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12/01/2010, 03:16 PM
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#1 |
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Registered Member
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Canton, OH
Posts: 151
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Puzzled about cycle
So, I set up my tank about 2 months ago with old rock and sand from when it was set up before. I cycled the tank with about 8 pounds of live rock from a LFS. My ammonia never peaked higher than .5. After the cycle was done I did a big water change to lower the nitrates as they had jumped up to 40, brought them down to 10. I never had a diatom bloom, which I thought was strange.
I waited a few days to make sure my levels were stable and tried adding a few small CUC critters. 2 snails and 2 hermit crabs both died. Drip acclimated them for a half hour. So I thought...hey, maybe my tank didn't actually cycle? So I threw in a few shrimp in a filter bag to get the cycle going again. The ammonia and nitrite spiked to .5 and 2, respectively, and then bottomed out within a week... Still no diatom bloom...what is going on here?
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"To try to please people is an endless chasing of one's own tail. That's not very satisfying, so we do what we like and that satisfies us. When it does work out, its a bonus, really." ~ Wayne Coyne Current Tank Info: 29g, 20L sump/fuge, 175w MH, E-shopps PSK - 75 skimmer, SEN500 return pump |
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12/01/2010, 03:24 PM
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#2 |
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RC Mod
 
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You don't need a diatom bloom. Most don't have one. Hair algae would be normal. Try another snail once you are unable to provoke ammonia out of this tank.
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Sk8r Salinity 1.024-6; alkalinity 8.3-9.3 on KH scale; calcium 420; magnesium 1300, temp 78-80, nitrate .2. Ammonia 0. No filters: lps tank. Alk and cal won't rise if mg is low. Current Tank Info: 105g AquaVim wedge, yellow tang, sailfin blenny,royal gramma, ocellaris clown pair, yellow watchman, 100 microceriths, 25 tiny hermits, a 4" conch, 1" nassarius, recovering from 2 year hiatus with daily water change of 10%. |
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12/01/2010, 03:29 PM
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#3 |
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Reef Madness!
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: Perryville, Missouri
Posts: 616
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Did you rince the previous sand? or did you immedialy setup the tank as soon as you got it moved? Its never a good idea to use used sand without cleaning the heck outta of it.. I would have tossed it and bought new.. But thats me.. and got a cup of sand from a buddy to help seed it..
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The Shoe String Budget Reef Aquarium. Possible?? Compared to 7 55 breeding Discus days well we see and try! :P Current Tank Info: 10g nano with 2 clowns 1 Royal Gorama 1 RBTA! |
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12/01/2010, 03:59 PM
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#4 | ||
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Registered Member
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Canton, OH
Posts: 151
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Quote:
Something weird though, is the green coralline algae seems to be turning black on all of my rocks? One rock in particular has a lot of black spots on the side/top. Quote:
__________________
"To try to please people is an endless chasing of one's own tail. That's not very satisfying, so we do what we like and that satisfies us. When it does work out, its a bonus, really." ~ Wayne Coyne Current Tank Info: 29g, 20L sump/fuge, 175w MH, E-shopps PSK - 75 skimmer, SEN500 return pump |
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12/01/2010, 04:22 PM
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#5 |
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RC Mod
Join Date: Mar 2002
Location: Mountain View, CA, USA
Posts: 88,616
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The tank is okay, and the "cycle" is over. You might try scrapping some of the black area on the live rock, to see what kind of consistency it has. You might be seeing a lot of things. Hard to judge at this point. It might be cyanobacteria fed by the shrimp.
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Jonathan Bertoni |
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