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Cycling my first reef tank


hollygolightly

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hollygolightly

Hi everyone! So I set up a 10G tank a week and a half ago to cycle. I received 90% of the supplies from a friend who decided to get out of the hobby for now. I only needed to buy LR, sand, salt mix and a hydrometer (I know a refractometer is better, but I am keeping costs to a minimum for now). I bought distilled water.

 

I inherited:

-the 10G tank

-a powerhead

-2 heaters (only using one)

-HOB AquaClear filter with (unused) filter floss

-a DIY Cree light (blue and white) along with some little LED lights that Iwas told are just for looks

 

I bought about 10 lbs altogether of rock, half live and cured, half dry.

 

I may be forgetting something? I've been doing tons of research for several weeks, but as someone else has said, there is a lot of mixed information out there.

 

Anyway, my initial tests showed (ranges indicate the color was between the 2 colors on my API chart):

Ammonia: 0.25 - 0.5

Nitrite and Nitrate: 0, of course

Ph: 8.0 - 8.2

Phosphates: 0.25

Salinity: 1.023

 

Today, I noticed some hair algae growing on the rocks. Here are test results:

Ammonia: 0.25

Nitrite: 0

Nitrate: 5

Ph: 8.0 - 8.2

Phosphates: 0 - 0.25

Salinity: 1.024

 

My guess is the algae is due to the phosphates. I have several questions, though:

 

1) Re: the algae, should I do anything at this point or just wait it out? Should I treat for that low amount of phosphates, or let the algae eat it up? I do have PhosGuard.

2) Is what's going on with my ammonia and nitrates normal?? It seems early in the cycle for me to have an increase in nitrates, and certainly early for ammonia to be going back down (a couple days ago it was a solid 0.5). Or is the cycle stalling? Should I put a piece of cocktail shrimp or something in to give it a push?

3) My temperature has been ranging from 76.8F to 79.9F. It's spring in Michigan, so our temperatures outside (and inside) have been fluctuating like this, too. Is this much of a change a problem? What can I do to stabilize it?

 

Any advice is appreciated! :happy:

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Partially Submerged

1) Re: the algae, should I do anything at this point or just wait it out? Should I treat for that low amount of phosphates, or let the algae eat it up? I do have PhosGuard.

 

I'd leave it alone for now. You can try to remove some algae manually, but don't mess with the water chemistry. I wouldn't use the PhosGuard at all. You could add some cheap macroalgae to compete with the hair algae.

 

2) Is what's going on with my ammonia and nitrates normal?? It seems early in the cycle for me to have an increase in nitrates, and certainly early for ammonia to be going back down (a couple days ago it was a solid 0.5). Or is the cycle stalling? Should I put a piece of cocktail shrimp or something in to give it a push?

 

A lot of people make the mistake of thinking of a cycle as one event that happens a certain way and then it's done. But that's not what it is. When we say a tank is cycling, what we mean is the population of the ammonia-/nitrite-processing bacteria is adjusting to he supply of ammonia/nitrite in the tank. Decaying matter provides a supply of ammonia, which in turn provides nitrite and the nitrate. There's always a bit of dead stuff in your tank, and since you have live rock, you also have a certain population of good bacteria. In fact, you could start adding livestock very slowly now. If you really wanted to jumpstart the tank, you could add an ammonia source, or even better, just pure (diluted, of course) ammonia, and create a massive spike. That way, you'd build a large population of bacteria and could add a lot of livestock much faster. I'm more a fan of the first method. Add livestock very slowly and let the cycle happen very gently.

 

 

3) My temperature has been ranging from 76.8F to 79.9F. It's spring in Michigan, so our temperatures outside (and inside) have been fluctuating like this, too. Is this much of a change a problem? What can I do to stabilize it?

 

If your heater is up to it, you could try setting the temperature higher so it's closer to the max. That said, there are plenty of corals and other inverts that are used to temperature fluctuations. My soft corals, sexy shrimp, and various snail species see temperature changes between 75-80 daily right now as I am still dialing in the tank. It's driving me crazy, but they are all thriving.

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the answer to whats going on with your ammonia is this

 

google search

 

api marine test kit false ammonia readings. out of 100 people posting, what percentage says api always indicates ammonia based on their readings? (99)

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I use api for nitrite and nitrate. Ph and ammonia are always off. HR PH always reads low and ammonia always reads high.

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check out the new seachem ammonia test kit version on marinedepot

 

there are good reviews as compared to the readings of other kits, and api, its a nice alternative. then you'll know when the cycle is done just my take.

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hollygolightly

 

A lot of people make the mistake of thinking of a cycle as one event that happens a certain way and then it's done. But that's not what it is. When we say a tank is cycling, what we mean is the population of the ammonia-/nitrite-processing bacteria is adjusting to he supply of ammonia/nitrite in the tank. Decaying matter provides a supply of ammonia, which in turn provides nitrite and the nitrate. There's always a bit of dead stuff in your tank, and since you have live rock, you also have a certain population of good bacteria. In fact, you could start adding livestock very slowly now. If you really wanted to jumpstart the tank, you could add an ammonia source, or even better, just pure (diluted, of course) ammonia, and create a massive spike. That way, you'd build a large population of bacteria and could add a lot of livestock much faster. I'm more a fan of the first method. Add livestock very slowly and let the cycle happen very gently.

