The people at the lfs screwed me and my clowns :(

[Riley Pasha]

Just keep your water topped of

here are u referring to adding water without salt when it evaporates or frequent water changes?

 

[Vahanyos]

here are u referring to adding water without salt when it evaporates or frequent water changes?

The water will evaporate on its own from your lights, etc... when it does the only thing that evaporates is your water and NOT the salt. You should top it off with RODI water only. Your salinity remains the same. So when the water level drops, your salinity will increase due to the volume of water reducing... that's why it's important to keep it at the same level. So only top off with RODI water this is where an auto top off comes in handy so you're not filling water in your tank every day

 

[Riley Pasha]

The water will evaporate on its own from your lights, etc... when it does the only thing that evaporates is your water and NOT the salt. You should top it off with RODI water only. Your salinity remains the same. So when the water level drops, your salinity will increase due to the volume of water reducing... that's why it's important to keep it at the same level. So only top off with RODI water this is where an auto top off comes in handy so you're not filling water in your tank every day

unfortunately all I have is tap + conditioner, no RODI :/. I am going to attempt to fix my RO unit this weekend but besides that I can't really afford to buy an RO/DI unit rn.

Should I still use conditioner with RO water (not DI) or is it fine?

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

unfortunately all I have is tap + conditioner, no RODI :/. I am going to attempt to fix my RO unit this weekend but besides that I can't really afford to buy an RO/DI unit rn.

Should I still use conditioner with RO water (not DI) or is it fine?

you really really really really dont want to use our tap water. see my first post.

 

[Vahanyos]

unfortunately all I have is tap + conditioner, no RODI :/. I am going to attempt to fix my RO unit this weekend but besides that I can't really afford to buy an RO/DI unit rn.

Should I still use conditioner with RO water (not DI) or is it fine?

I've never used the conditioners , but so remember seeing videos about them not really working efficiently. I buy my rodi water from my lfs for like .80c a gallon so you can always do that. Units are expensive so I don't have one either.

 

[Riley Pasha]

I've never used the conditioners , but so remember seeing videos about them not really working efficiently. I buy my rodi water from my lfs for like .80c a gallon so you can always do that. Units are expensive so I don't have one either.

my lfs doesn't sell RO/DI unfortunately....I can try some others (I believe there is a petco and pet smart nearby as well) but I doubt they will have it. Worth a try though I guess.

 

[Riley Pasha]

I've never used the conditioners , but so remember seeing videos about them not really working efficiently. I buy my rodi water from my lfs for like .80c a gallon so you can always do that. Units are expensive so I don't have one either.

would there be any problem if I added RO/DI for my next water change with the tap already in the tank?

 

[Vahanyos]

would there be any problem if I added RO/DI for my next water change with the tap already in the tank?

The rodi water is pure so no it won't. The sooner you use it the better you are introducing a lot of metals and etc with the tap water so it's a risk you're taking, in my opinion. There's a guy on YouTube who uses the conditioners and debunks them to show that they don't work as good as people think.

If you know anyone who grows the herbal stuff hint hint maybe they can hook you up they get RODI water through their process lol. Sometimes that's how I get it for free

 

[Riley Pasha]

The rodi water is pure so no it won't. The sooner you use it the better you are introducing a lot of metals and etc with the tap water so it's a risk you're taking, in my opinion. There's a guy on YouTube who uses the conditioners and debunks them to show that they don't work as good as people think.

If you know anyone who grows the herbal stuff hint hint maybe they can hook you up they get RODI water through their process lol. Sometimes that's how I get it for free

lol good to know.

 

[DLHDesign]

As of now I am checking paremeters every day and doing weekly 12% changes..possibly more if I can find a bigger bucket.

My understanding is that you don't normally want to do water changes during the cycle as this will remove some of the bacteria you're trying to grow out. It also makes getting the tank into balance more difficult. However, as you have fish in the tank, things may be different. Water changes could, I would think, extend the total duration of the tank cycle, but not halt it. Basically, you are manually removing some of the stuff that is doing the cycle. Not all of the stuff - and very likely not enough to dramatically impact it. But you are also removing the stuff that could cause your fish harm, so that's very likely a good trade-off for you.

Do you think I should return the prime? ... Also does it do anything other than make tap water safe for my aquarium?

I use Prime in my quarantine tanks (aka "QT") to reduce ammonia. QT tanks (being temporary things) often don't have the ability to rely on a bio-filter, so it's often supplemented with a chemical one in this way. Yes; Prime also dechlorinates water, but I wouldn't rely on chemicals alone to clean tap water, myself - not to the levels that are ideal in an aquarium.

would there be any problem if I added RO/DI for my next water change with the tap already in the tank?

