What are my options with a cycled tank if I'm not ready with Livestock

February 20, 2020

My first saltwater tank is officially cycled and I’m about to do a 90% water change to reset my parameters but have some questions before I do.

My dilemma is that I have a 30G tank and this is the first time in a long time where the size of a tank is really putting such a low hard cap on what I can house long term so I want to be quite selective on what I will be housing.

I have my list of highly desirable fish to add to the tank and I really don’t want to step outside of this list but because I live in Perth Australia which is a very isolated place there is every chance despite my list being fairly common in the saltwater world that it’s going to take a few weeks for me to find exactly what I am after.

The problem I have is I've never been in a position where following a cycle I may not want to add a fish if none make the cut. I also really don't want to feel like I'm forced to settle for something that isn't on my list of highly desirable fish at this point just because I have a cycled tank that I don't want to ghost feed or add ammonia to. With freshwater I have never found myself in a situation where I have needed to consider leaving a tank empty after the cycle while I wait for the fish I really want to become available but how long will my bacteria continue to thrive without an ammonia source?

What are my options if I don't find anything I want to add this week or even over the next few weeks?

Should I hold off doing my 90% water change and keep dosing some ammonia until I find something and then put it on hold once I do to give myself time to do a water change?

Will a clean-up crew potentially add enough waste to keep my bacteria population happy if I push my numbers up a little bit until I find the right tank mates?

February 20, 2020

Probably no need for a water change. Light up the tank and see what grows.

Work on starting your cleanup crew to eat what grows. (Don't add too many at once...keep them matched with the algae growth.)

Work on starting your coral collection, if that's on your radar.

I started with similar background and was thinking about stocking conservatively...then I didn't really add fish to my 37 Gallon...until I shut it down 10 years later and put everything into a 125 Gallon. Then I added a Yellow Tang and Black Damselfish. 😊

I just got really into stony corals -- I made buckets and buckets of frags in keeping those corals trimmed back over the years -- and time flies when you're having fun. 🤷‍♂️

February 20, 2020

7 hours ago, mcarroll said:

Probably no need for a water change. Light up the tank and see what grows.

Work on starting your cleanup crew to eat what grows. (Don't add too many at once...keep them matched with the algae growth.)

Work on starting your coral collection, if that's on your radar.

I started with similar background and was thinking about stocking conservatively...then I didn't really add fish to my 37 Gallon...until I shut it down 10 years later and put everything into a 125 Gallon. Then I added a Yellow Tang and Black Damselfish. 😊

I just got really into stony corals -- I made buckets and buckets of frags in keeping those corals trimmed back over the years -- and time flies when you're having fun. 🤷‍♂️

Thank you for your input 😊 Fish are definitely something I want to add to the tank, but given I have a certain amount to space to make use of I want to make sure I can get the fish I really want to into the tank so I don't want to get anything on my "maybe list" until I know what my highly desirable list does in the way of bio-load.

I have been running my lights since the cycle completed so that part is covered off already, no visible algae growth yet but I expect something in the not too distant future.

I'm a little unclear on the advice to not do a water change yet though. It might be worth knowing that for the last month of cycling I have been dosing ammonia so currently my Nitrates are around 40-80ppm the idea of the water change was really to bring those down before I added any tank inhabitants but are you saying I really don't need to at this point if all I am adding is a cleanup crew ?

Do I need to or should I keep dosing with ammonia or maybe switch to ghost feeding until a point that I have some form of live stock in the tank ? How long will the tank manage post water change without any live stock before my bacteria colonies start to degrade or suffer from not having a steady food source ? Would adding the cleanup crew provide enough ammonia to keep things moving along until I have found my live stock ?

Thank you again for your advice and the advice anyone else can provide me

February 20, 2020

Do your first waterchange after the cycle. That reduces the normally very high nitrate after cycling.

I would add a small cuc and feed them a couple times a week until you get a fish.

February 20, 2020

5 minutes ago, Clown79 said:

Do your first waterchange after the cycle. That reduces the normally very high nitrate after cycling.

I would add a small cuc and feed them a couple times a week until you get a fish.

