problems with my 90gal saltwater tank

[Becca4595]

i started a 90gallon tank near the end of February let it run with live sand and rock for about a week was told to add some clowns as "tester fish". everything was going great so i bought a few corals (all different kinds xenia acans zooanthids green hammer) everything was great so i bought a metallic foxface and got my purple tang back from a friend.. about 2 weeks ago maybe a little longer my ammonia was a little high so i bought some ammonia lock and put that in. everything was still doing great for about a week until the ammonia got worse. corals looked like crap and my fish were eating but not swimming as great as usual so i moved everything to my brothers hospital tank about a week ago. my ammonia is still sky high and i really dk why.. im assuming its cycling?? any suggestions??

 

[spoonman]

Your assumption is right! You never cycled the tank. I suggest dosing with pure ammonia and let the cycle happen. Watch for spike in nitrItes and then it will go to zero. When you dose to 3-4ppm ammonia and the ammonia and nitrItes go to zero within 24 hours, you will do a big water change to get the nitrAtes down and you can SLOWLY introduce your fish and corals back in. Dont put all back in at once or you will cause a spike and just have more problems.

 

[Becca4595]

i should dose with more ammonia?!?! its already at the highest level on the card when i test it lol. and the nitrite and nitrate are in the middle of the card.. im at work so i dk that exact numbers of the levels.

 

[spoonman]

No, if the ammonia is already high, dont dose. Just test the ammonia and nitrItes and watch for them to go to 0ppm. Then dose with pure ammonia and it should go to 0ppm in less than 24 hours. When you can dose to 3-4 ppm ammonia and the ammonia and nitrItes go to 0ppm in 24 hours, you will have extremely high nitrAtes. Then big water changes to get the nitrAtes down. Then you will be good to go to add fish SLOWLY.

 

[Becca4595]

ok thank you very much! how long does the cycle usually tank a month?

 

[spoonman]

Depending on how much live rock and how cured it was, could be from a week to 6 weeks. I had a ton of cured live rock and my cycle lasted 6 days. YMMV!

 

[Becca4595]

most of the rock i put in had no growth on it at all id say about 10-15 lbs was cured.. i guess ill have to be patient :/. how much of a water change should i do when everything is back to normal.. you say big? as in 20gall?