its cycling...i think?

[armymedic]

Now i remember why i gave it up before....

 

1. Two weeks ago i put water, salt waited 4 hours for circulation to make sure all the salt was dissolved. Salinity was and still is 1.023-024

 

2. Then i added base rock, and then added Live sand. I picked up some "live rubble rock" that the guys from Roozens told me to put in the back of the tank. I then added some pure ammonia, enough to bring it up to about 3-4 PPM. This was all in the first 2 days.

 

3. I went to Roozens on day 4 and picked up and very healthy 7lb live rock which i put in the tank, he also gave me some of their "filter media" with that has all sorts of bacteria in it. I put 2 very large pieces in the media basket. Jos also gave me some TLC and told me to pour about 1/4 of the bottle into the tank. I am assuming its some form of bacteria generator.

 

4. On day 7 i put another 10lb live rock in the tank that was very healthy with purple all over it. Both pieces of live rock are starting to wither away.

 

I just tested the water for ammonia, and nitrates. it appears that there is less than 10 PPM nitrates in the water and somewhere around 0- 0.2 ammonia in the water.

 

it cant be this hard!! I must be doing something wrong. I know its only been two weeks but i figured between all the "live" crap i put into it, it would at least appear to be further along then what it is...

 

 

Any advice other than empty it and send it back to the manufacturer???

 

Supposedly there is about 14k ways to do this but i would just prefer one, simple way. Thank you for your help!

 

Ill be at the bar if you need me.....

 

 

[Kristen9]

Are you growing any ugly brown stuff?? (diatoms)

 

I did nothing but add light for the first two weeks to a month on my setup.... it worked well... like really nothing, no water changes, no chemical removers.. nothing..

 

The coraline wont all dye, and will grow back

 

Also, you might consider allow some water to evaporate and move your salinity up to 1.025 to 1.027. One of the wamas members recommended that to me, and the coralline really seemed to take off after that...

 

Dont give up yet... I've only done this for about 6 months, but it seems like as long as you stay inside certain parameters, a 20% water change or doing nothing seems to fix most problems.... :P

Edited September 18, 2010 by Kristen9

[bluce]

Doesn't sound that bad to me - are you assuming that because the old growth on the live rock has has died, that your water isn't cycling? I wouldn't think that is the case.

It sounds like your water is cycling ok. In fact it sounds like you have more or even too much bacteria in there. Your nitrates are low, and your ammonia is close to 0 even after you added pure ammonia. Something broke that down.

 

It might be time to add 1 fish - right now you have nothing adding any natural ammonia to be broken down.

 

The live rock takes weeks, months, or longer to get new growth on it. You can try dosing once a week with "purple up" that has helped my lr.

 

Cheers - and be patient.

[Chad]

I am not sure I can identify a problem with what you said...

 

The way you put it, you added a bunch of bacteria (live rock, some filter media and TLC) to the tank.

 

Ammonia went down, nitrates went up. That is what is supposed to happen...

 

There are a lot of reasons that your coraline could be losing color (how long it spent out of water before they got it, how long it was in their tank, what its specific position relative to light is, how you currently have it, what your level of lighting is, etc.). At the moment, I wouldnt worry too much about it, the color of the rock will return in time. Watching the water parameters at this point is a much better indicator of how things are going and it looks like those are probably trending correctly. Do you have algae yet? What color?

 

I usually use/recommend adding livestock to the tank for the first time when the algae begins to turn green (vice brown) and use that as the poing to add a fish and/or members of your cleanup crew (this is also the point when I would start doing water changes).

 

Continue to keep an eye on water parameters, things are on track.

 

What bar? A beer is usually a good way to sit and watch! (so long as it doesnt cause you to want to mess with things... the bar might be a good choice;) )

[zygote2k]

get a good comprehensive reef book and read it. if you can't find the time or patience in the first 2 weeks, give up now and get a betta.

[armymedic]

Thank you all for your information and support. I am sure i am just "watching the water boil". Every little bit of information does help.

 

And for your information zygoteck that is why it is called a HOBBY and not a proffession. Just in case you got lost this post is under the NEW TO THE HOBBY area. If I wanted to understand all the "thermonuclear" dynamics of the hobby, i would have majored in that in college. Old saying, if you dont have anything nice to say then......

 

For everyone else...have a nice day!

 

 

[Vadim]

patience grasshopper, patience.

[Jan]

You've certainly gotten a great start by getting filter media and all the bacteria you got from Roozens. That was nice of them. That's how I started my tanks 20 years ago. My LFS gave me some of their LS and filter media. It really does help to move the process along.