Agree with Clown’s suggestion.

I would go ahead and do the water change now if the cycle is complete, to avoid running the tank with high nitrates which I would be worried could lead to a lot of algae growth.

February 20, 2020

4 hours ago, Doc_ said:

Nitrates are around 40-80ppm

Optional.

You added this ammonia, so it's possible the water is out of balance now with respect to all the other nutrients (eg phosphate).

A water change won't fix that kind of issue unfortunatley...you'd have to add phosphates to the new water you add to be able to correct the balance.

Double check (test your PO4) though since your rock and sand would likely have brought SOME level of phosphates with them.

Post when you find out what your PO4 level is.

Assuming there are adequate phosphates, all of those nitrates will all end up getting used by the microorganisms and corals in your tank as they grow and mature.

The reality is that nitrates don't hurt anything, at least not at the levels we're talking about. (When they test "low nitrate levels" in fish aquaculture, they're talking about 125 ppm or even way higher. 125 is apparently considered low!) This article gives some specifics to what levels actually are toxic to marine animals....generally it's hundreds or thousands of PPM before toxicity is reached: Nitrate toxicity to aquatic animals: a review with new data for freshwater invertebrates ([PDF] geomar.de)

Worth noting that for the few things that nitrates ARE toxic for (some microorganisms) the damage has already been done by dosing the ammonia and spiking these levels.

Avoiding nutrient spikes is generally a good idea, even when the tank is starting up. (I am not a fan of ammonia startups...another reactive aspect of the hobby....more of a technical trick than something that's inherently a good idea.)

IMO there's also no need to ghost feed. As I mentioned, just slowly stock the tank up with other things until you get around to your fish......and make sure to stock them slowly as well.

It could easily be a year before you even get around to fish if you play your cards right.

February 20, 2020

It's quite normal and common to have high nitrates after a cycle, especially with ammonia dosing.

Common practice is an 80-100% waterchange when the cycle is complete.

February 20, 2020

5 minutes ago, Clown79 said:

It's quite normal and common to have high nitrates after a cycle, especially with ammonia dosing.

Common practice is an 80-100% waterchange when the cycle is complete.

Again, just chiming in to agree here. 🙂

February 21, 2020

19 hours ago, mcarroll said:

Probably no need for a water change. Light up the tank and see what grows.

Work on starting your cleanup crew to eat what grows. (Don't add too many at once...keep them matched with the algae growth.)

Work on starting your coral collection, if that's on your radar.

I started with similar background and was thinking about stocking conservatively...then I didn't really add fish to my 37 Gallon...until I shut it down 10 years later and put everything into a 125 Gallon. Then I added a Yellow Tang and Black Damselfish. 😊

I just got really into stony corals -- I made buckets and buckets of frags in keeping those corals trimmed back over the years -- and time flies when you're having fun. 🤷‍♂️

got any pics of your stony tank? I feel like I have never seen your tanks.

I have a QT tank with live rock and such and it goes weeks, maybe months without fish and I never ghost feed and the tank never has to cycle or loses bacteria. It contains worms/pods/snails/algae...etc. It doesn't seem dependent on fish or feeding.

February 21, 2020

On 2/19/2020 at 6:21 PM, Doc_ said:

just because I have a cycled tank that I don't want to ghost feed or add ammonia to.

I have a QT tank with live rock and such and it goes weeks, maybe months without fish and I never ghost feed between and the tank never has to cycle again. It contains worms/pods/snails/algae/hitchiker corals...etc. It doesn't seem dependent on fish or feeding. It has a world of tiny critters going about their lives eating and pooping. Some people have tanks without fish. /shrug... corals poop too and LPS like to eat 😉

February 21, 2020

7 hours ago, Tamberav said:

got any pics of your stony tank? I feel like I have never seen your tanks.

There aren't many, but some if you look....used to be on R2R and RC so some are there....a lot more old pics (years 1-5) than new pics (years 6-11). But I was never real big on photography....I was into growing corals. No real budget or specific interest in photography...and that's something lots of other folks are already doing well. No real interest in showing off either. 🤷‍♂️

Some folks like to conflate the two hobbies or like to show off....that's cool....the pics can certainly be impressive.

