Advice on stocking a 90 gallon

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
I was thinking a 180 too. So, aside from the "cleanliness" parameters (mine are all 0 - I keep my tank super clean), which would you rank as the most important to the fish's well-being? My temp is 78, pH around 7.0, KH 80, GH 60... Those are the only things my strips read :)
 
Rocksor said:
0ppm nitrates? I would get a liquid test kit, as strips are not accurate.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I've had this tank for months now and I've never gotten a nitrate reading. I do a 50% water change every 2 weeks and put a new filter sock with a bag of purigen on the sump every few days...
 
I would agree you should get a liquid kit, very unlikely you have 0ppm nitrates only doing bi-weekly water changes. Maybe the purigen is absorbing a lot of it if you change purigen every few days though. Isn't it pretty expensive to keep doing that?

After that I would say hardness is probably the most important thing to have "correct"- though your fish all prefer different hardness (uaru and SA cichlids like soft water, CA cichlids like hard water) so would be impossible for you to get it right for everyone. Though these fish are pretty adaptable for the most part and you probably shouldn't worry about it if you aren't having problems.
 
Sidney73 said:
Yeah, I've had this tank for months now and I've never gotten a nitrate reading. I do a 50% water change every 2 weeks and put a new filter sock with a bag of purigen on the sump every few days...
Click to expand...

Sounds like the strips are not working properly at testing the nitrate levels in your tank. I would get a liquid nitrate test.
 
Gourami Swami said:
I would agree you should get a liquid kit, very unlikely you have 0ppm nitrates only doing bi-weekly water changes. Maybe the purigen is absorbing a lot of it if you change purigen every few days though. Isn't it pretty expensive to keep doing that?

After that I would say hardness is probably the most important thing to have "correct"- though your fish all prefer different hardness (uaru and SA cichlids like soft water, CA cichlids like hard water) so would be impossible for you to get it right for everyone. Though these fish are pretty adaptable for the most part and you probably shouldn't worry about it if you aren't having problems.
Click to expand...
The next reading on the strip is 20ppm and its light pink. I've never seen pink, it's always white, the 0 reading, but I guess it could be somewhere in the middle. So, I invested in 7 sock and 7 bags with purigen. Every 2 weeks I recharge the purigen, and double wash the socks in the washing machine (first time with bleach, next with water) - seems to be working, but I guess could double check with a liquid kit..
 
The strips are just generally known to be crap, really unreliable and open to interpretation as far as the colors. So not just in this instance, but for all your fishkeeping needs, getting one of the API master liquid kits is a great investment.
Your nitrate is probably fine, but it's very unlikely for it to be zero, unless the purigen really is sucking it all up. Nitrate readings of 0 are usually not considered a good thing, because nitrates are the natural result of the bacterial cycle, and if there is no nitrate being produced, that's an indication that the cycle isn't fully converting it. Again, not saying that's a problem for you, just explaining the concept a bit.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Deadliestviper7
Gourami Swami said:
The strips are just generally known to be crap, really unreliable and open to interpretation as far as the colors. So not just in this instance, but for all your fishkeeping needs, getting one of the API master liquid kits is a great investment.
Your nitrate is probably fine, but it's very unlikely for it to be zero, unless the purigen really is sucking it all up. Nitrate readings of 0 are usually not considered a good thing, because nitrates are the natural result of the bacterial cycle, and if there is no nitrate being produced, that's an indication that the cycle isn't fully converting it. Again, not saying that's a problem for you, just explaining the concept a bit.
Click to expand...
That's always a possibility, especially since I have a pretty unconventional setup under there. It was sort of handmade from the people I bought it from. There are only 2 chambers. On the right the dirty water goes right into my filter sock and purigen. There are a bunch of bio balls in there with it suspended off the bottom with a grid. On the left is just the heater, filter and a UV sterilizer.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
MonsterFishKeepers.com
Top Bottom