!! So you haven't had any problems with these guys? I asked my husband if he'd take them out for me. He said sure, do you have somewhere else to put them? I said no you have to dispose of them. Nature boy gives me a look like I'm out of my mind. He says "You're asking me to kill something?" I'll leave them be for now. I've got bigger problems with this set up than these start fish. Thanks everyone once again for all your help.

You were right. I'm outta here. Going to get Instant ocean and more water. I'm so pissed !!!!

Oceanic Natural Sea Salt mix.

It's the mix I just mixed a gallon of it and the ammonia reads .50. The distilled water is 0 ammonia alone. So .50 with stirring the sand bed a little yesterday and the already existing .25 brought it up to 1.0. Chip, I'll take some of your water, it that's alright. I'll need your adddress. I'll also purchase different salt mix. This really stinks. Why would the salt mix have ammonia in it alreadY? I got this salt mix from the person that gave me the water and live rocks. She used it without any problems.

I may take you up on this offer. First I'm going to mix another batch and test it. I will get back to you

Jon, I've cheked the distilled water and it reads 0 ammonia. The mix of water and salt reads .025. Can it be the salt?

Okay so my tank was seeded with live rock and 50% water from established tank. All my levels were really good as stated in previous post. the last 2 days testing showed .25 ammonia. I purchased a unit of chemipur. I changed the poly filter media, added the chemipure according to directions and I also did a 50% water change to try to get the ammonia out. I used a different salt mix, Oceanic. I was using Instant Ocean before. Everything went smoothly. This morning I tested everything and now my ammonia is up to 1.0???? All the other levels are fine. I used bottled distilled water. I tested the distilled water. It read 0 ammonia. I then checked the salt water I had left over from the mix and it reads .025 ammonia? Everything in the tank seems to be doing okay but I don't know how long that will last. What is up with ,025 ammonia in fresh mix and now 1.0 ammonia in my tank???? I'm concerned that doing another water change will take all the bacteria that was in there out. What the heck is going on????

Wow, they are like cockroaches. I did a 50% water change last night and today these guys are all over the place. They're fast too....but we're faster .

Thanks everyone.

I don't like having to kill anything that comes on a live rock. I also don't want anything that can take over my tank. I'll have my husband take care of these guys. Thanks to everyone for your help.

DO I just take them out and then what? What do I do with them? Do I just throw them away?

Here it is. It's the gray thingy to the left.

I just found two tiny hitch hikers. One on a rock, the other on a hermit crabs back. They are teeny tiny and grayish blue. I've seen brown ones with six legs too. Does anyone know anything about them? I said I'd ask a lot of q's.

Are these items worth getting? What are some good brands? How long has your PH meter lasted? How accurate are these items, etc... Thank you

Maybe ask these folks and send a picture? http://www.coral.noaa.gov/

The add for the reactor says it can run fully submersed or in 2 inches of water.

How and why did you modify the skimmer cup? I should use both chemi-pure elite and purigen? Why do I need both?

I paid the 20 last night. I thought I was a member.