My reef has always been there to impress ME tho....reefs are amazing in almost every way, so there's no special equipment or circumstance required for me to be amazed. The tank doesn't even need to have the glass cleaned to have LOTS of impressive things going on. 😉

That said, the reasons there are currently so few photos can mostly be summed up as: my camera is my phone. 😣 I wish the wacky "blue balance" it gets from reef lights was the only issue with it....LOL. There would definitely be more photos if that situation were better. BUT...

The tank has also been seriously on the back burner for 5 of the last 6 years or so, mostly taking care of itself (there are a few threads about the hiccups along the way)....mostly all I had time for over those years was absolutely essential stuff like dosing. VERY little of anything else, aside from what you see posted about it over the years on this and the other forums mentioned. (I was glad I never got into fish at home.....the tank never would have survived this period if it was saddled with that bio-load IMO.)

I've been more active with it in the last year (upgraded and consolidated to a 125 Gallon after a short ten year wait 🙃) but still not a whole lot of time for hassling with photos or really any of the more ephemeral stuff. I maintain the dosers, feed the fish.....and when I remember I clean out the skimmer and inject a little vinegar into its air intake so "soak" while it's off.

That'll be continuing to change over the course of the next year though as I progressively have more and more time for it and other hobby related activities.

February 21, 2020

1 hour ago, mcarroll said:

There aren't many, but some if you look....used to be on R2R and RC so some are there....a lot more old pics (years 1-5) than new pics (years 6-11). But I was never real big on photography....I was into growing corals. No real budget or specific interest in photography...and that's something lots of other folks are already doing well. No real interest in showing off either. 🤷‍♂️

Some folks like to conflate the two hobbies or like to show off....that's cool....the pics can certainly be impressive.

My reef has always been there to impress ME tho....reefs are amazing in almost every way, so there's no special equipment or circumstance required for me to be amazed. The tank doesn't even need to have the glass cleaned to have LOTS of impressive things going on. 😉

That said, the reasons there are currently so few photos can mostly be summed up as: my camera is my phone. 😣 I wish the wacky "blue balance" it gets from reef lights was the only issue with it....LOL. There would definitely be more photos if that situation were better. BUT...

The tank has also been seriously on the back burner for 5 of the last 6 years or so, mostly taking care of itself (there are a few threads about the hiccups along the way)....mostly all I had time for over those years was absolutely essential stuff like dosing. VERY little of anything else, aside from what you see posted about it over the years on this and the other forums mentioned. (I was glad I never got into fish at home.....the tank never would have survived this period if it was saddled with that bio-load IMO.)

I've been more active with it in the last year (upgraded and consolidated to a 125 Gallon after a short ten year wait 🙃) but still not a whole lot of time for hassling with photos or really any of the more ephemeral stuff. I maintain the dosers, feed the fish.....and when I remember I clean out the skimmer and inject a little vinegar into its air intake so "soak" while it's off.

That'll be continuing to change over the course of the next year though as I progressively have more and more time for it and other hobby related activities.

If you have time for this long post...you have time for a photo 😉

February 22, 2020

Thank you very much for your advice everyone , and thank you for making me feel a bit more comfortable in not feeling rushed into getting anything in there just for the sake of keeping the bacteria colonies healthy.

I did an 90% water change yesterday to bring things back in line and my Nitrates are now around 10 , I'll follow up with a smaller 20% change next weekend and then continue on as needed

I plan to shop for my cleanup crew over the next two days , I'll be looking at fish as well but now if I don't find anything I'll feel far more comfortable about simply walking away 🙂

I have pretty basic flow in my tank at the moment while I decide between an MP10 and Nero 5 so I think I will hold off on Corals for the time being but they are certainly on the horizon in the near future.

