HELP!!!!!!!!

[Brian Ward]

like what levels should it all be at?

 

Read the article I posted the link for. But for now:

pH: 8.3 (7.9 - 8.4 acceptable)

NH4: 0 (ammonia)

NH2: 0 (nitrite)

NH3: 0 (nitrate) (<20 acceptable without corals)

 

As you cycle, you should see a spike in ammonia to kick off the cycle. That will be converted to nitrite, then to nitrate. Once your ammonia goes up and then back down to 0 and you have nitrate present (though it could be undetectable) then your cycle is complete and you're ready to begin adding fish. You will also see a couple of algae blooms along the way: diatoms and usually hair algae.

 

~Brian

[Gilbert]

What should I do to get rid of the diatoms?

[WaterDog]

What should I do to get rid of the diatoms?

Welcome to WAMAS!

As for the diatoms, you could just siphon them up while doing water changes, that's what I do.

[Inspector]

Brian gave you a link to a very good article. Allow the tank to cycle on it's own. Just monitor the different levels, it will give you something to do while the tank is doing it's thing. I would not do a water change untill the tank has completed it's cycle. In the mean time, research and read. The more info you soak up the easier it will be to give the tank what it does need and will keep you from giving it what it doesn't. Everyone here will tell you that good things happen very slow, but bad things happed very fast. Allow them to happen slow, but keep an eye out for the bad. You might not know what they are, but someone here can always help with that.

 

Mike

[onyx]

What should I do to get rid of the diatoms?

 

Wait until they go away

[gmubeach]

Wow someone jumped in with both feet:)Do you have your system grounded? No need to electricute yourself. Get a grounding probe and hook it into your tank...and remeber everything good in this hobby takes time.. You hear stories all the time of ppl that rush and end up with 10 dead fish! Just try and be paceint and look at others photos so you can start planning!

[Gilbert]

Okay so I've had a single yellow tail damsel in my tank for about 1 week now, and just today I went out and bought 3 more blue damsels and a single clown fish to add to the tank. I'm cycling my tank and I just tested for the amonia level and its about 0.25 right now. The fish seem to be happy living in my tank. I will post up pictures soon. thanks everybody!!

[zygote2k]

What should I do to get rid of the diatoms?

let them flourish and die, then watch the hair algae and cyanos do the same.

[zygote2k]

Okay so I've had a single yellow tail damsel in my tank for about 1 week now, and just today I went out and bought 3 more blue damsels and a single clown fish to add to the tank. I'm cycling my tank and I just tested for the amonia level and its about 0.25 right now. The fish seem to be happy living in my tank. I will post up pictures soon. thanks everybody!!

 

Damsels as starter fish are usually a bad idea. They are super hardy and durable, but they often become aggressive towards new tankmates. They should be added last.

[GraffitiSpotCorals]

like what levels should it all be at?

welcome, you look for ammonia to rise and drop then nitrite then nitrate. once everything has dropped to "0" and your ph is 8.2-8.4 you are ready to start with some fish, start with you less aggressive and least expensive fish fisrt

[Gilbert]

yeah i'm just using the damsels as cycling fish. i'ma goin to give them away once my tank is done cycling, then comes my corals!!! i'm sooo excited.

 

 

[JMsAquarium]

like what levels should it all be at?

 

Right now while you tank is cycling, You may have some ammonia and some nitrites.

 

Then you will have 0 ppm ammonia, around 1.5 ppm and possibly above nitrites, some ppm nitrates

 

Lastly you will have 0 ppm ammonia, 0 ppm nitrites, high nitrates. At this point do a good 20% water change to reduce your nitrate levels.

Continue testing for several days and perform water changes accordingly to reduce your nitrate levels.

 

Once you have 0 ppm ammonia, 0 ppm nitrites and under 0.5 nitrates, you can add a clean up crew (a few snails and crabs) to help establish your bioload and settling your system.

 

Continue testing as you were doing. If your levels remain stable as per above mentionned, you can start adding fish. Just take your time and add them one or two at a time.

 

After a few months (3 or so) as mentionned by another poster, you can start with corals.

 

 

The key to a successful tank is patience, a little more patience, and some more patience for good measure.

 

Keep asking questions, we are here to help you.

 

JM

Edited March 16, 2010 by JMsAquarium

[dschflier]

You should put where you live. Going over to a WAMAS members house to see another established tank will often give you some good ideas and I have found it to be one of the best ways to learn.

[Gilbert]

so i tested my water this morning and it reads

 

ammonia 0.25

nitrite 0.1

natrate 5.0

 

this is my second week in cycling my tank. Is this right?

[JMsAquarium]

Sounds good. Keep testing. I would do a water change just to reduce the nitrates :-) And as it was mentioned, let us know where you are located and do not hesitate to visit other members set ups.

[Coral Hind]

I would wait at least another two weeks to do a water change. There are no corals in the tank so the nitrates are not an issue. No sense in spending money on new saltwater just yet. Let the tank do its thing a little more first. Once the nitrate-reducing bacteria grow in population the nitrate may start to fall. A water change now may slow the process down.

 

 

[Gilbert]

Yeah I thought it was better to wait for the cycling process to be done before i start doing water changes? I'm located in Alexandria,VA. So i just dumped a bunch of live brine shrimp in to feed my fishes, most of the shrimp ended up in the filter sock I have, what should I do? take the filter out and shake all the shrimp back in the tank?

 

 

[Coral Hind]

If the filter sock is not loaded with other garbage I would do what you mentioned. If the filter sock is a few days old and loaded with stuff then I would not do it. That is a judgement call you would have to make as we can't see the condition of the filter sock.

[Gilbert]

So what do I do? leave the shrimp in there?

[Coral Hind]

It sounds like it is time to rinse out the filter sock.

[Gilbert]

So after observing my tank. I see little green hair like algae growing on my sand, tank glass, and rocks. What is this? Is this a part of the diatom blooms I'm suppose to be getting when cycling the tank?

[Coral Hind]

It sounds like hair algae. Diatoms are more of thin brown layer, almost like a dusting. Do a google image search of both "hair algae" and "diatom bloom".

 

This a natural part of the tank cycle. Almost all new tanks go through this phase.

[Gilbert]

Am I suppose to have my potein skimmer off when cycling my tank?

 

 

[zygote2k]

Run the skimmer 24/7, ditch the sock, start doing water changes on a weekly basis.

[Gilbert]

I thought water changes when cycling a new tank will slow down the process? And for the skimmer, I thought I read somewhere that it is not suppose to be on while cycling so the bacteria can do its thing quicker or something? Ditching the sock, I thought I was suppose to have some type of pre-filter? I'm so confused