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I think I made a newbie mistake


Cardiak21

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So I got a 150g cube aquarium, did a fishless cycle using ammonia drops. Got the Amn to 0 and the Nitrites to 0 after a few weeks. Nitrates were at around 20 ppm. I decided to add some sand from my old tank to the refugium section of the sump on my new tank. Added some crushed coral rubble and base rock rubble to the refugium (light is set to night cycle). I did a nitrate test two days later, nitrates jumped up to around 40ppm. Did a 25% water change. Tested again, still 40 ppm. After a few days did another 25% water change and tested today 60ppm!!!


 


Is the sand from my old tank a nitrate producer??? There is nothing alive (fish or creatures) in the tank, I added maybe 3 pieces of live rock (one rock did have some star polyps on it) from my old tank,  but the majority of it was dry to start. Every time I've started a new tank in the past, I've always done it from scratch without bring anything from a previous tank. 


 


Should I take the sand from the refugium out?


 


 


Im super frustrated. Please advise.


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in my opinion, rubble/rock shouldn't be used in a typical "refugium" that consists of a partitioned area in a sump. It usually acts as a detritus trap causing a buildup of nitrate.

Rock pores can certainly become packed with detritus.

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I wouldn't import any sand from an old tank. Biological diversity will happen in a reef tank all on its own with addition of corals, fish, and other invertebrates.

 

At this point, just let it keep going up and ride it out til it is done.

 

 

--

Warren

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Recall that denitrifying bacteria (the ones that process nitrate) are anaerobic. It is likely that the process of transferring the sand exposed them to too much oxygen and substantially reduced their population. At the same time, that old sand may have included detritus that had previously been trapped in the sand bed; and moving the sand stirred it up.

 

I wouldn't worry too much. The denitrifying bacteria will reestablish themselves; just give them time.

Edited by braden
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