I'll pick up a Phosphate test kit while I'm at the LFS and report back

February 23, 2020

On 2/21/2020 at 4:48 AM, Tamberav said:

If you have time for this long post...you have time for a photo 😉

😉 If it takes me an hour to write something, then that means I spent 1 minute sixty separate times writing it. If it was any more convoluted to post than it is, then I wouldn't be posting either! 😉

But thankfully it's easy to walk up to my computer and type or edit a little and walk away from it as needed.

The reading is the part that takes some dedicated time....and I do tend to make time allowances for reading because the payoff is so good. 👍

Photos, on the other hand, turn out like garbage unless you're willing to jump through at least a few hoops. 👎 Even they they only turn out REALLY good if you have time to dress up the whole tank. 👎

The payoff for goofing around with photos is literally almost zilch.

I've got a couple of clip-on filters that mostly help with the blue balance. But by the time I get them out, put them together, and have some photos, I don't have time left to do anything like making selections, editing or doing a post. There's literally just no muscle memory for it so it's a PITA every time. 🤷‍♂️

Really, the few photos you see of the tank in recent years is when I'm taking a photo on my phone and happen to be posting on my phone.

Posting via phone more or less blows, so I rarely subject myself to it....but it's by far the most convenient way to post photos. Alas.

Sorry for the off-topic tour @Doc_ 😆

February 23, 2020

1 hour ago, mcarroll said:

😉 If it takes me an hour to write something, then that means I spent 1 minute sixty separate times writing it. If it was any more convoluted to post than it is, then I wouldn't be posting either! 😉

But thankfully it's easy to walk up to my computer and type or edit a little and walk away from it as needed.

The reading is the part that takes some dedicated time....and I do tend to make time allowances for reading because the payoff is so good. 👍

Photos, on the other hand, turn out like garbage unless you're willing to jump through at least a few hoops. 👎 Even they they only turn out REALLY good if you have time to dress up the whole tank. 👎

The payoff for goofing around with photos is literally almost zilch.

I've got a couple of clip-on filters that mostly help with the blue balance. But by the time I get them out, put them together, and have some photos, I don't have time left to do anything like making selections, editing or doing a post. There's literally just no muscle memory for it so it's a PITA every time. 🤷‍♂️

Really, the few photos you see of the tank in recent years is when I'm taking a photo on my phone and happen to be posting on my phone.

Posting via phone more or less blows, so I rarely subject myself to it....but it's by far the most convenient way to post photos. Alas.

Sorry for the off-topic tour @Doc_ 😆

What kind of complicated phone you using lol

I just point and click and then hit attach on the forum. 🤔

February 23, 2020

I guess that tangent has run its course, eh? LOL

March 3, 2020

Sorry for the delay in replying it's been that kind of week

I have tested PO4 and the Salifert Test kit showed my levels at 0 , I also followed their instructions on doubling up on everything to increase the sensitivity of the test but as far as I can tell it was still showing 0

Is it something I need to worry about ? At this point I do not have any Corals , I only have a CUC and I have been on the hunt for fish for a couple of weeks

The tank had a fairly heavy (well what I would call heavy) Diatom bloom which the CUC were putting a dent in but not completely clearing up. I added a few more snails that a friend is likely to take off my hands once the bloom is done but other than that nothing really out of what I understand to be fairly normal in a new salt water tank.

The only real concern I have is Phosphates reading as zero and I'm hesitant to do anything too quick to try and resolve it. From my understanding people kind of accept the low levels that feeding adds to their tank but I have no reason to feed at this stage. If it's a question of dosing as a once off then not an issue for me but really wanted to avoid letting things get to a level where I had to really dose long term. Is that a reality ?

March 3, 2020

I do not test phosphates at all when starting a new tank and I personally do not worry about them in any way in the beginning... they are zero because it’s a new tank. In my opinion they will build up naturally as you add your fish and start feeding them. The other poster is a strong advocate for adding phosphates... I personally do not agree with that approach.

March 3, 2020

8 hours ago, Doc_ said:

Is it something I need to worry about ?

I'd say yes.

Everything in the tank that's trying to develop (ie your tank is trying to mature) requires phosphates to function, grow or reproduce.

Many of them require it to be available in the water.

