New 60 Gallon Marine Tank

[Metamorphosis]

Hi All,

Ive just set up a 60 gallon tank and I have just done some water tests after 1 week.
Nitrite is 0, Nitrate is 20 ppm, ph is 8.8.
I am using air stones and a deep sand bed for filtration, is this normal to have 0 nitrite after only 1 week.
Also the water is a brown colour I don,t know if it's the sand churning or something else.
Will the water clear in time.
Thanks

[Dragonist]

To confirm the water has a brown like haze? In most cases with the setting up a new tank and applying the sand to the tank water will become cloudly. Without additives applied to the tank it can some time to clear up.

[quick_murdoc]

+1

Just give it time if it doesnt clear up in a couple weeks then you might have something up with the tank. But it takes time.

[Metamorphosis]

Originally Posted by Dragonist

To confirm the water has a brown like haze? In most cases with the setting up a new tank and applying the sand to the tank water will become cloudly. Without additives applied to the tank it can some time to clear up.

Thanks, I am excited about getting fish for my tank, but I know it takes time for the tank to cycle, thats why im thinking i must wait for the water to clear and when it does it should be ready, maybe in 8 weeks from now I hope.
I decided not to use pumps as I had 12 pumps and they all stopped working, im using air and a dsb, I will add some live rock eventually and some strip tubes but thats about it.
I have not decide what fish I want yet but will put a flame angel in at some point,

Thanks

[Jnicho]

If you don't have any live rock, what is there to cycle? If all you have is sand and water you're not going to see very much if any cycle...the die off from the rock is generally where people get the "fuel" for the cycle and also the bacteria that consume the ammonia, No3 & No4...what type of sand did you use?

[Metamorphosis]

Originally Posted by Jnicho

If you don't have any live rock, what is there to cycle? If all you have is sand and water you're not going to see very much if any cycle...the die off from the rock is generally where people get the "fuel" for the cycle and also the bacteria that consume the ammonia, No3 & No4...what type of sand did you use?

Hi, Im using aragonite but the finest sand, really fine white and australian gold thats slightly larger particles.
Ive filled my tank its been bubbling away for a week but the water is brown you can't see anything at all.
I did some tests and nitrite was 0, ph 8.8 and nitrate was 20ppm.
I have added some waterlife bacteria, this has 2 types of bacteria, the sand is very good at creating bacterial colonies.
I don't have any other equipment, and theres no live rock yet.
I thought you could only add the rock once the tank was cycled, I plan to add some rock but everything is external so there is a lot of room for fish to swim around.
Thanks

[Jnicho]

If you are going to add rock, I would go ahead and do it...IMO/IME the bacteria in a bottle will not give you want you want/need to get your filtration started...you need some live sand from an established tank or some live rock to seed the sand bed...adding live rock later will likely cause the tank to cycle again...as your tank sits currently you don't have anything to start a cycle...you need some type of dead/decaying matter to jump start it...live rock typically has enough die off to accomplish this...or you can put a small piece of raw table shrimp in the tank for a few days...or even add a small amount of bottled ammonia directly to the water (just make sure it's pure ammonia, not scented).

As for being cloudy, is your "bubbling" continually stirring the sand? Generally new sand will clear up/settle out in a day or two.

[Metamorphosis]

Originally Posted by Jnicho

If you are going to add rock, I would go ahead and do it...IMO/IME the bacteria in a bottle will not give you want you want/need to get your filtration started...you need some live sand from an established tank or some live rock to seed the sand bed...adding live rock later will likely cause the tank to cycle again...as your tank sits currently you don't have anything to start a cycle...you need some type of dead/decaying matter to jump start it...live rock typically has enough die off to accomplish this...or you can put a small piece of raw table shrimp in the tank for a few days...or even add a small amount of bottled ammonia directly to the water (just make sure it's pure ammonia, not scented).

As for being cloudy, is your "bubbling" continually stirring the sand? Generally new sand will clear up/settle out in a day or two.

Oh, thanks for the advice, I will get some live rock as soon as I can, I have some tubeworm I will put that into my tank.
I will keep posting to let you know the progress of my tank.

[Loverotties]

Yes ,you should have all the rock inside the tank now,or you will start anougher cycle later.

[aquawolf]

Weclome to TRT!!!

[Metamorphosis]

Hi all,

I am getting some live rock next week but because it is expensive I can only get a bit at a time.
Ive seen some dried live rock which is quite a lot cheaper than the cured rock.
If I put dried rock into my tank eventually it will turn into cured rock I have read.
If so how long will that take and I still have brown water so hopefully adding this rock will eliminate this problem.

Thanks

[aquawolf]

You can definitely use the dead rock as what most refer to as base rock to get your system started. The live rock you add to the tank will seed the sand and the other rock and get things going in the right direction.

Since you are just starting out, you may want to do a search on here for Cooking Rock and check out some of the information on that. It will actually help purge much of the bad stuff out of the rocks and give you a better start to a successful reef. You will have to be patient though as all of these things are going to take some time.

[Metamorphosis]

Originally Posted by aquawolf

You can definitely use the dead rock as what most refer to as base rock to get your system started. The live rock you add to the tank will seed the sand and the other rock and get things going in the right direction.

Since you are just starting out, you may want to do a search on here for Cooking Rock and check out some of the information on that. It will actually help purge much of the bad stuff out of the rocks and give you a better start to a successful reef. You will have to be patient though as all of these things are going to take some time.

I realize my setup is going to take some time I just hope everything settles and my water goes clear - but it will be worth it in the end when I get to the point where I can add a fish or two, thanks for the advice.

[aquawolf]

I wish you the best with your new addiction.

[Metamorphosis]

I thought I would update you on the status of my tank.
I had a brown water problem but I think that was because I was driving large amounts of air into the tank and it was churning up the sand, but anyway since turning the air off the tank has cleared considerably.
I still want the air but will have to find a way to not churn the sand, any ideas?.
Also I am using reverse flow for my dsb, I have added some dried live rock and will be adding this on a regular basis, because of the cost its my only option.
I thought about getting a galleon for my tank so the fish will have places to hide etc, its made of a resin, will this be ok should be, I will add rock around it I think I will go for about 10 kilos of this rock very good quality has fossil type animals on it.
I need some lights I thought about some tubes and a metal halide, I would switch lighting using a timer to keep the electric at a reasonable usage, as I want to add a sea anemone at some point, but understand I need a mature system before I do this.

Thanks