How to do saltwater change

[PJS]

Welcome to R2R!
I know that it can be a little nerve racking at first but you are on the right forum, there are many smart experienced reefers on here to help you. Just remember, take it slow, keep it simple and read read read!
Good luck with your new adventure!

 

[FindNem0]

That's a nice tank FindNemO! My lights are now off and will continue to stay off until it's ready to be turned on. I've decided to do a bare bottom tank and with my lights on all this time, all of a sudden there's all kinds of brown algae on the bottom. None on the sides because I've been cleaning the sides just for the hell of it every other day with the Flipper. Should I clean the bottom or will the brown algae change to a nicer color? Not even sure how to clean it without taking the rocks out.

How many times have you gone into the ocean and found a bare bottom or a glass bottom? I'm not a big fan of bare bottoms unless you're running a 6-8 in sand fuge. Chemistry, filtration. The sand bed is the most important part of your filtration system. In my opinion. That tank I posted was a bare bottom. I had an 8 inch sand bed in the sump. In my experience brown algae comes from bad RO water. If anything it should be green with too much light. Check your TDS meter on your RO system. Just what I experienced.

 

[JKay]

You're absolutely right about the ocean being bare bottom. Got me really wanting to put sand in now. Which I believe I will do. The brown algae came before me adding water. From what I've read, brown algae bloom is normal for a new reef tank.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Chemistry, filtration. The sand bed is the most important part of your filtration system. .

What do you believe a sand bed accomplishes long term that makes it "most important"?

I've not really heard anyone claim it can do more than nitrify and possibly denitrify (which can be done by many other means), but does nothing for phosphate or organics, both of which are important parts of reef aquarium filtration (IMO). :)

 

[FindNem0]

What do you believe a sand bed accomplishes long term that makes it "most important"?

I've not really heard anyone claim it can do more than nitrify and possibly denitrify (which can be done by many other means), but does nothing for phosphate or organics, both of which are important parts of reef aquarium filtration (IMO). :)

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-06/rs/feature/index.php

 

[thaitopher]

As you will find out people in this hobby always know better than the next guy. There are many options you have for checking salinity. Be sure you use calibration solution or fresh RO water before using your refractometer to make sure you refractometer is calibrated. Hydrometers are another good way to check. You have controllers to monitor. I personally lost an entire reef 8 months ago because my two little boys took my refractometer apart and my wife put it back together without telling me. I happen to be changing salts that weekend. And next thing you know I'm changing 40 gallons and my salinity is now 1.006 when I thought it was 1.025. I just found this all out last week when I cycled a new tank and bought a new refractometer and compared the two. My old one was off by 19 ppt. IMO Salinity in my eyes will make or break your tank. It has to stay consistent. I did a 10% water change every two weeks. On my 30 gallon nano I did 5 gallons once a week. You have to stay consistent in whatever you do in this hobby if you want to grow a reef and keep a happy tank. I attached a picture of the tank that crashed. I made mistakes. But I learned. I would hate to see someone else make a $2000 booboo

The inhabitants in that tank only cost $2000. That is a beautiful tank. How exactly did it crash?

 

[FindNem0]

The inhabitants in that tank only cost $2000. That is a beautiful tank. How exactly did it crash?

My boys ages 3 and 4 took my refractometer apart and my wife helped them out it back together without telling me. I was changing over to aquaforest Probiotics that weekend. So after I did my water change my salt level was reading 1.039 when really it was probably 1.025. So I changed another 20 gallons of water until it read 1.025 I thought I mixed my salt to heavy. That tank crashed hard. Those corals were dead. Smelled like a dead body. Just some mast soup. When I look back I made some mistakes without thinking what I was doing. I never calibrated my refractometer. In fact I didn't even know I had too. My brother in-law gave it to me.

 

[thaitopher]

Gotcha. I think I remember reading one of your threads about that. Really sad story. Does your current setup look like that again?

 

[FindNem0]

I just scored a gold mind for $120 today. Putting in my first corals now

 

[FindNem0]

That's what I'm working on now

 

[Tautog]

You're absolutely right about the ocean being bare bottom. Got me really wanting to put sand in now. Which I believe I will do. The brown algae came before me adding water. From what I've read, brown algae bloom is normal for a new reef tank.

Brown algae is normal, don't worry, but do yourself a favor, buy a large (8-10") hydrometer that float. They are very inexpensive, large enough to read easy, and only need to wipe clean when done.
I use a wooden paddle to mix salt, if the water is warm, salt dissolves quick. I mix 40-50 gal. at a time, and never used a pump to mix, only to add.
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