WishNewFish

I read on CNN that coral reefs in many places around the world are experience bleaching event due to increasing water temperatures. http://www.cnn.com/2015/10/08/us/global-coral-bleaching-report/index.html

I would never sleep if I had an aquarium in my bedroom. I would just keep starring at it all night

Usually people bake the sand if its picked up from natural habitat like lake/river bed and don't want to get parasites or unwanted hitchhikers. If it's sand from your old tank and you know that your old tank is didnt have parasites/unwanted worms etc, just washing and reusing it should be good.

Ha! Potomac yard. lol. Im in the same area.

Nice build Thakki.

I got an Alk/kh test kit from Salifert and the results are follows: KH value is 22.4 and Alk is 7.18, I don't understand whats going on. I even used 1.5 cup of sodium bicarbonate dissolved in RO/fresh water two days earlier but it doesn't seem to help. To reiterate: I used reef crystals salt and RO water with TDS showing 12 and used Live aragonite sand substrate, live rock from LFS and some dry cured rock. My PH is still 7.8 What could be a better resolution to this problem? As a worst case resort, does cycling full water change will help?

Thanks for the tip. (I am literally dream of my Ph and fish dieing, no kidding). I am starting to realize my pH is low because I didnt aerate my salt water mix and leave it for a while with pump running and the fact that I put fish flakes into the tank for cycling must have driven the pH low. (Since flakes cover the top layer of water). Even sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) didnt seem to help much but after I turned the skimmer it started picking up pH. I already use live fuji rock which I got from LFS (didnt have visible coraline algae though) and live aragonite sand. Another shocking discovery I made: the fish flakes contain copper sulphate! It doesn't say in what quantity/amount but mentions it. Does anyone know or realize if your fish food has copper sulphate or magnesium sulphate in them? Its from aqueon brand.

Yes I did see similar posts, but wonder why only some people are experiencing this.

Too late, I already added 2 cups of salt slowing in front of powerhead. (Yes I shouldnt be doing it once fish or other things are present). Currently its cycling, so I though I can get a pass. Will post pics soon. Thanks

no i haven't used ph neutral sand. initially I am planning to keep fish until a month when I introduce corals. can i add salt directly to the tank to raise salinity since there is no fish in the tank? yes, the rock in melting, its porous fuji rock and i couldnt believe it the first day, so on day 2 I clearly noticed it change. since it calcium carbonate rock, i was thinking it is melting into water.

Hi all, I setup my 40 gallon breeder with live sand and live rock (fiji rock), I used ro di water with reef crystals and running it with fish food and some salmon piece in it (for cycling). My salinity is at 1.020 and PH is at 7.5, I definitely know my Ph is not what it needs to be, is my salinity ok? Is my Ph low because my salinity is low? another wierd thing I noticed, my live rock is dissolving/melting - I see new holes appearing and existing holes getting bigger/bigger. I called quantum reef and he is surprised. Does anyone have a clue whats happening? Ph is unaffected after 3 days. Can you tell me whats happening? Nitrite level is 1 ppm and nitrate is close to 0.

Thankyou all for the input.

Hi folks, I am setting up my new reef tank and trying to pick a substrate which is not too light that it gets blown away but at same time accomodates goby and shrimp to burrow into the sand. Does a 1mm to 1.7mm substrate accomodate goby and shrimps to burrow into the sand? I am inclined to buy fiji pink .5mm to 1.5 mm, does anyone have experience with this if it gets blown away by mid grade power heads ?

Thanks Sublime, Yes heard about MACNA and definitely want to see it. Ya, I dont have a stand, Im currently putting it on top of a big fireplace. It has space beside but sump will sit beside/behind the tank, not sure if thats an optimum setup for pump and siphons to work. Yes powerhead is also on the list.

Im from alexandria too, I am building my tank though, newbie.

Hi All, Nice to see a very active forum, I am n00b to saltwater aquariums and have been planning on setting up my aquarium for a while. I did my online study and reasearch on different starter "things to know" and finally got my 40 gallon breeder tank. I am planning to setup a reef tank with fish live rock and corals with a tunze 9004 in tank skimmer and 40 pound live rock and 55 pound live sand. (I dont have sufficient space for a sump as of now). Getting Reef crystal salt, RO filter and heater, lighting and testing kits. Am I missing anything which is critical component to start with? I live in alexandria/arlington area so if there are other aquarist or nOObie in this area, I am interested in meeting or discussions. I was introducted to this forum by another member and was told that we have meetings, is it a single meeting for all DC metro area or localized?