Beginner needs HELP

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Kempochick

Aquarium Advice Newbie
Joined
Aug 3, 2004
Messages
1
Location
Long Island,New York
I work as a lab tech in a college bio lab. That means I wash test tubes and look after the animals. I was put in charge of a 35? Gallon marine tank. I was told to get it running so it could be used. The tank was built with the filter as a part of it so I read the directions, got the water level stabilized in the filter and added salt. I was told to cycle the tank with killies, and from reading some of the posts I know you are not to keen on that but I can't change it now. It has been 6 weeks and my ammonia level is at .5, Nitrites are 0 and Nitrates are at 10. Has this tank cycled??? does it need more time?
In addition to adding the fish, I used proper Ph 8.2 but my Ph is still stuck at 7.8, and also added stress zyme to help the biological filter develop and that seems to have worked but now the tank seems to have free floating alge. The water looks yellowish green and I am concerned for the fish although they seem quite well and are voracious eaters.
My boss is pushing me to add other things to the tank, and aside from not being sure if it has cycled correctly I don't know what to put in a room temp. marine tank. If there is any advise you could give me I would appreciate it. Also if there is anything that I left out please feel free to ask about it..I hope you get a clear picture of my situation. Thanks again
 
If there is still ammonia present then the tank hasn't completed cycling. The cycle will be complete when there is 0 ammonia and 0 nitrite. As for the color, if you are running a filter, some carbon should clear the color up. The low pH and algae blooms are not uncommon in a newly set up system. I wouldn't add more fish until the ammonia and nitrites bottom out.
 
What fish are in it now?
As for the ph, do a couple of water changes (not too big, 20%, don't want to mess up the cycle) and see if that helps. what time of day are checking the PH? You may need to buffer a bit.
 
What is used for substrate? I.E. sand and lr because they buffer the PH (calcium carbonate based) and add a ton of surface area for good bacteria.
 
and what was used for water? hard tap water is already semi-buffered (compared to sea water) and will make it hard for all the buffers in you salt mix to adjust the synthetic sea water.
R/O water makes saltwater keeping much, much easier.
 
Some LFS suggest mollies for starter fish to help cycle. Mollies can survive in saltwater. Is that what you used?

I would not worry too much about PH until the tank cycles. Tell your boss it can take a month or more to cycle a tank.

Good luck
 
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