Day 10 of owning a Red Sea Max 130L tank, so far so good.

The key levels of Ammonia, Nitrite, and Nitrate, are zero. And the new stock appear to have settled in ok.

Salinity (and consequently calcium) are slightly low. Phosphates are not zero, but low.

So far so good.

After over a week of near perfect levels, I decided to add some more stock, and got the following:

1) A Royal Grammar

2) A yellow Goby

3) A long tentacled sand anemone. It’s a fair size one, and amazingly cheap at only £28

Day 9 of owning a Read Sea Max 130 L tank.

I have measured all of the levels again, and generally they are OK, though the salinty is still low, which means that the calcium is slightly low, and could cause an increase in Phosphates.

Currently the the ammonia and nitrites are zero, and nitrates are low.  Phosphate is very low, 0.5 but not zero, the calcium is 320 and the pH is around 8.0. The salinty is 26, but should be higher for a reef tank.

This week, as the water evaporates rather than replacing it with RO water, I will replace it with salt water, which should increase the salinity, and therefore the calcium, which in turn could cause the phosphate to come out, as it turns into a sold, rather than a phosphate ion (well that’s the theory).

I found a “Pom Pom” crab in my tank this week (came in with the live rock).

The Pom Pom Crab, also known as a boxer crab, is a pretty interesting creature.

The Boxer/Pom Pom Crab has the latin name “Lybia tessellata” or “Lybia edmondsoni”.

The Hawaiian Pom Pom

Below are some videos of the animal (not in my tank, but from YouTube)

This is an excellent article on filtration methods for marine Aquariums, with links to all the different methods

 

From canister to wet/dry trickle filters, to natural nitrate reduction by means of live rock, live sand, and mangrove plant filtration, here is everything you’ll need to know about choosing and setting up various types of biological, mechanical, chemical filters, and filtration system setups for saltwater and reef aquariums.

Filters & Filtration Systems Information for Saltwater Aquariums.

One of the cleaner shrimp shed today. After being in the tank for just 7 days.

The calcium is slightly low 300 (should be 370+). This may cause issue with formation of shells. I will have to look at increasing the  Calcium today.

Day 8 of owning a Red Sea Max 130 L most of the levels are perfect, though the calcium is low.

pH 8.2/8.4 (good)

Calcium 300 (low)

Alkalinity 1.7/Normal (good)

Phosphate: 0.5 (ok – should be lower, zero ideally)

Nitrate 0.5 (good)

Calcium. “Calcium hardness” is the term used to describe the calcium content of the water, which for natural seawater is about 380 mg/l. Note that this is a simple weight/volume measurement; each liter of seawater contains about 380 mg of calcium. Maintaining this level is a relatively simple matter, as any soluble compound containing calcium can be added to the water to compensate for a deficit. Any compound containing calcium also contains a partner ion, however, and the nature of this partner can have important implications for aquarium chemistry.

Corals, crustaceans, mollusks and coralline algae all extract calcium from seawater, using it to construct their various support structures from calcium carbonate. Early efforts at maintaining the proper chemical environment for these organisms focused too narrowly on calcium alone, largely ignoring the role of alkalinity. This is unfortunate, because the availability of carbonate, the other essential component in skeletal structures, mostly depends upon the pH and alkalinity of the water. In fact, when the alkalinity is high, skeleton-building can still occur, even when calcium is present at a level significantly below that of natural seawater. However, when both alkalinity and calcium concentration are low, corals do not thrive. Conversely, raising the calcium level above about 550 mg/l will result in precipitation of calcium carbonate as chalk, with a concomitant drop in alkalinity, and calcification is made more difficult.

Using limewater for calcium maintenance helps to maintain the pH and alkalinity of the aquarium because the hydroxyl ions from the limewater neutralize some of the acids accumulating in the system. In effect, this prevents the alkalinity from being “used up” and the pH therefore remains more stable. The ideal pH for calcification by living organisms is about 8.40 to 8.45.

Maintaining the proper balance is best accomplished through the use of an automated system for dosing limewater, and an electronic pH meter for monitoring the pH accurately. Adding the limewater by hand, and evaluating pH with a color-change type test kit can be done with more room for error.

Besides aiding in the maintenance of pH, alkalinity, and calcium concentration, the addition of limewater to the aquarium has other benefits. One of these may be the near- total precipitation of phosphate (PO4-3) ions from the water. Undesirable algae growth is often a consequence of excess phosphate.  Phosphate is a biolimiting nutrient, meaning that algae cannot grow if starved for this nutrient. Largely due to removal by chemical and biological processes, the water around a coral reef contains virtually no phosphate.

Source – About.com

Day 7 of owning a marine tank – 130 L Red Sea Max.

All the levels are stable (checking them at least once a day). There has been no increase in the nitrates and the pH is stable, though possibly slightly low, at just below 8.

There has been no sudden increase in the Ammonia or Nitrate levels, and the cleaner shrimp are continuing to move around and feed. In fact all the nitrate levels continue to remain at zero.

Does this mean the live sand, live rock, and expensive water actually do what they advertise? If there levels remain stable for a month then, yes.

Tomorrow there will be time to add some more stock, to see if there will be an increase in ammonia or there is enough bacteria to deal with that issue.

Good Article on the Nitrogen Cycle

http://saltaquarium.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?zi=1/XJ&sdn=saltaquarium&cdn=homegarden&tm=182&f=22&su=p284.9.336.ip_p504.1.336.ip_&tt=2&bt=1&bts=0&zu=http%3A//reefsources.itgo.com/guide/biological.html