 

Thanks for all the info! Macroalgae is a good idea.

As for adding livestock, my LFS suggested some blue-legged hermits to help with the cycle, but I have been very nervous to add anything too soon. I definitely don't want to kill anything!

 

Sidebar: I would eventually like a clownfish and a goby/pistol shrimp combo. I figured it will be awhile before I put any corals in, so I don't have a wishlist planned out for them. I will research what will be compatible with the fish/inverts I have and what will do well in the setup I have. All I know regarding CUC is I don't like the coral-banded shrimp and a few others because they look too much like insects!! Snails, hermits, emerald crabs and some shrimp - I'm all cool with! :)

 

I use api for nitrite and nitrate. Ph and ammonia are always off. HR PH always reads low and ammonia always reads high.

 

I didn't realize! I inherited my API test kits, so I figured they were okay. Do you know how they do for calcium, Kh, and phosphate? Because that's what I have for those tests, too.

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people like them for general indications for those params

 

since you are including live rock along with dry, you dont aim the cycling towards the dry, it comes naturally. you aim the cycling towards preserving the live portion, or you are working in reverse.

 

the bacteria will seed onto the dry in time dont rush it

 

all you do is this

 

post pics of your tank and do giant water changes weekly for about a month. we can see how much early bioload your live rock will process off the pics, then you just use that much fish/coral for a while which seeds the dry portion.

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when you do blended tank cycling using live and dry

 

you do not do shrimp decay technique, thats for dry only

 

the max ammonia free allowed for your tank is zero

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hollygolightly

Ok, well, unfortunately my camera has no batteries at the moment so I only have cell phone pictures.

 

Here is what the tank looked like when I first set it up (after the dust settled):

10G tank upon setup

 

And here is a photo I took just now. You can see the algae best on the white dry rock, but it is on all the rocks, the walls and in the sand a bit.

hair algae

This one from the top down kind of shows the algae on the walls of the tank:

hair algae Top down

 

Again, sorry for the quality. If my fiance weren't playing video games I could take the batteries out of his Xbox controller for my camera, but...that's not happening right now.

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Maybe I missed it, but how long has the tank been cycling? Definitely don't rush putting any livestock in. It's well worth waiting several weeks before you add anything. You want to make sure the parameters are steady before that. My first livestock was my cuc at about 3 weeks, that was snails and a few hermits. About a week later I added a couple cheap hardy frags. Just last weekend I added my goby. My tank has been up about a month and a half at this point. It's a 12 gal. By the way.

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hollygolightly

Maybe I missed it, but how long has the tank been cycling? Definitely don't rush putting any livestock in. It's well worth waiting several weeks before you add anything. You want to make sure the parameters are steady before that. My first livestock was my cuc at about 3 weeks, that was snails and a few hermits. About a week later I added a couple cheap hardy frags. Just last weekend I added my goby. My tank has been up about a month and a half at this point. It's a 12 gal. By the way.

 

It's been about 2 weeks. I definitely DON'T want to rush adding livestock. That's why I came here, to get others' opinions on what steps I should be taking now that hair algae is threatening to take over the tank.

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here is the exact breakdown about algae

 

the major method is to leave it in the tank and hope it subsides naturally or with a clean up crew.

 

 

if you leave it in the system it can wreck your tank

 

if you refuse to have it in, it cannot, regardless of phosphate levels, overcrowding, anything. the only factor that determines if any reef aquarium is wrecked at any time by algae is if the keeper wants it that way by *only* allowing natural options, so you are at a crossroads.

 

You get to choose, the all natural approach with a partial success rate, or the refusal approach with a 100% success rate but a lot of removal work. either way is fine@!

 

as you read the 60 page peroxide thread in the disease and pest forum, consider what percentage started off with the au naturale method :)

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are you cycling the tank w/ the lights on or off? when i cycled mine i had the light on for about 7-8 hours a day & by the time cycle was done & it was time to add a CUC i had long strands of hair algae on one of my rocks, i ended up taking this rock out & cutting/scrubbing the algae off & then wrapped my tank w/ a towel to keep it in the dark for 3-4 days & havent had a problem w/ GHA since

 

i did have a problem w/ cyano/red slime due to a few dead spots in the tank & over feeding, ive upgrade & moved my powerhead to eliminate this & cut my feedings back & have the lights on for 7 hours a day now & that problem seems to have been taken care of now

 

other than that i haven't had any other major issues w/ my tank

 

good luck with yours & it sounds like you are on the right track

 

& i was browsing on amazon the other day & came across this refractometer for $29.25 & a refractometer is one of the best investments i've made

 

http://www.amazon.com/Salinity-Refractometer-Aquarium-Seawater-Agriculture/dp/B005ES6MOQ/ref=pd_rhf_se_s_cp_4_V4Y3?ie=UTF8&refRID=00V8YGTVKMA7HDXDP515

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I wouldn't jump to peroxide just get. A lot of the time the hair algae is a part of the cycle and will melt away as things stabilize. Your tank is only a couple weeks old so just let it be for a couple more weeks and see what happens. As soon as ammonia goes away you should be ok to add some cuc.

