sfin52
So many pedestrians so little time
I would put in canister if at all possible. Water is passed through the carbon. In the tank is a more passive and won't be as effective.
Water smells
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spamvicious
Well-Known Member
Was under the impression that nitrate should be 0?. Yeah I got a phos test and it was 0.
Rmckoy
7500 Club Member
Ideally you don’t want nitrates or phosphates at zero .
Raise them a little so they’re at mon detectable .
ideal range 5-10 ppm for nitrates
And 0.03-0.1 ppm for phosphates
this is based on if you maintain nsw alkalinity
davidcalgary29
2500 Club Member
I'd also double check to make sure that your water is the source of the foul odour (and I mean "something smells dead!" and not a "regular functioning tank/tidepool" smell). Emergent algae often gives off a pervasive smell, so it might be a source. Chaeto is particularly stinky, and needs to be submerged for everyone's sake.
sfin52
So many pedestrians so little time
No both zero is bad. The zooxanthellae have to live. They require phosphates and nitrates to photosynthese the by products of this feeds the coral. Starving them starves the coral. Zero of one could bring in dinoflagellates and that could wipe out the tank.
OP
OP
spamvicious
Well-Known Member
Defiantly nothing dead, it might be algae that smells.
OP
OP
spamvicious
Well-Known Member
OP
OP
spamvicious
Well-Known Member
I haven’t added anything no.
OP
OP
spamvicious
Well-Known Member
I used a salifert test for the phos and the water was clear so I took that as 0 phos according to the colour chat. I might get a proper test from the lfs and see what’s going on.
Mark Novack
Well-Known Member
Carbon will get the smell and colors out quickly in direct or passive flow. Use your RODI machine like its the foundation of your aquarium. It is. Ca and Mg and Alk are low if its going to be a reef. 450, 1400 and 9 would be a good target. Your Mespillia urchin will show you quickly when the parameters are good. It will get fluffly and tentacled. They are like canaries in the mines.
OP
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spamvicious
Well-Known Member
My alk has been very low, it was 4.5 at times which I why I got the rodi unit to make sure everything was ok. I got some bottled salifert magnesium and calcium is when I bought some salifert tests on eBay. So I could try adding some of that?.
Mark Novack
Well-Known Member
Yes mamm. You will need an alkalinity supplement too. Get a powder. It will be far cheaper. 7 is regarded as a minimum alk. I think 8 is popular and keeping 9 is a safety margin. I had a marvelous mixed tank with 14 alk and 7.8 ph but that is another story. It requires daily addition (maybe very little, maybe a lot) even for coralline aglae to grow. Increasing by 1 Kh per day is good so a dose per day for 2 days should get you there. Then you keep testing daily and when its down 1 point you raise it back up. How many days did it take to go down? That gives you the average consumption. It could be 1 to 2 parts per day even for just coralline so don't let that throw you off. You want it to get used.
The Ca to Mg ratio of 1:3 is commonly accepted, my major providers suggesting 1:3.2 ratio. 450 Ca x 3.2 gives 1440 for Mg. You can safely increase Ca 10-20 parts per day and Mg also so the Mg will take longer to raise. You don't have many things in the tank so you could push it a little faster. Watch your urchin and the coralline. You should see an almost immediate response from the urchin and more coralline in just a few days.
Do not add alk within the same hour as Mg or Ca as that risks precipitation. Test daily until you hit your target and continue testing alk daily because that is the first one to change and the most important to hold steady. You will quickly get a feel for your daily consumption.
When these levels are corrected, you will see the coralline algae develope very fast. When you understand how to keep the parameters stable you will have great success. A well growing tank requires these elements replenished consistently whether by hand, dosing pumps, or calcium reactors (just another dosing form).
I use Red Sea coral pro salt as my base. Its rich but in the beginning its Magnesium that needs to be pumped up. I find it easier to control Ca/Alk by first getting the Mg pumped up but I did that in the first few weeks. Last week showed a decrease in growth. All levels were high but the Ca:Mg was 1:3.55 with Mg at 1490. Increasing Ca to 470 to lower the ratio to 1:3.2 has resulted in a return to fast growth.