If it's not, then you throw the advantage to the organisms that don't need it in the water -- that can utilize phosphates which are bound to the surfaces in the tank....organisms like algae.

Algae are beneficial, but that's still not a slant you want to put on your tank at this point in its development.

Without phosphates, dino's are one of the most likely algae to bloom since they can switch from photosynthesis (which requires phosphates to function) to phagotrophy -- i.e. eating things like bacteria for nutrients. (Make sure what you have is diatoms and not dino's...they are a little bit similar.)

Speaking of algae, have you seen green algae or coralline algae grow yet? How long have the lights been on the tank?

These are signs of progress and maturity which you should see along the way, after the diatom bloom....if they don't happen, something is wrong (like a lack of phosphates). Development of the tank may have stalled. I wouldn't add fish until you have some signs of tank progress like this.

8 hours ago, Doc_ said:

From my understanding people kind of accept the low levels that feeding adds to their tank but I have no reason to feed at this stage.

I'm not totally sure what you mean, but maybe this....

Folks in general are more or less in a mode of fear about nutrients in the water. My advice: Don't even go there.

Nutrients are....well go read Webster's definition instead of taking on the hobby's fear-saturated definition.

There's no real cause for worry over nutrients since they fit right in with your goal of growing a reef tank. Nothing can grow without nutrients. 😉

What folks should arguably be worrying about is overloading their tanks with fish, or overfeeding the fish they have.

Either one leads to putting more food into the tank than the tank can handle and neither is inevitable -- you control the number of fish and amount of food going in.

Don't do things "like everyone else" and you won't end up in the boat they ended up in.

(If you're doing anything besides water changes to limit nutrients, such as GFO use or growing macro algae, I would discontinue all of it ASAP.)

On 2/21/2020 at 11:21 PM, Doc_ said:

I did an 90% water change yesterday

That was a 90% reduction in the already-limited supply of phosphates -- ouch!!

If you feel that you must do a water change under this circumstance (it was very optional as far as I can tell), you ought to dose phosphates into your water change water to keep the tank's level from being negatively impacted. More nutrient reduction like that at this stage of the tank's development is almost sure to kick off a dino bloom.

Not really specific to this, but: Be careful following other folks' patterns in this hobby if you don't fully get why they are doing what they are doing. Yes, we're collectively pretty good at a lot of things in this hobby in 2020. But there's a VERY GOOD REASON that in spite of how "good we are" that so many people still have the same kinds of problems that people (especially newbies) had 10, 20 30 or more years ago in the hobby (Aquarium History): a lot of the same mistakes continue to be made as folks just copy one another's methods without enough understanding of those methods in the process. (In many cases the person being copied might not even know why they are doing what they are doing!!) All very human -- copying others really is one of our main skills-- but it isn't an equally helpful skill under all circumstances!

Reading (more) books is highly recommended to increase your own knowledge....it'll make using the info you find online MUCH easier and WAY more useful and reliable.

On 2/21/2020 at 11:21 PM, Doc_ said:

I have pretty basic flow in my tank at the moment while I decide between an MP10 and Nero 5 so I think I will hold off on Corals for the time being but they are certainly on the horizon in the near future.

Rolling backward in the conversation a little, but this occurred to me.

If you're in a 30 Gallon tank (and I'm assuming it's a standard 30 Long or you'd have specified something else) those are not going to be wonderful pumps to use. Both are far more suited to use in a cube-shaped tank. In a rectangle like a 30 Gallon you'd need at least two of either pump to flow the whole tank well.

If you have the money, of course you can do that. But there are far better pumps for that tank, all of which are cheaper as well.

Tunze's nanostream models 6015, 6025, 6045, 6055, 6020 and 6040 would all be better candidates, just to get you started. I'm sure others would also have plenty of alternate suggestions.

The 6040 and 6055 are controllable, BTW.....but I suggest strongly considering AC-powered non-controllable pumps as a much better value.

