Joe's New RSM S400

nanoreefing4fun

Well-Known Member
RS STAFF
2015-01-24%2014.39.25_zpsnviev6yk.jpg


right click on your pic & select Copy Image URL then add it in this syntax


and the pic will show up

Nice start !
 

joecas

Member
Hi, So it's day 3 with the new tank and all my live rock are turning white. It seems like some kind of sentiment laying/building on the rock. Is this normal or should I be concerned?

Here are the readings:
pH8.3
Nitrite (NO2)0.1
Nitrate (NO3)1
Amonia (NH3)0.3
Salinity1.029

Here is a pic (it looks like a winter scene in person):
2015-01-26%2001.17.53_zps9ugqyohc.jpg


Any advice or comments would be appreciated.

Thanks!
Joe
 

spiraling

Well-Known Member
Hi, So it's day 3 with the new tank and all my live rock are turning white. It seems like some kind of sentiment laying/building on the rock. Is this normal or should I be concerned?

Its probably just sand you stirred up. Take a turkey baster and blast it off if you want.
Nice aquascape. Looks like you have room for a lot of fun stuff! I've been looking at the S series tanks so I'll follow along with the thread and see how you like it!
 

joecas

Member
Hi All, took Spiraling's advice and my live rocks look great now. New problem: I'm on Day 4 and my ammonia level is not rising. All other readings look good. Any advice?
 

joecas

Member
Day 5. Ammonia level not moving. I read elsewhere to maybe add raw deli shrimp, or fish food. Can someone here share what they did? And suggest the dosage/portion for 110 gals? Thanks!
 

Joeys Tank

Well-Known Member
Place a deli shrimp in a glass and lean it up against one of the rocks.

This way, the shrimp can decay and generate ammonia. Side benefit is you may catch some crabs while you are doing it :)
 

joecas

Member
Place a deli shrimp in a glass and lean it up against one of the rocks.

This way, the shrimp can decay and generate ammonia. Side benefit is you may catch some crabs while you are doing it :)

Hey Joey, thanks! For 110 gals, how much shrimp should I get?


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Epster

Member
Some people put it in a mesh bag and mash it up a bit to help the process along.

These things can take there time, be patient and you will reap the rewards.
 

joecas

Member
OK, now I have what might be the dumbest question ever: According to the CycleGraph.gif image in the 'New to Saltwater' thread, Nitrites should go up to 21 and my ELOS water test kit for NO2 goes up to only 2. And Ammonia on the chart should go to 10 and the ELOS test kit only goes up to 1. Is there some conversion I should be doing? Also, my readings tonight are a bit whacky. Here they are:



pH 8.3
Nitrite 2
Nitrate 25
Ammonia 0.1
Salinity 1.28

I'm on day 7 into 8 and my Nitrate what it should be on day 27. My Ammonia is not moving. and Nitrite seems a little high, but fairly normal. I added 2 large shrimp tonight, put them in a glass under a couple of pieces of rubble.

Any thoughts or comments on my test kits or readings?
 

Wrangy

Acropora Nut
RS STAFF
PREMIUM
Depending on the quality of your live rock will depend on the strength of the cycle :) if you have really nice, fresh live rock then you might only see a small blimp of rises and only end up with 5ppm of nitrates however sometimes there can be a vast cycle that results in 30+ppm of nitrate it all varies :)

The main thing you're looking for is your ammonia levels to drop back to 0ppm and then your nitrite levels to drop to 0ppm, your nitrates may stay the same or rise :) once ammonia and nitrite are 0ppm Gove the tank another week to make completely sure the tank is cycled and then do a water change :) some say 30-40% personally I think it varies with how much nitrate you have :) less than 10am I would change more than 25% but that's a personal thing!

Hope that helps make sense of things! Love the scape too :) some nice variation to it!
 

Pat24601

Well-Known Member
Great scape!

What Wrangy said. My tank never really cycled like the chart because my LR was well cured. So, the chart shows the cycle well, but individual numbers vary greatly.
 

joecas

Member
Four days since I added the shrimp and ammonia level has not budged. Just for fun, here is a pic of the tank, and one of the shrimp:




The shrimp were raw when I put them in... they seem to look cooked now, and they are starting to shred/molt. I put in only two, they are pretty big though.

Comments welcome.

Joe
 

joecas

Member
OK, So 8 days since I added the shrimp and they are clearly rotting! But my ammonia level is still level :( Now, i'm getting green/brown/dark yellow algae growing on the live rock, so I think I need to add the CUC ASAP. No?

It's been 14 days since I started cycling the tank... A week ago, the rock was looking awesome, with kinda purple & redish buds starting to bloom. now its all brown & green and starting to get a little furry.

Any advice?

Joe
 

Oxylebius

Well-Known Member
What is your levels now? Ammonia and nitrate? This will let you know if you can add cuc.
Sounds like you have nice live rock that was able to handle the breaking down of the shrimp. If nitrates are high, you can do a water change and then add cuc.
 

joecas

Member
What is your levels now? Ammonia and nitrate? This will let you know if you can add cuc.
Sounds like you have nice live rock that was able to handle the breaking down of the shrimp. If nitrates are high, you can do a water change and then add cuc.

Hi,

I went away for 4 days and just measured the levels:

pH 8.3
Nitrite (NO2) 2
Nitrate (NO3) 25
Amonia (NH3) 0
Salinity 1.029

So, Ammonia is finally down to 0. New issue now is I have some algae blooms. It's day 24 of the cycle... think it's time to change the water? How much? 30%?

3 Qs:
1. how long after the water changed should i wait before I add the CUC?
2. Do I do anything about the algae or with the CUC take care of it?
3. should i wait for nitrite to come to 0 before I change water?

Thanks!
Joe
 

Oxylebius

Well-Known Member
3 Qs:
1. how long after the water changed should i wait before I add the CUC?
2. Do I do anything about the algae or with the CUC take care of it?
3. should i wait for nitrite to come to 0 before I change water?

Anwers:
1. You can add cuc after a water change as soon as your ammonia & nitrites are at zero and nitrate down below 5.
2. You can clean the algae off the glass. The cuc should work on the rest. If you find that you have a particularly nuisance algae, like cyano, you can usually harvest it from the tank while vacuuming.
3. Yes. Ammonia and nitrite need to stay at zero. Wait till at zero, due water change, monitor nitrate, add cuc.

Having nitrate at 25 is a weak cycle, but perhaps you have great live rock in there. You can move forward, but just don't add more then one fish at a time. Allow your bacteria load to catch up with the additional waste from the fish. Some people might argue that in 110g tank you can two fish at a time, but I tend to be more cautious.
 
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