My fish tank

Welcome callie, take it slow my friend. We all did the same thing - adding things fast. Believe me it is expensive and it does not pay off when everything goes wrong. Only bad things happens fast in marines believe me. Been there and done that ive got the certificates to proof it too. Not worth it. Make sure you test your water regularly and post some of the results here so we can give our inputs. Ammonia, phosphate, Nitrite, nitrate and the ph. If you did test from the beginning you would have known if your tank has cycled. First everything goes up through the roof and then down to zero or very close to zero, then you know your system has built up all the bacteria required for the eco system. Then you start adding stuff and check parameters. Cause everything you add has an effect on the bacteria and the amount required the keep the eco system balanced. So every time you add something the reading tends to go up and then come down. The bigger the tank and volume of water the smaller the effect on the parameters. Or by adding Prodiblio, Aqua marine cycle or general treatment that contains bacteria to help the system overcome this shortage you shorten the time it takes the eco system to return to its normal state. Or good operating state to convert the bad stuff to good stuff. Always keep an eye on the ammonia values it can be disasterous. Especially in the beginning like your in now.

But welcome and you picked the correct place for good advice. Have fun and always be cautious when attempting something. Always ask, it always helps. Read up on the nett and masa its free.
 
i run carbon and a type of phosphate remover. I also use cycle with i put once a week in to water.
 
So im going to wait for 5 weeks until i think of puting in LS. Will also get myself a test kid.
 
If you stock your aquarium before it has cycled properly, you will probably kill your animals. If you stock too rapidly, your tank will have another ammonia/nitrite spike, again probably killing your animals. At best, you will have problem algae, and sick fish. Remember that this is a long-term hobby. It is not uncommon for a tank to only stabilise properly after 6 months. Your corals can outlive you, and even the most common fish can live longer than 20 years, if you do your bit....
 
i run carbon and a type of phosphate remover. I also use cycle with i put once a week in to water.

Carbon and Phoshate remover is good. The cycle is it aquamarine cycle, if so it is excellent stuff in my opinion. I also used it and even more after i screwed up everything to help me with my cycle in december and january. Works like a charm. What water do you use, RO or just conditioned tap water?
 
sorry for sounding stupid. What if a person use boiled water. The reason for asking is that the nearest place to get RO water is about 10km from my house and to get containers for it.
 
Hi Callie and welcome. Go for a RO unit trust us on this, if you use tape water some or other stage you will get algae problems to name only one thing that can happen.
 
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Thanks for article on RO water. Can anyone tell me if its OK to use a canister filter or not.
 
Well if you have bio balls and ceramic rings in there it can start a nitrate problem, if it is possible try and fill the canister with LR.
 
Callie there is nothing "wrong" with cannister filters but having said that please keep the following in mind:

They require regular maintenance wrt cleaning etc. They can also filter out "good" guys such as copepods & amphipods. They are normally too small to hold enough LR to be of any real use. They can however be filled with activated carbon, ammonia removers etc to help with water quality.

The best option is still a good skimmer, decent size sump and large deep sand bed. I also started off with a Eheim cannister, and actually chucked it in the bin last week
 
The best will be (if possible)to make a sump and put your skimmer with LR in one compartment then a DSB in the second compartment and return pump in the last compartment, canister will work and will help filter the water but in my opinion the canister will build up on nutrients and can Leeds to algae problems.
 
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