Advice needed.

Jojo23

Jojo23

Member
My 55 gallon long aquarium has been going for about two and a half months now. The algae phase is in full gear. Unfortunately the chemistry is not at a healthy level. The ammonia is 0, Ph is 7.8 (consistantly), Nitrate is 40, and the Nitrite is 5. I mess w/ the tank at first (oops). I ahve aprox. 8lbs of live rock that are in different phases of algae growth(white, gray, brown, and purples), and 5 Blue leg Hermit Crabs. The crabs seem fine (not sure where the chemistry is still in it's cycle), healthy enough to be pushing each other around though. New shells were added today for them to move into. My tank isn't pretty yet and I could use all the advice I can get on what to get and what to do to improve the quality of it (unfortunately have little $ to spend). Any advice is welcome. Thanks.
 
Reddog170

Reddog170

Active Member
First off you need more live rock. Second what is your water source? Is it tap or ro/di? Tap water is not, well hmmm good. Do not add any more livestock until you can get the nitrites and nitrates down. You can do that with LR for nitrites, that will have the bacteria needed to convert nitrites to nitrates. You get rid of nitrates with water changes. The brown algae is most likley diatom algae, very common with new tanks, in fact I am wondering when I am going to get it with my 90. So basicly it sounds like you are doing ok, just a little short on LR. Best of luck, and keep us posted, Shaun
 
goldenmean

goldenmean

Well-Known Member
8 lbs of LR? or did you mean 80 lbs?
if you have 80#s you are good. but your rock is style cycling (nitrIte @5)
When Nitrite is 0 its time for a water change. WC is the way to lower nitrAtes.

Your PH seems a bit low. Im not sure what salt you are using (or how you "messed with the tank at first") but using a good quality salt and ro or ro/di water is the best way to maintain proper ph
 
Jojo23

Jojo23

Member
Thank you Shaun. My h2o is from a well. Very acidic due to all the pine trees around here. I add baking soda to get it up but it has not gone up high enough.
Thank you goldenmean. I am using Petco Premium Marine Salt Mix. At first I kept using Stress Zyme to try to remove the chemistry issues, causing the cycle to take longer (stupid me, and yet I've worked w/ aquaculter and should know better). I've been adding Kent Marine Liquid Calcium every few days. And yes I only have about 8-10 lbs of LR. Need to buy more. I buy about two lbs at a time and still can't fugre how to stack them so they don't fall. Ught oh: Hermit Crab is climbing Aquarium at the seem :-(. Probably trying to feed on the algae. Never thought they could do that. Better get a 2nd cover for that side.
 
Jojo23

Jojo23

Member
Thank you Shaun. My h2o is from a well. Very acidic due to all the pine trees around here. I add baking soda to get it up but it has not gone up high enough.
Thank you goldenmean. I am using Petco Premium Marine Salt Mix. At first I kept using Stress Zyme to try to remove the chemistry issues, causing the cycle to take longer (stupid me, and yet I've worked w/ aquaculter and should know better). I've been adding Kent Marine Liquid Calcium every few days. And yes I only have about 8-10 lbs of LR. Need to buy more. I buy about two lbs at a time and still can't fugre how to stack them so they don't fall. Ught oh: Hermit Crab is climbing Aquarium at the seem :-(. Probably trying to feed on the algae. Never thought they could do that. Better get a 2nd cover for that side.
 
B

BigFish11

Member
Buying two pounds at a time is really not good for cycling. Just imagine doing a load of wash and at the end you add another dirty shirt, you have to start all over again. I totaly understand if money is the issue for live rock since its rather expensive, but you should try and get it all in at once
 
Gill Roy

Gill Roy

Member
Are the pics in your gallery the tank in question here?

If so, indeed you do need more LR.
I don't know how much you paid for that LR, however......
I would try to get it from someplace else as that does not appear to be very good and alive to begin with.
Make sure to clean those HOB filters often as they can become nitrate factories right away and contribute to available nutrients for any algae.
Best to have one insert "on deck" dry as the other is running, then just swap them out, rinse the old and let it dry.
Or really don't need to run the media at all at this point.
You should test your source water for any nitrates or phosphates as well.

I would back off on using so many additives as well. If your source water and salt mix are correct you should not have to add anything.


hope this helps
Good luck!
 
Jojo23

Jojo23

Member
Thank you BigFish 11 and Gill Roy. Yes those pics are of my aquarium and LR. I bought the LR from two local pet stores, one that focusses mainly on aquariums. It costs $8.99/lb. Only one rock is really "alive". I was told to scrub the rocks and if the algae came off it was bad and if it stayed that it was a good algae. Some algae did come off but some remained. I didn't scrub to much though.
The Nitrate is at 40. The only thing I have added the past couple of weeks is Calcium and baking soda (increases the PH level). The well Water is loaded w/ Iron. Could this be affecting my aquarium in any drastic way?
 
D

DaveK

Well-Known Member
Jojo23 said:
... 8lbs of live rock that are in different phases of algae growth(white, gray, brown, and purples), ... what to do to improve the quality of it (unfortunately have little $ to spend). ...
Click to expand...

