eurovw Posted October 15, 2018 Share Posted October 15, 2018 Hello, everybody! New reefer here. My set up: Innovative marine 30 gallon long aio one side is a filter sock, the other side is IM custom caddy with purity pack medium Hydor nano skimmer Tunze ATO with IM water reservoir Two AI lights 30 lb live sand 20-25 lb dry rock (Pukani rock form BRS) So, I started cycling with a dead shrimp in a filter sock, removed all the media, turned off the lights and skimmer. I changed a piece of shrimp every 4-5 days. Tested with API tester kit. Started on 9.23.2018, pH 8.0, Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate all at 0. Here is a progress by a test date: 09.26.2018 pH 8.0 Ammonia 1 Nitrite 0 Nitrate 0 09.29.2018 pH 8.0 Ammonia 2 Nitrite 0.25 Nitrate 5 09.30.2018 pH 8.0 Ammonia 2 Nitrite 1 Nitrate 5 10.02.2018 pH 8.0 Ammonia 4+ Nitrite 2 Nitrate 20 10.03.2018 pH 8.0 Ammonia 4 Nitrite 5 Nitrate 40 10.06..2018 pH 8.0 Ammonia 0.5 Nitrite 5 Nitrate 20 10.08.2018 pH 8.0 Ammonia 0.5 Nitrite 5 Nitrate 160 10.10.2018 pH 8.0 Ammonia 0 Nitrite 0 Nitrate 160 10.13.2018 pH 8.0 Ammonia 0.25 Nitrite 0 Nitrate160 10.14.2018 pH 8.0 Ammonia 0.25 Nitrite 0 Nitrate 160 As you can see there were spikes, first ammonia, then nitrite, and all of a sudden I get readings on ammonia again. Anyway, I just removed the dead shrimp, or whatever left of it, put the caddy with media kit back in, turned the lights and a skimmer. My question what to do next? Wait for ammonia to get to 0? Wait on water change before I get nitrates go down a little? I see no diatomes yet. And do I need to start on ghost feeding yet? Thank you! and of course, pictures. Quote Link to comment
AbnormalReefer Posted October 15, 2018 Share Posted October 15, 2018 I think I nearly fainted when I saw 160 ppm nitrates.... Personally, I don’t think it’s really beneficial to go above 2ppm ammonia when cycling. The 5 ppm nitrite while you cycled probably resulted in the test kit (I assume you’re using something like API?) couldn’t register any higher. I’d recommend getting nitrates to 20 ppm before adding fish. For soft corals it’d be closer to 10 ppm.With water changes it will take a few. Your amount of nitrates decreases by half each time. So the first water change is 160 to 80, then 80 to 40, then 40 to 20, and on and on... At 20 ppm diatoms WILL grow quite a lot (atleast from my experience). I can’t speak for 160 ppm, but I could imagine... Quote Link to comment
Clown79 Posted October 15, 2018 Share Posted October 15, 2018 Once ammonia is at 0 and nitrite is 0, you are cycled. With nitrates that high, a very large water change will need to be done. 80% - 100% would be good. You need to get the nitrates down to 10ppm Quote Link to comment
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.