Hard Water &Cycle Question

[Tankalicious]

Hey guys,

New here. Still not sure where to make an introduction so here is the rundown

I am 10 days into cycling my 75 gallon tank. I have about 60lb mix of dry rock and live rock/seeded rock/ cured rock ha ha not sure what you guys call it around here, it's dry and has purple and trace pink algae on it. This rock combo has been in the tank since day 1 as well as 40 lbs of dry sand.

I just added 10 lbs of live wet rock from my LFS 3 days ago. It came with some small snails, a single pod that I've seen, and some green algae

I am testing with 2 different test strips, between both kits all parameters are in the "ideal" range per test. The hardness does not have a reference range

ph - 8.2
Ammonia - 0
Nitrite - 0
Nitrate - 0
Salinity - 1.027
Alkalinity - 40-80
Clorine - 0
Copper - 0
Iron - 0
Hardness - 425+


I am running my water through an RO system, but not a DI system as I was told by a LFS owner it was not needed in our area.


Long story, but is my hardness too high? ??

The test strips say it is measured CAC03,PPM (JNW Test strips from amazon & tetra easy strips)

Also when I was filling our tank it was probably not ideal or smart conditions..... I filled the tank and 10-gallon sump with RO water and turned on the heater, once the water got to around 75 degrees I started removing 5 gallons at a time and slowly started mixing up salt (Instant Ocean) and mixing back into the tank over the course of 24-48 hours.

After the salinity and temp were stable I added 20lbs of bagged live sand.

2 Days ago I started ghost feeding with 1 cube of frozen brine shrimp, but I still have not seen any Ammonia..... I figured with how I added the rock and salt that I would have plenty of die-offs.

Could hard water stall the cycle? I did not perform my first water test until 1 day before ghost feeding

Also I think I have dry rock dust on my heater and glass, can I just blow the heater off? or should I remove it and wipe it down?


Also big thanks to the people hosting this forum and all the active contributors!

Thanks!

 

[mdb_talon]

I am not sure what test kits you are using, but i am guessing not really what you want for a reef tank. As far as the hardness number on your kit it is not relevant. Using RO water takes the minerals out. Mixing with salt puts the ones you want back in.

 

[reefinatl]

I would say DI is always needed but given low enough tds/soft enough water, you could skip the RO without going broke buying resin and having the benefit of no waste water.

 

[Jekyl]

I'd get the DI for your system. It's not much more and your LFS owner may not know what he's talking about. I was a little lost on your post. Did you add live rock to a system that didn't have salt in it?

 

[monkeyCmonkeyDo]

I am a little confused here. Sorry. Alkalinity of dkh is your waters hardness measurement. Your hardness numbers youve provided are the actual calcium numbers?
D

 

[monkeyCmonkeyDo]

Or*

 

[monkeyCmonkeyDo]

Inwould bring the salt down to 1.025

 

[Auquanut]

Welcome to R2R! If you click on the FORUMS tab, you'll find the "Meet and Greet" forum. It's a great place to introduce yourself to the group.

I agree that it seems like you should be seeing some ammonia. With your temp and salinity already stable from your unique method of adding the salt before you added the live rock, you may not have too much die off. Your salinity is a little high, but not dangerously so. You can slowly lower it over a period of days to 1.024 to 1.026 without any ill affects.

About the test strips. I personally wouldn't trust them. I would invest in a trusted brand of salt water test kits. It looks like the strips you have may be for fresh water? I use Red Sea test kits, but Salifert makes a full line that are affordable, fairly easy to use and read, and fairly consistent.

I've added a couple of really good reads below for the new reefer. Hope they help. Use this time while the tank is cycling, and before you add fish to learn about the cycle and get comfortable with your tank and testing. It'll pay dividends in the long run. And by the way, I really like your aquascape!

Cycling an Aquarium

Cycling a new aquarium. One of the earliest topics a new aquarium hobbyist needs to learn is how to properly cycle their aquarium. There is a ton of information on this process and many different methods on how to accomplish it. There are many different chemical and biological cycles our tank...

www.reef2reef.com

The Supreme Guide To Setting Up A Saltwater Reef Aquarium

The Supreme Guide To Setting Up A Saltwater Reef Aquarium This article was sponsored by @MarineDepot at www.marinedepot.com. Introduction The marine environment is one of the most complex systems on the planet. The aquarium you are about to set up is only a tiny sliver of the vast ocean...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[Tankalicious]

Thanks for all the responses guys.

I will work on lowering the salinity over the next few days

@ Jekyl
I added dry rock and cured "live rock" before the water had any salt in it. 2 days after getting salinity up I added live sand and clarifier , then 5 days after live sand I added 10 lbs of wet rock from my LFS display

The test strips I am using have 2 separate sections for matching colors up, one is Saltwater and one is Freshwater. Both kits from different manufactures are reading the same results.

@ Monkey
The hardness claims it is measured CAC03,ppm so I am not sure if it is measuring TDS or CAC03 which is Calcium Carbonate. I have a digital TDS meter on the way. The test measures Alkalinity separately


My next question, I have access to a large DI bottle at work. Probably around 5 cubic feet, Can you polish the water through DI BEFORE running it though the RO system?

All the systems I see have DI post RO system

The reason I am asking is the fact that the DI bottle I have access to will need all the pressure possible direct from the main water line. The bottle and resin bed is too deep to run water through 1/4 line post RO through the DI bottle.

Thanks,