Non-controllable models cost from $40-$80 each....and you'll do better with two of them no matter what pump you select, although some could hypothetically flow the whole tank with one pump. One pump leaves you with dead zones though. Running a second pump from the other side of the tank limits the side-effects by flowing all of the dead zones of the first pump.....run each pump alternately from the other, so they sort of create a tide-effect: Flow from one direction for a few hours, then flow from the other direction for a few hours.

I ran my 37 Gallon for years this way on a set of Tunze 6045's.

In fact, I tried replacing the two original 6045's with two mp40's after the corals all grew in and were badly impacting flow. Unfortunately flow was worse with them in spite of the hypothetical massive increase in GPH from 2200 GPH with the Tunze's to >5000 GPH with the two Vortrechs.

So much for marketing numbers (ie GPH).

I ended up adding a third 6045 to the original flow setup and that (three 6045's for 3300 GPH total) lasted for the rest of the tank's history. Happy corals!!

March 3, 2020

On 2/20/2020 at 3:13 PM, Clown79 said:

It's quite normal and common to have high nitrates after a cycle, especially with ammonia dosing.

Common practice is an 80-100% waterchange when the cycle is complete.

im new also. and i was told never to do more than a 60 % water change from lfs store owner that has been doing saltwater for 15 -20 years ... lol maby set in ways ?

March 4, 2020

27 minutes ago, naothan said:

im new also. and i was told never to do more than a 60 % water change from lfs store owner that has been doing saltwater for 15 -20 years ... lol maby set in ways ?

People do 100 percent on pico reefs with no problems. It's just not practical to do it on large tanks and generally wouldn't be needed.

March 4, 2020

12 hours ago, mcarroll said:

Rolling backward in the conversation a little, but this occurred to me.

If you're in a 30 Gallon tank (and I'm assuming it's a standard 30 Long or you'd have specified something else) those are not going to be wonderful pumps to use. Both are far more suited to use in a cube-shaped tank. In a rectangle like a 30 Gallon you'd need at least two of either pump to flow the whole tank well.

The tank is not a 30G Long It is a Cube shaped all in one (Waterbox 30) , if you are technical about the display area specifications then it is certainly a Rectangular Cuboid rather than a true cube measuring 24L x 13D x 18H (Display Area) would your recommendation around the wave maker still ring true ? I was basing my decision on the Nero or MP10 off of what I have seen people with similar tanks running and seem to be happy with .

12 hours ago, mcarroll said:

That was a 90% reduction in the already-limited supply of phosphates -- ouch!!

If you feel that you must do a water change under this circumstance (it was very optional as far as I can tell), you ought to dose phosphates into your water change water to keep the tank's level from being negatively impacted. More nutrient reduction like that at this stage of the tank's development is almost sure to kick off a dino bloom.

Not really specific to this, but: Be careful following other folks' patterns in this hobby if you don't fully get why they are doing what they are doing. Yes, we're collectively pretty good at a lot of things in this hobby in 2020. But there's a VERY GOOD REASON that in spite of how "good we are" that so many people still have the same kinds of problems that people (especially newbies) had 10, 20 30 or more years ago in the hobby (Aquarium History😞 a lot of the same mistakes continue to be made as folks just copy one another's methods without enough understanding of those methods in the process. (In many cases the person being copied might not even know why they are doing what they are doing!!) All very human -- copying others really is one of our main skills-- but it isn't an equally helpful skill under all circumstances!

Reading (more) books is highly recommended to increase your own knowledge....it'll make using the info you find online MUCH easier and WAY more useful and reliable.

I do like to think I look into things before blindly following but I do see your point

The purpose of the water change was really a matter of following the advice which had been given by the manufacturer (Dr Tims), my own experience in freshwater and what the majority of people seem to agree as a consensus as being the final step in a cycle based on ammonia dosing. The purpose being to reduce the Nitrate levels in the water which all made sense to me. As much as i don't ignore good advice I also had to weigh up that you were the only person I had seen who was against a water change as a final step even if I saw logic in the reasoning.

What would your recommendation be to resolve the Phosphate issue ?

Also , I am not doing anything at this point to remove any form of Nutrients other than the plan for water changes but there has been no need to do another water change yet as there is simply no bio-load to justify it yet. My maintenance thus far has been limited to changing out Filter floss as it discolours and cleaning off the glass when the Algae has gotten on it while leaving enough for my CUC to have something to do.

