Water check!

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catkchun

New Member
Hi, I'm from Malaysia. Just setting up 14g FOWLR tank. I have a question, how frequent do i need to check the water chemistry during the cycle process? Daily, weekly ? Please help. Thanks in advance!
 
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reefman23

New Member
:welcome to nanotank.com!

I would suggest testing it every couple of days. You are going to want to test for nitrates, nitrites, and ammonia.

Jesse
 
TimSchmidt

TimSchmidt

New Member
I take it from that statement tap or well water is being used? If so you may have some issues down the road. If you can I would recommend a RO/DI water filtration unit. If that's not an option a RO unit or distilled water. Tap and well water has too many total dissolved solids in it. (i.e. heavy metals, phosphates, nitrites, and nitrates)

BUT if you MUST use tap or well water, then yes put in anti-chlorine and let it mix for a while before using it.
 
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catkchun

New Member
Thanks Tim! BTW, do you check PH and KH? My local LFS have contradiction in thier statement, some say only check PH, other say KH. so which one is correct then?
 
TimSchmidt

TimSchmidt

New Member
I personally check both. Most of the parameters are interdependent. If one changes it can and will affect others. KH is basically the buffering capacity of a tank so the more ideal it is the less likely your PH will swing too erraticly. If you don't have a lot of hard coral you may not have to worry about KH though. I have clams and SPS along with LPS so I try to check my calcium and KH weekly (ok, you caught me, when ever I remember :strip ). It's up to you wether you want to or not. What do you have in your tank and what do you want to put in there?
 
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catkchun

New Member
I may be start with fish, as the tank become more stable and matured, might try to introduce some hardy coral, it's depends cause my tank temp is around 27-29c. Not sure suitable to keep coral?? :???:
 
TimSchmidt

TimSchmidt

New Member
27-28 is fine, but may be a bit warmer than they love. Mine is at 28 (well 81.5 Fahrenheit) and does great. Hardy corals are a great place to start and I encourage you to try one. Softy or a mushroom or ricordia (my favorite nano coral actually)
 
TimSchmidt

TimSchmidt

New Member
Weekly water changes and maybe a spot feeding once a week (I put a single mysis on my mushrooms once or twice a month and they ball up around it to eat - they don't NEED it - I just like watching that).

If you do a weekly water change no supplements should be needed. Once you get comfortable you can try supplements to encourage faster than normal growth, but I advise to wait until you get the hang of just normal husbandry before jumping into that.
 
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catkchun

New Member
TimSchmidt said:
Weekly water changes and maybe a spot feeding once a week (I put a single mysis on my mushrooms once or twice a month and they ball up around it to eat - they don't NEED it - I just like watching that).

If you do a weekly water change no supplements should be needed. Once you get comfortable you can try supplements to encourage faster than normal growth, but I advise to wait until you get the hang of just normal husbandry before jumping into that.
Click to expand...
How about NO2 and NO3 for coral? isit 0? sorry for asking stupid question. :maitre
 
TimSchmidt

TimSchmidt

New Member
No stupid questions!! There are only bad questions (and the only bad questions are the ones not asked). NO2 you want zero. NO3 you want as close to zero as you can get it. Mine hovers around 2-5ppm for NO3 due to me over feeding. :oops:

If you have any BIO material. Bio balls, bio bale, bio wheel, or multiple sponges they will increase your NO3 rapidly I normally advise against using such material in our reef tanks. One exception. The sponge in the all in ones is pretty useful to physically pull gunk and debris out. It just has to be swapped out (or cleaned) every 2-3 days.
 
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catkchun

New Member
Sorry..does it mean that i need to take out the sponge from my canister filter? Or is there a need for canister filter for my 14g tank? Cause when i went to my LFS, they dont have any external filter for thier nano tank, is it ok? :oops:
 
TimSchmidt

TimSchmidt

New Member
I would just clean that sponge at least weekly. It is up to you if you want to use it. I don't see a reason not to use it if you have it. My nano only has a sponge that I clean out.
 
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catkchun

New Member
Sorry Tim, need to ask you a question. Why my SG suddenly spike from 1.022 to 1.026? Isit normal during the cycle? I changed the water 3 days ago because i added few LR and the SG spike. Today, when i checked the SG, it spike again?? Is it due to a put in a dead shrimp for cycling the tank? Please help?? :anxious :anxious

Ammonia level 1.0
PH 8.2
Nitrate 0
Nitrite 1
Temp 27
 
TimSchmidt

TimSchmidt

New Member
WEll the ammonia tells me you are having a spike in the cycle. BUT the SG goes up due to salt and water. Not much else really affects it too greatly. It is not normal for the SG to just jump. Are you topping off with fresh water? How are you measuring your SG? If you are using a swing arm hydrometer then I suggest you have a LFS test for you (and try to get a refractometer)
 
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catkchun

New Member
Is it ok for me to just top up water with Fesh water? Do i still need to add anti chlorine stuff like that?
 
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