Posted by gerard on January 24, 2011 under Aquarium Info | 
When you first start your saltwater aquarium things are always good. You don’t have to worry about pesky issues like high nitrates and hair algae, or red slime and phosphates. That’s why we decided to partner with our friends at OCReef and do some articles on basic aquarium maintenance and problem troubleshooting.
The first thing we are going to talk about is water changes. This is the key to healthy aquarium. I run a 37 gallon saltwater and I change about 5-6 gallons per week. That may be a little much but I highly recommend doing a water change every 2 weeks or so. The process of doing a water change is exactly that, you take out a few gallons of water and replace it with new water. I would recommend doing about 20% of your total water volume. So for example if you have a 40 gallon tank you would change 8 gallons every 2 to 4 weeks depending on your water parameters. read more....
Posted by gerard on October 2, 2008 under Products & Reviews |
I have been using chemi-pure elite in my biocube for about month now in conjunction with seachem’s purigen. I basically emptied out the back of my biocube by getting rid of the sponges, the bioballs and the filter cartridge. Now I am running 1 bag of purigen in the first chamber and 1 bag of chemi-pure elite in the 2nd chamber.
I have to say that since I added the chemi-pure elite my water parameters have not fluctuated at all in the last month. All my water tests are perfect and my water is crystal clear.
It’s taken me almost a year of battling with nitrates, fluctuating pH levels and cloudy water but I think I have finally nailed down how to keep this nano tank running with good water parameters and clear water. Chemi-pure elite cost me about 17 bucks from my LFS but it is supposed to last 6 months so buying 2 bags of this stuff a year is really not a bank breaker in my opinion.
Here are some of Chemi-Pure’s claims. So far I can’t argue with any of them.
LONGER LIFE – Fish often live three to four times longer than in any other closed system, fresh or marine.
NECESSARY ORGANISMS – Allowed growth with no danger of pollution.
REMOVES OFFENSIVE ODORS
REAL SEA WATER OR ARTIFICIAL
REMOVES TOXIC ELEMENTS – Including Copper & Phenol
IMMEDIATE ACCLIMATION – with ravenous appetite
QUICKER RESPONSES – Neurological reactions like fishes in natural habitat
FRESHWATER FISHES – of all species thrive
ESPECIALLY GOOD FOR AFRICAN CICHLIDS & DISCUS
NO WATER CHANGE NECESSARY – for at least 5 years (length of test only) PERHAPS NEVER!
CRYSTAL CLEAR WATER – Always sparkling blue-white water
NO CLEANING – Necessary for health of fish.
CONSTANT pH – Always within the safe range
NO OSMOTIC SHOCK – 90% eliminated
NO ION ANTAGONISM
ECONOMICAL – Replacement only every six to eight months makes initial cost very low – eliminates expensive water changes – fewer losses.
Tags: acclimation, african cichlids, aquarium, bioballs, biocube, chemi-pure elite, cloudy water, crystal clear water, filter cartridge, fish tank, marine fish, nano tank, ph, ph levels, phosphate remover, Saltwater Fish, seachem, water change, water changes, water parameters, water tests
Posted by gerard on July 31, 2008 under Aquarium Info |
Well i dont really understand it but i finally got my nitrates down to around 0-5ppm. I have never been able to get them below 20ppm. Since i lost all my fish from ich and marine velvet i decided to keep the tank empty for a while and try to get the nitrates down. I have done 6 20% water changes in the last 2 weeks and it finally did it. I dont understand why it takes so much of a water change to change so little in the nitrates.
Now that i have to basically start my tank over, im going to start with 2 clown fish and feed them flakes or pellets. I think the frozen food i was feeding my fish had a hand in the nitrate issue.
Hopefully i can keep them down now. Who knows. Wish me luck.
Tags: aquarium, aquarium water parameters, clown fish, fish marine fish, frozen food, Nano Reef, nitrate, pellets, Saltwater Fish, tank, water change, water changes