The Ca to Mg ratio of 1:3 is commonly accepted, my major providers suggesting 1:3.2 ratio. 450 Ca x 3.2 gives 1440 for Mg. You can safely increase Ca 10-20 parts per day and Mg also so the Mg will take longer to raise. You don't have many things in the tank so you could push it a little faster. Watch your urchin and the coralline. You should see an almost immediate response from the urchin and more coralline in just a few days.
Do not add alk within the same hour as Mg or Ca as that risks precipitation. Test daily until you hit your target and continue testing alk daily because that is the first one to change and the most important to hold steady. You will quickly get a feel for your daily consumption.
When these levels are corrected, you will see the coralline algae develope very fast. When you understand how to keep the parameters stable you will have great success. A well growing tank requires these elements replenished consistently whether by hand, dosing pumps, or calcium reactors (just another dosing form).
I use Red Sea coral pro salt as my base. Its rich but in the beginning its Magnesium that needs to be pumped up. I find it easier to control Ca/Alk by first getting the Mg pumped up but I did that in the first few weeks. Last week showed a decrease in growth. All levels were high but the Ca:Mg was 1:3.55 with Mg at 1490. Increasing Ca to 470 to lower the ratio to 1:3.2 has resulted in a return to fast growth.
Paul B
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Rock Pool Reef Keepers
I'm sorry but i have to disagree with much of the advice here. Some I agree with like you are feeding those two fish to much. Fish are cold blooded creatures and need very little food. Don't worry about them starving as they could probably go without any food for a month or more. But don't do that, it was just an example. (for now you could occasionally add a pellet for the crab, like once a week)
I would never feed flakes or anything that is not fresh or freshly frozen. Fish need the gut bacteria for immunity.
I think your canister filter is a mistake. I would use it empty or just with rock inside for circulation.
Your tank smells because it is to new and needs time to age. It is the bacteria that will eventually cover everything in the tank that will make it stop smelling and be healthy.
I would also not add carbon or anything else. Carbon, at this point will remove some things that the tank needs now to mature and carbon will lengthen that process.
At the age of your tank now it is very fragile and many things you can do to it can mess it completely up so my advice to you would be to leave it alone as much as possible and allow the natural aging process to continue.
Good Luck.
I would never feed flakes or anything that is not fresh or freshly frozen. Fish need the gut bacteria for immunity.
I think your canister filter is a mistake. I would use it empty or just with rock inside for circulation.
Your tank smells because it is to new and needs time to age. It is the bacteria that will eventually cover everything in the tank that will make it stop smelling and be healthy.
I would also not add carbon or anything else. Carbon, at this point will remove some things that the tank needs now to mature and carbon will lengthen that process.
At the age of your tank now it is very fragile and many things you can do to it can mess it completely up so my advice to you would be to leave it alone as much as possible and allow the natural aging process to continue.
Good Luck.
OU812Reefing
Active Member
I’m having an issue with the water smelling bad. I’m doing 10% water changes every week and when I do that I also suction the sand. I feed the two clowns half a cube of frozen food twice a day. I have one hermit crab (he killed the other one), one snail, one tuxedo urchin and a blood red shrimp in a 135l tank.
my nitrate is 15 which I can’t seem to get any lower and every couple of days there’s more brown algae on the glass. I leave the algae at the back for the urchin and the snail to eat. I’ve just got an rodi unit so I can do bigger water changes if needed.
I have a couple of soft frags and I added a BTA a couple of days ago.
Any suggestions?.
You can make it very easy get a small hang on back filter and put a bag of just charcoal in the filter the water will pass through and around it charcoal bag it will take care of the smell and make your water very clear
sfin52
So many pedestrians so little time
Thats a good test
J1a
Well-Known Member
Nitrate, ammonium and phosphate don't have any smell. Normally the foul smells in the aquarium comes from chemicals released by bacteria and algae.
Allow your biodiversity to mature. This would work in the long run to reduce the problem.
Allow your biodiversity to mature. This would work in the long run to reduce the problem.
