Questions on Testing and Chamber contents

[harley20]

I have had my tank running now for about 2 months. I have been trying to take it slow, which is very difficult. I have a 29BC with the stock lighting and currently have about 6 corals, cuc, and a blood shrimp... no fish yet. I currently run a heater in chamber 1, mediabasket in chamber 2 with the exact contents they show filter floss, purigen, and chempure. I think thats what its all called. And then I should be getting my tunz this week to add into chamber 2 also. In chamber 3 I have the pump.

Question is is that ok to be using or should I change the contents. I have heard a lot of different things used with the basket and in the chambers.

Question 2 is now that I have the tank running what exactly do I need to test for on a regular basis and what should I test for on occaision. I plan to change 4g of water every week.

Any help would be appreciated.

 

[Jep21]

Yeah you should be fine with the contents in your media baskets.. everyone those it differently.. like ppl put live rock and cheato and a submersible light.. but your way is fine..

For test kits you can use the API saltwater test kits.. they run about 25 bucks or less..

hope this helps..

 

[harley20]

Yeah you should be fine with the contents in your media baskets.. everyone those it differently.. like ppl put live rock and cheato and a submersible light.. but your way is fine..

For test kits you can use the API saltwater test kits.. they run about 25 bucks or less..

hope this helps..

Thanks for the reply and help.

What sort of tests should I be doing. There seem to be so many but I am not sure I need to test for everything...or do I?

 

[ColaAddict]

I was doing chemipure and purigen at the same time for awhile, but then it get's expensive. I took out the chemi pure and just have the filter floss and purigen going. I also have a hang on back refugium. I do weekly water changes and I haven't seen any difference compared to when I was using chemipure. I think as long as you do your weekly water changes religously, you can save your money and skip the chemipure.

 

[harley20]

I was doing chemipure and purigen at the same time for awhile, but then it get's expensive. I took out the chemi pure and just have the filter floss and purigen going. I also have a hang on back refugium. I do weekly water changes and I haven't seen any difference compared to when I was using chemipure. I think as long as you do your weekly water changes religously, you can save your money and skip the chemipure.

Thanks Cola. I have heard that same thing about the Chemipure being expensive and I agree. How often do you change the chemipure and purigen anyway. I bought 3 of each to start but dont know how often I should change them anyway.

 

[ColaAddict]

The purigen changes color to pinkish/orange when it's used up. I believe you can recharge the resin, but it's very complicated and requires you to use bleach I think. If you are using the chemi pure elite, I think it said it's good for a few months, but when you start seeing algae build up in your tank, it's time to change it. the "elite" is just a mixture of activated carbon and GFO, so when you start seeing phophate build up (alagae build up), it's time to change it (depends on how heavily stocked your tank is).

 

[ColaAddict]

You can save more money by buying bulk activated carbon and using a filter bag, than buying a bunch of chemipure.

 

[harley20]

You can save more money by buying bulk activated carbon and using a filter bag, than buying a bunch of chemipure.

Thanks for the tips. I need to keep track of when I put everything in the tank so I know when it should be changed. I am going to use up what I have and then make a change to something more cost effective. Right now I only have corals and cuc but I will be adding some fish in about 3 weeks.