12 hours ago, mcarroll said:

Speaking of algae, have you seen green algae or coralline algae grow yet? How long have the lights been on the tank?

These are signs of progress and maturity which you should see along the way, after the diatom bloom....if they don't happen, something is wrong (like a lack of phosphates). Development of the tank may have stalled. I wouldn't add fish until you have some signs of tank progress like this.

The lights have been running a full standard cycle for two weeks now , before that there was a week of a short 4-5 hour cycle

There is currently no green algae but there was a little bit not long after the cleanup crew went in which seems to be gone now. As for Coralline , i used CaribSea Real Reef Rock so my Aquascape wouldn't make it easy to obviously identify Coraline growing on the rocks in small amounts but there certainly isn't any anywhere else in the tank

The only Algae visible and obvious is what based on research appears to be Diatoms it started off as a discoloration in some of the sand in spots and now it is covering more of the sandbed but in a less severe way if that makes sense. Up until a few days ago it was also getting on the glass but since the last time I cleaned the glass it doesn't appear to have returned to the glass yet. The amount in the tank also seems to be reducing on a daily basis.

I will try to get some photos up later tonight

13 hours ago, mcarroll said:

I'm not totally sure what you mean, but maybe this....

Folks in general are more or less in a mode of fear about nutrients in the water. My advice: Don't even go there.

What I meant was looking at advice around controlling Phosphate levels and dosing most people seem to be at the other end of the scale in trying to remove Phosphates that are too high and although it seems to be in common agreement that you don't want ZERO phosphates that the ideal number is around 0.03 which is far enough away from zero without being high and that most people find they achieve this just fine through the tank maturing and feeding the tank rather than needing to dose.

I understand my situation is different as I'm not feeding at this point as there is nothing to feed and my tank is certainly not mature but I've read just as many if not more warnings about rushing to dose PO4 ( or anything else for that matter) as I have read about people warning against having zero Phosphates.

March 4, 2020

21 hours ago, banasophia said:

I do not test phosphates at all when starting a new tank and I personally do not worry about them in any way in the beginning... they are zero because it’s a new tank. In my opinion they will build up naturally as you add your fish and start feeding them. The other poster is a strong advocate for adding phosphates... I personally do not agree with that approach.

Thank you very much 🙂 it seems that a lot of people are on each side of the fence on this and at the end of the day I just want to do what's right for my tank starting out and to be honest I love to get as much input as I can on something before making a decision.

Generally I end up swaying the way of the majority unless there is no harm going in either direction 🙂

March 4, 2020

Not the best pictures I know .. I really should have taken more before my CUC went to town on it and before I cleared up the glass lol

Not

March 4, 2020

On 3/3/2020 at 8:10 AM, Doc_ said:

Sorry for the delay in replying it's been that kind of week

I have tested PO4 and the Salifert Test kit showed my levels at 0 , I also followed their instructions on doubling up on everything to increase the sensitivity of the test but as far as I can tell it was still showing 0

Is it something I need to worry about ? At this point I do not have any Corals , I only have a CUC and I have been on the hunt for fish for a couple of weeks

The tank had a fairly heavy (well what I would call heavy) Diatom bloom which the CUC were putting a dent in but not completely clearing up. I added a few more snails that a friend is likely to take off my hands once the bloom is done but other than that nothing really out of what I understand to be fairly normal in a new salt water tank.

The only real concern I have is Phosphates reading as zero and I'm hesitant to do anything too quick to try and resolve it. From my understanding people kind of accept the low levels that feeding adds to their tank but I have no reason to feed at this stage. If it's a question of dosing as a once off then not an issue for me but really wanted to avoid letting things get to a level where I had to really dose long term. Is that a reality ?

In a new tank with nothing in it, I wouldn't stress over it.

Once you add your fish and start feeding, I'd monitor it and ensure you have phos in the tank because corals need it and having 0 phos really aids in pest algae growth as well as dino's.

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