Hello all,
I am very new to the hobby after watching and researching for several years. I decided to jump in and now have my 75 gal display tank aquascaped and ready for live sand and water. I also have a 10 gallon QT set up. The QT tank has been running for about 3 weeks now. I do not intend to do a fishless cycle on the QT tank, I have been carefully selecting a pair of clowns I want and plan on giving them 30-60 days in the QT tank while my DT is cycling and to make sure these fish are healthy before placing them in my brand new DT. I found the fish I wanted and they will be here Tuesday. I tested my water and just would like some opinions and guidance on what to do next. Here are my current water parameters:
Ammonia: 0.8 (obviously high due to cycling, not sure if I should be alarmed but with my PH & temp, my kit tells me this would be toxic).
Salinity: 39.2
Temp: 78.6
PH: 8.2
Nitrate: 1ppm
Nitrite: 0.1 ppm
My plan is to use Dr. Tim's Aquatics One & Only Live Nitrifying Bacteria for Reef Aquariums when my fish arrive after drip acclimating them but seeing my salinity and ammonia so high made me nervous. What would you all recommend? A 10-20% water change to reduce ammonia? Do I just add more freshwater to bring down the salinity? Both?
I'd appreciate any guidance as it's not too late to cancel my fish order if I need to pump my brakes. I'm in this for the long haul and don't mind waiting to do it right. Thanks in advance!
I am very new to the hobby after watching and researching for several years. I decided to jump in and now have my 75 gal display tank aquascaped and ready for live sand and water. I also have a 10 gallon QT set up. The QT tank has been running for about 3 weeks now. I do not intend to do a fishless cycle on the QT tank, I have been carefully selecting a pair of clowns I want and plan on giving them 30-60 days in the QT tank while my DT is cycling and to make sure these fish are healthy before placing them in my brand new DT. I found the fish I wanted and they will be here Tuesday. I tested my water and just would like some opinions and guidance on what to do next. Here are my current water parameters:
Ammonia: 0.8 (obviously high due to cycling, not sure if I should be alarmed but with my PH & temp, my kit tells me this would be toxic).
Salinity: 39.2
Temp: 78.6
PH: 8.2
Nitrate: 1ppm
Nitrite: 0.1 ppm
My plan is to use Dr. Tim's Aquatics One & Only Live Nitrifying Bacteria for Reef Aquariums when my fish arrive after drip acclimating them but seeing my salinity and ammonia so high made me nervous. What would you all recommend? A 10-20% water change to reduce ammonia? Do I just add more freshwater to bring down the salinity? Both?
I'd appreciate any guidance as it's not too late to cancel my fish order if I need to pump my brakes. I'm in this for the long haul and don't mind waiting to do it right. Thanks in advance!