My nitrates are high and now I have brown/red/rust color on glass and LR

[IBroughtPopcorn]

Before I tell my story, here are my questions

• How long should I wait after a water change before getting a good reading of my Parameters? Can my Nitrate reading actually be lower tonight when I get home?
• Now that I have changed 25% and then 50% less than 24 hours later. The 50% change was completed today. When should I do another water change? I plan on 5 gallons every Saturday, but because of my Nitrate level, I don't know if I should do it sooner this time.
• What should I do differently with my InTank Media Basket? (LFS sold me a bag carbon and a bag of GFO)
• Any input on my lighting? What channels or colors should be brighter?
• Is there any Pros or Cons to removing the sponge between chamber 2 and 3?
• What did I do wrong?/ What should I have done differently? (I hope I don't get bashed to hard, please remember I am new and still trying to learn what information I read is bad and what is good)
• I noticed small rusty colored dots on my glass? Is this good or bad?
• I am thinking of joing SLASH, its a local group here in STL. Anyone have input on SLASH or any other group in STL? Is anyone here a member?
• Is there a preferred website for buying supplies? I want to keep buying my livestock from my LFS because I want to support the LFS, but I don't want to go broke on this tank. Sorry for the long post, but I tried to give as much info as possible so that you can help me with my concerns.

First, let me start by telling you that I owned a 110 gallon FOWLR tank years ago before I had kids and a wife. I relied on other people to keep the tank going and I just kept buying fish as I went. That turned out to be a disaster and I can only blame myself. This time around I will be taking a different approach, I am taking care of this tank myself. I want to do this right so I read a lot and I am trying to remain patient. For me being patient is not too hard, but for my four year old daughter. By the way she is the reason I started this tank. Now I think I am doing it for myself. It is quickly becoming a hobby for me.
So basically, I am a noob to reef tanks. A few months ago I purchased a used BioCube 29 that I hope to make into a reef tank. I have read a lot of great things about the BC29 and got a lot of good ideas for upgrades. Here is what I have done so far.

Mods/Upgrades

• I updated the lighting to a 100W Lumia 5.1 led chip with a Coralux Storm controller and driver board. I have it set to do the auto sunrise and sunset with a 90 min ramp time. I am only running the light about 25%. My highest setpoint on any channel is 80 out of 255 and my white is at 50 out of 255. I really don't know what to set it to so I just set it to what looks best to me and is not so bright it would be hard to look at. Its sort of a blue/purple color right now.
• I cut the plastic between chambers one and two.
• I started with the 2nd chamber filled half way or more with rubble.
• After reading a bunch of great reviews, I bought Stevie T's InTank media basket and the Fuge basket.
• I scraped off a rectangled area of the back glass and attached a 5000K LED DIY fuge light that I made from a 4 gang electical box. I got the idea from someone on Nano-Reef (sorry I dont know the name to give credit to). As of yesterday I have Cheato and my light is on opposite times of the diplay light.
• In the basket I have 1st shelf = floss on top of some rubble, 2nd shelf = 5 nano packs of chemi pure blue, 3rd shelf = rubble. I put the remaining rubble in the first compartment with my heater. Not sure where to go with the rubble. Also my heater isn't being used. The equpment is keeping the temp 79 at night and 81 at the end of the day.
• I upgraded the pump to a Rio 1400. I have a Hydor Flo on its way. I will attach it to one side of the 1/2" Loc-Line dual return nozzle (being feed by the Rio 1400 pump).
• I purchased the RO buddie with the DI. Its only 50 gallon a day, but it does produce 0 TDS accourding to my TDS meter.
• Along with the Flo, I ordered everything to make a 24V ATO, and a Hydor Koralia Evolution 600 which will be here in 3 days.

