Advice, Please. Long story here.

cmdmd · 10/06/2010, 02:12 PM

For my first post....

I setup and cycled a 28 Gal HQL tank. I put 20 LBS or live sand, a total of 25-35 LBS of rock (about 8-9 was live rock, it does have a lot of surface area, the other part was base rock that was out in the sun for about a year from a tank that had a hair algae outbreak) and used seasoned water from the system of a shop. The tank cycled in about 11 days (big spike in NH, No2 and then Zero on those), I did put a deli shrimp in it.

I added two blue chromis, snails and two scarlet Hermits. Tested for ammonia daily (result was zero).

The tank cycled quite fast. After I added the trial fish and some crabs, levels were still normal. Then, I proceeded to add the CUC...everything was ok then too. Added a few frags and everything was ok again. Boring, huh? Then, the interesting part...I got 3 shrimp, 2 cleaners and 1 coral (he just looks cool, though a bit of a *****). While acclimating these, I used 5 gallons of water, correctly mixed, RO, with the same salinity of the tank. This was the equivalent of a water change, 30%. I say 30% because In reality, the tank has about 17 gallons after tanking into account the displacement of the rocks and sand. I know for a fact that for about 4-5 days I was overfeeding, this has been corrected.

Saturday (4 days ago), the water appeared cloudy, I measured ammonia and, bingo, 0.25. I know that's bad, so I bought Microbacter 7 and started dosing it. So far, the NH3 has held fast.

Here's where it gets funny. After thinking about it long and hard (That's what she said), I traced events and found these errors. In addition to not having enough bio filtering yet. 1. I overfilled the tank, the back part is divided in 3, water to be filtered cascades into the sump, then it goes into the two other areas where it gets sent back into the tank. Well, the water was getting all mixed up because the water level was above the dividers (genius). This went on for at least 4-5 days until I realized it. Now I check every day. To add insult to injury 2. The wavemaker was set to keep both pums on simultaneously....well, I played with it a bit and switched it to 10 sec interval, to watch it for a bit...but didnt switch it back, so 50% filtration capacity for a few days.

Those things and the fact that the amount of actual live rock is small at the present time add up to a wonderful situation that smells like ammonia and some brown algae.

Awesome.

At least, I get free RO water from a friend, 15 gallons at the time. Salt is not free, but, oh well.

I hope this has been amusing for you, thank you for taking the time to read this.

C

-nothing has died yet

PS, Im a dentist, I will be happy to answer your dental questions. All areas of expertise (perio, surgery, ortho and endo).

cmdmd · 10/06/2010, 07:29 PM

Really? Nobody?

tspors · 10/06/2010, 07:41 PM

I think you rushed it and the tank spiked. Keep up the water changes. Personally you cycled in 11 days but no way stable. My approach wait 2 months and CUC 1st. I did not have fish in for 4 months. Just me it's a long term hobby. You should be ok. Do another 10% in the am.

nuccadoc · 10/06/2010, 07:48 PM

Your ammonia problem is a result of your biological filter not being able to handle the load due to the errors you discovered. Ammonia spikes are due to either a dead animal/s or a breakdown of the biological filter. You need to keep doing water changes to bring it down quickly or else you will start loosing animals. Give your filter a few days to recover and keep up with the water changes.

Scott

noahm · 10/06/2010, 08:08 PM

As above, don't add anything more, and keep doing water changes until your NH3 drops. Then don't add anything for a couple months and enjoy the tank maturing. Good luck. IME regardless of immediate parameters, a tank (in general cases) doesn't reach basic stability for a few months, then after about a year, it reaches moderate stability.

twiggyb · 10/06/2010, 08:31 PM

When adding animals to the tank, you should wait 2 weeks in between each animal to allow the biological filter to be to handle the bioload.

fishkeeper00 · 10/06/2010, 08:41 PM

Get 10 gallons of water from an established system and do a water change with it. Give the tank 2 weeks and don't add anything. Thats should jump start the bacteria within the system. Things should level out then.

