fasted64
Aquarium Advice Newbie
I have a question which I do not understand.
4 weeks ago, I setup my salt water tank and cycling began.
After almost 2 weeks, ammonia had peaked and dropped to 0 as it should have.
Nitrite then became pegged at >6ppm and stayed there for quite a while and this was normal and expected. I did a water test this last Saturday March 19th and ammonia was still 0, Nitrite at 4ppm and Nitrate at 40ppm. All seemed normal up to this point. I expected Nitrite to drop soon as it had began falling.
Yesterday, March, 22nd, I did another water test to check the progress.
Ammonia was still 0 as expected.
Nitrite had also dropped to 0 as expected after 2 weeks.
What I really expected now was Nitrate to be pegged off the scale.
This was not the case. Nitrate also read 0. I thought at first I made a mistake, so redid the test. Nitrate again read 0. :?
I thought Nitrate could only be removed through water changes.
I have 60 lbs of LiveRock in the tank. Does Live Rock remove Nitrate?
Can anyone explain how Nitrate can go from 40ppm to 0 in 2 days without water changes and without chemical additives?
Oh. One more note: The water is still quite cloudy even though everything is at 0 now. The water is green tinted, so I assume this is an algae bloom due to the previous high Nitrate. perhaps the algae bloom removed the Nitrate. Does anyone know if this is possible? I have already cut the lighting to 8 hours per day a week ago to help control the algae during the cycle period.
All this said, how do I clear my water now? Shall I just do a big 50% water change or something or does anyone have other suggestions to clear the water?
Thank You,
Ed
Tank Specs:
50 Gal Tru Vu Acrylic tank
Eheim Pro 2227 Wet/Dry canister filter
Power Compact Lighting, Total 194watts, 1ea. 96w Actinic, 1ea. 96w white
60 lbs live rock
3/4 inch Live Sand
50 Snails and 3 damsel fish used for cycling.
:?
4 weeks ago, I setup my salt water tank and cycling began.
After almost 2 weeks, ammonia had peaked and dropped to 0 as it should have.
Nitrite then became pegged at >6ppm and stayed there for quite a while and this was normal and expected. I did a water test this last Saturday March 19th and ammonia was still 0, Nitrite at 4ppm and Nitrate at 40ppm. All seemed normal up to this point. I expected Nitrite to drop soon as it had began falling.
Yesterday, March, 22nd, I did another water test to check the progress.
Ammonia was still 0 as expected.
Nitrite had also dropped to 0 as expected after 2 weeks.
What I really expected now was Nitrate to be pegged off the scale.
This was not the case. Nitrate also read 0. I thought at first I made a mistake, so redid the test. Nitrate again read 0. :?
I thought Nitrate could only be removed through water changes.
I have 60 lbs of LiveRock in the tank. Does Live Rock remove Nitrate?
Can anyone explain how Nitrate can go from 40ppm to 0 in 2 days without water changes and without chemical additives?
Oh. One more note: The water is still quite cloudy even though everything is at 0 now. The water is green tinted, so I assume this is an algae bloom due to the previous high Nitrate. perhaps the algae bloom removed the Nitrate. Does anyone know if this is possible? I have already cut the lighting to 8 hours per day a week ago to help control the algae during the cycle period.
All this said, how do I clear my water now? Shall I just do a big 50% water change or something or does anyone have other suggestions to clear the water?
Thank You,
Ed
Tank Specs:
50 Gal Tru Vu Acrylic tank
Eheim Pro 2227 Wet/Dry canister filter
Power Compact Lighting, Total 194watts, 1ea. 96w Actinic, 1ea. 96w white
60 lbs live rock
3/4 inch Live Sand
50 Snails and 3 damsel fish used for cycling.
:?