5 month no cycle?

[haninja]

5 month no cycle?

I have a 20 gl tank that I have started about 5 month ago. I started it as fish only with 20lb live sand and 15lb base rock. I let the tank sit for about 2 weeks before putting some fish. At the time I was a complete rooky and didn’t do much water tests based on (bad) advise fro the LFS.
The base rock gradually began to be coated with green algae and for the last couple of month I have been fighting red slime. Also the sand is turning brow…
2 weeks ago I replace the base rock with 25lb live rock introduced in stages. It was quite noticeable that the older LR was getting coated with brown stuff.
I have never seen any coralline algae forming.
I started monitoring the levels recently using master test strips. (I know, I should buy the real liquid test). Haven’t seen any spikes of ammonia, nitrite or nitrate.
I still have the same fish I started with 5 month ago: 1 clown, 2 damsels and 1 cardinal.
I wasn’t doing many water changes at the beginning. In the last month or so I was doing 5gl 2-3 times a month.

Can it be that the tank never cycled in 5 month???

Here’s what I have:
20Lb LS
25LB LR
Fluval 104 with carbon, phosphate sponge, biomix
No skimmer
5 black snails
1 clown, 2 damsels and 1 cardinal
4 new turbo snails
3 new hermit crabs
2x65w compact 10K and actinic.

I also want to turn it into a reef. Any recommendation how to move forward? I got some purple-up by carib-sea to “encourage� coralline.

Thanks.

[burton14e7]

Hmm, maybe you just forgot to mention but it seems you're lacking flow wich is a major factor in salt water health. Thats the big thing that stuck out at me. You probably don't have a sump so I would shoot for a couple powerheads in the range of 300 or a big one around 600+ The tank probably cycled while you weren't testing, it doesn't take long to cycle and you're fish are still alive. Might want to switch out the filter media if you haven't already. You also have a good amount of light for not having corals, maybe keep just one of the 65's on for awhile to stunt algae growth. Not sure how long you keep them on but something to consider is your photo period. Just my personal preference but I don't like dosing anything other than plankton(food) and two part solutions. I think everything else is marketing gimmicks. HTH

[davidryder]

You shouldn't have replaced your base rock, it should have been live rock in 5 months. Just because there is no coralline doesn't mean anything other than you don't have the conditions needed for coralline.

The strips aren't worth anything. They are easily contaminated and in my experience are hardly accurate.

You should pick up "The Conscientious Marine Aquarist" by Robert Fenner. It's a great book and might teach you a few things you are short on. Good luck! And be patient!

[haninja]

Thanks for the quick responses. I did forget to mention that I have one powerhead. I don’t remember how strong it is but I’m sure I can add another one…
For now, I’m limiting the photo period to 5 hours. I upgraded my lighting to prepare for a reef setup.

[burton14e7]

Well it appears your heading for success, just be patient and get into a weekly maintenance routine and never use tap water. Some people will state they've had success with tap water and will argue about it, but regardless best practice is to use ro/di for top off and/or mixing your own salt.

[eidillitih]

Originally posted by burton14e7
Well it appears your heading for success, just be patient and get into a weekly maintenance routine and never use tap water. Some people will state they've had success with tap water and will argue about it, but regardless best practice is to use ro/di for top off and/or mixing your own salt.

I agree and also trust me, your tank has cycle with four fish in five months. You coralline will come in time, but you need to make sure your calcium, alkalinity and mag. is correct range in order to get the coralline growing. Once they are within range to get it growing fast, buy you a little piece that cover in coralline and place it in you tank. It will help jump start your coralline.