Cycling frustration

[akasha]

Hi Guys,

Question for you. I have a 55 with LR, LS, Powerhead, HOB filter that came with the tank new and a canister filter.

First thing..my canister filter is leaking, so I am looking to buy something new, would you recommend another canister or maybe a Biowheel HOB? The HOB that I have is a Top Fin 60. Like I said, it came with the tank, it wouldn't have been my first choice. I bought the canister filter, LR and some of the LS from someone online that had a tank running.

Now, as far as my cycling question - For the past 2 weeks or so I have had readings on my ammonia levels .50ppm, but nothing on my nitrites. I did the shrimp trick, but am getting a little frustrated that I am not seeing any nitrites or nitrates. Any ideas?

Thanks guys.

 

[thincat]

What do you want to do with the tank? Fish only, Fish with LR, Reef? Once I know what you want then I can tell you what I think you would best need.
Also what kind of lights do you have if any.

 

[akasha]

Fish only with live rock. The lights are just the standard ones that came with the tank kit. Nothing fancy.

 

[thincat]

Okay, the lights you have is good enough for a fish only with liverock, Understand that if you go on to a reef setup you will have to get much better lights and at least 1.5 to 2 #'s per gallon of LR. If you are going to be on the heavy load of fish ore messy eaters then I would say to get another cannister or look on line at the company that made your cannister and see if you can get parts of it.
How much LR did you say you had? Is it still live or has it been out of lthe water for awhile?

 

[akasha]

I have about 10lbs of LR. The LR was never out of the water...I brought it home wet and it went right into my tank. Do you recommend taking off the HOB that I have? I removed the canister last night, it was leaking pretty, so right now the ph and the hob are the only things running until I get a new canister. Any ideas why I am seeing the same amount of ammonia for the past 2 weeks, but no nitrites?

Thanks for your help.

 

[thincat]

Okay, take the shrimp out and see if the ammonia will go down and the nitrites start going up. You may have to much ammonia for your size tank and or amount of LR you have in your tank. check it daily and also see if you start getting any nitrates too.

 

[akasha]

I checked my levels again last night and still no movement. I am not seeing any nitrates or nitrites. There is coraline algae still on the rocks and a little patch of greenish plant stuff on the rock. Could it be that I am already cycled? I should be seeing a little of the nitrates or nitrites right? The ammonia looks to me to be between .25ppm and .50ppm. It has never gone any higher. Frustrated!

 

[thincat]

As long as you are showing ammonia you are not through with your cycle. Give it a few more days to see if removing the shrimp finishes your cycle.

 

[akasha]

Thanks. I removed the shrimp days ago. I only had it in the tank for 3 or so days. The ammonia amounts remained the same before and after the shrimp. I was just reading about the Aptasia anemone. Apparently I have two of these little hitchhikers in my rock.

 

[thincat]

If you can remove the rock, now would be the time to get rid of them. Take the rock out and burn the aiptasia off the rock with a lighter or match. Be safe and don't burn yourself or your house.

 

[akasha]

So, I had my water tested over the weekend and they said my water was good to go. So, I pick up a few damsels to start out with. Two were dead by the next morning. The other one was doing great...eating, swimming around etc...now he has Ich. Seriously? I can't catch a break...going to start treatment on him tonight. There is nothing else in the tank, so I guess I will treat him, hope I can cure it and my tank doesn't get harmed too much.

 

[thincat]

you can't treat the fish in your tank. It will kill all your bacteria!!!!!!!!!!!! Please don't treat with any medications or Hypo in your tank.....

 

[thincat]

How did you acclimate your fish? Other two either died by poor acclimation or your water still has ammonia or high nitrite levels.

 

[akasha]

Yeah..getting that from everything I am reading. I am going to set up a q-tank tonight. I am just so dang frustrated. Right now, I am trying to find a cheap-o tank to setup a q-tank with. I have my old hotb filter so I can use that. I bought a new bio-wheel so, that is what is currently running on the main tank. Will it be ok to just set up the q-tank with my current water and put him in there? I swear I am not stupid about this..I am just frustrated. I had a beautiful SW tank years ago, but this time it's seems much more difficult.

 

[thincat]

Yes you can use the water from the DT, but you still have to keep tabs on the water parameters in case you get an amonia spike.

 

[thincat]

Do not add anything to the DT as it will have to sit emtpy to kill the ich you brought in with the Damsels. At least 6-8 weeks now.

 

[akasha]

Fabulous. I guess that is what I get for being naive.

 

[thincat]

How are you treating the damsel? Can you return it to the LFS? It was their mistake as much as it was your's.

 

[akasha]

I haven't yet. Noticed it this morning. I will be taking him out of the dt tonight..hopefully by having a qt tank set up for him. I am sure if I take him back to the LFS they will just let him die. I think he has better chance with me, if you would believe that. I have been reading about the hypo salinity. Best way to go? I assume it will be fairly easy to bring the salinity down with a new qt tank. Thoughts?

 

[pat8you]

I would check to make sure you don't still have either ammonia or nitrites in your tank. It sounds a lot like the LFS said your water was good to go when it was not. Looking at the time frame on your posts i really think you were not finished cycling. I agree with thincat. I would take the damsels back to your LFS since they gave you such bad information.