No - no problems; but you'll still have the non-RO/DI water in there. You'll be diluting the conditioned water, basically. Which is a Good Thing - you should do that. A couple of large water changes (50%+) and you could even reduce the levels to the point where they are okay. But until/unless you remove all the water and replace it with RO/DI water, you'll very likely not be able to add enough conditioner to eliminate all the chlorine/chloramine.
Note that RO water is better than tap water, but it's really the "DI" (de-ionization) part that takes the water to a point where it's ready to be made into clean saltwater. That's when the bad stuff really get extracted from the water.

Note: This is not a thing to panic about! Plenty of tanks (ahem - mine) are started with tap water. One option you might consider once you have a source of RO/DI water is to move your livestock (fish, snails, corals, etc.) into a bucket/smaller tank and drain your DT of tap water, then replace it with RO/DI water. Then start your cycle process (using a bottled bacteria and such to kick it off). This is no small thing to do, of course. But it would really help to ensure that your tank has the best chance of long-term success possible. Not required; just an option.

 

[Riley Pasha]

lol good to know.

If in the far future I want to get corals and I start using RO/DI starting next water change, wouldn't the water still contain some elements of the tap water in it and therefore possibly hurt them? Or would they be gone by then?

 

[Vahanyos]

If in the far future I want to get corals and I start using RO/DI starting next water change, wouldn't the water still contain some elements of the tap water in it and therefore possibly hurt them? Or would they be gone by then?

Keep up with your weekly water changes and eventually you will clear the water of anything it used to have. You should honestly only worry about it when you start getting weird readings of the high nitrates or on the wanted chemicals. You are on a good start. Keep up with your maintenance and give your tank about a month or two and you will see it blossom

 

[Riley Pasha]

Keep up with your weekly water changes and eventually you will clear the water of anything it used to have. You should honestly only worry about it when you start getting weird readings of the high nitrates or on the wanted chemicals. You are on a good start. Keep up with your maintenance and give your tank about a month or two and you will see it blossom

Will do. Thanks.

 

[Vahanyos]

Once saltwater tanks develop their bio fill Traciann system it kind of works like clockwork of course that is if you keep up with your husbandry and monitor your tank every day for any dead things or things that are going in the wrong direction

 

[Riley Pasha]

Once saltwater tanks develop their bio fill Traciann system it kind of works like clockwork of course that is if you keep up with your husbandry and monitor your tank every day for any dead things or things that are going in the wrong direction

how should I properly clean the filter without getting rid of bacteria btw? Should I just take it out and use water from a water change to wash out the parts inside the filter and use a toothbrush or something to brush it off (obv this will only be used for this cleaning purpose). Also for the powerhead is using a toothbrush on the outside of it enough?

 

[Vahanyos]

Grey advice from dlhdesign... leave your tank be as much as you can while it's in the cycling stage..

 

[Vahanyos]

Great*

 

[Vahanyos]

how should I properly clean the filter without getting rid of bacteria btw? Should I just take it out and use water from a water change to wash out the parts inside the filter and use a toothbrush or something to brush it off (obv this will only be used for this cleaning purpose). Also for the powerhead is using a toothbrush on the outside of it enough?

I clean mine in the water I take out for water changes. I dip my sponge and give it a good squeeze and rinse. Also my filter floss if it isn't too old, or I just put a new one. I don't rinse my chemi pure blue I don't think I need to. I do this once every two weeks. I have no fish, and it still pulls out brown gunk from my invert poop and excess mysis shrimp.

If your fish are not showing signs of being sick only feed them once every day and a half or so.. you won't starve them.

 

[Vahanyos]

Purpose of cleaning your pumps is so they don't malfunction. Long as it's not making noise or the algae around it isn't preventing it from blowing as hard as it needs to you're okay. A little algae never hurt anyone lol

 

[Riley Pasha]

I clean mine in the water I take out for water changes. I dip my sponge and give it a good squeeze and rinse. Also my filter floss if it isn't too old, or I just put a new one. I don't rinse my chemi pure blue I don't think I need to. I do this once every two weeks. I have no fish, and it still pulls out brown gunk from my invert poop and excess mysis shrimp.

If your fish are not showing signs of being sick only feed them once every day and a half or so.. you won't starve them.

im planning on feeding them every other day (rn just with some pellet samples the guy at lfs gave me). When I was at the lfs today I had no clue what frozen food to get and there was no one helping around at the time so I just left with the bacteria and prime I bought. How often do you think the filter floss should be replaced? Also did you replace the current rock things in the filter with chemi pure?