My Story

(You might want to grab some popcorn and a drink, this might take awhile)

In the tank I have 30 lbs of Arag-Alive sand, 30 lbs of live rock, and some rubble. I bought the sand, rubble, LR, and SW from my LFS. The awesome guy at my LFS gave me a clear bag that was filled with a lot of brown water, and another bag that was filled with a clear liquid. I put the brown water in the tank the same day as the LR, sand, rubble, and SW. Live Rock->Sand->SW->Bag of brown water, in that order. I put the clear liquid in 24 hours later, as I was instructed to do. I waited days before I started to test the water, probably a mistake to wait. I had a large amount of Ammonia the first few times that I tested and then it settled to 0 after a few more days. In the meantime my Nitrites are at zero and because I didn't test the water everyday, I missed my Nitrates spike, or so I thought, another mistake. After 3 weeks of consistant 0 readings for Ammonia, Nitrites, and Nitrates, I brought home 6 snails, 2 crabs, and a peppermint shrimp from the same LFS but different associate. A week later, yesterday, I went back to my LFS and spoke with the guy that sold me the SW, sand, and LR. I told him my parameters and hee immediatly told me that I was not getting accurate readings. The two bags of liquid was to help start the cycling faster and i should have Nitrates. He was able to tell me what I was doing wrong with the API test kit (not shaking the bottle long enough) and recommended another brand to use for Nitrates. Instead of purchasing more CUC (I think 1 small blue leg crab died, either I lost him or he is a ninja) I purchased some cheato and "bugs in a bottle" I believe the bugs are copeopods that will reproduce in my fuge. I went home to test my water and BAM!! Sure enough, my Nitates are the last color on API's chart. I forget the number now (i dont have my log with me) but I think it was 160 ppm. I did a 25% water change and had to go to work. When I came home from work I tested and my Nitrates are down between 40 and 80 ppm. I did another 50% water change this morning. Actually after work last night I took out 50% and put 25% back in and made more SW from RO/DI water overnight. I takes about an hour for me to make RO/DI water with the system I purchased. I am okay with that for now, but at this time it is 4 a.m. and I couldnt wait for the salt to mix with the water. This afternoon I put in the other 5 gallons of SW. I tested the water about a half hour later. I had to leave for work so I couldn't wait longer. My readings were.

Nitrates = 20 ppm
Ammonia = 0
Nitrites = 0
Ph = 8.2.
Salinity = 1.026

Besides the flaws in my grammer, does anyone have suggestions for improvments?
Please refer to my questions at the begining of this post.

Thanks for any advice.

[Merthynia]

 

Before I tell my story, here are my questions

• How long should I wait after a water change before getting a good reading of my Parameters? Can my Nitrate reading actually be lower tonight when I get home?
• How long until my next water change? I plan on 5 gallons every saturday.
• What should I do differently with my InTank Media Basket? (LFS sold me a bag carbon and a bag of GFO)
• Any input on my lighting? What channels or colors should be brighter?
• Is there any Pros or Cons to removing the sponge between chamber 2 and 3?
• What did I do wrong?/ What should I have done differently? (I hope I don't get bashed to hard, please remember I am new and still trying to learn what information I read is bad and what is good)
• I noticed small rusty colored dots on my glass? Is this good or bad?
• I am thinking of joing SLASH, its a local group here in STL. Anyone have input on SLASH or any other group in STL? Is anyone here a member?
• Is there a preferred website for buying supplies? I want to keep buying my livestock from my LFS because I want to support the LFS, but I don't want to go broke on this tank. Sorry for the long post, but I tried to give as much info as possible so that you can help me with my concerns.

 

2. I usually do my waterchanges once weekly. Choose a day that you know you'll have time and not feel rushed. This can help you actually want to do the waterchange.

3. I personally would remove the rubble from the back chambers. In my experience they just become a trap for junk that happens to get back there, this can be extremely hard to clean out. Start slowly though, take a little out every week or two weeks to help keep the tank stable from losing too much of the good bacteria. I used phosguard and chemipure elite/blue in mine along with filterfloss on the top.

5. Are you talking about the sponge that is at the bottom of the chamber? It would remove a spot where things can become trapped, I can't really see any problems with it.

7. Most likely diatoms meaning your cycle is making progress. You should also eventually see them on your sand and rocks. This is good, it'll go away eventually.

