Mixing salt water
There is a big choice of what manufacturers salt to use. I looked on the forums I have joined and asked questions but eventually I decided on the water used by my local LFS as they will be providing most of my fish. Don't know if this is right but seemed sensible to me. They use H2O. I shall use an article on Reefkeeping .com as a guide. After a year I have decided to have a change of salt. Needed to buy some more but have got the new Red Sea Coral Pro. I am going to mix the two salts for the next two or three water changes to help with a smooth transition with water chemistry. Have changed salt again and find some slight differences in the way salts mix, the residue left in the mixing container and to some extent changes in the tank. Cannot be sure how much real difference the various salts make.
Comparison of aquarium salts
Step by step guide to mixing salt water
Have recently decided to invest in my own TMC V2Pure75 RO unit. My LFS is closing down and others are selling RO at £2.50 for 25L not the £1 I have been paying. Plumbed it in using washing machine fixings, very easy to do. Pressure is a bit low at 30psi but will see how things go. Rather slow but TDS on entry around 450 and leaving at around 3 so not too bad. After a couple of years of making my own RO have gone back to buying from LFS. More convenient and probably cheaper in the long run as I am on a water meter and was wasting around 4/5 litres for every litre of RO.
Comparison of aquarium salts
Step by step guide to mixing salt water
Have recently decided to invest in my own TMC V2Pure75 RO unit. My LFS is closing down and others are selling RO at £2.50 for 25L not the £1 I have been paying. Plumbed it in using washing machine fixings, very easy to do. Pressure is a bit low at 30psi but will see how things go. Rather slow but TDS on entry around 450 and leaving at around 3 so not too bad. After a couple of years of making my own RO have gone back to buying from LFS. More convenient and probably cheaper in the long run as I am on a water meter and was wasting around 4/5 litres for every litre of RO.
What to test?
There are so many things that could be tested but I decided to look at the tests for the initial cycle period of my aquarium.
The obvious first two parameters to be looked at constantly are temperature and salinity. The initial temperature I will aim for will be a steady 25C and a salinity of 35ppt or sg 1.026.
Duriing the initial cycle I will tested for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate using standard test kits.
The final parameter I tested for initially was pH, using a digital probe, as I have heard these are very good. I began testing for phospshate using the new digital Hanna Checker test. Very easy to use and read.
The obvious first two parameters to be looked at constantly are temperature and salinity. The initial temperature I will aim for will be a steady 25C and a salinity of 35ppt or sg 1.026.
Duriing the initial cycle I will tested for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate using standard test kits.
The final parameter I tested for initially was pH, using a digital probe, as I have heard these are very good. I began testing for phospshate using the new digital Hanna Checker test. Very easy to use and read.
Target Parameters
Temperature 24C - 29C
Salinity 35ppt
pH 8.0 - 8.4
Ammonia NH3 0
Nitrite NO2 0
Nitrate NO3 0 (<20ppm)
Phosphate PO4-3 0.003ppm
Alkalinity 8 - 10dKH
Calcium 390 -450ppm
Magnesium 1250 -1400ppm
Salinity 35ppt
pH 8.0 - 8.4
Ammonia NH3 0
Nitrite NO2 0
Nitrate NO3 0 (<20ppm)
Phosphate PO4-3 0.003ppm
Alkalinity 8 - 10dKH
Calcium 390 -450ppm
Magnesium 1250 -1400ppm
Water Tests - Initial cycleI decided to use a spreadsheet to keep a record of water tests for the initial cycle of the tank and to graph the results. I didn't test for a few days after putting in the live rock and so didn't witness any ammonia spike. Initially testing showed high nitrates but coming down as a result of cycling. Some difficulties in measuring accurately as I have problems in differentiating between the colours on the chart.
Phosphates are proving stubborn to bring down but not at dangerous levels. Checked fresh mixed salt water and had phosphate levels of 0.045ppm. Don't know if this is salt or RO water from lfs. Will need to monitor I decided to install a PhosBan 150 reactor as phosphates are continuing to be stubborn and daily dosing with liquid remover is not practical. Phosphates came down to what would be regarded by most as acceptable levels. I continued to monitor nitrates and phosphates weeky for several months but slowly stopped doing so as I had pretty low levels but more importantly, I think I had stability over a long period of time. I know many people would think it was not a good idea to not test but I think observing the way the life in my tank behaves is a good indicator of the health of my reef. Should things change I can always test to see ianything has changed. Have read lots of articles and threads about Ultra Low Nutrient Systems (ULNS), particularly for SPS systems and am not sure I want to go down this route. There are some interesting articles regarding testing in the Nov/Dec 2012 isuue of Marine Habitat and a fascinating thread on Ultimate Reef started by Tim Hunt. These have made me think about my water/reef maintenance regime. I may need to look at Alkalinity now that I have started to keep LPS and see where I stand. |