Bouch097
Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Hey everyone. About a week ago, I got a 72gal. reef ready. Got it ready with about 55 pds of live rock including a mammoth (and very fresh) 45 pd show branch rock (I think that's what they called it). Then dumped 8 damsels in it. About half died within a couple days, and I left some of them in to try to kick start the cycling process. Somehow 2 days after set-up, the ammonia had gone off-chart (Over 6). Then somehow by Day 5 (Down to 3 damsels and pulled out the dead ones)-Ammonia: Off-Chart, NO2: Off-Chart, NO3: 20, Alkaline: Off-Chart, pH: 8.4, temp: 81. Then this morning-Ammonia: 0, NO2: Off-Chart, NO3: 200, Alkaline: 120, pH: 7.6, temp 81. Also, one of the smaller live rocks has grown quite a bit of brown algae seemingly overnight.
If this normal, or is my tank just cycling like it was on steroids?
Why the sudden drops in Alkalinity and pH, and is this OK? I read on here they should be higher.
And finally, when will it be safe, or is it now, to add more creatures to the tank. I had tried a few different foods to get them to eat unsucessfully, so there is a lot of food left at the bottom. Will some cleaner shrimp survive the NO3 levels? What else can I add at this point? And when can I add other invertebrates and what types? I would like to have anenomies in there, but I'll wait till it's stable since I heard if one of those go belly up, it'll kill the tank.
Sorry about all of the questions, but the rapid pace of this cycling has really thrown me a curveball and any help would be greatly appreciatied. This is my first time on this site, and it looks great by the way.
If this normal, or is my tank just cycling like it was on steroids?
Why the sudden drops in Alkalinity and pH, and is this OK? I read on here they should be higher.
And finally, when will it be safe, or is it now, to add more creatures to the tank. I had tried a few different foods to get them to eat unsucessfully, so there is a lot of food left at the bottom. Will some cleaner shrimp survive the NO3 levels? What else can I add at this point? And when can I add other invertebrates and what types? I would like to have anenomies in there, but I'll wait till it's stable since I heard if one of those go belly up, it'll kill the tank.
Sorry about all of the questions, but the rapid pace of this cycling has really thrown me a curveball and any help would be greatly appreciatied. This is my first time on this site, and it looks great by the way.