Started a 125 Gallon Salt Water Reef Tank

[TheTodd]

The "pound per gallon" for rock is a good general rule. It does not need to be in the display though.


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[Firaymark]

The "pound per gallon" for rock is a good general rule. It does not need to be in the display though.

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OK. However do I need to have that much live rock? If I don't would it create a issue for my tank?

 

[Firaymark]

I can get live Fiji rock with caroline algae from a tank that is 4 years old. What your opinion on having caroline algae on Fiji rock? Is this good to have?

 

[Firaymark]

Found a great article on fishless cycle. This was written from a guy on this forum. Well written article. I plan to do follow this using ammonia.

The (almost) Complete Guide and FAQ to Fishless Cycling
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums...ng-148283.html

 

[Firaymark]

When the cycle is done, you will have to do water changes to get the nitrAtes down.

Before I dosed last night, I checked my levels. I had 0.25ppm Ammonia, 0.25 Nitrite and 5.0ppm Nitrate. I have been cycling for 15 days now. I have seen the ammonia spike to 2ppm and come back down to 0.25ppm. I have added good filter sponge/substrate from an established tank. I decided to add pure Ammonia Hydroxide which caused a peak of 8ppm. I think added a little too much. I added 10mL for 150 gallon tank (tank=125 gallon, sump=30 gallon). I will measure the ammonia concentration this evening and see what reading is. Once the reading drops to 0ppm I will dose again back up to 4ppm using 5mL of Ammonia Hydroxide. I will see how long it will take to drop back down. Keep you posted.

 

[spoonman]

Sounds like a good plan!

 

[Firaymark]

I checked my level daily after dosing to 8ppm Ammonia. Day 1: 4ppm, Day 2: 2ppm, Day 3: 0ppm. pH has been steady at 8. Nitrite is at 5ppm, Nitrate at 20ppm. As of Day 3 I added 5mL of ammonia hydroxide to dose back up to 4ppm. I will wait and see if it comes back down to 0ppm Ammonia in 24hrs. I have been using 28-30% Ammonia Hydroxide ACS lab grade solution. You can't get any better purity than this stuff.


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[spoonman]

Look like you are on the right track. When you get ammonia and nitrite to get to 0ppm in 24 hours you are good to go. Well done!

 

[Firaymark]

Look like you are on the right track. When you get ammonia and nitrite to get to 0ppm in 24 hours you are good to go. Well done!

OK. I will keep you posted. What is your opinion on seeding tank with Zooplankton? I hear I can minimize on feeding dried/frozen food. Also, helps to keep Nitrate and Phosphates down minimizing Algae issues. I was thinking about going this route. I understanding I still have to feed with phytoplankton 2-3 times a week. It will act like a self sufficient system other than water changes and testing the system.

 

[Firaymark]

Look like you are on the right track. When you get ammonia and nitrite to get to 0ppm in 24 hours you are good to go. Well done!

So I check my Ammonia levels after 24hrs and it came down to 0ppm. I am happy about that. My Nitrite levels are stable at 5ppm after two days and my Nitrate is creeping up to 40ppm from 20 ppm. I dosed again last night and increased to 4ppm of Ammonia. I will check again to see if it comes down to 0ppm after 24hrs. How long will it take for the Nitrites to come down? Once both Ammonia and Nitrites are at 0ppm and Nitrates are high how much of water should I remove? I feel I am more than half way there.

 

[spoonman]

How much water you remove will determine the nitrate levels. I would do one huge one. If you have 80ppm nitrates and do a 50% water change, you will bring them down to 40ppm and so on. Once the bacterial colony is established you could conceivably change all the water and be ok. I would do 75 to 80 percent and check levels. Opinions may vary.


I think once my ammonia was being processed in 24 hours, the nitrites took about another week. Not 100% sure.

 

[Firaymark]

How much water you remove will determine the nitrate levels. I would do one huge one. If you have 80ppm nitrates and do a 50% water change, you will bring them down to 40ppm and so on. Once the bacterial colony is established you could conceivably change all the water and be ok. I would do 75 to 80 percent and check levels. Opinions may vary.

I think once my ammonia was being processed in 24 hours, the nitrites took about another week. Not 100% sure.

