New To Marine Tank

[G1203]

Nice looking tank!!! Trust me waiting and patience is most important in saltwater.

 

[CatoeSc]

Nice looking tank!!! Trust me waiting and patience is most important in saltwater.

Yeah, I'm not in a hurry on this. It will be at least a couple of days before I even add a fish. (Kidding)

The live rock is cured and it's live sand, so I'm not sure what kind of cycle to expect. This is my first SW, so I'm going to move slow. I'm not planning to add any fish for about 3 weeks, assuming I get a full cycle.

What about inverts? Somebody told me I could add snails and crabs within a week! That doesn't seem like sound advice, though. Thoughts?

 

[G1203]

I didn't even have a cycle on my tank. I had all cured live rock. A ton of live sand and a bottle of bacteria and I was testing and testing for weeks realizing my ammonia never spiked. Lol

 

[CatoeSc]

Well, I'm all set up, now. Fought through a minor issue with a small leak in my return from the sump. Too much water pressure, so I had water coming out of the end of the line. Plastic aquarium clips wouldn't do the trick, so I went to the hardware store and got a clamp I could tighten with a screw. No more leak!

The overflow box is a bit loud. Any tips on quietening that thing down would be helpful. Other than that, all is going well. Despite 30 total pounds of sand and 23 pounds of live rock, I still have room for a little over 30 gallons of water between my 25 gallon display and 10 gallon sump.

Can't wait to get through the cycle! My son will be so excited! He still has no idea.

Question- lights and skimmer- on or off during cycle?

 

[Mebbid]

For the noise on the overflow check out a

 

[CatoeSc]

Just some pics of where I am for now.

 

[CatoeSc]

Algae bloom had begun. As much as I hate it, I guess this is just one if the required parts of the process. Question is, do I just let it run its course? Do I try to keep it clean? Basically, what are my next steps?

 

[G1203]

What color is the algae?

 

[CatoeSc]

What color is the algae?

Brown. Starting on the sand. Looks like toasted breadcrumbs.

 

[G1203]

It could be diatoms. I got them really bad and they eventually just go away.

 

[CatoeSc]

It could be diatoms. I got them really bad and they eventually just go away.

Googled pics-that's exactly what I've got.

 

[G1203]

Yah they will go away soon just hope you don't get cyano bacteria like I did. I had to buy chemiclean but it cleared up pretty fast!

 

[Mebbid]

Yeah, everyone gets diatoms. Especially in salt water. Thankfully mine only lasted about 2 weeks. After that was some terrifying spots of hair algae that went away all on their own.

 

[CatoeSc]

Yeah. I'm not too worried. I've only been up and running for a week, so I'm still early in the process. However, why would my nitrates steadily increase if I'm not getting the ammonia and nitrite numbers first?

I've added a good amount of frozen food over the last 2 days, so I oughtn't see some ammonia soon. Just seemed wired.

 

[G1203]

If your nitrates are increasing do a good water change.

 

[Mebbid]

Yeah. I'm not too worried. I've only been up and running for a week, so I'm still early in the process. However, why would my nitrates steadily increase if I'm not getting the ammonia and nitrite numbers first?

I've added a good amount of frozen food over the last 2 days, so I oughtn't see some ammonia soon. Just seemed wired.

Well, you said the live rock was pre cured so it's basically the same as if you had added an established filter to the tank.

 

[carey]

Yep, if you added all live rock then it's kinda like you did a tank transfer. The only die off would be from transporting the rock which should have been minimal.

You can test the cycle by dosing ammonia and seeing if it disappears within 24 hours if you like.

 

[CatoeSc]

Yep, if you added all live rock then it's kinda like you did a tank transfer. The only die off would be from transporting the rock which should have been minimal.

You can test the cycle by dosing ammonia and seeing if it disappears within 24 hours if you like.

Yeah, I've got about 27 lbs of live rock and a total of 30 lbs of live sand (between refugium and tank). It's been in there for a week now.

I have added some frozen food (mysis shrimp) starting a couple of days ago. Still no spike. I just added my algae to the sump to officially make it a refugium. Should I start to see nitrates go down?

If I don't see ammonia go up, can I start adding cleaner crew?

 

[carey]

You wont see the nitrates go down by themselves, you'll have to do a water change for that to happen.

 

[CatoeSc]

You wont see the nitrates go down by themselves, you'll have to do a water change for that to happen.

Thanks. I thought the macro algae in the refugium was supposed to help with nitrates. Is that true at all?