 

Sorry I couldn't answer every question. Hope this helps a little. I'm sure more people will chime in. Everyone has a different opinion on all aspects of tank care, your best bet is to start slowly and listen to everyone but find something that works for your tank.

[IBroughtPopcorn]

Thank you Merthynia for your advice. What should I do with the rubble? Should I put it in display part? Also, regarding question two, I did not clearly ask the question I that I have, I will change it. I should have asked, now that I have changed 25% and then 50% less than 24 hours later. The 50% change was completed today. When should I do a water change again? Is there negeitive effects from too many water changes? I would image too often would impact the good bacteria. I could be completey wrong. That is why I am asking here.

[Merthynia]

Thank you Merthynia for your advice. What should I do with the rubble? Should I put it in display part? Also, regarding question two, I did not clearly ask the question I that I have, I will change it. I should have asked, now that I have changed 25% and then 50% less than 24 hours later. The 50% change was completed today. When should I do a water change again? Is there negeitive effects from too many water changes? I would image too often would impact the good bacteria. I could be completey wrong. That is why I am asking here.

Unless you want more rock in your display, you don't need to put it in there. I use tiny pieces of rubble to glue frags that I've taken off frag plugs onto before I put them into my tanks. As far as the waterchanges, a lot of people don't do waterchanges while the tank is cycling, but since you have livestock in the tank, you could probably get away with a small 2-3 gal twice a week, more if you see that your parameters are increasing too much. Essentially you are doing a soft cycle now to allow your critters to survive.

[IBroughtPopcorn]

Update

The nitrates are at 40 ppm right now. Should I do another water change or will the cheato help with this? Also the brown/rust (diatom) colored algae has covered a small piece of LR.

[Subsea]

Update

The nitrates are at 40 ppm right now. Should I do another water change or will the cheato help with this? Also the brown/rust (diatom) colored algae has covered a small piece of LR.

Your parameter for nitrate is ok. No worries on 40ppm nitrate. Some of us operate our reef tanks at that level all the time. Your tank is going thru a progressive cycle that is normal. Chill out and let your Chaeto do its job.

[Subsea]

I think it is great that you are doing this tank with your 4 year old. You have asked a lot of questions and I am sure you will have many more. First, you will get many conflicting answers on a forum of this size. Yes, your tank is going through a soft cycle. Unless ammonia is high, water changes are unnecessary. Relax a little. Take this time to plan out your overall tank theme. What do you want in your tank? Do not mix and match livestock just because it is pretty. Some pretty things eat other pretty things. After 45 years in the hobby, John Tullock's book,

"The Natural Reef Aquarium" emphasized selecting a compatiable bio type. One quote that I especially liked in his book was "more biology and less technology."

 

On question 7, you asked about small rust colored dots on the glass. Try smashing it with your finger. If you see red juice stain the glass, you have red planaria.

 

http://www.ronshimek.com/flatworms.html

[Clown79]

I would remove the lr rubble, there is no benefit to it being in the back chambers or in filters. It traps detritus- leading to high nutrient levels.

 

All you need in the filter is floss and carbon. Gfo use as needed.

 

Change your filter floss 1-2x a week. Rinse the carbon bag weekly to remove detritus buildup

 

Do weekly water changes, vacuum your sandbed if it isn't above 2"

 

I normally recommend a waterchange after the cycle is done.

 

Your nitrates are a bit high at 40. I aim for 10 or less. Is the tank still cycling?

[fishfreak0114]

With regard to the rust coloured dots on the glass, they could be acoel flatworms. I have them. They're quite small, only a millimetre or two long. They're photosynthetic, but the population can get out of control, though this has not happened to me so far. If it's acoel flatworms, I'd just keep an eye on their numbers.

[IBroughtPopcorn]

I normally recommend a waterchange after the cycle is done.

 

Your nitrates are a bit high at 40. I aim for 10 or less. Is the tank still cycling?

