Carlos 60 gallon new tank

[carlos_fb]

Thank you guys...

I have noticed that the temp in the tank is around 81 all the time, no matter if I have my lights on or off. Last night I put a little fan I got for my sump and lowered the temp 0.5 but I was still at 81. Is that normal?

I have an Octopus NW 150 which is in-sump but I have an external return pump, Eheim 1260.

 

[Krish]

Yeah, that's normal and not too bad as you are still sitting within range. You don't want to go any higher than 83F though as that is the max

 

[carlos_fb]

I can't believe how much dirt my skimmer is pulling from my tank. I've been cleaning it every day since I put the live rock in last Sunday.

This picture is only 24 hours.

 

[Krish]

That's great Carlos!!! That skimemr is definately skimming!!!

 

[carlos_fb]

Last night I found out that my 200W Jager Heater is not working properly and that's why the temperature in the tank has been so high. Last night I unplugged it and this morning the tank was at 75 F so I guess I'm going to have to replace it soon. Somehow I'm relieve is not the rest of the equipment that is transferring too much heat to the water.

 

[Krish]

A heater is the least of your worries. Glad it was nothing else

 

[carlos_fb]

Tomorrow will be a week since I put the Live Rock in, do you think I should test my water for ammonia or something else?

 

[Meche]

ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, and salinity. I would immagine your pH and ALK are pretty stable, but it wouldn't hurt to confirm they are in range too.

 

[Krish]

I agree...Alk and calcium at this point aren't as important as you are really just trying to cycle the tank for the most part, but if you have the kits and want to test, then go for it. What you are most concerned with right now though is watching ammonia, nitrite and nitrate to know when the tank has finished the initial cycle

 

[Scooterman]

Invest in a Rancho controller for your heater, Is is worth the cost.
When cycling it is good to know what is going on but you can do like me & just wait a real long time then start testing but I've done it so many times I'm not in a hurry to put anything in my tank just yet.

 

[carlos_fb]

Today I tested my water and this is what I got so far. I was expecting to have more ammonia by now, what do you guys think?

Ammonia 0.25
Nitrite 4.0
Nitrate 100
pH 7.8
Salinity 1026
PPT 35
Temp 79 F

 

[brady816]

nice looking tank. so what kinds of fish and corals are you going to add in that baby???

 

[Scooterman]

Looking perfect, very nice tank! Give her time to settle it will get better!

 

[Krish]

Tank looks great! As for your results, ph is a little low and on the other numbers just let it continue to cycle. Nitrate seems a little high for a tank just setup IMO, but give it some time to see how it goes. The cycling part is always the worse and requires patience which at this point, we don't really have It will all balance out though

 

[carlos_fb]

nice looking tank. so what kinds of fish and corals are you going to add in that baby???

Thanks for the compliment. Honestly I don't know yet what I'm going to add to it. Do you have any suggestions?

 

[carlos_fb]

Glad to know it's all good so far. I understand it's normal to have these crazy readings but I would like to know what am I going to need in order to balance them later on?

 

[Krish]

Ammonia, nitrite and nitrate will balance themselves out with maturity as the necessary bacterial colonies form through cycling. As for ph, alk, calcium and so forth, you can dose with supplements to bring them up, but not totally necessary right now.

 

[carlos_fb]

Thanks for your response Krish, I bought 2 Part B-onics to later on balance Calcium and Alk. What should I get for pH?

 

[carlos_fb]

I noticed that some of the silicone I used to attach the baffles to my glass sump have turned pink, is that normal? please tell I didn't use the wrong thing!!!

 

[carlos_fb]

Somebody pm'ed me asking me to post a picture of my electrical setup and I deleted the message by mistake. Here's a picture of it eventhough it's not that great. I will try to take a few more later on. Sorry for the delay.