New tank setup. This can't be right.... can it?

[Aphyosemion]

Okay, so my 40 gallon breeder tank has been set up for a month or a little longer now. I have 30 lbs of fiji premium live rock in it and 4 to 5 inches of sand for a DSB. The live rock is set on top of a base rock shelf that stands just above the sand bed.
The live rock looked gorgeous when I got it, but it was uncured and had a LOT of dead crap on it. It was much more than I expected. Anyway, the tank has kindof turned into a swamp since then, with various algaes and what appears to be cyanobacteria popping up under the high lighting for such a short tank. I have a Coralife light over it and the rock comes up almost to the surface of the water, so the light tends to be pretty intense. Anyway, that's not my question. I knew it would be a while before it was anywhere near the parameters I am aiming for, so I have just been letting it cure, with weekly water changes of about 10-20%. I finally sat down the other day and busted out all the test kits to find out how it was progressing. The parameters were as follows:
Nitrate - 0
Nitrite - 0 to .1, it was a little hard to tell on the chart
Alk - 5 meq/l
Salinity - 1.025 (tested by refractometer)
Temp - Varies from 78 to 81 or so, unfortunately. I have a glass lid that I really don't want to take off unless I can't even out the temps.
I have not tested for ammonia or phosphate yet, since they are both borderline irrelevant at this point, since I have nothing in the tank.

So, with all that down I question strongly the nitrate reading. I have a subsurface Seaclone skimmer (yes I know) that skims like nobody's business. It seems impossible that I have 0 nitrate though. I know it should be skimming the proteins off, but a reading of ZERO? Does that sound right?
There is nothing in the tank at the moment, but some little worms and some kind of tiny larvae that have hatched off of the rock.
-Aphyosemion

[Geoff]

why do you think that sounds odd. after a month without any critters your biological filtrations should be fine. the algae and cyano are a part of cycling a new tank. the better the skimmer the shorter this will be.

the stuff on the LR has died a while ago, so you are not getting any new monster sources of ammonia.

you tank is coming a long nicely. dealing with getting the biological filtration up to par is only part of cycling a tank. surviving the various algae outbreaks is the hard part. just take your time.

G~

[Jasontkd]

since you are using a light cycle during curing, this could explain the algae outbreaks. Your levels could very easily be correct after a month, all rock cures differently. However, I would not dismiss checking my ammonia. if that is high, the your nitrites and nitrates could be zero and your rock is still in the middle of cycling.

[Flame]

You do not need much lighting cut the lighting back to a few hours a day. Algae needs light to grow.

[Loverotties]

you mite be in the middle of the cycle.

[motorslave]

Yes algae needs light to grow but so do some of the good life forms that come in on the rock! If you have to wait for the cycle anyways, I would say just keep the lights and let the life grow! Algae is part of the equasion! Use the light to let things run the course and to help with things like coraline and such! JMO

Robert

[Aphyosemion]

That was my thought exactly, Motorslave. No sense letting everything that needs light die, plus the algae eventually will go away unless I fail to balance my tank somehow. The reason a nitrate reading of 0 seems impossible is that nitrate is the end product of the nitrogen cycle (at least in the tank). In my freshwater planted tanks it is often at zero because the plants pull it out like mad, but there is nothing in my SW tank that is removing it, but the skimmer and partial water changes. I actually was expecting it to be unacceptably high, considering all the rotten crap that was on the rocks when it arrived. Granted that was a while ago, but it seems unbelievable that a skimmer, especially one as unpopular as the Seaclone could be that efficient.

-Aphyosemion

[Geoff]

there is plenty of filtration there to remove Nitrates, the LR. actually any surface that is completely submerged 100% of the time will contain the bacteria needed to convert nitrates to N. you can throw this out of ballance if you have a wet/dry area. these semi-submerged area do not support the bacteria needed to convert Nitrate to N. this really a problem as you put more critters in a system. the wastes from the critters will be converted by the wet/dry part first leaving nitrates. these nitrates are less likely to be processed by the nitrate bacteria because they are already processing nitrates from the bacteria right next to them.

G~

[DSB]

Why do people wait to start testing. You need to start testing right away, a baseline needs to be established so you know what your looking for and when it happens! Ammonia Is the first thing you should look for, that is the start of the cycle. Imo that should be tested everyday when you start. Mabey I'm wrong. If you wait 2-3 weeks to test you have NO idea where you are IMO.

[Geoff]

Originally Posted by DSB

Why do people wait to start testing. You need to start testing right away, a baseline needs to be established so you know what your looking for and when it happens! Ammonia Is the first thing you should look for, that is the start of the cycle. Imo that should be tested everyday when you start. Mabey I'm wrong. If you wait 2-3 weeks to test you have NO idea where you are IMO.

i never test anymore when starting up a new tank. i have done it so many times that i do not find it necessary. now after saying that, i never add critters to a tank that i am starting up until at least 1 month cycling. the last 2 tanks were cycling for 2 months before critters were added. some say this is excessive, but i just do not like the stress of dealing with all of those annoying algae blooms. if there is nothing in there than there is no reason to care how overgrown it is. as long as the maintenance is kept up the algae will go away.

after doing it for 15+ years you can tell when a tank is ready. just watch the freebies that come in on the LR.

G~

[DSB]

Originally Posted by Geoff

i never test anymore when starting up a new tank. i have done it so many times that i do not find it necessary. now after saying that, i never add critters to a tank that i am starting up until at least 1 month cycling. the last 2 tanks were cycling for 2 months before critters were added. some say this is excessive, but i just do not like the stress of dealing with all of those annoying algae blooms. if there is nothing in there than there is no reason to care how overgrown it is. as long as the maintenance is kept up the algae will go away.

after doing it for 15+ years you can tell when a tank is ready. just watch the freebies that come in on the LR.

G~

after doing it for 15+ years you can tell when a tank is ready. just watch the freebies that come in on the Lr

If he had been doing it 15yr he would not be asking this question.

[dobejazz]

I have yet to test the water in my tank thats been up for 3 weeks. To me it seems a PIA and a waste of test kits. But then I'm not rushing on this tank either I don't plan on really adding anything until mid December at the earliest. I will say on my first reef I tested all the time but I rushed adding livestock and made poor choices both coral and fish wise.

[DSB]

Originally Posted by dobejazz

I have yet to test the water in my tank thats been up for 3 weeks. To me it seems a PIA and a waste of test kits. But then I'm not rushing on this tank either I don't plan on really adding anything until mid December at the earliest. I will say on my first reef I tested all the time but I rushed adding livestock and made poor choices both coral and fish wise.

How will you know when to do this?


After the ammonia and nitrite levels drop to zero, as soon as possible or at least within 5 days, perform a complete water change.

• Tip: No water changes should be performed or ammonia destroying products of any kind be added while the tank is cycling, as this only delays and drags out the completion of the process.

Tidy Things Up Rinse out or replace any type of "mechanical" water filtering materials such as flosses, cartridges, sponges or pads. Clean off the front tank panel, and lightly siphon out any organic waste and/or nuisance type algae that may be on the "surface" of the substrate, and only the surface. Remember, beneficial nitrobacters grow on all surfaces in the aquarium, and at this stage they are still maturing, so you only want to do light maintenance as not to strip them away and weaken their numbers.

[dobejazz]

I wasn't planning to do a "complete" water change ever. I'm new at this but I've never heard or read that you need to do complete water change when your ammonia and nitrite levels drop to zero. I would like to know the source of that information so I can check it out. Is the "tidying things up" to be performed at the same time as the complete waterchange?

[DSB]

http://saltaquarium.about.com/cs/bio...a/aa073199.htm