 

If I understand correctly, I should not have done a water change because I am still cycling? I was told I was done cycling, then I have been told and read that I am not. I have read people using tap water and cycling in a week. I don't know how to determine the truth yet. I assumed I was done cycling and that's why I bought a partial CUC. I went to the LFS this morning and purchased a few more snails and a royal gramma. I may have made a mistake by doing that. However the LFS tested my water and said everything was good and my Nitrate was at 20. He said buying a beginner fish was ok today. My 4 yr old daughter has been eyeing the gramma every time we go there. She loves it's because it's purple. I already broke her heart when I said we could never have "Dory" in our BC29. I already know we need a bigger aquarium and we will get her that fish then.

 

Thank you for your advise. This is the first forum I have ever joined and I am really glad that I did.

[IBroughtPopcorn]

"more biology and less technology."

 

On question 7, you asked about small rust colored dots on the glass. Try smashing it with your finger. If you see red juice stain the glass, you have red planaria.

 

http://www.ronshimek.com/flatworms.html

"more biology and less technology" does that also pertain to the filtration. I have read that I don't need the media basket at all, i only need 50 lbs of LR and a pump. If I had 50 lbs of LR, I don't think I would have room for any coral, which is what I want the BC29 to be is a reef tank. I am not going to add any coral until mid November. I think that will give my tank enough time to establish itself and me to learn more about my tank and corals.

 

Also, no red juice.

[Subsea]

If I understand correctly, I should not have done a water change because I am still cycling? I was told I was done cycling, then I have been told and read that I am not. I have read people using tap water and cycling in a week. I don't know how to determine the truth yet. I assumed I was done cycling and that's why I bought a partial CUC. I went to the LFS this morning and purchased a few more snails and a royal gramma. I may have made a mistake by doing that. However the LFS tested my water and said everything was good and my Nitrate was at 20. He said buying a beginner fish was ok today today. My 4 yr old daughter has been eyeing the gramma every time we go there. She loves it's because it's purple. I already broke her heart when I said we could never have "Dory" in our BC29. I already know we need a bigger aquarium and we will get her that fish then.

Thank you for your advise. This is the first forum I have ever joined and I am really glad that I did.

Because our systems are in dynamic equilibrium, there is always one cycle or another. Nemo would be compatiable with a Royal Grammy.

[fishfreak0114]

In a bc29, I wouldn't recommend the 50lbs of live rock. That would be SUPER full. You should be fine with 20-30, and a media basket is good for running some chemical filtration. On my Intank basket I run floss, phosguard, purigen and chemipure. I have about 25 pounds of rock and it is totally fine.

[Subsea]

"more biology and less technology" does that also pertain to the filtration. I have read that I don't need the media basket at all, i only need 50 lbs of LR and a pump. If I had 50 lbs of LR, I don't think I would have room for any coral, which is what I want the BC29 to be is a reef tank. I am not going to add any coral until mid November. I think that will give my tank enough time to establish itself and me to learn more about my tank and corals.

 

Also, no red juice.

In particular with respect to biological filtration, less technology.

 

Personally, I don't use live rock for bio filtration. Sediments provide much more surface area for bacteria and thus biofitration. I use diver collected aquacultured live rock to introduce biodiversity into our Eco systems.

[Nano sapiens]

Consider that live rock density can vary tremendously depending on it's point of origin and it becomes clear that a rule based on a certain number of pounds is not very accurate. in most cases. A better way to think about live rock is how much do I need to fill up 1/3 - 1/2 of the aquarium? In any case, most of the 'heavy lifting', bacteria wise, is actually done by the substrate (usually aragonite sand) as it has potentially a far larger surface area for bacterial growth. While live rock also provides surfaces for bacterial growth, one of it's outstanding attributes is that it provides a stable surface for periphyton to grow. Periphton are a conglomeration of different microscopic organisms that develop naturally and have an amazing ability to 'filter' the water of particulates and is one reason why a 'naturally filtered' tank can have very clear water (the other is advection processes that force particulates into the substrate).

