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| Posted | ro water + normal tap water |
| 13-12-2006 07:42 by trickatech |
Im slowly getting there in my project to setup a marine tank form complete scratch.at the moment i have the live sand in the tank and i am now ro'ing the water but this is very slow and so far im about a quater of the way up my 4ft x 18 x18 tank.but i read somewhere that you do not add complete ro water but instead do a mix with both tap and ro water to get the correct desired ph.Is this true? and is there some kind of scale to go by? any help would be greatfully appreciated.
Ross |
| 13-12-2006 08:27 by Alan |
What?
Right I am hoping you are not filling the tank with RO water whilst the live sand is in there if you are the live sand is now dead. To set up a marine tank the first time you fill it you do it whilst the tank is empty. Work out how much salt is needed to get the slainity right for only 3/4 filling the tank chuck it in the tank and fill it but only fill it to the 3/4 mark. Once all the salt is disolved and the water is cleared and you have tested all the gizmos you add live sand and live rock and once all that is in you mix salt water up in a container to match the sg of the tank water or adjust it if you want it slightly higher or lower then add it to the tank until the tank is full. Aside from the first filling of the tank you NEVER mix ro and salt in the main tank. Never use tap water in a proposed reef tank it contains to much in the way of metals. If you use a good synthetic salt you will not have any problems with buffering and to be frank tap water would be no help at all. |
| 13-12-2006 09:58 by KOBISKYE |
ross always research first, listen to alan or wayne they know best about marine |
| 13-12-2006 10:28 by trickatech |
right ok.
i put a post on here bout a month ago asking and peeps said should be ok. i have to admit i did get mixed opinions. i did add some salt to the water prior to adding but not a great deal. sg 1.015. i have one bag of sand in the tank with the slightly salty ro water.Alan should i now remove this sand and start again or will it be ok to mix with say another to bags of uninfected live sand? |
| 13-12-2006 15:16 by Alan |
You should get away with a salinity even at that level the main stuff of interest in live sand is the bactaeria and that will hopefully have coped.
I would put the sand in a container that will hold the sand with water of a salinity of about 1.025-1.027. Then fill the remainder of the tank with RO whilst nothing is in there and add salt and mix accordingly as I have suggested above get all the kit up and running then put the sand back in and add the live rock once the temp is right and the salinity is right once the live rock is in mix some salt water in a container fully disolve the salt and increase the water level to the top of the tank. The live sand is going to be partially dead but it won't do any harm if left providing you get the cured live rock in fairly quickly. I would also suggest that you buy the latest or subscribe to practical fish keeping there is normally loads of advice given in the mag. |
| 13-12-2006 15:18 by Alan |
One golden rule when doing water changes the water you add must have the same sg as the water in the tank even a small sg fluctuation can stress fish and even kill inverts use a refractometer to measure salinity as well hydrometers are rubbish at best lethal at worst.
And when topping up for evaporation use pure RO water unless you need to boost calcium and the like if things need boosting mix with RO water for top and follow the instructions very carefully I find seachem buffers work the best. |
| 13-12-2006 16:44 by trickatech |
Alan your a legend mate. youve helped me so much in my mission to get this up and running i have really enjoyed this project so far as i set this tank from more or less scratch. i will remove the sand this evening and follow the procedure exactly as you have stated.im a bit gutted i made this error but its a learning curve i have followed everthing else so closely. are there any specific cultures other than live rock you can reccommed adding to the water to help nurish the sand? |
| 14-12-2006 09:27 by Alan |
If its the worst error you make with your first marine tank you will be well chuffed believe me I've made some howlers! |
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