the full story

aloysiusblue · 01/24/2006, 11:03 AM

i am very very new to this hobby. i read up on things every day. as much as possible. i want to make sure i am doing things atleast close to correct.

i bought a 25 gallon tank, a formosa lighting fixture (one blue bulb and one white 65watts each), a bak bak 2 (protien skimmer and biolagical filter), 17 pounds of live rock, and live sand. i accidentally initially filled my tank with tap water. the day after i got my tank up and running a put my light on a timer to go on for 8 hours a day. i left for vacation for a week while i let the tank cycle a bit. when i came back from vacation algea was everywhere!! i cleaned it off the sides of the tank and did a 7 gallon water change using distilled water. the rock was covered in dark brown algea. i bought a bunch of crabs and snails to clean the algea off teh rock. i also bout 13 pounds of more rock. (now have a total of about 30 pounds) over the next few days the snails and crabs cleaned the rock pretty well, although now it seems stark white and dead, the algea is of of the rock, but the colors are almost all gone. i then tested for ph and that came out right where i wanted it to be. after that i tested it for amonia and that was at 0.6. the tank has been cycleing for 2 weeks now, and i just want to make sure that the amonia problem isn't from the tap water or the algea covered rocks. or is it just a normal cycling problem that i am running into. would it be pointless to do another big water change to try to thin out that tap water even more or should i just let it sit for the next 3 weeks or so and try testing again.

thanks

TekCat · 01/24/2006, 11:13 AM

Cycle coulda happen if you put uncured rocks or chlorine/cloramine in your tap water killed a bunch of stuff on the rocks.

IMO, DO 100% water change!! Use RO or distiled! Algae loves tap water, so NEVER USE IT!!!

You are still cycling it usually takes 4-8 weeks for initial cycle to complete. That would be when ammonia and nitrites are ZERO.

Usually coralline algae on the rocks bleaches during cycle, but no worries, it'll come back. When you do your water change brush off what appears dead matter on the rocks, and flush dead gunk out of the pores and holes with a turkey baster.

Since you already have snails etc... ammonia and nitrites are harming them, so until cycle completes perform frequent ~25% water changes to bring toxic levels down.

HTH

aloysiusblue · 01/24/2006, 07:49 PM

thanks a lot. also, i meant .06 not 0.6

TekCat · 01/25/2006, 08:39 AM

0.06 ammonia - excellent

check your nitrites too.

01/24/2006, 11:03 AM	#1
aloysiusblue Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: chicago IL Posts: 26	the full story i am very very new to this hobby. i read up on things every day. as much as possible. i want to make sure i am doing things atleast close to correct. i bought a 25 gallon tank, a formosa lighting fixture (one blue bulb and one white 65watts each), a bak bak 2 (protien skimmer and biolagical filter), 17 pounds of live rock, and live sand. i accidentally initially filled my tank with tap water. the day after i got my tank up and running a put my light on a timer to go on for 8 hours a day. i left for vacation for a week while i let the tank cycle a bit. when i came back from vacation algea was everywhere!! i cleaned it off the sides of the tank and did a 7 gallon water change using distilled water. the rock was covered in dark brown algea. i bought a bunch of crabs and snails to clean the algea off teh rock. i also bout 13 pounds of more rock. (now have a total of about 30 pounds) over the next few days the snails and crabs cleaned the rock pretty well, although now it seems stark white and dead, the algea is of of the rock, but the colors are almost all gone. i then tested for ph and that came out right where i wanted it to be. after that i tested it for amonia and that was at 0.6. the tank has been cycleing for 2 weeks now, and i just want to make sure that the amonia problem isn't from the tap water or the algea covered rocks. or is it just a normal cycling problem that i am running into. would it be pointless to do another big water change to try to thin out that tap water even more or should i just let it sit for the next 3 weeks or so and try testing again. thanks __________________ d'ya ever hear of it? Current Tank Info: 25g saltwater tank

01/24/2006, 07:49 PM	#3
aloysiusblue Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: chicago IL Posts: 26	thanks a lot. also, i meant .06 not 0.6 __________________ d'ya ever hear of it? Current Tank Info: 25g saltwater tank

01/24/2006, 11:13 AM	#2
TekCat Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: MN Posts: 3,130	Cycle coulda happen if you put uncured rocks or chlorine/cloramine in your tap water killed a bunch of stuff on the rocks. IMO, DO 100% water change!! Use RO or distiled! Algae loves tap water, so NEVER USE IT!!! You are still cycling it usually takes 4-8 weeks for initial cycle to complete. That would be when ammonia and nitrites are ZERO. Usually coralline algae on the rocks bleaches during cycle, but no worries, it'll come back. When you do your water change brush off what appears dead matter on the rocks, and flush dead gunk out of the pores and holes with a turkey baster. Since you already have snails etc... ammonia and nitrites are harming them, so until cycle completes perform frequent ~25% water changes to bring toxic levels down. HTH

01/25/2006, 08:39 AM	#4
TekCat Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: MN Posts: 3,130	0.06 ammonia - excellent check your nitrites too.