Hello Everyone! my name is ste

I am new to marine tanks so to begin with i doubt i'll be the font of all knowledge however, i will try to help where possible. I set up the Orca 450 beginner tank 4 weeks ago and found this site when searching for info. Since buying tank i have read many reviews good and bad but i am quite happy with it for starters.

Tank Contents;

Live sand
Live Rock 70kg
2 Peppermint Shrimps
2 Big Hermits
3 Small Hermits
1 Turbo
2 Clowns
Lots of Bubbles
Some Plastic Corals
Free - Insects which i think have been eaten
Free - Approx 5 small bristle worms
Free - Little white midgies that have just appeared (don't know what they are yet)

I have been testing the water frequently for Salinity, temperature, PH, Nitrite, Nitrate and Amonia levels.

I have read that the readings will be a bit up and down for a new tank set up and so have added some Buffer to increase the PH (still not quite there) and added ammo lock to free toxins.

"didn't realise that fish keeping was so exhausting but it gives me and the family lots of joy so onwards and upwards"

I am going to stop here now or i could go on all night.

Anyway! Hi again to all and your help whenever possible will be much appreciated.

Ste

Sorry Ste,
Couldnt help but laugh about the 70kg of live rock in your Orca - had a picture of very crowded shrimps and snails all huddled together lol.
Do you mean 7kg ???

Leggy

Just logged back on and yes that is very funny! 7KG sounds good.

Ste

Hey Ste,
Phew - ahhh so much more room for everyone now
Could I ask you which large hermits you have ? if you dont know the name - can you describe them please ??

You mention PH is low - what are you using to try to increase it? Do you have kh/mg/Ca readings for the last couple of weeks - any trends?

Hi Leggy

One has blue legs and the other has red legs. Can scrap a bit and ain't seen blue one for couple of days. I will try get some photo's onto site today. Ste

Hi Eagle C

I am a total novice and was really testing on the advice of lfs fish expert. Have not yet tested for the kh/mg/Ca ( what are these tests for and do i need to) but have been using waterlifes 8.3 buffer daily for the past week. Not increasing much though. I have just started using my ?1.50 turkey baster as recommended on this site somewhere "what a buy" it gets all the crap of sand and rocks. Ste

KH, Carbonate Hardness or Alkalinity will directly effect the PH and the stability of the PH
Ca, Calcium is used by invertibrates and coral and also balances against the KH to maintain stability.
Mg, Magnesium is important for several reasons partly because it is actively used in the growth of skeletons and shells and partly because it acts to help the calcium stay in solution.

Ideal values are
KH 7-10dKH
Ca 390-425ppm
Mg 1300ppm


The waterlife product is not really going to have the right effect on a saltwater tank.

hi,
can anyone help. i set up an orca tl tank back in aug, all was going well, untill the skimmer stopped working. i read on here that the skimmer that comes with the tank is pretty bad anyway so i decided to replace it with the recomended jag one. however i cant seem to get the skimmer out of the back panel. ive removed the collection cup that was easy enough but the actuall body of the skimmer just wont budge. i dont want to just keep pulling incase i damage somthing else. has anyone got any advice on how to remove this?

The skimmer is attached by a plastic nut on the pump/UV, so you need to get your hand right down the pump chamber until you can feel the nut and get it unscrewed. The skimmer should come out easily then, make sure you put the pumps outlet back through the same hole where the nut was afterwards though.