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hollygolightly

if you refuse to have it in, it cannot, regardless of phosphate levels, overcrowding, anything. the only factor that determines if any reef aquarium is wrecked at any time by algae is if the keeper wants it that way by *only* allowing natural options, so you are at a crossroads.

 

You get to choose, the all natural approach with a partial success rate, or the refusal approach with a 100% success rate but a lot of removal work. either way is fine@!

That's definitely my dilemma! I'd like to keep it as natural as possible, but I want it to be successful, too. I'm not opposed to scrubbing the algae off the rocks if necessary. I'm thinking since there's nothing else in the tank, I may be able to wait it out a bit longer to see if the hair algae subsides as part of the cycle?

 

are you cycling the tank w/ the lights on or off?

 

 

& i was browsing on amazon the other day & came across this refractometer for $29.25 & a refractometer is one of the best investments i've made

 

http://www.amazon.com/Salinity-Refractometer-Aquarium-Seawater-Agriculture/dp/B005ES6MOQ/ref=pd_rhf_se_s_cp_4_V4Y3?ie=UTF8&refRID=00V8YGTVKMA7HDXDP515

Awesome! I definitely want to get a refractometer. Thank you for sharing!

And yes, I've been keeping the lights on during the day. I don't have them on a timer, though, so I just turn them on in the morning and then off in the evening. There are so many conflicting opinions about whether to have them on or not! :S

 

I wouldn't jump to peroxide just get. A lot of the time the hair algae is a part of the cycle and will melt away as things stabilize. Your tank is only a couple weeks old so just let it be for a couple more weeks and see what happens. As soon as ammonia goes away you should be ok to add some cuc.

Thanks! The problem is my ammonia IS almost at 0 (I haven't tested it yet today to be sure - I'm at work). But then my nitrate was up at 5 so I don't know if the cycle is stalled or what. As brandon said, since I have live rock in there, I shouldn't add a piece of deli shrimp for ammonia or anything...

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your cycle is simply maxed out by the amount of fully cured substrate you have, it can handle some bioloading relative to that amount or you can wait longer either is fine.

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hollygolightly

your cycle is simply maxed out by the amount of fully cured substrate you have, it can handle some bioloading relative to that amount or you can wait longer either is fine.

 

I was thinking of getting like TWO blue-legged hermits to put in to increase the bioload. BUT I don't want them to die!

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Partially Submerged

Two small hermits should be pretty safe and a good start. Do a water change before you add them.

 

And yes, I've been keeping the lights on during the day. I don't have them on a timer, though, so I just turn them on in the morning and then off in the evening. There are so many conflicting opinions about whether to have them on or not! :S

 

People like them off because lights on isn't really needed for the initial stages and it may encourage algae growth. I keep them on, though. Make the hitchhikers feel welcome. :D Oh, and make sure to get a timer. Inconsistent lighting is not good.

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hollygolightly

Thanks! I was definitely planning to get a timer before I put any livestock in. And I knew the lights would probably encourage some algae growth, but I didn't want to DIScourage the bacteria or "hitchhikers." ;)

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GHA is a normal part of cycling so I wouldn't sweat it. You can just turn the lights off while you finish the cycle or perhaps add a small cuc depending on parameters. The bacteria doesn't need light though.

 

nice scape :)

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hollygolightly

GHA is a normal part of cycling so I wouldn't sweat it. You can just turn the lights off while you finish the cycle or perhaps add a small cuc depending on parameters. The bacteria doesn't need light though.

 

nice scape :)

 

Thank you! It's not very elaborate, but it's a small tank and I tried to pick out interesting rock (the two on the left are my favorite). I really wish the glass was cleaner so I could take better pictures! These don't do the purple rocks justice.

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hollygolightly

We added our first inhabitants yesterday! Two blue-leggeds named Bob. They went straight to work eating the HA.

 

Also picked up a bit of chaeto. I don't have a fuge, but I've been reading about macros in the display tank. I was hoping for red grape or dragon's breath or something, but all I could find at the LFS was chaeto. I tucked it in the corner and I'm hoping it will help with nutrient export (did a ~25% water change Monday, planning another this weekend).

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Keep an eye on the chaeto it has a way of getting loose out in the tank and on the rocks where you don't want it.

 

I really like your rocks, very natural and it makes your tank look bigger than a 10 gallon.

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hollygolightly

Keep an eye on the chaeto it has a way of getting loose out in the tank and on the rocks where you don't want it.

 

I really like your rocks, very natural and it makes your tank look bigger than a 10 gallon.

 

Thank you!

 

I may be getting some dragon's breath from a local reefer. In which case, I probably won't keep the chaeto. I just wanted something to try for nitrates (aside from water changes).

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