Gigajoulz
Community Member
Hello, all! I’m from Central Alabama and recently started my first saltwater fish tanks; the first is 20 gal and has been running since the start of March. The second tank is 75 gal and was started a few weeks ago after I got the hang of water changes, testing the water, and getting used to other maintenance.
My Chemistry background
I worked for a ground water monitoring company for two years ('19-'21), and worked part-time in the field collecting samples and part-time in the laboratory. Our goal was to clean up underground gasoline spills where under ground storage tanks at gas stations leaked. I got lots of time in the lab analyzing water samples for total lead using a SpectrAA lead graphite furnace, where I would digest and extract soil samples using nitric acid and Di water and analyze the water samples using super cool lasers and various acids.
This experience in the lab helped me develop techniques for testing my tank water, and I was able to rip off a spreadsheet we used in the field to track parameters for the soil & water remediation systems the company has scattered across the state. My spread sheet tracks water parameters, tank maintenance, livestock, and feeding and dosing. The original spreadsheet was primarily used for tracking vacuum PSI and maintenance for the remediation systems, but it has become a crucial tool for up-keeping my tanks.
Let me know if you have an suggestions for things to add to the spreadsheet. I am no saltwater chemist, but anything I can do to help I’d be happy to share and this has helped me a lot more than I expected. You’ll see in my spread where I experimented with how the HVAC affects the temperature of the tank, when I got diatoms shortly after introducing my second clownfish to the tank while using faucet water for the startup (and how I beat it with bacteria), and my progress of some coral frags.
I look forward to all of your comments and advice. I will soon post a thread on tracking coralline algae and getting it to grow, hoping that you all can she some light on this subject for me and others trying to jump-start that coralline growth and identify algae when it’s not coralline.
Until then, check out these photos of my tanks
P.S. If you don't have Microsoft Office - Excel, or some form of Excel, you can open the spread sheet from this Google Drive link <here, which I may update with successes and failures from time to time as I update my own file. Once open, you can save a copy to your Google Drive or download it as-is.
My Chemistry background
I worked for a ground water monitoring company for two years ('19-'21), and worked part-time in the field collecting samples and part-time in the laboratory. Our goal was to clean up underground gasoline spills where under ground storage tanks at gas stations leaked. I got lots of time in the lab analyzing water samples for total lead using a SpectrAA lead graphite furnace, where I would digest and extract soil samples using nitric acid and Di water and analyze the water samples using super cool lasers and various acids.
This experience in the lab helped me develop techniques for testing my tank water, and I was able to rip off a spreadsheet we used in the field to track parameters for the soil & water remediation systems the company has scattered across the state. My spread sheet tracks water parameters, tank maintenance, livestock, and feeding and dosing. The original spreadsheet was primarily used for tracking vacuum PSI and maintenance for the remediation systems, but it has become a crucial tool for up-keeping my tanks.
Let me know if you have an suggestions for things to add to the spreadsheet. I am no saltwater chemist, but anything I can do to help I’d be happy to share and this has helped me a lot more than I expected. You’ll see in my spread where I experimented with how the HVAC affects the temperature of the tank, when I got diatoms shortly after introducing my second clownfish to the tank while using faucet water for the startup (and how I beat it with bacteria), and my progress of some coral frags.
I look forward to all of your comments and advice. I will soon post a thread on tracking coralline algae and getting it to grow, hoping that you all can she some light on this subject for me and others trying to jump-start that coralline growth and identify algae when it’s not coralline.
Until then, check out these photos of my tanks
P.S. If you don't have Microsoft Office - Excel, or some form of Excel, you can open the spread sheet from this Google Drive link <here, which I may update with successes and failures from time to time as I update my own file. Once open, you can save a copy to your Google Drive or download it as-is.
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