 

Everything sounds like it's going the way it's supposed to go. Read the articles I've provided below so you can understand where you are in the nitrogen cycle. It's very simple reading and easy to understand. Some coraline will fade and even die off, but it will come back in time. Keep testing the water every few days to see where you are in the process. Salinity may be a tad low for reef. 1.026 is usually the max. I keep mine at 1.025. Here is a chart of parameters to use as a guide. http://reefkeeping.c...5/rhf/index.php

http://www.fishlore....trogenCycle.htm

http://saltaquarium..../a/aa073199.htm

 

After you're tank has cycled you may see a golden brown algae, diatom algae. It's normal and will pass. Do not change the water. No need to add a skimmer at this point because you have no bioload. You want to build it up a little.

 

Then you may see little white specks on the glass. These are pods. It's a sign of life growing in your tank. Enjoy them while they last.

 

Once you understand what is going on in the cycling process you'll get better at starting a tank. It will go by faster. Nothing happens really fast in this hobby except tank crashes. Patience is key.

 

Happy reefing :-)

 

I re-read your post about 3-4PPM's of ammonia. I'm wondering if you added a little too much. I think that at 2ppms, which has always been peek when I started a new tank during a cycle, would have been fine.

Edited September 19, 2010 by Jan

[zygote2k]

Thank you all for your information and support. I am sure i am just "watching the water boil". Every little bit of information does help.

 

And for your information zygoteck that is why it is called a HOBBY and not a proffession. Just in case you got lost this post is under the NEW TO THE HOBBY area. If I wanted to understand all the "thermonuclear" dynamics of the hobby, i would have majored in that in college. Old saying, if you dont have anything nice to say then......

 

For everyone else...have a nice day!

 

You really need to buy a book on any HOBBY that you undertake. If you go to the LFS, he'll steer you to whatever product that he wants to sell you, the uninformed consumer. However, if you are an educated consumer, then you can make wise purchases and more than likely not have to deal with frustrating events.

 

I'm sorry if I sounded a little gruff, but there are so many people that get into this Hobby that don't even bother to pick up a basic reef book and read it first before either buying the equipment or asking advice on the forums.

The basic book should cover the cycling process- that's all.

 

This is an easy hobby as long as you soak up the tons of information that is available either in books or in online publications. I'm just suggesting that you start reading them instead of giving up and going to the bar.

Edited September 19, 2010 by zygote2k

[Origami]

@armymedic & zygote2k

Peace?

 

BTW, for me, I love studying what I can about the hobby (but that's me). Patience is one of the early things to learn, though. I think almost everybody will agree with that. Second, there's a lot to learn and there are many ways that people have successfully addressed the same problems. In many respects, we're all participants in one big experiment. Success and failure is part of the experiment.

 

May your successes be many, and your failures few.

 

Happy Reefing!

[zygote2k]

@armymedic & zygote2k

Peace?

 

BTW, for me, I love studying what I can about the hobby (but that's me). Patience is one of the early things to learn, though. I think almost everybody will agree with that. Second, there's a lot to learn and there are many ways that people have successfully addressed the same problems. In many respects, we're all participants in one big experiment. Success and failure is part of the experiment.

 

May your successes be many, and your failures few.

 

Happy Reefing!

 

I'm sorry if I come off as gruff sometimes, but in this hobby that seems to be under attack from many different environmental angles, I suggest reading as much information about the hobby BEFORE you buy equipment.

I really hate to see the unnecessary loss of fish life that's sure to follow when enough knowledge is not acquired beforehand. When I worked at the LFS and someone wanted to do saltwater, the first thing I sold them was a comprehensive book on the subject.

[Charlie]

I'm sorry if I come off as gruff sometimes, but in this hobby that seems to be under attack from many different environmental angles, I suggest reading as much information about the hobby BEFORE you buy equipment.

I really hate to see the unnecessary loss of fish life that's sure to follow when enough knowledge is not acquired beforehand. When I worked at the LFS and someone wanted to do saltwater, the first thing I sold them was a comprehensive book on the subject.

Rob, I read your comment and agreed with it. Unfortunately, we can't get voice inflection by typing in a forum. It seems that ArmyMedic is getting frustrated. Many times the LFS isn't clear on how long the initial cycle is going to take and if a person has been into FW, 4 weeks of watching an empty tank can seem like an eternity. I think that I ended up waiting a little longer than that, but I'm patient (with some things). many of us have bee in the hobby long enough that we either accept that the initial cycle can take a long time (and that length of time is NOT written in stone) or we have forgotten what it's like to hear for a month, "Where are the fish?" or even worse, "Where's Nemo?". But I digress...

ArmyMedic, from what you've described, I have to agree with many of the other posts. What you're doing seems to be on schedule (if there is such a thing). For the next couple of weeks, watch TV, rent some movies, go to the bar, enjoy time with friends, etc. Setting up a SW tank is a little like baking. Once the cake is in the oven, don't mess with it! Just let it do its thing and it'll be fine.