starting my pico......finally

MrBungle

MrBungle

Large Fish
#21
Oct 18, 2006
421
4
0
37
NY, on an island...
#21
question for nano owners: When evaporation occurs, I top off with treated water, right? no salt in it. After maybe a half inch of evap, i top off with treated water and an hour later I check my salinity. and its higher than before. I dont get it. My salinity is swinging up AND down after topping off. I have a red sea hydrometer.
EDIT: ok this is weird. an hour ago SG was 1.026 and now its 1.014. my tank temp is 77 deg.
 

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C

CoolWaters

Superstar Fish
#22
Dec 10, 2006
1,028
1
0
Milpitas
#22
MrBungle said:
question for nano owners: When evaporation occurs, I top off with treated water, right? no salt in it. After maybe a half inch of evap, i top off with treated water and an hour later I check my salinity. and its higher than before. I dont get it. My salinity is swinging up AND down after topping off. I have a red sea hydrometer.
EDIT: ok this is weird. an hour ago SG was 1.026 and now its 1.014. my tank temp is 77 deg.
Click to expand...
dont look like the freshwater is mixed in very well. does anyone have a nice tip on how to add water? my uncle pours the water in front of the power heads. works for him.
 

YahooFishKeeper

YahooFishKeeper

Superstar Fish
#23
Jan 14, 2006
2,177
11
0
34
A little town outside Kansas City, Kansas
www.youtube.com
#23
are you measuring the second after you put the water in the tank? i did that once... scared the bajeesus out of me... my salinity showed like 1.008. i about peed my pants... when i realized something couldnt be right, i just re-tested. i suggest tapping the hydrometer on the stand or something to make sure there are no bubbles on the arm or something.
 

MrBungle

MrBungle

Large Fish
#24
Oct 18, 2006
421
4
0
37
NY, on an island...
#24
I waited an hour. The tank was probably cycled over at least 10 times by then. I ordered a marine depot refractometer because I cant afford to lose livestock with a tank like this. The guy at the lfs suggested that I get a 5 gallon bucket with a small powerhead in it and a heater for when I do WC's.....but that kinda seems crazy. Do you guys suggest I get one of those 2 gallon jugs of pre-made ocean water for WC's? Also, should I do the same bucket idea with fresh treated water without the powerhead? This tiny tank is driving me crazy lol
 

YahooFishKeeper

YahooFishKeeper

Superstar Fish
#25
Jan 14, 2006
2,177
11
0
34
A little town outside Kansas City, Kansas
www.youtube.com
#25
i just mix my water in 1 gallon jugs that i have from buying RO water. someone might get onto me for this... but i just mix it to the right salinity, shake for like 5 minutes, let it set over night, shake it up again the next day for about 5 minutes, measure the salinity, and if its right still, i do the WC with it. you wont need to do much over a gallon for a tank that small, and doing the whole 5 gallon bucket thing seems kindof like a waste.
 

MrBungle

MrBungle

Large Fish
#26
Oct 18, 2006
421
4
0
37
NY, on an island...
#26
I just tested for ammonia....0. tested nitrites.....0. I thought maybe the cycle hasnt even begun but I tested for nitrates and got 5ppm. I know my tap has 0ppm so is it possible for my tank to cycle in 5 days?
 

TRe

TRe

Elite Fish
#34
Feb 20, 2005
3,645
1
0
ft. lauderdale
#34
looking good so far but one thing about this hobby is you gotta have patiance... a cleanup crew is what your guna want to add next but id wait another week or 2..... if you still plan to add more live rock nows a good time to do so ;) seriously for the live stock id wait a bit longer....than start off with something cheap like maybe a few snails and crabs.... with a tank this small u dont really want more than 1 small fish some live rock and zoo's/shrooms but i think a pistol shrimp/goby pair would be pretty cool also when you pick out your live rock i would get the best stuff you could find since you only need a few small peices
 

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MrBungle

MrBungle

Large Fish
#37
Oct 18, 2006
421
4
0
37
NY, on an island...
#37
Is it possible that from all the algae in the tank, the nitrates could be 0? I was about to do a WC so I decided to do a nitrate test. First one came out to 0 so I did another one but came out with the same results. lots of green and brown stringy stuff.
 

TRe

TRe

Elite Fish
#38
Feb 20, 2005
3,645
1
0
ft. lauderdale
#38
MrBungle said:
Is it possible that from all the algae in the tank, the nitrates could be 0?
Click to expand...
nope *twirlysmi looks like its not done cycling ....... what was it last time you checked???? and you still wana do a water change either way... its never not a good idea ;)
 

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