Here We Go Again!

[lcstorc]

Looking good. You are well on your way to a fabulous reef. Let me know when you think you are ready for some softies. I usually have a frag or two lying around.
Great job!!!

[Melanie]

Originally Posted by bluespotjawfish

Melanie, your tank looks nice! Did you get your additional rock yet? Is it in there too? I want to see it when you get it, so post a pic of it when you can. I'm looking to add some more to my tank. Need to make sure it has holes like their stock photo showed before I do though.

Keep up the good work.

I've been thinking about you since I got my shipment. I need to have a thorough water test done on the bucket of water containing the bamboni rock before I make a recommendation.

No, it's not in the tank. I have about 30 lbs. of it in a bucket. It was sold as "live base rock." It didn't look at ALL live. As a matter of fact, I was concerned because it was very very orange. I'm worried that it is infused with rust if that makes sense. They sent it to me on 4 day shipping yet wrapped it in wet newspapers and plastic bags. Hmmm. In the ad it looks beige but in person it is certainly orange. It just doesn't look natural. Not only does it not have any life on it, there doesn't appear to have EVER been life on it. I am imagining it was pulled out of an industrial waste filled quarry.

I didn't use one tiny piece of it in the tank. I may use it for landscaping my yard because it scares me. I'll try to get pics later.

[sasquatch]

Quite a journey but you learn something the hard way it tends to stick(I have the bumps to prove this lol) soooo close now the anticipation must be bad, great job your a real trooper! Steve

[Melanie]

Originally Posted by sasquatch

Quite a journey but you learn something the hard way it tends to stick(I have the bumps to prove this lol) soooo close now the anticipation must be bad, great job your a real trooper! Steve

It's funny that I DO have a good bit of anticipation but I hope the cycle takes a little while so I can see it happen. That quick jump in the Nitrites with no ammonia spike concerns me. I'll have to see what happens tomorrow.

Thank you Steve for the cheers and feedback. I think I have learned enough lessons in the last month to last me quite awhile! Someday I'm going to read back through this thread and re-live my bumps.

[bluespotjawfish]

Thanks for the info Melanie!

BTW, I love your little walk about guy in your sig too!

[DrHank]

Looks like the tank is progressing well. I've been out of town for the last day and just got back. The 210 is empty, the 110 and 65 are both set up and running and all is well (as can be considering). An increase in nitrites without an ammonia spike can happen if you have enough bacteria colonized to convert it rapidly to nitrite. I'm assuming that you have some grocery store shrimp in the tank. Check to see if they appear to be deteriorating. Watch for a decrease in nitrite and an increase in nitrate. That should be the next step in the cycle.

[Melanie]

Originally Posted by DrHank

Looks like the tank is progressing well. I've been out of town for the last day and just got back. The 210 is empty, the 110 and 65 are both set up and running and all is well (as can be considering). An increase in nitrites without an ammonia spike can happen if you have enough bacteria colonized to convert it rapidly to nitrite. I'm assuming that you have some grocery store shrimp in the tank. Check to see if they appear to be deteriorating. Watch for a decrease in nitrite and an increase in nitrate. That should be the next step in the cycle.

I missed you yesterday! I was so excited for you to see how nice the LR and water look right now.

I'm wondering if the 90% cured LR and new LS had the bacteria to keep the ammonia from spiking.

Yes, I added a shrimp to the tank. It looks a bit mushy. What should it look like?

Tests
Day 2 (added 1 shrimp)
NH3/NH4 - 0
NO2 - 0
NO3 - 0

Day 3
NH3/NH4 - 0
NO2 - 1.0
NO3 - 0

Day 4
NH3/NH4 - 0
NO2 - 2.0
NO3 - 5.0

Bigger pic of my tank! Maybe now you can see the shrimp in the lower left side.

[DrHank]

Great. Yous shrimp should look a bit mushy. It appears that you have sufficient bacteria to convert to nitrite. The fact that your nitrite is rising (as it should) indicates that they are doing their job. The fact that you are seeing increases in nitrate is also good. That indicates that your bacteria required to convert nitrite to nitrate are working as well.

Your tank is cycling!!! You should expect to see nitrite rise to a level (different for each tank and then stay there. At some point in time (could be a week or two, maybe even longer) it will rapidly go to 0. All the time that this is going on you should see nitrate continue to rise.

Check your shrimp periodically and you will see it decompose. If it dissolves away, add more to keep the cycle going. Let us know when your nitrite hits 0.

Keep up the good work things are looking great.

[lcstorc]

Looking better and better. The good Doc is correct as usual. I think you are correct that partially cycling the rock out of the tank is likely responsible for the no amonia. You gave the bacteria time to get started. Particularly with the die-off you had. The bacteria had plenty of food.

[goldenmean]

Hey Melanie your tank is looking great.
Keep up the good work!

[ScubaDrew]

The picture comes up as an "X" for me - anyone else having this problem?

Drew

Originally Posted by Melanie

I missed you yesterday! I was so excited for you to see how nice the LR and water look right now.

I'm wondering if the 90% cured LR and new LS had the bacteria to keep the ammonia from spiking.

Yes, I added a shrimp to the tank. It looks a bit mushy. What should it look like?

Tests
Day 2 (added 1 shrimp)
NH3/NH4 - 0
NO2 - 0
NO3 - 0

Day 3
NH3/NH4 - 0
NO2 - 1.0
NO3 - 0

Day 4
NH3/NH4 - 0
NO2 - 2.0
NO3 - 5.0

Bigger pic of my tank! Maybe now you can see the shrimp in the lower left side.

[Dentoid]

Nope, picture is there in Melanie's post and it's there in the Quote in your post.

BTW, Melanie your tank is looking smashing!

[rebekwl]

HOLY MOLY, how did I miss all this action?!?! Looks like you got off to a very rough start Melanie. Sorry for your troubles, I also had a pretty rough start and got some horrible advice. RS saved me and I've learned SOOOO MUCH here! It looks everything is going alot better now. I'm Glad to see that your tank is cycling and you are well on your way to a fabulous reef!! I'm looking forward to the updates!

[Melanie]

Thanks for all the feedback!

I got my new protein skimmer hooked up and that thing really works! What a huge difference between that and my old skimmer. Adjusting it is a pleasure and it makes no noise and no microbubbles. Love it (thanks Dr. Hank!)

I ordered my new light. Can't wait to see what my tank looks like under something besides a single strip flourescent.

My cycling shrimp has become encased in some kind of clear gooey shell. Check it out!


My corraline algae in my QT turned white overnight! I can only think that my water change 2 days ago did it. That's the only thing that has changed recently. I'm using a different salt. (Tropic Marin Pro-Reef).

When I rinsed the sand dust out of my prefilters I took the opportunity to move my rocks around a little (since I could finally see them!) I know it's kind of boring looking at just rocks and sand with no corals or fish, but this is all I have to show so far!

[Dentoid]

Nothing wrong with that! Get the bones right from the beginning and what follows will be spectacular!
That shrimp looks !