New Beginning - Learn and Make It Happen

[Charith1986]

Hi fellow reefers, I have tried two salt water tanks couple of times and failed. Just because I was not patient enough and not following the basics.

But here I am starting again. I am setting up my 10g tank first because I think it will be easy to cycle it over and will not take much time period compared to my 25g tank.

Tank specifications will be as follows,

 

Custom made 12`12`15 inch tank

Zetlight (reef compatible light)

 

Filter media,

Live rock 1kg

Live sand 1.5 to 2kg

Ceramic rings one bar

Some coral particulars in the filter

 

Filled the tank with made salt water yesterday and started the pumps. I use tap water as I dont have access to RODI water before putting in to the tank i tested for Ammonia, Nitrite & Nitrate where all were reading zero.

 

My tank was full with salt water of my previous attempt and when i emptied the tank around two litre of water left where i could not empty that amount so i kept it like that.

Okay, now soon after salinity reached 1.025 i did a nitrate and ammonia test, the results were 25ppm and 0.15ppm respectively and zero Nitrite. Ammonia and nitrate was due to the 2litres of water i left in the begining.

 

On the same time I added a half a shrimp to boost ammonia and the meantime scheduled the light for 11 hours starting from 9.30 am to 8pm.

 

I did a ammonia test today morning (one day after) it was reading at 0.5ppm and to further boost it i added another small piece of shrimp in the morning. So i am waiting to see the ammonia result for tomorrow. So far I havent added bacteria yet because I want to hit ammonia one ppm and most probably i will be able to dose Seachem Stability tomorrow as the startup bacteria.

 

Well, lets see how it turns by tomorrow.

[DreC80]

Recommend leaving your light off during the cycle.  It's just going to encourage undesirable algae growth.

 

Once the cycle is over you can turn it back on...but recommend a 9 hour photo period to start. 

[Charith1986]

Thanks DreC80, It was you guys who helped me out a lot in this process. I checked ammonia in the morning and it read at 1.5PPM and I decided to start dosing Stability bacteria. I took out the decaying shrimps out of the tank to stop further ammonia growth. 

 

The bacteria should be add for seven days continuously.

[Charith1986]

Did the ammonia testing for yesterday and today as well. It was reading at 1.5ppm on yesterday and today it has came down to 0.15ppm. 

Checked for nitrite results but still nitrite is zero.

 

I would like to get an advice at this point. Now in my tank cycling process ammonia was rising and now it is reducing, but no sign of nitrite as of yet, does that means the tank is in the right track ? I hope nitrite will read on tomorrow or day after.

[DreC80]

Yes on the right track...but could add more ammonia to get it up to 2ppm.

[Charith1986]

Okay thanks.

[Charith1986]

Did a testing today as well,

 

Ammonia - 0ppm

Nitrite - 0ppm

Nitrate - 25ppm

 

The tank is running for 7 days now and I added Seachem Stability three times according to the correct dose. Why there is no sign of Nitrite yet ? Do i need to add more stability ?

 

At the moment I hold adding the bacteria. Is the tank already cycled as I used a lot of live rock in the tank ?

[mcarroll]

On 5/29/2020 at 11:07 AM, Charith1986 said:

Just because I was not patient enough and not following the basics.

If you haven't stopped to read a good book (or more) on the topic, do that now before passing go or collecting $200:

 

Marine Aquarium Handbook Beginner to Breeder

[Charith1986]

Completed the final dosing of stability in the morning. Lets keep it work for few days and plan to do a testing there after.

[Charith1986]

Checked Ammonia and Nitrite today. Ammonia was 0.15ppm but it was zero ppm on day before yesterday. Dont sure whether I have misread the last reading.

Nitrite was still zero. The glass and the sand getting brown algae slowly. Lets  Wait and see.