fusion nuvo 40 startup questions

[NaturallyKait]

I’m having a similar issue with my cycle. I finally got ammonia after adding a piece of shrimp (I’m fishless cycling) but nitrites and nitrates aren’t budging. Today marks 3 weeks and still waiting. I hope yours kicks off soon. 

[robbiedob84]

@NaturallyKait yeah this sucks, I'm at day 19 and i haven't even got ammonia.  The problem im having is i was out of ammonia & nitrite testing solution when i started this tank and i didn't realize it.  by the time the new one i ordered got in and i could test it was day 8.  Part of me wonders if i went through the first stage of the cycle within that 8 days but I've got no brown algae to show for it and I've had the lights over it for about a week and nothing.  Im about to take @seabass advice and put some bio spira or something to that effect in.  the crappy thing is i sold off my last tank and put my corals in a ten gallon and i hate the idea of stuffing my fully grown fish in a ten gallon tank loaded with rock and coral.  Hope you see some promising tests soon.

[seabass]

You don't actually want to see ammonia, but rather, nitrate.  This will indicate that ammonia is breaking down into nitrite, and the nitrite is breaking down into nitrate.  If everything is working properly, you wouldn't see a spike in either ammonia or nitrite.  When's the last time you tested for nitrate?

[NaturallyKait]

21 minutes ago, robbiedob84 said:

@NaturallyKait yeah this sucks, I'm at day 19 and i haven't even got ammonia.  The problem im having is i was out of ammonia & nitrite testing solution when i started this tank and i didn't realize it.  by the time the new one i ordered got in and i could test it was day 8.  Part of me wonders if i went through the first stage of the cycle within that 8 days but I've got no brown algae to show for it and I've had the lights over it for about a week and nothing.  Im about to take @seabass advice and put some bio spira or something to that effect in.  the crappy thing is i sold off my last tank and put my corals in a ten gallon and i hate the idea of stuffing my fully grown fish in a ten gallon tank loaded with rock and coral.  Hope you see some promising tests soon.

I actually just got some biospira in the mail today hoping to get some results finally. Saturday I’m going to be upgrading my return pump and stuff so I’ll probably add it then. Fingers crossed for you. 

[robbiedob84]

@seabass a couple days ago.  Ive been testing every morning for ammonia and nitrite since i figured i would see either one of those before i would see nitrate.  i will give the nitrate a test right now

 

@NaturallyKait same for you

[robbiedob84]

0 nitrate right now

[seabass]

On 5/6/2019 at 8:07 PM, robbiedob84 said:

I threw in one tester damsel and fed brine a couple times.  One week later and still nothing.  Everything is testing where it should be.  I started the tank with live sand and life rock.  Two weeks now and no sign of a cycle?  It’s not possible for my tank to have gone through the first part of the cycle in under eight days is it?

With a fish (which is an ammonia source) in your tank, it's a little strange that you aren't seeing something.  You should either be seeing ammonia or nitrate.  Lack of both makes me wonder about the test results.  However, IIRC, the API nitrate test kit isn't super sensitive at low levels (I could be wrong, it's been awhile).

[robbiedob84]

yeah same here, I've been using the same water and rock for over 15 years so its been that long since I've done a full cycle.  I've just had hair algae problems that i couldn't shake and it required constant maintenance so since i wanted an all new setup i decided to start from scratch.  shows me exactly how little i actually knew haha.

[robbiedob84]

Well still not showing much of anything on the tests but i think I am starting to see some diatoms in the sand so that’s a sign of something.

 

[robbiedob84]

well after seeing no change over the last couple weeks i took some water to my lfs and they saw nitrates that i wasn't seeing, between 4-5 ppm.  So they determined that my tank was cycled for my bio load and recommended that I add another fish which i did,  So i made the decision to add media.  ill probably do my first water change this week as my water has been sorta cloudy over the past week.  If that means I'm soft cycling the rest of the way so be it.  i figure ill just keep the few corals I have in my ten gallon setup for another month or so and add them one per week after that depending on how each one does.  Im starting to see light green algae on the back wall which came a couple weeks after I started to see some brown sludge which went away, I only saw it in the sand and on the back wall which I thought was a little odd.  Right now i just added the purity packs that came with my media baskets and I think i will continue to use chemi pure blue and carbon as i did on my bio cube.  I was somewhat toying with the idea of adding a phosban reactor filled with gfo and using carbon and purigen in the media baskets, what do you guys think about that?  Or should i just stick with my original thought of the blue and carbon?

[seabass]

58 minutes ago, robbiedob84 said:

my water has been sorta cloudy over the past week

Hmm... that's rarely good.

 

1 hour ago, robbiedob84 said:

I was somewhat toying with the idea of adding a phosban reactor filled with gfo and using carbon and purigen in the media baskets, what do you guys think about that?

GFO has its place, but I usually don't recommend it.  It will bind alkalinity (as well as phosphate), which should be replenished by dosing.  If you absolutely need help with phosphate control, I usually recommend Phosguard.  It can be mixed with activated carbon, or run in a separate media bag.

[Tamberav]

1 hour ago, robbiedob84 said:

I was somewhat toying with the idea of adding a phosban reactor filled with gfo =

Never, unless you are sure you need it. It is good at driving nutrients too low and killing corals and causing dino algae. You don't want 0 nitrate or po4. 

 

It is never something a person should add "just because" imo. 

[seabass]

36 minutes ago, Tamberav said:

It is never something a person should add "just because" imo.

Thanks, I should have stated that.  And don't use a phosphate reducing media unless you are actively monitoring phosphate levels, and your test kit shows elevated phosphate levels.  Then be ready to discontinue use as soon as levels return to normal.

[robbiedob84]

Good to know, I’ve never used it.  I’ve historically always used chemipure and I know it has some gfo in it so I was just curious.

[mcarroll]

On 5/15/2019 at 5:11 PM, seabass said:

With a fish (which is an ammonia source) in your tank, it's a little strange that you aren't seeing something.  You should either be seeing ammonia or nitrate.  Lack of both makes me wonder about the test results.  However, IIRC, the API nitrate test kit isn't super sensitive at low levels (I could be wrong, it's been awhile).

It can be pretty hard to see the difference between zero and the next reading up on nitrate tests.

 

I use a second vial with only tank water in it as a "zero vial" so that any color change in the test-vial is more apparent to the eyeball.  Even makes phosphate kits readable for me.