10/06/2010, 02:12 PM	#1
cmdmd Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2010 Posts: 98	Advice, Please. Long story here. For my first post.... I setup and cycled a 28 Gal HQL tank. I put 20 LBS or live sand, a total of 25-35 LBS of rock (about 8-9 was live rock, it does have a lot of surface area, the other part was base rock that was out in the sun for about a year from a tank that had a hair algae outbreak) and used seasoned water from the system of a shop. The tank cycled in about 11 days (big spike in NH, No2 and then Zero on those), I did put a deli shrimp in it. I added two blue chromis, snails and two scarlet Hermits. Tested for ammonia daily (result was zero). The tank cycled quite fast. After I added the trial fish and some crabs, levels were still normal. Then, I proceeded to add the CUC...everything was ok then too. Added a few frags and everything was ok again. Boring, huh? Then, the interesting part...I got 3 shrimp, 2 cleaners and 1 coral (he just looks cool, though a bit of a *****). While acclimating these, I used 5 gallons of water, correctly mixed, RO, with the same salinity of the tank. This was the equivalent of a water change, 30%. I say 30% because In reality, the tank has about 17 gallons after tanking into account the displacement of the rocks and sand. I know for a fact that for about 4-5 days I was overfeeding, this has been corrected. Saturday (4 days ago), the water appeared cloudy, I measured ammonia and, bingo, 0.25. I know that's bad, so I bought Microbacter 7 and started dosing it. So far, the NH3 has held fast. Here's where it gets funny. After thinking about it long and hard (That's what she said), I traced events and found these errors. In addition to not having enough bio filtering yet. 1. I overfilled the tank, the back part is divided in 3, water to be filtered cascades into the sump, then it goes into the two other areas where it gets sent back into the tank. Well, the water was getting all mixed up because the water level was above the dividers (genius). This went on for at least 4-5 days until I realized it. Now I check every day. To add insult to injury 2. The wavemaker was set to keep both pums on simultaneously....well, I played with it a bit and switched it to 10 sec interval, to watch it for a bit...but didnt switch it back, so 50% filtration capacity for a few days. Those things and the fact that the amount of actual live rock is small at the present time add up to a wonderful situation that smells like ammonia and some brown algae. Awesome. At least, I get free RO water from a friend, 15 gallons at the time. Salt is not free, but, oh well. I hope this has been amusing for you, thank you for taking the time to read this. C -nothing has died yet PS, Im a dentist, I will be happy to answer your dental questions. All areas of expertise (perio, surgery, ortho and endo).

10/06/2010, 07:41 PM	#3
tspors Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Appleton, WI. USA Posts: 774	I think you rushed it and the tank spiked. Keep up the water changes. Personally you cycled in 11 days but no way stable. My approach wait 2 months and CUC 1st. I did not have fish in for 4 months. Just me it's a long term hobby. You should be ok. Do another 10% in the am. __________________ Everything is Good with Moderation. Current Tank Info: 150 Gal Oceanic, 30g Sump, Gen-X PCX-150 2250 gph, Red Sea Clasic Turbo Skimmer, 18w Turbo Twist UV, Ocean Clear Filter w/live rock, Several Buckets,

10/06/2010, 08:31 PM	#6
twiggyb Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: DeSoto, MO Posts: 3,813	When adding animals to the tank, you should wait 2 weeks in between each animal to allow the biological filter to be to handle the bioload. __________________ -Daniel- Love, grease and chicken peace! Chicken are people too. Current Tank Info: 29g since March 2012

10/06/2010, 08:41 PM	#7
fishkeeper00 Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: virginia Posts: 78	Get 10 gallons of water from an established system and do a water change with it. Give the tank 2 weeks and don't add anything. Thats should jump start the bacteria within the system. Things should level out then. __________________ Nano Reefer Current Tank Info: 34 Gallon Solana

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10/06/2010, 07:29 PM	#2
cmdmd Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2010 Posts: 98	Really? Nobody?

10/06/2010, 07:48 PM	#4
nuccadoc Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Oklahoma Posts: 482	Your ammonia problem is a result of your biological filter not being able to handle the load due to the errors you discovered. Ammonia spikes are due to either a dead animal/s or a breakdown of the biological filter. You need to keep doing water changes to bring it down quickly or else you will start loosing animals. Give your filter a few days to recover and keep up with the water changes. Scott

10/06/2010, 08:08 PM	#5
noahm Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Huntsville, AL Posts: 2,736	As above, don't add anything more, and keep doing water changes until your NH3 drops. Then don't add anything for a couple months and enjoy the tank maturing. Good luck. IME regardless of immediate parameters, a tank (in general cases) doesn't reach basic stability for a few months, then after about a year, it reaches moderate stability.