Bacter Vital To Reduce Nitrite and Ammonia

[rx330]

My tank has been up for now 6 weeks, and regardless of what I do, I cant get ammonia level below .25. My nitrites were also close to zero before, but now they too are at .25.

I have a dogface puffer, pink spotted goby, and 2 clownfish in the tank, and they appear fine, at least for now.

My friend who owns an aquarium store, told me that I should add nitrifying bacteria to the tank, which will take care of the small nitrite spike. He also said to unplug the protein skimmer and remove the chemi-pure bag. I still am clueless as to how to get rid of the ammonia.

My tank is 54g, and I have changed 17 gallons in the last 48 hours. He informed me that the more water changes I do now, the less bacteria in the tank, and the cause of my problems. I also have about 20lbs of live rock in my tank.

I added 1 tsp of the Bacter Vital which I purchased this evening, and it says it will cycle my tank in 3 days, a teaspoon a day for up to 50g.

What else can I do, as water changes right now do not seem to be the answer ?

 

[Sadielynn]

I would add nothing You will have some issues since you need about 30LBS more LR . it should be cured and it may well cause more of a cycle ..It sounds like you are still cycling and have added too many fish all at once ... The puffer is a messy eater therefore you will probably have decaying matter .. Do a larger water change of 20 gallons while there are some benificial bacterias in the H20 colmn most resides with in the LR and LS
The skimmer I would allow to continue running . The dogface really needs to go back they get too big too messy for a 54 unless it is the only fish , and he may well start nipping at other fish ... Right now you are in the middle of a cycle ,and with fish the only thing you can do is the H20 changes ...that you are doing to bring them down ....I know this is not what you were hoping for to say the least but truth be told I think you are going to spiral sooner than later if you dont grab hold of it now .

 

[melosu58]

You have a pretty big bioload there. I would do as Sadie says and add some more LR and get a good skimmer if you already dont have one.

 

[rx330]

I just noticed that one of my pieces of LR, has white stuff all over it, and appears to not be cured.

Is this working against the bacteria that I am adding to the tank to help stabilize it ? I ask because my nitrite levels seemed to dip a little, but not to the point that this Bacter Vital product is supposed to take it, and I am thinking that the uncured rock is offsetting some of the good that I am trying to do.

My wife suggested we remove the LR, scrape that white stuff off, and cure it in a bucket with a powerhead and saltwater at a salinity between 1.023 and 1.025.

Please advise and thanks

 

[Sadielynn]

IT sounds like a sponge ..do you have pics ? You could cure it out side the tank in a bucket that would be fine , however bear in mind the stuff you are adding is likely NOT helping any and may be hurting

 

[melosu58]

Is the white stuff soft or Hard? Soft would be a sponge while a hard surface would be some bleached coralline. It will eventually turn back to some color provided your calcium, magnesium and alk are OK.

 

[rx330]

Is the white stuff soft or Hard? Soft would be a sponge while a hard surface would be some bleached coralline. It will eventually turn back to some color provided your calcium, magnesium and alk are OK.

the bleached stuff is defintiely hard.

 

[Sadielynn]

Bleached coraline . With out pics I am only guessing ... but it should color up in the right conditions

 

[rx330]

I haven't added any supplements, and have 2 x 20watt 50/50 bulbs. What should I add? The other pcs of LR have a lot of red corraline on them.

 

[melosu58]

They should turn back to the colors. When exposed to air and parameter changes they will turn white but will shortly turn back as Sadie said under the right conditions.

 

[Sadielynn]

Coraline (most of it ) thrives in low light conditions... However need mag and calcium to grow... DO NOT add unless testing indicates and only after you are cycled and have been doing H20 changes

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

... The other pcs of LR have a lot of red corraline on them.

And yours will too in about 4-6 months. Just be patient and work on getting through your cycle.

 

[rx330]

We are certainly still "working "on it...i know we added the fish too fast...my husband, and main poster, had a tanken when he was young and I was only familiar with FW...so off we went and got some fishies...getting some more LR today from a friend with a LFS. Most of the LR from the LFS that we bought (not the friend's place) seems uncured (white pc) and other, when they told us they were...jerks...wont buy from them again...and they had some gorgeous coral (next project for a 210g reef in a few years)...I can tell you this...I will never cycle with live animals EVER again!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Alos, thanks sadie...no supplements till the cycle is done, what tests should i perform to check?

Side note, i had an aptasia on one of the LR (from the bad LFS) and shot it with some kalkwasser powder made into a paste (at the advice of a friend)...very small amount, but b/c it was a paste, it was very concentrated...killed the aptasia, but would it screw with my levels???

I am running out of ideas...help!

 

[Sadielynn]

Any thing you are wishing to dose you should be checking ...
But your basics are Ammonia , NitrIte, NitrAte , PH , Calcium ,alk , and Iodide/Iodine (if wishing to dose for reef.) Because of the size of your tanks and the limited corals in it as of now H20 changes should suffice ... Meaning you should not need to dose a thing , after you start adding corals and things that will "utilize" the elements in the H20 and testing that indicates H20 changes are no longer sufficent then dose ... As a rule of thumb here it is better to under dose than to over dose meaning it is easier to add a bit more later down the road than to remove it and kill stuff off ... Adding the kalk paste should NOT harm your levels at all ...
Just slow down a bit your wallet will thank you down the road ... I know it is hard when you see tanks that are built but remember many of us did so with frags and sloooooowly ...The LR you are getting today may well also cause a cycle , if possible cycle it in a tote bin with "old" tank water ... it will be less sever on your inhabitants ... Believe me I have stood where you are ... I crashed my tank soooo many times when I started that I was made to sit with an empty tank till I was willing to learn ... With a nano it can be done (I am proof as are others) but it is slow to go ... I was one that needed this and that , I was ready when I was willing to learn . Hard lesson was that I blew 2 grand or more crashing it ... Now if I am unsure I ask as I am sure others have been there and learned ,understand that what works for one is NOT , nor will be a guarentee that it will work for you or anyone for that matter it is just experience ...I am glad to help where and when I can , I do not believe in giving "fake" advice or "made up" advice . But if it has a ring of truth , and some one who has a successful tank then it may well be so ...Understand many of us are fustrated at those who are new and think they know it all ....or that it is "wrong" , this fustrates those of us who stood there before and experienced it ....when it is well I am going to do it anyways ... some fish (and there are those I would love to have , but I do not have the enviroment for them )are just not good community fish nor nano fish ... You are at a borderline for a nano but have more room than I do in a 10 gallon or BC8 , But even so some just will not work ... I wish you luck and I am here to help and ready ... just let us know , most of us are not fish stores so we have nothing to gain but rather been there done that ...