muntzor Posted July 21, 2014 Share Posted July 21, 2014 Hey, Thought I would start a post regarding my first saltwater fish tank. I recently purchased a Fluval Spec V and planned on setting it up as a saltwater tank. I am running into a few problems. I purchased the tank, sand and water from my local LFS, once it was setup and wet. I purchased 3 pieces of live rock. Placed the live rock in the tank, and let it cycle. It has been 9 days since I placed the live rock in the tank. Each day, it appears more and more worms are coming out of the live rock, I have been trying to ID the worms but not much luck, they do not appear to be flatworms, or bristleworms. The worms also appear to be making the water quite cloudy. Any tips would be appreciated. I am awaiting the delivery of a Current USA LED but in the meantime I am using the stock light. Would it be worthwhile purchasing the media basket from InTank? Current parameters below; PH Ammonia Nitrite Nitrate 7/19/2014 7.8 2.0 ppm 0 ppm 0 ppm 7/20/2014 7.6 2.0 ppm 0 ppm 0 ppm I performed a 40% water change yesterday (7/20/2014) but I am at work currently and can not perform a water test. Link to comment
Tropi Posted July 21, 2014 Share Posted July 21, 2014 Welcome to the forum There are heaps of spec V owners on here that will be able to help you out. If your ammonia is at 2 and you haven't had any nitrite or nitrate yet it looks like your cycle is only just starting. I would'nt do any water changes while cycling, I've read it just prolongs the process and leave a decent sized WC for when you have finished cycling. I could be wrong though, I've only had my 23g running for 3 months so still very new to Link to comment
muntzor Posted July 21, 2014 Author Share Posted July 21, 2014 Thanks Tropi, Would it be worthwhile just to let the tank cycle? And wait for the ammonia to drop to 0? I am just a bit worried about the live rock that I got, it seemed to have an abundance of worms, and the die off will increase the ammonia by a lot. Link to comment
Kijho Posted July 21, 2014 Share Posted July 21, 2014 Soooo many Spec V's, welcome to the club Link to comment
cindyp Posted July 21, 2014 Share Posted July 21, 2014 hello! congrats on your first salt water tank! i'm a noob too. mine is about 5 months old. anyway, have you tried googling to ID the worms at all? it would help to know if they are friendly or not so good to have. or even searching the forum here? that might help with how to proceed. Link to comment
muntzor Posted July 22, 2014 Author Share Posted July 22, 2014 Thanks Kijho - I have been following your build quite close. It's absolutely awesome. cindyp, I have tried to ID the worms, been browsing a lot of ID sites that I have found on Google, however, I have not been able to successfully ID them. I woke up this morning and the tank was quite cloudy. I have ordered a heap of stuff from InTank today, so awaiting delivery. New media basket and the 606 pump. I am wondering if I should let the tank continue to try and cycle, or rip out the live rock and substrate and start a fresh with some cured live rock. What do you think would be the best course of action? Link to comment
cindyp Posted July 22, 2014 Share Posted July 22, 2014 i'd honestly have chucked the whole thing if you think it was that bad? i've never encountered the problem, hopefully someone with more experience can chime in. how frustrating. sorry! Link to comment
Tropi Posted July 22, 2014 Share Posted July 22, 2014 Towards the end of my cycle I dosed my tank with a shrimp and ammonia went up to 2 then went down to 0 after a few days and that's when I did a big WC and added cuc, everything has been going good in mine so far. My cycle took 3 weeks. But I think if you are really unhappy with the rock or think you got a bad batch then it might be better to start with some new rock, easier to do now than later. I agree with cindyp to, maybe try and get an id on the worms. Link to comment
muntzor Posted July 22, 2014 Author Share Posted July 22, 2014 Thanks for the information Tropi, I like the rock - So I do not want to really change. However, I did a water test last night and my ammonia was at 8.0 ppm, massive spike over my past 2 readings of 2.0 ppm. Ill perform another test tonight after work and see if it has dropped. Link to comment
muntzor Posted July 31, 2014 Author Share Posted July 31, 2014 Ripped the tank down last Saturday, and rebuilt it with new live rock from a different LFS. This time with a lot better results. Currently cycling, and quite a few pods now appearing throughout the tank. Seems to be going a lot better the second time around. Link to comment
Tropi Posted July 31, 2014 Share Posted July 31, 2014 It's a shame you had to start over with new LR but sounds like it was for the best. Look forward to seeing your tank as it progresses, do you have any pictures of your scape? Link to comment
muntzor Posted July 31, 2014 Author Share Posted July 31, 2014 Did a test tonight.. Ammonia is sitting at 0, nitrate at 80 and nitrite at 2. Waiting to see the nitrite hit 0 then I'll think about a WC. I'll grab some photos tomorrow Tropi Link to comment
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