Cleaning and Changing water with gorgonian and sponge

[Skinner'sReef]

Hello, New to R2R and the hobby in general. I've had my aquarium for about a week now and I just got the water tested yesterday. Everything was ready to go so I purchased a gorgonian and a regular sponge not sure of the name, its about as basic orange sponge as it can get though. I also got an urchin. When I bought the gorgonian and sponge my lfs told me not to take them out of the water or they will die. So I guess my question is how should I go about cleaning my tank and changing the water? I am ready for a full water change. Another question bout the gorgonian is almost all of the polpys open up but how come a few of them don't fully open? they just barely poke out. Thanks!

 

[malacoda]

You'll have to place them low enough in the tank so that the tops are never exposed to air when the return pump is off and the water level drops.

Do you have a sump? If so, you can remove water from the sump for water changes rather than the DT. That way the water level in the DT won't go below the 'low water mark' of the return pump being off.

When they grow, trim the down so they remain below the low water mark of your tank. Any part of the sponge that sticks up and gets exposed to air when the water level drops will die off anyway, so best to just trim it down if it grows too tall.

I know that exposing sponges to air is typcially a death sentence. But I was unaware the same holds true for gorgonians.

 

[Marco S]

Hello, New to R2R and the hobby in general. I've had my aquarium for about a week now and I just got the water tested yesterday. Everything was ready to go

How did you cycle your tank in a week? Did you use bacteria in a bottle?

I am ready for a full water change.

Why would you be doing a full water change? The only time I have ever changed all the water is in my Quarantine tanks between treating fish. Your display tank should never require a full water change...especially after a week.

Edit: Forgot to add...Welcome to R2R!!!

 

[Skinner'sReef]

How did you cycle your tank in a week? Did you use bacteria in a bottle?




Why would you be doing a full water change? The only time I have ever changed all the water is in my Quarantine tanks between treating fish. Your display tank should never require a full water change...especially after a week.

Edit: Forgot to add...Welcome to R2R!!!

Thanks! haha, Well.. it seems I was misinformed and bought way too much water. I did buy a bottle of Dr. Tims (bacteria in a bottle) and was told in 5-7 days my cycle should be complete so I came back a week later for testing and everything was looking good. I swear I thought he told me after the firat week ill have to do a full water change. How much do i actually need to change?

 

[Skinner'sReef]

Thanks for the response Malacoda I just bought the sump today, Ill be installing it tomorrow, New return pump and hang on overfill tank also(Gonna add the skimmer next weekend). I was using a HOF because when I bought the tank I was going to do freshwater. When it came to deciding what I wanted in my aquarium everything was pointing me towards saltwater so here I am. I've been watching BRS and reading like crazy but have a lot to learn. So far I love it, I was so excited when I got to put this stuff in the tank. Anyways when I install the sump tomorrow ill be adding water to the system so I can do the water change then just not sure how much I need to change for the first time after 8 days.

 

[Marco S]

Depends on what your water parameters are. You should not have any measurable amount of Ammonia or Nitrite and as long as your Nitrate is under 20 PPM I wouldn't do a water change at all...

You should also really start testing your water yourself so you can get a better understanding and handle of your water parameters and know when it is time to change your water or when something is off and needs to be investigated.

Parameters you should know in your reef tank:

Temperature - (this should be between 76 - 80)
Salinity - (this should be between 1.023 - 1.026)
PH - (this should be between 8.1 - 8.4)
Ammonia - (this should be 0 PPM)
Nitrite - (this should be 0 PPM)
Nitrate - (this should be between 10 - 20 PPM)
Alkalinity - (this should be between 8 - 13 dKH)
Calcium - (this should be between 400 - 450 ppm)
Magnesium - (this should be between 1200 - 1320 ppm)
Phosphate - (this should be as close to 0 as possible)

Also, did you dose Ammonia to get the Nitrogen Cycle started? With bottled bacteria you need to dose Ammonia because that is what the bacteria eats and without it the bacteria will just die and you will not have a complete cycle. You need to monitor your tank during the cycle and watch for an Ammonia spike, a Nitrite spike and finally presence of Nitrate. When Ammonia and Nitrite are 0 and Nitrate is some measurable number, then and only then are you completely cycled.

You may want to read the sticky posts on Cycling an Aquarium and The Supreme Guide To Setting Up A Saltwater Reef Aquarium before you go any further...

 

[Skinner'sReef]

Depends on what your water parameters are. You should not have any measurable amount of Ammonia or Nitrite and as long as your Nitrate is under 20 PPM I wouldn't do a water change at all...

You should also really start testing your water yourself so you can get a better understanding and handle of your water parameters and know when it is time to change your water or when something is off and needs to be investigated.

Parameters you should know in your reef tank:

Temperature - (this should be between 76 - 80)
Salinity - (this should be between 1.023 - 1.026)
PH - (this should be between 8.1 - 8.4)
Ammonia - (this should be 0 PPM)
Nitrite - (this should be 0 PPM)
Nitrate - (this should be between 10 - 20 PPM)
Alkalinity - (this should be between 8 - 13 dKH)
Calcium - (this should be between 400 - 450 ppm)
Magnesium - (this should be between 1200 - 1320 ppm)
Phosphate - (this should be as close to 0 as possible)

Also, did you dose Ammonia to get the Nitrogen Cycle started? With bottled bacteria you need to dose Ammonia because that is what the bacteria eats and without it the bacteria will just die and you will not have a complete cycle. You need to monitor your tank during the cycle and watch for an Ammonia spike, a Nitrite spike and finally presence of Nitrate. When Ammonia and Nitrite are 0 and Nitrate is some measurable number, then and only then are you completely cycled.

You may want to read the sticky posts on Cycling an Aquarium and The Supreme Guide To Setting Up A Saltwater Reef Aquarium before you go any further...

Thanks, I saved those parameters to my desktop. Ill have to check out some test kits when im at the lfs tomorrow. Is there anything i should know when buying a kit?

 

[Marco S]

Try to get Salifert or Red Sea Test kits if they have them. They are more expensive then the API Kits, but more accurate and easier to perform and read.

Also, How big is your tank and did you start with live sand and rock or dry? How much rock do you have? Have you thought of what you will be putting in your sump? I highly recommend throwing some Marine Pure bricks and or balls in the sump for added biological filtration and setting up a refugium if you have room.

 

[Skinner'sReef]

Try to get Salifert or Red Sea Test kits if they have them. They are more expensive then the API Kits, but more accurate and easier to perform and read.

Also, How big is your tank and did you start with live sand and rock or dry? How much rock do you have? Have you thought of what you will be putting in your sump? I highly recommend throwing some Marine Pure bricks and or balls in the sump for added biological filtration and setting up a refugium if you have room.

The tank is small, 40 gallons, sump is 30 gallons. I have 40 lbs of live sand and was about 25 lbs of live rock. I plan on getting more live rock very soon. I also put a box of these bio media rocks I was told they grow bacteria and have an insane amount of surface area for their size, very porous.
For the sump right now its just gonna be the sock filter im not sure what to put in there with it ill look into what you said. Next weekend im going to add a skimmer and I want to do a refugium also just not sure what all is required I may be able to do that now. Im pretty handy I can add baffles and walls in my sump if I have to. I have a 700 gph Aquamag return pump.