how many hours a day should lights be on?

[amcarrig]

I have a friend who lived in Cairns who used to use natural sea water that he collected off the coast. Is this not an option for you?

[target001]

the only way i could posibly do it safetly is get in a boat with some buckets and go of shore about 20 k's alot of our water is pollutedi dont really wana take the risk with diesel in me tank and i dont own a boat unfortunately or id have to drive about 2 hours to get "safe" water

[target001]

Originally Posted by coral reefer

Lighting is only part of the equasion. Water parameters need to be addressed as well, as well as filtration!

my water lvls seem to be fine but thats 1 part of the game im still learning
ive got test kits for: PH, Alk, amonia and nitrite, they all seem to be at the required lvls, an i maybe needing to test for something else?
the filtration is what im working on after i get gravel to sand sorted.
which leads me to another question i have a ehiem canaster filter and ive read on here that the good bacteria grows in the filter.. keeping that in mind, should i clean my filter out or should i let it go?


- jamie

[amcarrig]

Originally Posted by target001

the only way i could posibly do it safetly is get in a boat with some buckets and go of shore about 20 k's alot of our water is pollutedi dont really wana take the risk with diesel in me tank and i dont own a boat unfortunately or id have to drive about 2 hours to get "safe" water

Really?! I had no idea that you had an issue with pollution in Australia! Or is it mainly in south Australia that pollution is an issue?

[target001]

Originally Posted by amcarrig

Really?! I had no idea that you had an issue with pollution in Australia! Or is it mainly in south Australia that pollution is an issue?

lol im not sure but all the easy access water in SA ic close to our sea port so u can count on it being unsafe

it be nice to say aus is as good as it looks on all the ads and photos and im sure it is .. in some places but when u get close to towns esecially adelaide u can almost taste the smog in the air
dont quote me but i think aus is up there with some of the largest contributers to pollution

[Twan013]

Originally Posted by target001

my water lvls seem to be fine but thats 1 part of the game im still learning
ive got test kits for: PH, Alk, amonia and nitrite, they all seem to be at the required lvls, an i maybe needing to test for something else?
the filtration is what im working on after i get gravel to sand sorted.
which leads me to another question i have a ehiem canaster filter and ive read on here that the good bacteria grows in the filter.. keeping that in mind, should i clean my filter out or should i let it go?


- jamie

you should get a test kit for NITRATES.... according to what i've heard, thats the main contributor to algea... well, that, and the lights... nitrates = baaaad.... oh, and about using tap water... i tried that once, and my nitrates jumped from 80 to 120 ppm... and for me personally, RO/DI isn't an option, so i used the gallons of distilled water... since then, my nitrates have dropped considerably (now at 20ppm), but i still have algea problems... i just keep the front glass cleaned off, and what's on the back and sides, i just leave it be, because the equipment and LR makes it hard to get... snails supposedly do a good job at cleaning the algea, but additives are recommended to keep them healthy... best of luck to ya jamie!

[Tangster]

Phosphates , nitrates ,silicates ,temps , water circulation and Cooler K value bulbs , low Carbonate and calcium lvels all tend to play a huge factor with algae issues .

[target001]

ok got a nitrate test kid and ran a test came out at at 40 (ppm?) the test said i should do another test with a different amount of water but heres the kicker i have to use there speacial distilled water to get a reading over 40
decided ill just make up some water and test the water again tomorrow
the lil peice of paper said 20ppm is recomeneded?

-jamie

[target001]

Originally Posted by Twan013

you should get a test kit for NITRATES.... according to what i've heard, thats the main contributor to algea... well, that, and the lights... nitrates = baaaad.... oh, and about using tap water... i tried that once, and my nitrates jumped from 80 to 120 ppm... and for me personally, RO/DI isn't an option, so i used the gallons of distilled water... since then, my nitrates have dropped considerably (now at 20ppm), but i still have algea problems... i just keep the front glass cleaned off, and what's on the back and sides, i just leave it be, because the equipment and LR makes it hard to get... snails supposedly do a good job at cleaning the algea, but additives are recommended to keep them healthy... best of luck to ya jamie!

ok so ive made my new water load up for my next water change i used tape water so i could test it before it went into the tank the nitrates are at 0mg/l i personally with my limited experience would say its fine to use, but is there more to it maybe something else in the tank water that would react with the tape water to boost nitrates?
should i also test for nitrites maybe?

thnx
-jamie