Hi everybody!
I've been wanting to get into the hobby since summer, and now I finally have the funds to get my tank started. I've been lurking around for a while on here and several other forums learning as much as I can about nano reefs.
Here is my setup:
Standard 10G tank
Stock lighting (will upgrade before I get corals)
AC20 no mods
8lbs live rock
10lbs live sand
100W heater
Koralia nano 240
I picked up my LR, LS, from my friends uncles LFS. He also threw in some water from his established reef for me too.
Order of pictures:
first day putting in sand rock and water
couple days later after water was clear
just painted the background black this weekend
got my test API kit today and the parameters look like
pH 8.1 ammonia .25ppm nitrites 0ppm nitrates 160ppm+
I haven't been dosing the tank with an ammonia source, because I don't want to use the shrimp method, nor do I want to do a fish cycle. But it seems to me that I'm nearing the end of the cycle. I don't understand completely why my nitrates are off the charts, and why I still have ammonia if I have no source of it.. Could it possibly be because I got the water from an established tank already and the live rock already being cured? I also noticed diatoms (or at least what I believe to be) developing a couple days ago on the sand bed and live rock.
Looking forward to some feedback!
I've been wanting to get into the hobby since summer, and now I finally have the funds to get my tank started. I've been lurking around for a while on here and several other forums learning as much as I can about nano reefs.
Here is my setup:
Standard 10G tank
Stock lighting (will upgrade before I get corals)
AC20 no mods
8lbs live rock
10lbs live sand
100W heater
Koralia nano 240
I picked up my LR, LS, from my friends uncles LFS. He also threw in some water from his established reef for me too.
Order of pictures:
first day putting in sand rock and water
couple days later after water was clear
just painted the background black this weekend
got my test API kit today and the parameters look like
pH 8.1 ammonia .25ppm nitrites 0ppm nitrates 160ppm+
I haven't been dosing the tank with an ammonia source, because I don't want to use the shrimp method, nor do I want to do a fish cycle. But it seems to me that I'm nearing the end of the cycle. I don't understand completely why my nitrates are off the charts, and why I still have ammonia if I have no source of it.. Could it possibly be because I got the water from an established tank already and the live rock already being cured? I also noticed diatoms (or at least what I believe to be) developing a couple days ago on the sand bed and live rock.
Looking forward to some feedback!