JJB103
Active Member
I am brand new to reef aquariums and here's what I have. Empty 55gal main display. 20 gallon sump/refugium. Refugium has 1.5" of mineral mud, 1 live rock and 1 dry rock, and a handful of Chaeto. I am cycling my refugium first because I am moving in a month and don't want to tear down a whole tank.
For the first 2 weeks I didn't do any testing other than salinity. I had the live rock, dry rock and Chaeto. The salinity is at 1.025. I put a little bacteria supplement into it and put a bio load of fish food in it to begin the process. Two weeks into it I got a master test kit. The PH was 8.2 with light on 24hrs. The ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate were 0ppm. I was surprised by these results. Another week later (today) the readings are PH is 7.8 with the lights on 8-10 hrs. The ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate are all still 0. Last week I got a huge bloom of red green and purple algae on the live rock and brown algae on the substrate and walls. I introduced 2 hermit crabs and 1 small snail as well as a green chromis. The algae problem is subsiding and the chromis and clean up crew are doing very well. I can see copepods and amphipods in the Chaeto and some on the live rock. This all seems good to me, but why are my nitrates at 0? My skimmer was producing good skimmate, but slowed down when I did a small 3 gallon water change. Any advice and suggestions would be much appreciated.
I can't figure out how to get pictures uploaded from my iPad so I will get them up ASAP.
For the first 2 weeks I didn't do any testing other than salinity. I had the live rock, dry rock and Chaeto. The salinity is at 1.025. I put a little bacteria supplement into it and put a bio load of fish food in it to begin the process. Two weeks into it I got a master test kit. The PH was 8.2 with light on 24hrs. The ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate were 0ppm. I was surprised by these results. Another week later (today) the readings are PH is 7.8 with the lights on 8-10 hrs. The ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate are all still 0. Last week I got a huge bloom of red green and purple algae on the live rock and brown algae on the substrate and walls. I introduced 2 hermit crabs and 1 small snail as well as a green chromis. The algae problem is subsiding and the chromis and clean up crew are doing very well. I can see copepods and amphipods in the Chaeto and some on the live rock. This all seems good to me, but why are my nitrates at 0? My skimmer was producing good skimmate, but slowed down when I did a small 3 gallon water change. Any advice and suggestions would be much appreciated.
I can't figure out how to get pictures uploaded from my iPad so I will get them up ASAP.