Reds first sw tank

[BLAKEJOHN]

Reading back through your thread it sounds like you had a small cycle to start with. My cycles last atleast two months. What was your ammonia source to begin the cycle? What was the highest reading of Ammonia during the cycle?

My suggestion at this piont is to return your livstock that you already have. Or give them to a reefer to hold. Toss a few cocktail shrimp in and let them rott. This will force another cycle with plenty of Ammonia. It sounds like you just dont have enough bacteria to convert the incoming ammonia fast enough.

[Reddog170]

Well here is my plan: step 1 pull my head out of my you know what , step 2 take all livestock to a friend to hold until I am ready for them step 3 do a major water change step 4 jump start a cycle step 5 monitor and wait with frequent small water changes.
Does this sound good to you? It is the best I could think of. I just know that I went to fast with my stocking of the tank and feel like I need to go backward a bit and go again. I will be getting an ro unit pretty quick so it should help with all this and getting everything under control. Running to the store to get water all the time just stinks, and it does get spendy.

[BLAKEJOHN]

If you are gong to do that. (restart the cycle). I would not do any water changes during the cycle. This will soften the cycle and it may last even longer. And you may not bulid the bacteria level that you want.

Lets see if I can explain this clearly:

Lets say your ammonia is peaked at 8ppm and your nitrite level is at 4ppm. If you leave the water alone you will have enough bacteria to convert all the ammonia and all the nitrites.
Now lets say you do a water change of 50%. That will bring your levels down 50% to NH-4ppm and NO2-2ppm. Now you have just reduce the amount of Ammonia and nitrite therefore reducing the amount of work the bacteria has to do, furthermore reducing the amount of bacteria to be grown.
(these numbers and theory are not 100% accurate but you get the idea)

So I would wait untill the ammonia and nitrites are at zero then do some water changes to bring down the nitrates.

[Reddog170]

Plan change. Found where the ammonia is coming from, leftover food stuck in the overflow. I took a water sample in to Sea of Marvels and he told me everything looked great except for my ammonia. He then explained that this could only be if I were overfeeding or something was rotten in the tank. I tore into it as soon as I got home and found some pellets that had swollen and changed colors in the overflow. I removed them and cleaned it out got it going again. Now seven hours later my ammonia has gone down from 1.2 to .7 Guess I will have to shut down the overflow when I feed to prevent this, unless someone has a way of feeding that does not get food into the overflow. Thank you all for your help and suggestions , Shaun

[BLAKEJOHN]

Some people do shut down thier pumps during feeding. I guess so that that dosen't happen and they can see if there is any leftovers at the bottom too.

[Reddog170]

Well here it is. The pics of my tank now. I have finaly got my ammonia under control and everything is looking good with one exception, the crap skimmer I bought will not work right, either dont work at all or just fills the cup with water. worked great for a while until the pump came apart from the skimmer I put it all back together and now nothing but problems. Anyone new reading this, my advise DO NOT skimp on a skimmer. I bought a JEBO skimmer and regret it. Will be doing a DIY skimmer to replace it. Oh yea it also fills my sump with a white/green foam.
As will all problems I will figure it out either by myself or with help, you people are great at helping out. But now it is time to get this pic up.
[img]http://www.reefsanctuary.com/photopost/data/505/medium/full_tank_shot_12.jpg
I LOVE my reef. I find it more relaxing than a movie and popcorn. well at least it dont make me jump out of my shorts when I least expect it, LOL

[Reddog170]

sorry i cant seem to get the pic to come through. It is in the gallery but the thing wont post here. No idea why. Will try again later it is getting fustrating.

[Reddog170]

Trying again

[yungreefer2410]

i would try moving one of ur ph to the top and aim at top of tank

[Frankie]

Reddog, try soaking the food first in a glass of ro/di water until it sinks. then strain it and add it to the tank. This will help it sink and the fish get it better. Also it will prevent it from going in the overflow. No sense turning that off every time. It will make you nuts

[yungreefer2410]

wat size tank and what kind of lights do you have?

[Reddog170]

It is a 55 with T5 lights. I do have a 55g sump that I want to get setup in the basement for it. But first off I need to get my skimmer working right or replaced.

[BLAKEJOHN]

What skimmer are you using and what seems to be the problem with it?

[Reddog170]

I am embarrassed to say. I am using a JEBO skimmer. The problems are as follows, It either fills the cup with water or it seperates where the pump ataches to the skimmer itself. I was going to glue it all together but then found that if I did I would not be able to clean anything except the cup so if anything got into it I would be out of luck.

[BLAKEJOHN]

which model?