 

Water changes alone will only temporarily reduce nitrate in a reef tank

 

High nitrates indicates that the substrate doesn't have the ability to fully complete the nitrogen cycle. In a new tank that typically means that the correct type(s) of bacteria aren't yet present in sufficient numbers to handle the load (denitriying bacteria are relatively slow growing, so figure on ~2-3 months, especially if 'bacteria in a bottle' hasn't been added). In older tanks where high nitrate is encountered, the substrate's ability to process nitrate is typically compromised due to excess detritus buildup...or sometimes medications that reduce or destroy the resident bacterial populations.

[Tamberav]

 

Before I tell my story, here are my questions

• How long should I wait after a water change before getting a good reading of my Parameters? Can my Nitrate reading actually be lower tonight when I get home? If your source water is good, you should see a drop in nitrate right after a water change
• Now that I have changed 25% and then 50% less than 24 hours later. The 50% change was completed today. When should I do another water change? I plan on 5 gallons every Saturday, but because of my Nitrate level, I don't know if I should do it sooner this time. When the cycle is complete, I change a large amount of water (sometimes 100%) to get the Nitrates down, then do weekly changes from there, how often and how much you change depends on your bioload. Since you RODI makes water slowly, don't overstock, you won't be happy trying to make a ton of water with that thing.
• What should I do differently with my InTank Media Basket? (LFS sold me a bag carbon and a bag of GFO) Remove the rubble, you don't need it, you have live rock.
• Any input on my lighting? What channels or colors should be brighter?
• Is there any Pros or Cons to removing the sponge between chamber 2 and 3? You don't need the sponge, you have live rock, pros is one less thing to clean and trap debris
• What did I do wrong?/ What should I have done differently? (I hope I don't get bashed to hard, please remember I am new and still trying to learn what information I read is bad and what is good) You put trust the LFS too much I would have wanted to know what the bag of brown water is, I personally don't want to put brown water in my tank, the live rock is enough to cycle and I feel like that brown water probably had waste in it. Some of your filtration methods are outdated like rubble. Be mindful of how much live rock you use, you want good flow throughout to help keep debris in the water column and flushed out into the filtration. Less is sometimes more.
• I noticed small rusty colored dots on my glass? Is this good or bad? probably diatoms, normal for a young tank.
• I am thinking of joing SLASH, its a local group here in STL. Anyone have input on SLASH or any other group in STL? Is anyone here a member?
• Is there a preferred website for buying supplies? I want to keep buying my livestock from my LFS because I want to support the LFS, but I don't want to go broke on this tank. Sorry for the long post, but I tried to give as much info as possible so that you can help me with my concerns. Marine Depot, Bulk Reef Supply, Premium Aquatics, Dr Foster and Smith are all popular. The first three are sponsors so I go to them the most.

[IBroughtPopcorn]

 

 

Before I tell my story, here are my questions

• How long should I wait after a water change before getting a good reading of my Parameters? Can my Nitrate reading actually be lower tonight when I get home? If your source water is good, you should see a drop in nitrate right after a water change
• Now that I have changed 25% and then 50% less than 24 hours later. The 50% change was completed today. When should I do another water change? I plan on 5 gallons every Saturday, but because of my Nitrate level, I don't know if I should do it sooner this time. When the cycle is complete, I change a large amount of water (sometimes 100%) to get the Nitrates down, then do weekly changes from there, how often and how much you change depends on your bioload. Since you RODI makes water slowly, don't overstock, you won't be happy trying to make a ton of water with that thing.
• What should I do differently with my InTank Media Basket? (LFS sold me a bag carbon and a bag of GFO) Remove the rubble, you don't need it, you have live rock.
• Any input on my lighting? What channels or colors should be brighter?
• Is there any Pros or Cons to removing the sponge between chamber 2 and 3? You don't need the sponge, you have live rock, pros is one less thing to clean and trap debris
• What did I do wrong?/ What should I have done differently? (I hope I don't get bashed to hard, please remember I am new and still trying to learn what information I read is bad and what is good) You put trust the LFS too much I would have wanted to know what the bag of brown water is, I personally don't want to put brown water in my tank, the live rock is enough to cycle and I feel like that brown water probably had waste in it. Some of your filtration methods are outdated like rubble. Be mindful of how much live rock you use, you want good flow throughout to help keep debris in the water column and flushed out into the filtration. Less is sometimes more.
• I noticed small rusty colored dots on my glass? Is this good or bad? probably diatoms, normal for a young tank.
• I am thinking of joing SLASH, its a local group here in STL. Anyone have input on SLASH or any other group in STL? Is anyone here a member?
• Is there a preferred website for buying supplies? I want to keep buying my livestock from my LFS because I want to support the LFS, but I don't want to go broke on this tank. Sorry for the long post, but I tried to give as much info as possible so that you can help me with my concerns. Marine Depot, Bulk Reef Supply, Premium Aquatics, Dr Foster and Smith are all popular. The first three are sponsors so I go to them the most.

