water quality???????????????????????????????????????????????

[neil e]

Hi all boys and girls.
I am new to this game and have a few questions that need answering.
I have been running a fish only tank for about a year now tried a couple of corals whith out much sucess.
I have all the right equipment necessary so wont bore you to death with that.What sort of readings should i get when I do a water test.
I am doing regular water changes and my live rock has a nice covering of purple alge on it.I have done a test today and these are my readings.
Salifert test Ammonia 0.25.Salifert test Nitrite 0.1 Salifert test Nitrate 25
Salifert phosfate 0.1 Tropic Marine PH 8.4 Tropic Marine KH 11.25.
Tropic Marine Calcium ???? What sort of reading ????.
I have followed the blurb with all the kits, and what with differnt advice from a couple of shop owners i seem to be at a loss.I only have a small atlantic anemone which is surviveing.I dont want to start adding coral and it die on me. Any help will be most appricated. :?: :lol:

 

[Anonymous]

Go ahead bore me with your equipment. :wink:
What size tank?
How much live rock?
What type of substrate?
What type of filtration?
What type of circulation?
What type of lighting?
Has this tank been set up for a year or is this a new tank?
We have to know what we're dealing with before we can answer your question.

Regards,
David Mohr

 

[Anonymous]

Salifert test Ammonia 0.25

This one should be 0 in a tank that is a year old, unless something is not quite right, so I second Mr Mohr's query for more details.

Someone here can most likely easily point to the problem if you give a good enough description.

 

[neil e]

Thanks for replys
ok here goes.
Tank is 1200mm long (4 feet) 600 mm high and 450mm depth.
it is a six sided tank and I roughly guess about 70 gallons?? including sump.I was told how to calculate the size but have forgotten.
Water enters the sump on to ehfi mec ceramic tubes 10mm long with hole in the middle.second chamber is Ehfi Mec chippings. Looks like small lime stone chippings.On top of the second chamber is some filter wool which is also in the third chamber.Forth chamber is where the pump and skimmer pump, heater and anti phosphate bag lies.Skimmer is a Aqua Medic Turboflotor 1000 multi.The pump as I have already said is in the forth chamber of the sump and the exit pipes from the skimmer go into the first chamber.Sump is the under up and over design.
Main pump is a Ehem.Sorry cant remember how powerful but is has plenty of grunt and gives very good water flow.
I have a vecton uv 25 with a new bulb fitted the water then goes through a
Eco Aqulizer X150.It then enters the tank.In the tank I have 20 kilos of live rock and 8-10 kgs of ocean rock.A small thin layer of gravel around the front of the rocks only.(as have been told the more gravel the more dirty).
buried in the rock are two power heads.Again sorry cant give the precise output but between them and 2 air stones there is very good water movement.The rocks have been placed with gaps all around as much as pssible to aid water flow.I have had to adjust the angle of the powerheads as the old sump exit gurgle was very annoying.
Livestock in the tank are 1 Powder blue tang.1 Yellow tang 1 cleaner wrasse 1 pair of common clowns 6 blue damsels 4 fire shrimps 2 cleaner shrimps 2 blue stars and one atlantic anemone.
Fish fed once a day food goes in about 60 seconds.I do a water change once a week a bucket ful (5 galons). I have a new r o unit filter.I have tested the water before adding to the tank and is spot on. I clean the filter wool in the removed water and clean the filter media every 4-5 months depending on how dirty also in the dirty water skimmer is regulary checked.Lighting are by D&D`s T5`s. A six tube light four tubes are 39watt aquablue and two bulbs are 39 watt Actinic plus.
I have made my own hood which holds the light and seems to work well in that it doesnt get to hot.
The tank and substrate are about 4 years old and were in my garage empty and clean for about eight months while i moved house.I set the whole lot up about a year ago and have done the fish only thingTried some coral with out much sucess mainly down to my ignorance i suppose and lack of time.
Now I have bought the correct equipment (I think and hope) I wish to keep some corals not many and esy to keep ones until I get more experience.One final thing My skimmer produces its waste but is still fairly clean.Cup fills up in about a week. Am I over skimming???
:?: :?: :?: :?: :?: :?: :?: :?: :?: :?: :?: :?: :?: :?: :?: :?: :?: :?:

 

[Anonymous]

A couple suggestions for you

1. If your test results are showing ammonia and nitrates there should be something there to skim. I would think that for that size tank and given the bioload you have your skimmer should be emptied more often than that, Are you saying the skimmer fills in about a week but the water it fills with is pretty clean? As in a clear or see though fluid? It should be putting out a thick green or brownish sludge. If its putting out a watery waste then it should be dark and you should set it so you have to empty the cup more often, My skimmer only puts out a wet skimmate and I empty it every couple of days

2. I think you can safely remove the filter wool

3. You will want to vacuum the gravel in the main tank when you do a water change. Most pet stores sell a vacuum thingy, Mine I stick in the tank and start a siphon into a 5 gallon bucket. You should see the junk that will come out of Crushed coral...

That's all I can think of right now.

 

[SnowManSnow]

what kind of skimmer are you running again? maybe i just didnt see it.

 

[neil e]

Skimmer is a Aqua Medic Turboflotor 1000 multi.
I have turned it up a bit to see what happends.
Skimmer waste chamber fills in about a week the fluid is a merky green/brown colour.
When I do a water change I do have a gravel cleaner and use that.
As for the filter wool I would like to leave it in as it does collect a lot of crap and it does need a wash out when I am doing tyhe weekly maintainance. Should the filter wool not collect anything? If so then my filter is not doing its job properly.
Thanks for replys.

 

[Anonymous]

Try this, take the filter wool and rinse it out every day for a week and then check the levels.

It could be decaying food and stuff that is getting caught in the filter wool that is causing your ammonia problems.

 

[neil e]

ok will do that and let you know thanks