Cycled Tank

1. Carbon is good. Really good.

2. Stop dosing. I wouldnt add any trace elements, especially ones that you dont have the test kits for. An overdose on them is very easy, especially since you dont have anything in there thats using them up. A quality salt mix like coralife or others will contain everything you need.

3. Topping off the water that has evaporated is very important!

 

Pic Attached, one yellow tail one black and white ;D

 

1) The carbon is up to you IMO. You don't have to use it but it won't hurt.

2) It is a good thing to get your parameters to where you want them to be, but make sure that you are testing as you go with a high quality test kit. Don't add any more trace elements until you test, if you aren't already!

3) This is a hot topic on here, but I strongly suggest not doing water changes. I don't do any water changes personally. Let the tank do it's thing for now, sit back and watch mother nature work her magic. Water changes take out the bacteria that are doing there job to stabalize the tank at this point. As for topping off evaporated water, it is a necessity! Just make sure you use pure ro/di water to top off with!

Feel free to ask any more questions!

 

The yellow tail is fine. The black and white one MAY become a little too aggressive to tankmates down the road.

 

What kind of test kits are the best? i am using a Red sea one now that tests ph, nitrite,nitrates,alk,and amonia

 

I personally trust only Salifert and Elos with my tank, but understand that it is a personal opinion. Everyone is different, so it is up to you. I think these kits are well worth the extra dough to know that your getting high quality results. I have never used Red Sea kits so I can not pass judgement on them... One option is to test with your kits then with another brand (take a water sample of yours to a friends, fish store, etc.) and check the results side by side from the same water sample.

 

So i topped off the water on saturday with RO/DI water. I noticed that the ph was low so i added seachem buffer for the last 3 days, my readings are

temp 75
nitrites still 0
amonia still .25
nitrates went back to 20 from 0
PH is now 8.2
Alk is high

Yesterday i added carbon to the media basket in my prizm skimmer and this morning i noticed the black and white damsel was very jitery(shimmying?) and hidding, also swimming sideways a little, while the yellow tip damsel was normal. Could something i added be causing this? I did notice that the black and white one's fins were a little niped when i got him but it was acting fine until recently. I got both of them from petco so maybe the balck and white one is more sensetive to changes? or he was week to begin with? Just hope hes not dead when i get home.

 

Diatom Bloom?

This morning the sand in the tank and the rock were free of brown stuff now i think this is what you guys call diatom bloom? What is this caused by? and i think someone said on here it is just a part of cycling? how long will it last? I cant do anything about it right?



thanks for the help

 

Looks like diatoms. Not much you can do. Increased flow, little less lighting helps. Hermits and snail can help a lot, but you are going to want to wait a little. They come and go, but do happen a lot in younger tanks. Seems like the algae blooms can happen for a year or more. My tank is about 6 months old now and I still get it.
Wait till you get cyano, then you'll really start to go nuts

 

I use the API saltwater test kit. I think it works great - other than the PH test - I can't tell if I have 8.0, 8.2, or 8.4 - it's definitely one of those, but I can't match it. I'm going to have to find one that's easier to tell - but this may just be me...