What I am doing wrong?

[KING KONG]

My tank is 7 yrs old but it is looking rather new. Can this be coz I keep salinity at 1.016 or am I doing anything else wrong? . It does hv a lot of detritus(like some old tank hv) but don't know it really looks like a young tank. Any idea what am I doing wrong?

 

[MischiefReef]

That is almost hypo salinity. For starters salinity is way too low for corals. Is there a reason you keep it so low?
Will need some more information to help in any meaningful way.
What are your parameters?
What is the tank size?
What’s the filtration system? Lighting? Flow?
What livestock are in the tank?
What is your maintenance schedule like?
What do you dose (if anything)?
What type of tank are you aiming to set up, fish only or reef?

 

[KING KONG]

That is almost hypo salinity. For starters salinity is way too low for corals. Is there a reason you keep it so low?
Will need some more information to help in any meaningful way.
What are your parameters?
What is the tank size?
What’s the filtration system? Lighting? Flow?
What livestock are in the tank?
What type of tank are you aiming to set up, fish only or reef?

I was told by my lfs to keep salinity at 1.016. He really misguided me so thinking about raising salinity in some days. I don't hv corals. My tank is fish only for now. I don't know tank size but may be 60-75 gallon. Livestocks r only a lionfish and a demsel.
I hv recently added a power pump for flow as I came to know that my tank has low flow coz of which there is lot of detritus.
I hv recently done a test
Nitrate is between 20-25(I hv colour kit)
Ammonia is at 0.2 (it was 0.5 last week)
I think I hv to check Nitrite

I use mix of (50%)white and (50%)blue lights but now, I hv decided I would increase blue lightning

 

[MischiefReef]

I was told by my lfs to keep salinity at 1.016. He really misguided me so thinking about raising salinity in some days. I don't hv corals. My tank is fish only for now. I don't know tank size but may be 60-75 gallon. Livestocks r only a lionfish and a demsel.
I hv recently added a power pump for flow as I came to know that my tank has low flow coz of which there is lot of detritus.
I hv recently done a test
Nitrate is between 20-25(I hv colour kit)
Ammonia is at 0.2 (it was 0.5 last week)
I think I hv to check Nitrite

I use mix of (50%)white and (50%)blue lights but now, I hv decided I would increase blue lightning

Yes you will want to raise that to around 1.025 over the course of 3 days minimum. The good news is given the tank age, you probably already have a good population of nitrifying bacteria as those can survive even in hypo salinity. Don’t bother with checking nitrite, it doesnt matter for SW in most cases.
Blues are more for the benefit of corals, if your tank is fish only for now, you can change it but it’s not critical.

 

[KING KONG]

Yes you will want to raise that to around 1.025 over the course of 3 days minimum. The good news is given the tank age, you probably already have a good population of nitrifying bacteria as those can survive even in hypo salinity. Don’t bother with checking nitrite, it doesnt matter for SW in most cases.
Blues are more for the benefit of corals, if your tank is fish only for now, you can change it but it’s not critical.

I am also seeing lots of bubbles from the sand, does it show only nitrogen cycle?

 

[MischiefReef]

I am also seeing lots of bubbles from the sand, does it show only nitrogen cycle?

Bubbles from the sand could indicate a few things such as some sort of algae growing in your sand bed, or some other type of gas escaping from breakdown of detritus or perhaps does your pump/power head produce any micro bubbles? How deep is your sand bed? Have you stirred the sand bed recently? (If not, then do NOT do this on the whole tank sand bed at the same time as you may release toxic gases in large quantities)

 

[KING KONG]

Bubbles from the sand could indicate a few things such as some sort of algae growing in your sand bed, or some other type of gas escaping from breakdown of detritus or perhaps does your pump/power head produce any micro bubbles? How deep is your sand bed? Have you stirred the sand bed recently? (If not, then do NOT do this on the whole tank sand bed at the same time).

My pump can produce bubbles but I hv switched off that for now. Yes I hv disturb sand bed with rod to clean that detritus.

 

[JC1977]

When you refer to your tank looking “new” I’m assuming you’re talking about the lack of coralline algae on rocks etc? As has already been posted with your salinity so low it’s almost impossible to grow coralline or keep any corals or inverts at that low of salinity. I’m not sure why your LFS would recommend 1.016 this is not sound advice not even for a FOWLR. the lower salinity won’t do anything to reduce disease i.e. ich or velvet etc and on a smaller system you’re not really saving $$ on salt mix. I would follow the advice suggested in this post on all the points mentioned and especially about the sand bed! Best of luck with the tank.

 

[TnFishwater98]

My tank is 7 yrs old but it is looking rather new. Can this be coz I keep salinity at 1.016 or am I doing anything else wrong? . It does hv a lot of detritus(like some old tank hv) but don't know it really looks like a young tank. Any idea what am I doing wrong?

#1- Get some real LR…
#2-

 

[hexcolor reef]

My tank is 7 yrs old but it is looking rather new. Can this be coz I keep salinity at 1.016 or am I doing anything else wrong? . It does hv a lot of detritus(like some old tank hv) but don't know it really looks like a young tank. Any idea what am I doing wrong?

Is live rock from LFS or rocks from outside? if it’s outside rocks thpats one issue. The best thing to do is scrap the insides of tank glass and make sure filtration system is on full blast. If you have a 60 g tank make sure you have atleast 400gph filter running

 

[TnFishwater98]

 

[TnFishwater98]

Seriously look at good fresh LR..Don’t worry about hitchhikers most are good and great chance you will not get a “evil” pest. Fix salinity. Look at lighting and flow. Need more info for more suggestions or understanding….

 

[TnFishwater98]

I am also seeing lots of bubbles from the sand, does it show only nitrogen cycle?

Need pics

 

[KING KONG]

Need pics

How can I post pics of that . They come out all of the sudden. I'll try to put a camera there

 

[KING KONG]

Seriously look at good fresh LR..Don’t worry about hitchhikers most are good and great chance you will not get a “evil” pest. Fix salinity. Look at lighting and flow. Need more info for more suggestions or understanding….

I use dry rock which I got yrs ago from my lfs. Actually I am now seeing little patches of coralline. I'll fix my salinity.

 

[MischiefReef]

If your pump is indeed producing micro bubbles, there is a chance that is what you’re seeing in the sand bed. IIRC micro bubbles tend to persist longer and sink to the tank bottom in lower salinity because of reduced bouyancy. This however does not hold true for freshwater which has less water tension hence why skimmers don’t work for fresh water. Sorry for the tangent, basically if you’re trying to figure out the cause of the bubbles, see if they look like they are seeping from the sand bed, or floating in the water and settling down on the sand. Alternatively if there is any sign of a slime layer, and it’s forming larger bubbles, that would indicate to me that it is some form of bubble algae. If this ends up being the case, then you can look to reducing your photoperiod (lights on schedule) particular your whites.

 

[KING KONG]

If your pump is indeed producing micro bubbles, there is a chance that is what you’re seeing in the sand bed. IIRC micro bubbles tend to persist longer and sink to the tank bottom in lower salinity because of reduced bouyancy. This however does not hold true for freshwater which has less water tension hence why skimmers don’t work for fresh water. Sorry for the tangent, basically if you’re trying to figure out the cause of the bubbles, see if they look like they are seeping from the sand bed, or floating in the water and settling down on the sand. Alternatively if there is any sign of a slime layer, and it’s forming larger bubbles, that would indicate to me that it is some form of bubble algae. If this ends up being the case, then you can look to reducing your photoperiod (lights on schedule) particular your whites.

I think they may come from decomposition of detritus by worms. I will reduce white lightnings

Thank u so much