Lawrence's first (90g) salt water tank

[L/B Block]

That's a long time for a cycle. Took me about a week to 10 days to cycle with Dr. Tim's. This was using all dead rocks and sand.

If you are ever at Neptune and need a cup of sand, I can hook you up with some from my sand bed. I'm about 10 minutes away from Neptune and you're welcomed to stop by the office.

We did use Dr. Tim's, and it is still taking this long. as for sand, let me see if we can get down there. @Kensington Reefer had the same suggestion but we were hoping to find someone nearby/Oakland.

 

[L/B Block]

Are you heating the tank during the cycle? Bacteria will multiply faster with warmer temps (I think 80-82 was what I read was optimal for nitrifying bacteria).

Is there a risk of promoting algae above 80? We are currently at 78.

 

[RandyC]

Is there a risk of promoting algae above 80? We are currently at 78.

There probably won't be a huge difference between 78 and 80-82, but turning up the heat in the water won't affect algae as long as you're not using your lights during your cycle.

You said ammonia dropped? If it did you should have nitrites in your system right now. If that's zero, I'd check your nitrates. If you have nitrates, and everything else is zero, there's a chance your cycle is done.

And if you think it's cycled, you can try dosing ammonium chloride to get to 2ppm to test your system. A cycled tank should take around 18-24 hours to process that amount ammonia and covert it all the way to nitrates.

 

[L/B Block]

There probably won't be a huge difference between 78 and 80-82, but turning up the heat in the water won't affect algae as long as you're not using your lights during your cycle.

You said ammonia dropped? If it did you should have nitrites in your system right now. If that's zero, I'd check your nitrates. If you have nitrates, and everything else is zero, there's a chance your cycle is done.

And if you think it's cycled, you can try dosing ammonium chloride to get to 2ppm to test your system. A cycled tank should take around 18-24 hours to process that amount ammonia and covert it all the way to nitrates.

Thanks Randy. Currently ammonia is about 0. Nitrites are somewhere between 2-5 ppm.
Nitrates are through the roof but will worry about that after Nitrites get back to zero.
Going to bump temp a bit to helpfully speed the NO2~>NO3 process a bit.

I think we went from live rock to dead rock to frankenrock.



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[L/B Block]

You said ammonia dropped? If it did you should have nitrites in your system right now. If that's zero, I'd check your nitrates. If you have nitrates, and everything else is zero, there's a chance your cycle is done.

If I have time, I'll post a graph - ammonia dropped and nitrites are high. We have nitrates, too - we broke a test tube so we aren't testing everything right now.


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[RandyC]

Thanks Randy. Currently ammonia is about 0. Nitrites are somewhere between 2-5 ppm.
Nitrates are through the roof but will worry about that after Nitrites get back to zero.
Going to bump temp a bit to helpfully speed the NO2~>NO3 process a bit.

I think we went from live rock to dead rock to frankenrock.



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It actually sounds like you're on your way, albeit, a little slower than I would think, but you may be closer than you think to a cycled tank. Once nitrobacter gets multiplying in good numbers, that 5ppm of nitrite can disappear over night.

 

[RandyC]

If I have time, I'll post a graph - ammonia dropped and nitrites are high. We have nitrates, too - we broke a test tube so we aren't testing everything right now.


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Where you located? If you're close to Castro Valley or my office in Milpitas, you're welcome to all my API test solutions and test tubes.

 

[L/B Block]

In what is officially the longest time a BAR member has ever taken to cycle a tank, we are almost embarrassed to share we are *still* cycling. (Official start date was 1/9, but we didn't get the salinity right until 1/22.)

The great news is that we realized part of this was missing a great article written by a fellow BAR member that we wish we had read about 6 weeks ago when our ammonia finally dropped.

https://r.tapatalk.com/shareLink?sh...rg/forum/index.php?posts/248094/&share_type=t

Our nitrites have yet to come down (water turns purple shortly after adding the drops). Tuesdaywe started dosing ammonia. Today we threw a shrimp in there. Our nitrites are off the charts still, but we hope with a shrimp or two and dosing ammonia, we'll nudge things along.

AND if anyone wants to let us grab some sand from a healthy tank, and isn't too far from Oakland, we might visit this weekend!

Also, loving the shimmer with the lighting! Haven't installed the dimmer yet, but really excited to get that hooked up proper. And the ATO arrives soon.

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[RandyC]

Having high nitrites (more than 5ppm) can actually stall your cycle. Looks that may be what is happening. I'd suggest a water change to bring your nitrites down just below 5ppm.

 

[L/B Block]

Having high nitrites (more than 5ppm) can actually stall your cycle. Looks that may be what is happening. I'd suggest a water change to bring your nitrites down just below 5ppm.

Yup. We've been reading up on that. We won't be able to for another week or so anyway. We've been patient this long!


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[Vhuang168]

Do NOT dose any more ammonia and adding the shrimp. Your cycle is already stalled out and adding more ammonia which will turn into more nitrites will make matters worse, not better.

Do a big water change to bring your nitrites way down. Depending on how high the nitrites are after the water change, do another water change if it's still high. If not, go get a bottle of Dr Tims or Biospira and toss that in. You should see nitrates shortly after.


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[L/B Block]

Actually...

Last night (so nice I tested it twice):

And this morning:

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[L/B Block]

We took a gamble! We headed off to Aquatic Collection and thought maybe we'd just bring home a shrimp or a snail, and plan for a first fish or coral -- but somehow we walked out with two fish, a clown fish and blue tang.

Not sure we should have let the kiddo name them. But at any rate, meet Nemo and Emo.

Only a few years after we started our tank journal.


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[L/B Block]

Working on my photog skills here to get a great pic of our two fish. So far, everything is stable and the fish seem happy.

Once the wifey here is fully recovered we'll do a little water change and start thinking corals.

I showed the hubby a timeline of this little starter tank - what a journey!


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[Kmooresf]

Nice picture! Congrats on finally getting to enjoy the viewing aspect of this hobby!!


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[Kensington Reefer]

For the same amount of effort...do a larger rather than smaller water change

 

[L/B Block]

Today marks the date of our first near disaster. On the plus side, the water shock GFCI was worth the investment!

The return PVC came out of the bulkhead, and we didn't turn off the pump while I reseated it. Rookie mistake, I know... the Aqua Controller power bar was on the floor... and got caught by a bit of the spray. 20 minutes later, everything is back online. But that was fun.

In related news, we'll be prioritizing that "attach things in safe/dry areas" task for this weekend. Along with the much awaited first water change.


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[Coral reefer]

Was it a glued together connection? Threaded? Slip fitting? Pic of what failed?

 

[L/B Block]

Was it a glued together connection? Threaded? Slip fitting? Pic of what failed?

Return. I think you did slip fit with silicone grease but can't recall.

I forgot to take a pic of the actual fail.

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[Coral reefer]

Liquid teflon if it wasn't glued. That sucks. Sorry you had a prOblem. Lemme know if I can fix it for you.