Carlos 60 gallon new tank

[carlos_fb]

It's actually from the lighting in the tank. I guess I would not have that problem if I would have put the acrylic sheets inside the tank.

 

[Krish]

Hmm...I guess where that overflow sticks out in the tank, more light reflects off of it:doubt: No worries man...You won't see that backwall soon anyways when you start filling up that tank

 

[carlos_fb]

Looks like diatoms are finally going away but now I have hair algae all over...

At what point am I suppose to start raising my pH and how?

 

[spongebob lover]

i actually like how the overflow looks different color ...i think its neat .

At what point am I suppose to start raising my pH and how?

how low is your ph dood?
water changes and ph buffer would do it but go slow ....unless other doods have a better idea.

 

[carlos_fb]

i actually like how the overflow looks different color ...i think its neat .



how low is your ph dood?
water changes and ph buffer would do it but go slow ....unless other doods have a better idea.

Last time I checked my pH was at 8.0

 

[Haole]

8.0 still isn’t bad Carlos...
Has your tank cycled yet?
Give us the results of your latest water tests. In the meantime, do some research on how to drip in Kalkwasser. That’s another method to raise PH among other things it accomplishes.

 

[carlos_fb]

The tank still cycling, it will be 5 weeks on Sunday. I will test my water by then and post the results as I've been doing every week.

I thought I needed to have my pH a little bit higher.

 

[Krish]

I agree...Wouldn't worry too much right now Carlos especially if the ph stays consistant at the same level and not fluctuate much. When are you testing the ph btw? If at night of when lights are out, you will probably read lower than normal. As photosythesis takes place with the lights on, your ph will rise as a result which is why at night (or when lights are out) ph drops if you aren't running a fuge with an alternate light source/photoperiod for photosynthesis to commense with an algae. Let us know when you are testing

 

[carlos_fb]

I usually test my water in the morning but last Sunday I did it at night and got the same results as previous weeks, 8.0

Do you think I'm going to need a fuge?

 

[Krish]

I never really had one. Well, I had a section setup to put chaeto in, but never did. All I did was ran a light over that section on an alternate photoperiod from the tank during cycling so that any algae that grew (like you are experiencing now) would grow down there on it's own rather than the main display so I wouldn't have to look at it and it worked out great! I ran more watts per gal for a longer period of time and had all sorts of algae growing there which I siphoned out. When the tank matured and no-more algae grew, I got rid of the light and never used anything during the night at all. Never really checked my ph then, but everything seemed fine. PH can be maintained other ways though...You don't need a fuge

 

[carlos_fb]

Good to know I don't need a fuge since I really don't have space for one.

I WANT SOME LIVE STUFF!!! :evil:

 

[Krish]

ROFL!!! You can pretty much soon add in some hardy damsels although I've seen people add them from start up:shock:. The ammonia reading is the main concern IMO. Once you get them worked off and nitrite isn't insane, you should be fine with some hardy damsels. Don't rush though You've been very patient thus far. It will all pay off in the end

 

[carlos_fb]

Don't worry Krish, I'm not getting anything, I will wait until it's time. Trying to do this right the first time. Not a fan of damsels and I also think it's cruel to put them in the tank while cycling.

 

[Krish]

LOL!! If only everyone thought like that! Good for you man...I'm glad you will wait it out

 

[Haole]

Yeah... Good for you Carlos for hanging in there with patience! That’s an excellent attitude! But once that tank cycles, definitely put a cleaning crew on the top of your list and get’em in there asap!

 

[carlos_fb]

Yeah I have the cleaning crew in mind, I just don't know what to get and where to get it?

 

[Haole]

Do you have any lfs’s that offer various snails and mini hermit crabs?
I like the astraea snails and blue legged hermits the best and would suggest at least twenty-thirty of each to start with. Cerith snails are good too for keeping your sand bed stirred up.
Here’s a couple online sources. I wouldn’t do any sand stars period or cukes in such a new system, but if you’re having trouble finding something locally then maybe give them a call and see if you can do an order without these critters.

http://www.ipsf.com/reeftanktuneup.html

http://www.marinedepotlive.com/tank-cleaners.html

hth

 

[Scooterman]

Carlos on my tank I've Cycled the LR 4 months before even putting the first creature live in there, no not necessary but from experience I know what established means, & by far 4 months is only a drop in the bucket. It will take about a year or more to truly mature my tank, as with most, you can't rush that. I have three fish now that were kept in QT for me but it was a long wait to just get that! That experience is hard to pass on to someone just starting out, we want instant tanks with everything in it, when I first started out I didn't know what was going on & the LFS just kept selling me more fish! That sucked & I did know they even had forums for this back then.

 

[Haole]

Yep, much agreed... If I had forums like this or a computer for that matter when I first started out, I would have saved quite a bit of money and many fish as well!

 

[brady816]

the tank is coming along and looking good. I bet your ready to add all kinds of things to that baby