KansasCoral-Nu-B Posted March 12, 2004 Share Posted March 12, 2004 okay, i'm into week 4 now and I have seen spikes in ammonia, nitrite and nitrate. but it seems like for the last 3 weeks the ammonia and nitrate have been hovering at the same levels. the ammonia is stuck at .25 ppm and the nitrates are 10.0ppm. about a week and a half ago the nitrites dropped to 0. but the nitrite spike only lasted a few days. should i try some water changes?, reef carbon?, or ride it out. 10g 20#'s LS 13#'s LR 120 GPH HOB w/purigen only 160 GPH PH Link to comment
1fish2fish Posted March 12, 2004 Share Posted March 12, 2004 What are you doing to cycle the tank? Are you cycling with fish? It may just be a second wave of die-off from the LR or even a larger critter that hitchhiked with the LR and died. Just be patient and it will sort itself out. A WC won't hurt. Link to comment
KansasCoral-Nu-B Posted March 12, 2004 Author Share Posted March 12, 2004 5 blue legs and 2 turbo's and 2 camel shrimp have been in there for about 3 weeks. i decided to go with the cleaning crew during the cycle method to keep algea to a min. all have done well. i scrubbed the LR of all loose material before i even put it in the tank. my temp stays about 82 w/heater out of the tank.. in the 1st week i saw several ammonia spikes and during week 2 the nitrites and nitrates were sky high. but the seem to have leveled off.. not sure. guess i'll try a water change. Link to comment
Reefmaniac Posted March 12, 2004 Share Posted March 12, 2004 Never cycle the tank with live rock AND animals...this is the problem that you will end up with. Not only that, but you risk killing the animals from the ammonia/nitrite spikes from the LR die off. Then you have to spend MORE money to replace the animals you killed. Your temperature is a TAD high. Might want to try a clip-on fan Link to comment
KansasCoral-Nu-B Posted March 12, 2004 Author Share Posted March 12, 2004 i added the purigen as a balance for the crew. its of no matter now. whats done is done. now i have to correct it. the LFS wont take them back so its either stay or die for them. and i'd say they have a better chance of living in the tank than out with no where to go. i'll try a clip on fan. maybe a sump or a bigger HOB would control temp. sump isnt really an option now though because of location of tank. idk. i'm going to pick up some premix now and start a wc. i noticed my sg has dropped from 1.24 to 1.21 during the last few weeks and there is some salt buildup on the hood. guess i'll have to do the wc slowly to avoid sg shock. ahh, the joys cant wait till this thing is stable for a while. Link to comment
1fish2fish Posted March 12, 2004 Share Posted March 12, 2004 Well, you are on your way already, but in futer ventures I would recommend against using things like purigen during the cycle. They absorb ammonia etc and as such may actually slow your cycle. On top of that when they are used up you may find yourself having mini cycles because the tank may not have the bacteria population to deal with the increased responsibility. Just something to consider. Aside from that you are pretty much at the wait it out stage IMO. Are all your snails and hermits accounted for? One dead snail can make an awfully large ammonia spike. Probably time for a head count. Good luck! Link to comment
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