Stephane Cote
Active Member
I turned on the skimmer again but something isnt right.. i did a 45% water change and my nitrate levels still report 30ppm! WTH!
Setting up the 75 Gal tank
- Thread starter Stephane Cote
- Start date
Mike Johnson
Well-Known Member
I'm glad to see a high nitrate level - that means you have a complete cycle. Running your skimmer is very important during cycling. Nitrates in the 30's isn't terrible. To reduce nitrates by water changes takes big changes. Here's how it works: Say you have 60 gallons and nitrates are 30, a 30 gallon water change will reduce the nitrates to 15. A 10 gallon water change out of 60 gallons will net you a drop of 5, or 1/6th of 30.
Stephane Cote
Active Member
Thats the thing. I did check yesterday and my nitrates were at 30ppms.. i did a 45% water change for the 75 gallon and this morning right before leaving work, i checked the nitrates again, and im still at 30ppms. maybe i have a bad test kits? cant be. because when i first started the tank i had 0ppms..
Mike Johnson
Well-Known Member
I would not do WC's more than 50% at a time. What happened is that your high levels of nitrite were still being converted to nitrates. My suggested course of action is 25% WC's every week until you get nitrates to around 10. Running your skimmer a little wet will help also.
Stephane Cote
Active Member
Ahhh this makes complete sense.. ok the skimmer is running and tonight ill be getting another test kit from a different company to make sure. Probably test nitrites as well
so would it be safe for me to pick up a few CUC members while getting the test kit?
BTW thx for the help
Steph
Mike Johnson
Well-Known Member
Yes, I believe it is time for you to add a CUC.
Stephane Cote
Active Member
awesome thank you! ill get a few crabs and shrimps
ziggy
Active Member
snails are the most hardy and I would definately pick some up
Stephane Cote
Active Member
well not sure if i will at this store because last time i picked 10 up they all died in 48 hours. I should have clued in when a guy was yelling at the sales rep that all the snails he bought the day before died. But, i assumed that was user caused, then all mine died....
ill check though.. thx for the tip
ill check though.. thx for the tip
Stephane Cote
Active Member
Update. Checked the nitrates with a 2nd kit and they are at 20ppms. so the 2 kits are not to far off. I checked ammonia and nitrites and both are at 0ppms. so i think i just caught it at the last part of the cycling. ill wait another week and do another small (20%) water change and see if they drop.
Also, the LFS didn't have any cleaning crew except for snails so i picked 8 up and put them in my 30 gal. looks like ill have to wait until Jan before i can setup a proper crew in the 75 gal. which is no buggy because it will allow me to drop the nitrates level a little more.
Also, the LFS didn't have any cleaning crew except for snails so i picked 8 up and put them in my 30 gal. looks like ill have to wait until Jan before i can setup a proper crew in the 75 gal. which is no buggy because it will allow me to drop the nitrates level a little more.
Stephane Cote
Active Member
what do you mean? the only thing currently running is my reg filter and the skimmer
Stephane Cote
Active Member
You know your tank cycled and doing well when...
you find 2 more gorilla hitchhiker crabs and a bunch of tiny pods start showing up
you find 2 more gorilla hitchhiker crabs and a bunch of tiny pods start showing up
ziggy
Active Member
Some folks got their CUC's from this on-line sponsor with good results
Stephane Cote
Active Member
i put my 8 snails in the 75 gal. 6 of them didnt move in 48 hours. 2 are moving around. i also put 3 crabs in the tank, they arnt really active.
I checked ammonia levels and they increased a little. so i think ill be reverting the CUC back to the 30gal and do another water change on the 75. even though im starting to see life (pods, hitch hiker crabs, worms) something doesn't smell right...
I checked ammonia levels and they increased a little. so i think ill be reverting the CUC back to the 30gal and do another water change on the 75. even though im starting to see life (pods, hitch hiker crabs, worms) something doesn't smell right...
ziggy
Active Member
Measuring any ammonia level is not good.
Good idead to get the CUC into the 30 gallon
Your 75 appears to not have completed it's cycle which it needs to finish.
I would plan on somehow letting the ammonia peak, then letting the nitrite peak, then letting the nitrates peak
It just needs to complete it's cycle so the good bacteria can multiply
Stephane Cote
Active Member
I thought it did.. certainly when i started to see 0 ammonia and high nitrates. in anycase ill transfer back the live stock to the 30, get a shrimp and put it in the tank and monitor it for 1-2 weeks
thx for the guidance
Mike Johnson
Well-Known Member
Seems like I gave you some bad advice about adding a CUC? Have you ever read this? http://www.reefsanctuary.com/forums/fish-diseases-treatments/29836-mature-aquarium.html