OK. So I wont dose with ammonia if the level comes back down in 24hrs this evening. I will wait for Nitrite levels to drop to 0ppm. Regarding water changes, can I change water over three days. Like do 30 gallons per day which will total 90 gallons just saying if my Nitrate level was over 80ppm.

 

[spoonman]

Keep dosing the ammonia back to 4ppm. The ammonia is simulating fish waste. That will be constant. Just keep in mind that you will only reduce the nitrate by the percent that you change each time. ie... two 50% water changes doesn't equal one 100% water change. say you start with 80ppm nitrates. One 50% water change will make it 40ppm. another 50% water change will make it 20ppm. If you do one water change of 100%, you should have 0ppm. Bigger water changes are better in my opinion.

 

[Firaymark]

Keep dosing the ammonia back to 4ppm. The ammonia is simulating fish waste. That will be constant. Just keep in mind that you will only reduce the nitrate by the percent that you change each time. ie... two 50% water changes doesn't equal one 100% water change. say you start with 80ppm nitrates. One 50% water change will make it 40ppm. another 50% water change will make it 20ppm. If you do one water change of 100%, you should have 0ppm. Bigger water changes are better in my opinion.

OK. I will follow that instruction for water changes. When do I stop dosing with Ammonia? I am on my 19th day of cycle. I have 40 pounds of live rock in my 125 gallon. Do I need to buy more? I don't like too much in my aquarium however I don't mind adding in my sump. I have about 5 pounds of crushed coral in my sump.

 

[spoonman]

I always continue to dose to 4ppm every day until it goes to 0ppm ammonia and 0ppm nitrites in 24 hours. Then do the water changes and add fish. That is what your fish will do once they are in the tank.

 

[Firaymark]

I always continue to dose to 4ppm every day until it goes to 0ppm ammonia and 0ppm nitrites in 24 hours. Then do the water changes and add fish. That is what your fish will do once they are in the tank.

OK. I will do this. I am happy with the progress.

What is your opinion regarding the quantity of live rock I need for my 125 gallon tank? If I can hold a good bio-load/filtering then I don't need so much live rock. Correct?

 

[spoonman]

A pound per gallon is a good rule of thumb, but it can vary with how heavily you are going to stock....etc.

 

[Firaymark]

So I check my Ammonia levels after 24hrs and it came down to 0ppm. I am happy about that. My Nitrite levels are stable at 5ppm after two days and my Nitrate is creeping up to 40ppm from 20 ppm. I dosed again last night and increased to 4ppm of Ammonia. I will check again to see if it comes down to 0ppm after 24hrs. How long will it take for the Nitrites to come down? Once both Ammonia and Nitrites are at 0ppm and Nitrates are high how much of water should I remove? I feel I am more than half way there.

I checked my Ammonia levels last night again and it dropped to 0ppm in 24 hrs (Three days consecutively it have dropped back down to 0ppm). My Nitrite levels are still at 5ppm. I did not check Nitrate levels. I dosed again to 4ppm Ammonia. I will observe tonight again. My Nitrite levels should be dropping soon. Just don't know when. I am happy to see little critters on my live rock and glass.
I just realized I only have a 55 gallon drum so I will be only able to change ~45% out of the 125 gallon at a time. I wont be able to do a 90% water change all on one day. I all filling barrel with RO/DI water so it takes almost 15 hours to fill barrel. I will have to do it over two day when I get to that stage.

 

[Firaymark]

I always continue to dose to 4ppm every day until it goes to 0ppm ammonia and 0ppm nitrites in 24 hours. Then do the water changes and add fish. That is what your fish will do once they are in the tank.

I dosed last night with 5mL Ammonia Hydroxide and I get a spike of 4ppm after checking 30 mins later. Last night I dosed 5mL of Ammonia Hydroxide and checked 4 hours later and my reading was showing 1ppm. Is it possible that my Ammonia in the tank was used up by the bacteria in 4 hours. I didn't expect to see a drop that fast. Is this a good thing that my tank is processing and removing ammonia this fast?
My Nitrite is still showing 5ppm however I am starting to see the colour get a little lighter. its between 3-5ppm.

 

[spoonman]

You are on your way! Keep it up. Shouldn't be long now. It is good that you are processing the ammonia fast. Now the nitrite will start to process and you will be done!