Spotted
Aquarium Advice Freak
Hi guys new to the forum and saltwater aquaria! I am so glad I found this web site! Well this is my first trust into saltwater tanks. I was always afraid of saltwater with all the this and that. I've had fresh water for years and decided to take the leap after my beloved koi died, or I killed it.
So I got a new 120 tank and new stand. I have an Eheim 2080 canister filter and 2 korlia 1050 power heads. Right now I am up to 50 pounds of live rock also 80 pounds of live sand.
I was following the advice of my brother who has had salt water tanks in the past and began cycking with some dead shrimp. It worked great, then I added more LR. I also read the awesome article on fish less cycling. At this point the 3 shrimp I put in had completely decayed after 3 weeks. So I thought it would be a great idea to cycle the new rock the fish less way. Was this wrong? Anyway, the article doesn't really say just how much ammonia to use so I figured 120 gallons, a cup of ammonia should be like just a little bit. Wow.. I went from 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites, 5 nitrates to off the scale ammonia. The tube turned blue. Anyone ever seen that?
That was just this weekend, so 80 gallons of water change later, I am at 2ppm ammonia, 20 nitrites and 20 nitrates. Live and learn I guess.
So I got a new 120 tank and new stand. I have an Eheim 2080 canister filter and 2 korlia 1050 power heads. Right now I am up to 50 pounds of live rock also 80 pounds of live sand.
I was following the advice of my brother who has had salt water tanks in the past and began cycking with some dead shrimp. It worked great, then I added more LR. I also read the awesome article on fish less cycling. At this point the 3 shrimp I put in had completely decayed after 3 weeks. So I thought it would be a great idea to cycle the new rock the fish less way. Was this wrong? Anyway, the article doesn't really say just how much ammonia to use so I figured 120 gallons, a cup of ammonia should be like just a little bit. Wow.. I went from 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites, 5 nitrates to off the scale ammonia. The tube turned blue. Anyone ever seen that?
That was just this weekend, so 80 gallons of water change later, I am at 2ppm ammonia, 20 nitrites and 20 nitrates. Live and learn I guess.