Reef Sanctuary - View Single Post - 10g Nano

mtfish · 08-05-2006, 03:13 PM

4/11/2006

Well yesterday I got home from work and looked into my tank and BLAMO Diatom algae. I
was pleasantly surprised. Today I got home and this was the situation...

Nice, I was happy to get that started. Thats about the only time you'll see me happy about an algae bloom

I guess I should mention I have been testing the water since I put the LR in the tank.

On the 6th, I was all ammonia, and about 1ppm nitrite.
On the 7th nitrite was up around 3-4ppm
On the 8th nitrite was right about 3ppm with nitrate sitting @ <10
on the 9th nitrite was at .5ppm and the nitrate was upto 30ppm
The 10th (today) nitrite was sitting at < .5ppm (lower than the detection limit ) and nitrate was 10ppm.

I was happy to see it fit the normal "cycle" I have seen in the past, although it was fast. I would attribute the
nitrate drop to the algae growth and some (I hope) nitrogen fixing. But because I am skeptical of the cycle being
this fast I am waiting another day or two then adding some snails & maybe a hermit and we will go from there.

I suppose I should mention my other parameters.
pH 8 - 8.4 (I know it's a big range but thats what the test strip reports and I have yet to borrow a pH meter from
where I work to check it.
SG (target) 1.023 -1.024 although it gets close to 1.025 by topoff time.
KH is around 300, a little less according to the shade of green.
Temp has been steady, between 78-79°F.

The first day of testing the pH and KH were a little low, which had me worried (for no reason) but after a day they
bounced up to and held the current ranges. Presumably because the argonite sand took time to buffer.

08-05-2006, 03:13 PM	#4 (permalink)
mtfish Fire Coral Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Montana Posts: 66 View Gallery Karma Komment	Re: 10g Nano - My first SW tank 4/11/2006 Well yesterday I got home from work and looked into my tank and BLAMO Diatom algae. I was pleasantly surprised. Today I got home and this was the situation... Nice, I was happy to get that started. Thats about the only time you'll see me happy about an algae bloom I guess I should mention I have been testing the water since I put the LR in the tank. On the 6th, I was all ammonia, and about 1ppm nitrite. On the 7th nitrite was up around 3-4ppm On the 8th nitrite was right about 3ppm with nitrate sitting @ <10 on the 9th nitrite was at .5ppm and the nitrate was upto 30ppm The 10th (today) nitrite was sitting at < .5ppm (lower than the detection limit ) and nitrate was 10ppm. I was happy to see it fit the normal "cycle" I have seen in the past, although it was fast. I would attribute the nitrate drop to the algae growth and some (I hope) nitrogen fixing. But because I am skeptical of the cycle being this fast I am waiting another day or two then adding some snails & maybe a hermit and we will go from there. I suppose I should mention my other parameters. pH 8 - 8.4 (I know it's a big range but thats what the test strip reports and I have yet to borrow a pH meter from where I work to check it. SG (target) 1.023 -1.024 although it gets close to 1.025 by topoff time. KH is around 300, a little less according to the shade of green. Temp has been steady, between 78-79°F. The first day of testing the pH and KH were a little low, which had me worried (for no reason) but after a day they bounced up to and held the current ranges. Presumably because the argonite sand took time to buffer.