New Build Red Sea Reefer Nano 21

[bcarl77]

Tagging along!

 

[Tiger-Paws]

Thank you. By-the-way post an image of your tank.

 

[XNavyDiver]

Just an fyi, I also started my tank in a very similar fashion as you (dry pukani and fishless cycle with Dr. Tims), and also this is my first tank after a long hiatus from past reef tanks because of career. I also went through bacterial blooms as you are. I never went through that with past tanks which I started with cured live rock. So it was a bit of a mystery when they happened, and yes, it was no fun looking at milky water everyday. But I'm here to say that it does get better and clear up. I don't know if it has something to do with dry rock or Dr. Tims, or a combination of the two... So the good news is, your water will clear up. The bad news is, it will clear up just in time to clearly see GHA. I employed an army of turbo snails and hermit crabs to knock that back. It's just now starting to look like a reef tank, with the exception of lack of coraline algae growth yet. But even that has signs of happening pretty soon, as the rock are now clear of brown or brown/greenish algae and have that light almost lime green tint that many say heralds coraline algae. Now I just need to get my NO3 up a bit, I've added about 15 sps frags, but only just 5 very small fish. Adding fish is a slow business when you QT.
Nice job on your set up!

 

[Tiger-Paws]

XNavyDiver,

Thank you for the encouragement it is greatly appreciated. As I said I can see the bloom begining to ever so slowly clear up.

I see in your tag line that you have a 100g shallow cube, coud you post a link to some images?

 

[XNavyDiver]

 

[Tiger-Paws]

Thank you. Interesting concept, I was thinking of something similar, maybe 14" deep, 30" wide & 56" long. This would give me 101.8 gallons of available tank space not including the sump.

The idea is a shallow lagoon feel.

 

[XNavyDiver]

That's exactly what this is, a shallow lagoon. The rocks are arranged in a manner that creates a center lagoon that can be observed from all sides. I would like to keeps a couple of maxima clams in the middle but we have a diamond goby at the moment who would just bury them in sand, so I'll have convince the wife in finding him a new home, which probably isn't going to happen.

 

[bcarl77]

Glad to hear we aren't alone here. I believe it is a bacteria bloom as well. How many days did it take to clear?

 

[Tiger-Paws]

Glad to hear we aren't alone here. I believe it is a bacteria bloom as well. How many days did it take to clear?

bcarl77, I am on day 4, though the bloom seems to be abating a little.

 

[JaaxReef]

Were you able to test those ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate levels?

What were the parameters?

I'm guessing ammonia and/or nitrite were very high given the bloom and how long it had lasted...

Best Regards

 

[Tiger-Paws]

I agree something is WAY out of balance, as of 4:30pm CDT the tank is still very cloudy.

I had to order another test kit, which is scheduled to arrive tomorrow (Sunday), thank you Amazon for Sunday deliveries.

I will post a complete set of parameters shortly after the test kit arrives.

 

[Tiger-Paws]

Sunday at 4:20pm CDT, the tank is noticeably clearer. Only part of my new test kit came in, the calibrated ph test insturment, the rest of the test kit is supposed to be delivered today as well. We will see.

If the test kit dose arrive today I will post the test results.

 

[Tiger-Paws]

7:25pm CDT, the new tesk kit showed up.

Ammonia 4ppm
Nitrite 5ppm
Nitrate 20ppm
Sg 1.024
Temp 79.3F
ph 7.8

Thoughts and suggestions?

 

[XNavyDiver]

You're going to have to wait for the ammonia and nitrite to reach zero. When they do, do a 20% WC and then add a fish. Till then.... do you play solitare?

 

[Tiger-Paws]

You're going to have to wait for the ammonia and nitrite to reach zero. When they do, do a 20% WC and then add a fish. Till then.... do you play solitare?

Thank you.

LoL! Not for many years. I kind of figured that I would be testing every other day in order to monitor the progress.

 

[IslandLifeReef]

7:25pm CDT, the new tesk kit showed up.

Ammonia 4ppm
Nitrite 5ppm
Nitrate 20ppm
Sg 1.024
Temp 79.3F
ph 7.8

Thoughts and suggestions?

It looks like you are on your way . Just be patient. I wouldn't test for nitrate until your nitrite is 0 ppm because nitrite can cause false nitrate readings in a lot of tests. Also, don't add any more ammonia to the tank until both ammonia and nitrite are 0. Then I would add another 2 ppm ammonia and see how long it takes for the tank to bring both back to 0 again. After that, you should be cycled and I would do that 20%-50% water change to get rid of some of the nitrates.

 

[JaaxReef]

That 4ppm Ammonia is indeed fairly high. It could have even come down to that number from much higher given the length of your bacterial bloom.

I agree with IslandLifeReef. Wait for those numbers to drop before adding more ammonia and see how long it takes for your tank to process ammonia of a certain figure. I bet the bacterial bloom will slowly fade as ammonia and nitrite levels come down.

 

[Tiger-Paws]

It looks like you are on your way . Just be patient. I wouldn't test for nitrate until your nitrite is 0 ppm because nitrite can cause false nitrate readings in a lot of tests. Also, don't add any more ammonia to the tank until both ammonia and nitrite are 0. Then I would add another 2 ppm ammonia and see how long it takes for the tank to bring both back to 0 again. After that, you should be cycled and I would do that 20%-50% water change to get rid of some of the nitrates.

Thank you for the suggestion. I will post additional details as things within the tank warrent it.

My Lady is getting a bit antsy to see something swimming, she would like us to take a weekend and fly down to visit Austin Aqua Farms (I have my own aircraft). While a weekend away with her would be fun I am holding off until the tank is ready for some Corals.

Maybe a week in the Caymans would help?

 

[landlocked303]

What corals are u going to be having. If u are doing mainly sps I have a good program for sps with the prime hd that I’ll give u

I'm curious. Could I take a look at that?

 

[brett_schn]

I'm curious. Could I take a look at that?

Yes if I can find it.