 

Thank you for taking the time to address most of my concerns. It looks like the majority says take out the rubble. As soon as I get home tonight, it will be gone. I will be spending some time looking at the websites you gave me.

 

I have asked a few people and read forums about how to tell when the cycle is over, it seems as if everyone has a different version of when the cycle is completed. You mentioned that I shouldn't do a water change until the cycle is over. WHen do you consider the cycle being over? Should I not do a water change on Saturday?

 

I think everyone in my family is happy with the current situation of the tank. I will leave it alone for a while.

[Tamberav]

Thank you for taking the time to address most of my concerns. It looks like the majority says take out the rubble. As soon as I get home tonight, it will be gone. I will be spending some time looking at the websites you gave me.

 

I have asked a few people and read forums about how to tell when the cycle is over, it seems as if everyone has a different version of when the cycle is completed. You mentioned that I shouldn't do a water change until the cycle is over. WHen do you consider the cycle being over? Should I not do a water change on Saturday?

 

I think everyone in my family is happy with the current situation of the tank. I will leave it alone for a while.

 

You can do a water change during a cycle, I have done this with live rock to preserve hitchikers from ammonia poisoning, the cycle still cycles. However, if there is nothing I am trying to preserve, I just let the rock do its thing and change the water at the end. I consider the cycle done when ammonia and nitrite remain zero for a few days and I can see diatoms/microalgae, ect showing up.

 

A lot of people are probably more precise with cycling, I admit, I am not so much. I rarely test, I just give it enough time and when the diatoms show up, I add a snail or 2 and a hermit crab and see how they do for another week. If all is good, maybe add something easy like a mushroom or zoa and more CUC if needed. Add fish slowly, they have the biggest bioload.

[Clown79]

In all honesty, I think some ppl over think and go overboard on the cycling.

 

Like Tamberav, i set up the tank with my livesand and liverock, fill it up, get equipment going and test every few days. Thats it. I wait and watch.

As soon as ammonia and nitrite is at 0, I do a water change, add a few cuc, test again, if all ammonia and nitrite stay at 0, I add a fish.

 

You don't need 50lbs LR in a 29g- there would be no rm left in the tank. You have enough LR, so don't worry.

 

I would ditch the sponge in the filter. I used sponges in my first sw and even with weekly washing and bi weekly replacing- it caused issues with nitrates. Just use floss, its cheaper too.

 

Is the royal gramma a dottyback or a basslet? They look similar but the compatability/temperament is different.

Which fish did you get?

[IBroughtPopcorn]

Thanks Clown79. I got the Dotty back (Top One on iPhone, left on computer). I believe that is the reef safe fish, right? So at least I didn't mess that up. My ammonia and nitrites have been zero for a few weeks. I will be removing the sponge tonight and testing the parameters again tomorrow.

[fishfreak0114]

The top one on a phone is actually the basslet, but yes it's reef safe

[Clown79]

The basslet is the top pick with the black dot. That one is fine.

 

The dottyback is an aggressive fish-its tanks mates can't be passive and no shrimp.

[IBroughtPopcorn]

The basslet has been hiding and hasn't eaten anything yet. Is there something I should be doing?

