First BC 29

Ok thanks, I'll mess with it a bit. Noticing some brown patches on the rock starting to take off now. Do you think trimming the tab between chambers 1 and 2 about a 1/4 inch will cause problems? The skimmer will then fit under the door.
 
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So I'm kinda confused about my nitrates. I've not done any water changes, I have the skimmer running with purigen, chemipure elite and filter floss. Everyday the nitrates are doing up and down from 10 to 40 then 20 then 40 then 20. Shouldn't they be going up? :confused:

Day 24

Ammonia 0
Nitrites +5 Been off the charts for weeks.
Nitrates 10~40 ??
 
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Thats exactly as high as I have my AL115.

IMO that filter floss is super expensive for the amount you need to change it(I change mine every other day). Go to Walmart, or Michaels, or Hobby Lobby and get a big bag of fiber fill(pillow stuffing). A big bag of it is like 7$, and I've just used up my first bag a year later.

Walmart.com Polyester Fiber Fill
 
I use the Walmart stuffing in my bio cube. Cheap and works great I change every other day as well. Just make sure you don't buy the fire retardant one. I heard it has chemicals in it that are not good at all.
 
I have a few kinds of fill laying around and just wanted to test them. What do you guys think about my nitrites and nitrates?
 
You should be cycling with all of that filtration media running. Purigen is supposed to absorb nitrate, and I would just keep knowing that you're cycling until you're consistently getting high nitrates and have zero nitrites.
 
Thanks guys. Today I did a nitrite test and I think, not 100% sure it's going down. The purple was not so dark. The deterius is really starting to take off through the sand and more all over the rocks.
 
So tested today and got a new pic, things are looking good. Tomorrow is the 4th week

Ammonia 0
Nitrite 1.0
Nitrate 20
PH 7.8
Salinity 1.025
Temp 77

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I dont want to alarm you, but that green stuff on your rocks dosent appear to be the type of green you get right before the start of coraline algae, it appears to be the type of green caused by cyano bacteria ??? usually caused by running the lights before proper filtering bacteria also common by product of new tank syndrome of course this is just speculation and an opinion but just in case keep an eye out...
 
I thought cyano bacteria was kinda purple. This it the only spot and it's just a bit bigger than silver dollar.

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It is probably some blue/green cyano algae, but it's part of the new tank cycle and will most likely go away over time on its own. I wouldn't sweat it.
 
I just had a small heart attack there. So should I be running the tank with lights? I have timers setup for blue on at 11am off at 11pm, whites on at 1pm off at 9pm moon light from 11pm to 1am
 
truthfully there's no right or wrong however Cyanobacteria, also known as blue-green algae, blue-green bacteria, cyanoprokaryots, and cyanophytes, are oxygenic photosynthetic prokaryotes that possess features familiar to both bacteria (prokaryota) and algae (eukaryota). the key word being photosynthetic so the light is what allows it to grow again you dont have to turn the lights off, a diatom bloom is basicly the first sign that the water can support life or the diatoms being the first thing to come alive if it were me an just my opinion the longer you leave the lights off the more time it has to stable out as long as you have no fish or coral it really dosent matter for instant my tank is cycleing right now when its done ill prolly still leave them off for a couple weeks or a month when I turn them on ill get a diatom and my journey will begin, theres no right or wrong way its up to you nothing good happens fast in this hobby
 
that stuff can get out of hand fast though, I can tell you that ounce the spore of cyano is born its there for life only to become doormat in good water quality I always start my systems the same way so I never get it I wouldnt sweat it like reefwreak said, actually I would I'm anal though if you find its not going away atleast cut the time the lights come on down a little or alot depending on its growth
 
So..... Today is the 4th week. I'm now really confused about my test today that a tested twice. Where is the nitrates going??? Last week they where 40. Is my filter system working that good? The nitrites have been falling 2 points a day for the last 3 days.

Ammonia 0
Nitrite .25
Nitrate 5
PH 7.8
Phosphate .25
salinity 1.025
temp 78

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API are notorious for being off a bit. One thing I can tell you, you really need to shake the snot out of the second bottle. You can even bang it on a tale while you shake, it has solids in it that settle out and end up at the bottom of the bottle.

I would suggest getting a better test kit for nitrates. Red sea or salifert are safe choices and typically they are spot on.
 
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