Day 3 and questions

[Jenyphur]

Hi all, back into the hobby after many years away.

I have a 32 gallon cube and have recently started it up..today is day 3. Here is what I have:

- Live sand
- Dry pukani rock
- RO/DI water and salt (35 salinity)

My question is on the testing I have done so far.

Day 1 and 2 (basically same reading)

Temp: 78
Ammonia: 2.0
Nitrite: 1.0 (day 2 went up to 2.0)
Nitrate: 10

So my question is this...is it normal to have ammonia and nitrite from the very beginning? If so , is that because of the dead/decaying matter that might be left on the dry rock?

Sorry for such a newbie question...there are times when I think I understand things and then wham! I am back to not having a clue. lol..

 

[JUNBUG361]

Imo yes those numbers might increase a bit more. Bacteria is forming. Ammonia & nitrite will decrease toward end of cycle

 

[MondoBongo]

i would suspect the "live" sand is the source of those readings.

i've used both live and dry sand and i haven't seen a clear (or any) benefit from buying the live stuff.

if the rock was dry, i wouldn't think that would be the source of anything substantial.

 

[Jenyphur]

Thanks so much. What I am quickly learning is that every tank is different..I wish it was more cut and dry. I like when I can follow directions and get the expected results..oh well..its an adventure.

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[Jenyphur]

Thanks so much. What I am quickly learning is that every tank is different..I wish it was more cut and dry. I like when I can follow directions and get the expected results..oh well..its an adventure.

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Trying to add a pic. View attachment 369548

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[CarrieB]

Nice scape.


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[Jenyphur]

Thanks...my first attempt ever at it. I wanted to try and add some height to it and of course little caves and tunnels for the little guys.

 

[mcgyvr]

Thanks so much. What I am quickly learning is that every tank is different..I wish it was more cut and dry. I like when I can follow directions and get the expected results..oh well..its an adventure.

It is cut and dry... Add rock/sand to tank.. add water... get pumps running.. add a few pinches of flake food for first few days or small part of shrimp or other source of death... wait 4 weeks... enjoy..

 

[JUNBUG361]

Whats supporting/holding the center rock piece?

 

[mcgyvr]

Whats supporting/holding the center rock piece?

Yeah that looked shady to me too..

Hard to tell with the lack of depth perception in a picture but I think I'd turn it 90 deg CCW and tip the bottom out some to make it more stable.

 

[Jenyphur]

Good question...it's actually pretty snug on the top rock but is also leaning back a bit to rest the top of the rock on the back glass. I'll try and get a pic of it to upload.

That brings me to another question, what epoxy could I use to actually secure it to the bottom rock, I have seen a few posts where people actually use an acrylic pole also ...I'm not opposed to that option. And will it do harm to my rocks if I take them out of the water for a bit to do this?

Jen

 

[Jenyphur]

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[Jenyphur]

Lol...

Lol...

Oh boy, not sure why it rotated my pic. I swear learning how to use this forum correctly is harder than setting up the tank. J/K

 

[air2mag]

I used the JD weld marine putty to hold my rocks together. It took more tubes then I thought it would, but it worked good.

 

[mcgyvr]

Seeing the new pic its more than likely fine as is.. Thats enough "lean" to keep it stable IMO...
I wouldn't epoxy it at this stage.. Even though its fairly easy to remove later.. Just leave it IMO..

 

[Jenyphur]

View attachment 369629

So...today it looks like I am having a spike in Nitrites..from what I understand this is a good thing right ? Is it normal that nitrates arw also so high ?

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[2000se]

View attachment 369629

So...today it looks like I am having a spike in Nitrites..from what I understand this is a good thing right ? Is it normal that nitrates arw also so high ?

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yes...I would sit back and relax for about 2 more weeks simply topping off fresh water evaporation. Then retest after 2 weeks...give you tank time to settle and cycle.

 

[Jenyphur]

Perfect, will do! And then what...do I get a fish or a CUC or ? I haven't gotten that far in my research.

I will say this has been much easier this time around...last time I did a saltwater was like 20 years ago and I was just a baby (lol). But back then, we really didn't have the internet and forums and such. In some ways, that actually made life a bit easier because you basically only got the fish store guy's opinion.

 

[nereefpat]

The spike in nitrites is expected.

As far as the nitrates, the nitrites present in the sample are interfering with the test. It really isn't worth putting a value on NO3 until NH3 and NO2 are zero, or very close to it.

 

[mcgyvr]

Once nitrites and ammonia are zero then you proceed to do water changes to get those nitrates to an acceptable level.. Then you can start adding CUC,etc...