12g AquaNano Tank

Lochinvar

Member
Hi guys, yesterday its been 3 weeks since the water went into the tank.

Today the measuring results are:
Temp 26deg /79 degF
Salinity: 1.025
Ph: 8.0
Ammonia : 8.0 ppm
Nitrite : 0.25ppm
Nitrate : 0ppm

So not much going on. Is it normal that ammonia is fluctuating between 4.0 and 8.0 ppm? Should i take the remains of that deli shrimp out ?

Any ideas ?
Ta
 

Lochinvar

Member
image.jpeg Sunday 16th Update

Finaly after 4 weeks, ammonia is 0 !!!

Temp: 25.8C / 78.5F
Salinity: 1.025
PH : 8.4
Ammonia: 0 ppm
Nitrite : 5.0ppm
Nitrate: 160ppm

So i guess, now i just have to wait for nitrite to come to 0 and than do the 40% water change, and i can look for some cuc and first fish, right?

Meanwhile hopefully my newly ordered Tunze 9001 skimmer will be delivered.

There is a bit of green algae appeared on one of the rocks and a bit on sand, but thats it, no sign of any algae anywhere else
 

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Lochinvar

Member
Time for an update.

Week no 5 of cycling

Temp 25.4
Salinity: 1.025
PH : 8.2
Ammonia : 0 ppm
Nitrite: 5.0 ppm
Nitrate: 5.0 ppm

Finally more green algae showing on the sand and rocks.
New skimmer Tunze 9001 installed, it is basically dead quiet as they promised.

Still looking for Nitrites to drop down so I can do the water change and finally get a living thing in it. Does not matter to me what it is going to be , a snail, a hermit crab or cleaner shrimp would be huge improvement to my undersea death valley at present.
image.jpeg
 

Lochinvar

Member
I just realised nitrates were 150ppm and now a week later they are only 5ppm without the water change, how is that possible?
 

nanoreefing4fun

Well-Known Member
RS STAFF
nitrates can convert too ... it just usually takes longer, most control them with water changes

I would guess if this has happened, your tank is close to cycled
 

nanoreefing4fun

Well-Known Member
RS STAFF
ammonia & nitrites are deadly to livestock - that said I have seen the nitrites in cheaper test kits hang a bit... I would watch it another week and see if they come down

the nitrates converting already... does make me think, your tank could be cycled

you should seen the nitrites come down... unless the test if reading faulty

I would wait another week, then add a small cuc & 1st coral, 1st fish - then wait another month before adding anything else and start weekly water changes 15%
 

Trio91

Member
are you going to run an ATO? I used to run a 10gal IM and i know the most challenging thing i had to del with for that tank was swings in salinity. it's going to be very difficult to consistently, manually top off your tank
 

Lochinvar

Member
are you going to run an ATO? I used to run a 10gal IM and i know the most challenging thing i had to del with for that tank was swings in salinity. it's going to be very difficult to consistently, manually top off your tank

I am toping up every 3-4 days a little bit with RO-DI water. My salinity is between 1.024-1.026. The tank does not seem to evaporate that much, I guess the tank is in darker part of the room where is no direct sunlight at all and using AI Prime HD LED which is well above the tank so it does not heat water at all.
 

Trio91

Member
are you using a hydrometer or a refractometer to test for salinity? are you also testing after each top off?
 

Trio91

Member
what you can do is...instead of an ATO, measure your salinity to your set parameter. Mark the water line on the tank with either a black sharpie or a piece of tape. from there you can always know when to refill once you see the water line drop past that mark. it should make it a lil easier to maintain a constant salinity
 

Lochinvar

Member
what you can do is...instead of an ATO, measure your salinity to your set parameter. Mark the water line on the tank with either a black sharpie or a piece of tape. from there you can always know when to refill once you see the water line drop past that mark. it should make it a lil easier to maintain a constant salinity
Thats exactly what i did, i have a mark on the side so daily checking is in place and bottle of rodi ready do those little top ups whenever necessary
 

Lochinvar

Member
image.jpeg Week 6 of cycling my 12g Nano

The tank is in green mode. Due to high nitrites the algae kicked in and it is showing on sand and rocks more and more

i hope it should do that during cycling and it will all die off after nitrites drop to zero.

image.jpeg
 

Oxylebius

Well-Known Member
It is coming along nicely. Patience is key in the first year of a new tank.

The yellow you saw in the water a few weeks back is a normal occurrence when the tank has high levels of dissolved organic compounds (DOCs) in it.

The effect of DOCs cause the water to take on a yellowish appearance they can consist of complex organic toxins produced by the creatures in the tank, or in your case they can show up during the cycling process.

DOCs are the result of decomposition of uneaten food, digested food and dead inhabitants among other things. While small quantities of DOCs may be harmless, as a source of nitrogen compounds, at higher levels they can lead to water quality problems.

DOCs contribute to the yellowing of water between water changes, reducing light penetration, an important issue when photosynthetic invertebrates and macroalgae are being maintained. Elevated DOC levels can also lead to outbreaks of nuisance algae, and there also appear to be correlations between elevated DOC levels, stress, and certain fish diseases as well.

If you have issues with yellowing water in the future, you can do water changes or add carbon to the tank. The protein skimmer will help to keep DOCs at low levels as well.
 

Lochinvar

Member
New update Nov 1st.

The tank is green , its official now. My wife commented "its looking terrible", well i guess we just entered another phase of the cycle.

nitrites are still high around 2ppm but nitrates dropped to 5ppm (one behind 0ppm). Still no water change done and anything added to the tank.

Salinity, temperature, ph stable, ammonia is 0, water kept at the right level by topping up ro-di water.

Here is my question: nitrites does not seem to change much but nitrates are jumping from the end of the scale 150ppm to 5ppm etc. is that normal? Is the algae fed by nitrites and it will go away once the nitrites drop to zero (if ever :))?
Thanks for sharing your knowledge and experience.

image.jpeg image.jpeg image.jpeg
 

Lochinvar

Member
View attachment 46483

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

Thanks, i understand the cycle when you have established aquarium and you overfeeding etc etc. but i am still cycling, no fish or cuc in the tank, so no feeding. So my guess was that the nitrites and light feed the algae, i switched the lights off for now and kerp watching the nitrites, they are not dropping a bit though. I have not done any wc during the process, too afraid that it will stall the whole thing. Its a 12g tank with dry rock when i started, now i am at week 6 of cycling. Ammonia is 0 since week 4. I have read somewhere that nitrites to drop will take twice as much time as ammonia, that means in my case 8 weeks? That is a real test of my patience. Tank is green as hell now, god knows how is it going to be looking after another 6 weeks.
 
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