New guy ques and running tions

I just got my 90g reef up and running and all is going well for the most part. I have been running for a week now but I had a few questions:


1) I have an Apex controller and my PH has climbed to 8.6 - 8.7 on average (per the probe on the Apex. Chemical test show just slighly lower as far as I can tell) and I am trying to keep it closer to 8.2 - 8.4. I put a fan on it and that helps keep it around 8.6 or lower but it is still high. Do I need to do anything to manually lower it or does it not matter since I am still cycling and have no livestock? I am also not running any lights. My skimmer is running.


2) My controller is kicking the heat on at 77.5 and turning the heater off at 79. Is this range ok? My target temp is 78 but I didnt want the heater coming on and off all the time.


3) My salinity probe on the Apex is reading my salinity at 36 - 36.7. My refractometer (calibrated to 35) is showing right at or slighly lower then 35 (1.025) I calibrated the salinity probe (came with the Apex) with 53.0 solution per the intructions. Is this difference normal or something I need to correct? I know my refractometer is right because I checked the tank water at the LFS and it was right at where they said they keep it. I also double checked the calibration using the solution that came with it. Also seems to be right.


4) I am a week in and show no ammonia, nitrites or nitrates. Phosphates also near zero. I seeded my tank with about 8 lbs of live rock and a cup of sand plus a bag of Aragalive live sand once the water was mixed with salt and heated to 78. Is it normal for me not to see any ammonia readings yet?





I've got a few more questions but didnt want to bombard you all in one post. Thanks for the help!!

 

Sorry. Subject supposed to read New Guy Questions !!

 

Your ammonia readings might not spike for a couple weeks. Best to give it at least a month to cycle. I think it was week 2 of my setup when the ammonia really jumped up then back down. I keep my temp around 79. I never had that high of PH readings during my initial setup, but I have heard they can spike during a cycle.

 

THat is what I figured. I am not too worried about it. I planned to let my tank cycle for at least 2 - 3 months. I am starting with all dry rock so I figured it would take longer. I am not in a hurry. Do you think I need to do anything about my PH or just leave it for now since there is no livestock? How about my salinity?

 

I'm a big fan of using the "fishless method" of cycling as others have mentioned. One thing I did to help speed up the cycling process was to add small amounts of industrial strength ammonia to the tank daily as well as a dose of live bacteria.

To help with your question about pH I would not do anything with it. IMO pH is one of the most over-rated parameters in this hobby. While it is important to keep it in a certain range chasing it by adding chemicals will cause more problems than it's worth. Stability is far more important than the number your Apex gives you. Keep in mind you will have daily pH swings that naturally occur and will have a very minimal impact to your system. If your Apex is reading that high I would suggest re-calibrating the probe.

I like to keep my heater settings a little "tighter" that what you have and use a .5 difference between the high and low point.

I have no experience with Neptune's salinity probes but have read they are sort of problematic and don't seem to last long. I find using a simple refractometer to be the best option for salinity monitoring as they typically last a lifetime and need very little calibration.

Good luck with the cycle! Patience is the key.

 

I'm a big fan of using the "fishless method" of cycling as others have mentioned. One thing I did to help speed up the cycling process was to add small amounts of industrial strength ammonia to the tank daily as well as a dose of live bacteria.

To help with your question about pH I would not do anything with it. IMO pH is one of the most over-rated parameters in this hobby. While it is important to keep it in a certain range chasing it by adding chemicals will cause more problems than it's worth. Stability is far more important than the number your Apex gives you. Keep in mind you will have daily pH swings that naturally occur and will have a very minimal impact to your system. If your Apex is reading that high I would suggest re-calibrating the probe.

I like to keep my heater settings a little "tighter" that what you have and use a .5 difference between the high and low point.

I have no experience with Neptune's salinity probes but have read they are sort of problematic and don't seem to last long. I find using a simple refractometer to be the best option for salinity monitoring as they typically last a lifetime and need very little calibration.

Good luck with the cycle! Patience is the key.

 

Thanks for the info everyone. I agree on the refractometer Vs. the probe. My PH and Salinity probes seem to be just slighly off a bit. I might try recalibrating too. I had some trouble getting the PH probe to settle when I calibrated it the first time. The refractometer has me almost at exactly 1.025 consistently so I think I am going to weight that more heavily and assume the probe is close enough.

I will also tighten the temp range as you suggest. I was thinking that might be causing the swings in PH and salinity on the probes too maybe. Gonna throw some raw shrimp in and maybe feed the tank a bit too to help the bacteria out as blackx suggested. I'll move on to setting up my QT tank while I wait out the cycle for the next few months.

Thanks again guys!