guppychao February 3, 2009 Share February 3, 2009 a couple of questions: recently had a huge nitrogen spike and i believe it was caused by obtaining "cured" live rock from fellow reefer. however was also wondering if the detritus could also cause this. 180 gal barebottom, with 50-75 gal sump, 20 gal refugium 2 X 6100 1 vortech 2 iwaki 30's, one on a sea swirl asm g3 skimmer calcium reactor 2 x 250 de metal halides 1 400 hqi metal halide 4 X 55watt pc actinics calcium, alk, mag, ph, salinity, all within parameters, only check for those and Nitrates which is at 1-2 first the "cured" live rock; wanted to add more rock for aquascaping, the rock was in a trash can with pwerheads and had coralline algae growth. no more that 1 hour out of the water and I placed into my tank. the weather was cold, so some stuff may have died. within one month I started noticing that some of my SPS started to bleach,(eventually die) I tested for nitrates and they were at 1. while normally they are undetectable. also started to notice cynoalgae on my glass and in my refugium. so I didan additional water changes, ( I usually have a automatic wc system where it changes 1-2 gals per day) changed my carbon, and gfo every week. took out the chaeto covered in cyno. increased my lighting in the ref to 24 hrs. I also noticed that there seemed to be a good amount of detritus in the fug, so I siphoned out half. questions: 1. since I do a daily wc, do I still need to siphon out the detritus? 2. what can I add to my fug? would a sea cucumber be okay? 3. if the "cured" live rock is being cycled, how long of a process will this take? 4. also what else would you do? my nitrates are still pretty high but slowing coming down, any help would be appreciated, thanking you in advance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Origami February 3, 2009 Share February 3, 2009 Nitrates at 1 ppm? That's still low. What test kit are you using and is the reading in ppm? You should not have problems at 1 ppm - not problems due to nitrates, at least. But, to answer your question, yes. You can get a mini-cycle with any sort of die-off. For example, if there were sponges on the rock, then their death could cause a rise, first in ammonia, then nitrites, then nitrates. The same goes for detritus. Is your skimmer performing well? Could you have a salt or calcium carbonate build up in the venturi that might be leading to reduced air intake, and therefore a build-up of organic compounds in the water (that might be stressing your corals)? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Origami February 3, 2009 Share February 3, 2009 It's also possible that you did have a bigger die-off and you're only now catching the back end of the spike. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F&Fmgr February 3, 2009 Share February 3, 2009 i would test your alkalinity again with a couple different tests. My guess is that test isnt right. Low alkalinity is usually caused by a build up of acids....namely carbonic acid(CO2). Carbonic acid usually build up if you have a lack of O2. this coul;d explain the acro death and cyano. Also you said you light your refugium 24 hrs a day? the algae needs a photperiod of at least 10 hours dark Sean Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lanman February 4, 2009 Share February 4, 2009 Also you said you light your refugium 24 hrs a day? the algae needs a photperiod of at least 10 hours dark Sean Eeeek!! Does it really? I used to run mine on exact opposite of tank lights - but after reading several posts here, I changed it to only 3 hours off. My caulerpa grows like ... okay - it IS a weed. The chaeto grows, but at a much more leisurely pace. Would that also affect the efficiency of the DSB in my refugium?? bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guppychao February 4, 2009 Author Share February 4, 2009 Nitrates at 1 ppm? That's still low. What test kit are you using and is the reading in ppm? You should not have problems at 1 ppm - not problems due to nitrates, at least. using salifert test kit, unless i am reading the test kit wrong, i usually notice problems with my nitrates at that level. But, to answer your question, yes. You can get a mini-cycle with any sort of die-off. For example, if there were sponges on the rock, then their death could cause a rise, first in ammonia, then nitrites, then nitrates. The same goes for detritus. about how long does this mini cycle approx last? Is your skimmer performing well? Could you have a salt or calcium carbonate build up in the venturi that might be leading to reduced air intake, and therefore a build-up of organic compounds in the water (that might be stressing your corals)? i think my skimmer is a bit small (asm g3) may mod it since dont have the funds for a new skimmer i would test your alkalinity again with a couple different tests. My guess is that test isnt right. Low alkalinity is usually caused by a build up of acids....namely carbonic acid(CO2). Carbonic acid usually build up if you have a lack of O2. this coul;d explain the acro death and cyano. ill test alk again could i put anything in the refugium such as a black sea cucumber? thanks for everyone's input Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trockafella February 4, 2009 Share February 4, 2009 Also you said you light your refugium 24 hrs a day? the algae needs a photperiod of at least 10 hours dark I run mt refuge light 24hours and never had any problems... cheato grows great, nitrates are at 0, hmmm.. what is the negative effect of running it 24 hours..? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
st9z March 11, 2009 Share March 11, 2009 My nitrate are 15ppm. How big of a water change would I need to do to get it to go down? 50%? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sikryd March 11, 2009 Share March 11, 2009 50% water change = 7.5ppm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
st9z March 11, 2009 Share March 11, 2009 50% water change = 7.5ppm Maybe i'll add a sand shifting starfish too, to help get rid of all the debri on the sand. Whatcha think? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamal March 11, 2009 Share March 11, 2009 dont add a sand sifting star fish. it will succeed only in helping to eliminate useful critters. when lowering nitrates look at how much and what you are putting in. how much do you feed? what is the no3 level coming out of your ro unit? how much algae growth are you getting? what are your po4 levels? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
st9z March 12, 2009 Share March 12, 2009 dont add a sand sifting star fish. it will succeed only in helping to eliminate useful critters. when lowering nitrates look at how much and what you are putting in. how much do you feed? what is the no3 level coming out of your ro unit? how much algae growth are you getting? what are your po4 levels? So far the only algae problem I have are diatoms, but my turbos take care of them pretty quickly. I have not been feeding much since I do not have any fish in the tank yet. I will have to test the No3 and po4 from the RO unit. I just change all the filters on it, so I would hope they are 0 for both no3 and po4. I thought the sand shifting starfish would be a good addition so that it would take care all the debri I have in the tank. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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