Annap729

what do they look like when they die? do they come loose on the foot and the edges look dehydrated sort of? why doesn't it react when I nudge it, when the one to the left does?

It's the one to the right. Hasn't opened or closed in over a week and it seemed to almost completely detach awhile back. How do u get these to multiply?

by the way i tested my ammonia and I'm at zero, but my nitrites are 5.0 or whatever SUPER purple is . this is on my newly cycling tank.

Ok I'm wondering if one of my palys is dead. It has stayed open and just doesn't look the same as the other, which closes like a button etc when disturbed. It looks a little wilted and just not as round. Suggestions?

As some may know it appears the filter was housing some krud. Once my water changes get done hopefully I'll be ok.also I was adding brine shrimp water like an idiot

I'll upload a pic-3-chambered sump is separate from fuge. Sump is 23g of water and fuge is like 35, but its own container. My sand in fuge will be 4-6 inches. How does anaerobic bacteria in a DSB denitrify a volume of water when there seems to be no movement? Like, how does it access all the nitrates? I was thinking of doing a small bit of sand in the 125 just for aesthetics but havent decided. I'll look into the pulsing Xenia! If anyone has any let me know.

When are you bringing the Barney?

I'm ready Jason! Let's roll

Thanks hypertech! Man that's so interesting that macro doesn't really consume nitrates on a large scale. I had this image of loading it w a 5 gallon bucket full of algae and in two weeks the nitrates go from 60 to 5. Now my next call is do I keep all my sand in my fuge and go bb or do I put it up top in my DT!?! Right now all the sand is in the fuge. Maybe just a teeny bit in the dt?

Totally agree-club is awesome. I guess the natural bacteria part is what I wanted to do more than anything; I don't want to make "fish soup" with lots of chemicals either. I was hoping with my transplanted sand and 100 gallons from a member's long-running tank breakdown that I wasn't starting as new as many do. What I'm gathering is that I can add some nitrate consuming bacteria to somewhat shorten the cycle, but need to skim them out once they've consumed it. I am also a natural fan, and put a 40 gallon fuge down below so that I can take advantage of all that natural denitrification provides. It seems like as reefkeepers chemicals are necessary to keep trace minerals and kalk alk mag etc on par, but when it comes to denitrifying, most want to let it run it's course. I won't be adding anything until that tank is below 5ppm, this is for sure. I do not want to kill anything. In fact that makes me ask another question. Could I try to start a pod population? That would be neat if I could grow the tank full of pods first and then add other inhabitants. Is that incredibly uncommon?

Hahahaha yah I figured an upgrade is in my future. Thought I wasn't going to be ready for a skimmer until I had a bioload though. Trock, Just to be clear-I have plenty of patience. These are questions for learning, and I think reasonable questions. The macro algae question for instance. And i would think with the new natural products that have a better bacteria cocktail might just help move things along. Don't misinterpret my questions for a lack of patience. I've waited almost a year just to get to this point and I just filled the system three weeks ago. I know that might sound rude but that's not my tone. It's more reassuring

<br /><br /><br />Huh?

My skimmer is average...older turboflotor 1000.

in the new tank? they're at like 60-80. is it feasible that a huge addition of macro will quickly reduce nitrates? should i add some of the biozyme now?

I have a question regarding generally cycling a tank. My nitrates are really high right now in my new 125 w 40g sump and 40g fuge. I'm guessing because of the 100 lbs of sand I added. Generally speaking, I'm wondering if someone added a LARGE quantity of macro-say, a 5 gallon worth - would that quickly get rid of the nitrates? Second part of that question is how fast does the macro consume the nitrates? And are all macro created relatively equal in nitrate consumption? I have some red galaxaura now in a little tank that's running. Lastly, I have about 50 lbs of established rubble and i'm wondering if adding that PLUS the live sand PLUS some BIOZYME i bought would help expedite the cycling. Id like to avoid the algae bloom, etc.

Alright, I got rid of all the pads. NOW I have one double folded blue/white filter pad, one double-folded carbon pad, and one double-folded phosphate pad. I totally cleaned the aqua pure 50 top to bottom, no crud left anywhere. OH-when i pulled those pads--HOLY CRAP, there was a LOT of crap . Im mixing up some saltwater now for my water change tomorrow.

Man I'm pumped .

Ok will do. And then a water change?

Ok so I have a tennis ball of red macro in the actual tank to help with nitrates. I wonder if i totally pull the filter pads out if there is enough bacteria in the rock- if not, can I just add a pinch of bacteria every other day or something? Also I have a carbon pad and a phosphate pad in there. Are these ok?

No no please I don't mind the info you're helping . You just want to make sure I dont buy up the lfs and start killing things like so many do. I have the poly pads -maybe that's it. how do you change them and keep the denitrifying bacteria in there?

If I rinse the pads in freshwater will that kill the denitrifying bacteria? Could I add some new bacteria to the water to aid in consuming the nitrate?

Yes I have filter floss in the hang on filter, along with a phosphorus pad and a carbon pad. One sponge is established from another aquarium-its been about a week since I added the new filter pad and left the old one in there. The only dead thing I found was a tiny hermit and I pulled most of him out.

One other thing Jan-The mix I made up was for my 5gallon water changes, not an entire tank, new or old. I'm very familiar w ammonia cycle. I own several large references that aren't near me but are apparently considered the bibles.

I have a whole tub of rubble from the established tank. I have all the test kits. I've had my 125 for >6 months and just not started the cycling. I am taking my time and reading a lot. The only reason I have this small tank up is Bc I adopted some livestock from a tank breakdown. I wasn't going to give them to a lfs. I did buy the mandarin, but was assured he was eating and my live rock was teeming with life. Tank slightly small, but it was only a temporary home. I appreciate the info however. Why would nitrates continue to climb? Can I add bacteria? What about dosing vodka until it comes back down? I've also been doing 5g changes every other day. Is this right?

Wait u might have misunderstood me. The entire tank was a transplant from a 15 year old tank. Loaded live rock, same water, same sand.