 

BTW My ammonia and nitrites are at 0, and my nitrate is at 20. My phosphate is really low, but I believe that's not a big deal at this point. Am I wrong about that? Should I been doing something about the phosphate?

Thank you to everyone that took their time to try and help me. I thought I had an understanding on how this would work. I now understand that I will be learning about salt water for years.

[Subsea]

The basslet has been hiding and hasn't eaten anything yet. Is there something I should be doing?

BTW My ammonia and nitrites are at 0, and my nitrate is at 20. My phosphate is really low, but I believe that's not a big deal at this point. Am I wrong about that? Should I been doing something about the phosphate? Thank you to everyone that took their time to try and help me. I thought I had an understanding on how this would work. I know understand that I will be learning about salt water for years.

Many will say that phosphates and nitrates need to be zero, meaning very low. While it is true these nutrients can grow nuisance macro, they are required for coral growth. I run nitrates at 20ppm because I export Red Grapes to sell. I have been keeping reef tanks for 45 years. The beauty of the science in nature continues to amaze me as I continue to learn.

Consider that live rock density can vary tremendously depending on it's point of origin and it becomes clear that a rule based on a certain number of pounds is not very accurate. in most cases. A better way to think about live rock is how much do I need to fill up 1/3 - 1/2 of the aquarium? In any case, most of the 'heavy lifting', bacteria wise, is actually done by the substrate (usually aragonite sand) as it has potentially a far larger surface area for bacterial growth. While live rock also provides surfaces for bacterial growth, one of it's outstanding attributes is that it provides a stable surface for periphyton to grow. Periphton are a conglomeration of different microscopic organisms that develop naturally and have an amazing ability to 'filter' the water of particulates and is one reason why a 'naturally filtered' tank can have very clear water (the other is advection processes that force particulaes into the substrate).

 

Water changes alone will only temporarily reduce nitrate in a reef tank

 

High nitrates indicates that the substrate doesn't have the ability to fully complete the nitrogen cycle. In a new tank that typically means that the correct type(s) of bacteria aren't yet present in sufficient numbers to handle the load (denitriying bacteria are relatively slow growing, so figure on ~2-3 months, especially if 'bacteria in a bottle' hasn't been added). In older tanks where high nitrate is encountered, the substrate's ability to process nitrate is typically compromised due to excess detritus buildup...or sometimes medications that reduce or destroy the resident bacterial populations.

This is the most concise post that I have read on natural biological filtration.

[IBroughtPopcorn]

Consider that live rock density can vary tremendously depending on it's point of origin and it becomes clear that a rule based on a certain number of pounds is not very accurate. in most cases. A better way to think about live rock is how much do I need to fill up 1/3 - 1/2 of the aquarium? In any case, most of the 'heavy lifting', bacteria wise, is actually done by the substrate (usually aragonite sand) as it has potentially a far larger surface area for bacterial growth. While live rock also provides surfaces for bacterial growth, one of it's outstanding attributes is that it provides a stable surface for periphyton to grow. Periphton are a conglomeration of different microscopic organisms that develop naturally and have an amazing ability to 'filter' the water of particulates and is one reason why a 'naturally filtered' tank can have very clear water (the other is advection processes that force particulates into the substrate).

 

Water changes alone will only temporarily reduce nitrate in a reef tank

 

High nitrates indicates that the substrate doesn't have the ability to fully complete the nitrogen cycle. In a new tank that typically means that the correct type(s) of bacteria aren't yet present in sufficient numbers to handle the load (denitriying bacteria are relatively slow growing, so figure on ~2-3 months, especially if 'bacteria in a bottle' hasn't been added). In older tanks where high nitrate is encountered, the substrate's ability to process nitrate is typically compromised due to excess detritus buildup...or sometimes medications that reduce or destroy the resident bacterial populations.

Thank you. That was very helpful. I thought I was done with the cycle, turns out I am still cycling. Good news is my shrimp, snails, crabs, and now my royal gramma are still alive. My gramma is very bashful and hasn't eaten yet. I hope I didn't add them to soon.