Water Changes

[jetboy39]

Hi everyone, I'm new and need help / advice.. I have purchased a 200 gal tank, everything included except rock, sand, and fish for $600. I had a 75 gal tank some years ago. The tank has been set up for about 3 weeks now and is producig golden brownish alge. Everyone talks about water changes and and how much and how often. I set up my tank using a combination of used and new live sand. My ammoia level = .25, nitrate = 0, nitrite = 0, and ph = 8.4. I used TAP water to start the system and added chemical to remove ammonia, chloramines, chlorine, along with water conditioner. When should i do a water change and how can i do it cost effected.

 

[bimmerzs]

Hi,

Ammonia is what you want to kick start your cycle, I would suggest getting some LR in there and let the cycle occur naturally. SW is not something you can rush, it really takes patience and research in order to be successful. Tap water is a no no, you are putting a lot of pollutant's in your tank, even treating it won't totally remove everything. I would personally take this opportunity to do a major water change with saltwater using ro/di water and not tap water. Here is a good write-up on Marc's website, it also has a ton of informative data on there as well. http://www.melevsreef.com/tanks.html

Good Luck,

 

[Rick]

There is a thread at the top of this forum title is something like when is a tank mature enough, it will also shed some light on the algae problem. Like he said tap water is a big mistake. Just one thing that should keep anyone from using it in a reef tank or live rock fish only. Tap water can have enough copper in it that may be low enough for human consumption, but could kill invertebrate in a salt water system.