Here is your problem. You don't have anywhere near enough live rock. A system this size is going to require about 50 to 75 pounds of live rock. You have 9. Right off your down by 42 to 67 pounds of live rock.

In current reef systems live rock is the main biological filtration in a reef system. You really cant skimp on that. However there are some alternatives.

You might be able to find someone getting out of the hobby, and selling off their live rock at a good price.

You could use dry base rock. This is available at a much lower price. You can then use a few live rocks to seed it, and then wait about 6 months for it to acquire the growth needed to become functional live rock.

Another alternative is to make agrocrete rocks. Here is a link (offsite) - Aragocrete making Note that you need to cure this rock in another container before you use it in your tank. Then you need to wait.

In both of these cases, you are getting a lower cost, but your going to need to pay for it in the time needed to fully cycle the tank.

In addition, get yourself a good RO/DI unit for making good water for mixing your salt. You get much better results, and not have the problems often associated with well water.
 
lcstorc

lcstorc

Well-Known Member
I would definitely be worried about the water quality. Invest in a RO/DI or buy RO/DI water from your lfs or another source or even buy distilled water from the grocery.
You don't need to supplement calcium since you don't have anything that needs it.
Before adding calcium you will want to check your alkalinity and calcium and magnesium. There is a balance of these elements that is more important than any particular number for one of them.
Check out the Reef Chemistry forum for a lot of great info.
 
Jojo23

Jojo23

Member
I'm not gonna add any more suppliments or additives. I have noticed some white vien-like lines appearing on some of the LR, Alot of hard spiral tubes on two of the LR (some tubes even have a reddish pigment (algae?) in them), a couple pieces of plantia on the LR, and a small Bi-valve(not sure what) attached to a LR. There are red bumps growing on one rock. Also what look to be roots.
 
Jojo23

Jojo23

Member
The PH is still the same. The Nitrite has finished converting into Nitrate(Nitrite:0; Nitrate still 40). I rinced the bio wheel and replaced the carbon today. I also am planning on buying more LR and some dry base rock next week when I get my check. No more critters until the chemistry is perfect. One crab is no more due to the Nitrate. The others constantly graze on the rock. Some small spots of pink are forming on the LR.
 
Jojo23

Jojo23

Member
Oops. Rinsed it w/ h2o from the faucet. Lesson learned. Thank you DaveK. Will be doing a water change and water quality test tomorrow. Need to buy more salt. Is the Premium Salt Marine Salt Mix from Petco good or should I use something else? Should I soak the bio wheel, splash it through the syphoned water, or scrub it using the syphoned water? I will be doing some scrubbing of the tank later. Algae is growing on the glass and the crabs are leaving evidence that they are eating well on the rocks. Should I worry about the bi-valve that is stuck to a rock? It has not moved and I have not been able to pull it free.
 
Jojo23

Jojo23

Member
Now the Ph is @ 8.2, ammonia is 0, Nitrite is 0, and Nitrate is 80. When I get a chance to go to the store I will buy more salt, some dry base rock, and some more LR. The rocks are growing more brown algae on them along w/ some green spores over the pink and white areas. The 2 dark rocks just keep getting grayer. I need to do a water change soon. That is understandable. Should I scrub the LR to see if the algae comes off or remains or should I let it be?
 
J

JosephOasis

New Member
How much sand do you have ? I would add sand. I have at least 4in DSB and it help out a lot. Def add more live rock but to save money buy porus rocks that will become live rock in no time. You should have about 1.5 lbs of LR per gallon of water. Time will also help. Saltwater tanks are made for people with patience.
 
Jojo23

Jojo23

Member
Thank you JosephOasis. I was thinking about adding live sand. I have about 25 lbs of crushed coral in my aquarium. The aquarium supply stores around here do not have a good selection of LR. I always look to see which may have some form of life starting on them. Two rock have just a small piece of plant (Idk what). The LR must have something growing due to the Hermit Crabs constantly are feeding off of them. I keep trying to upload more photos. It says "Upload successful" but no photos apear to have been uploaded.
 
Jojo23

Jojo23

Member
So I woke up this morning to find something in my tank that I did not know at the time what it was. I went to suck up what looked to be fuzz w/ the turkey baster and the whole thing came w/ it. It looked like a crustation w/ banded legs in the tank. When I put it in a container to get a closer look I saw that it was a blue leg hermit. I checked all my hermits shells and found I still had all 4 and that they were moving and feeding. I just thought that it was wierd because it wasn't in a shell and I had not bought it or seen it before. It hadn't even taken refuge in a vacent shell that is provided in the tank for all the crabs.
 
Jojo23

Jojo23

Member
No it wasn't alive. It did not look like a molted skeleton at first. It does have the thin clear film that separates from the shell when they molt though. Maybe that was what was "fuzzy". I guess it was a good idea to get more shells then. How often do they molt any way? My Crey fish molted about every 3-6 weeks. Should I add calcium now to help who ever it was regain what it lost or should I just let it be?
 
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