First I'm going to apologize for the lengthy post but I want to give you all the information I have.
I'm a lifetime freshwater guy and recently took the plunge into saltwater. In usual fashion I jump into the deep end of the pool with both feet and went from zero saltwater aquariums to 5, 6 if you count the quarantine/hospital one, in the matter of a month or 2. The first 2 were an 8 and 29 gallon nano-cube. They were bought as up and running and all sand, rock and water was transferred and they are doing great. The 8 is now the quarantine/hospital and it was replaced with a 29 gallon and it's doing great. Then I grabbed a 47 column (seahorse tank), a 90 gallon (aggressive tank) and 125 gallon (docile tank). The 90 was a complete used system, that had been dry for a year before I bought it, and the 47 & 125 were basically just the tanks. Anyway here is the progression of my systems, ultimately leading up to my question.
90 Gallon (this is the only "large" tank with livestock in it):
Drilled through bottom with corner overflow, 1" drain(using 1 1/4" pipe reduced right at bulkhead) into 4" 200 micron sock. 3/4" return with Mag 9 return pump.
30 gallon sump with refugium
Started off using a reef octopus skimmer, now using a bubble magus Curve 5 skimmer. Still adjusting but getting decent skim out of it.
used a thin layer of the sand that came with the tank, rinsed really well, under a 2" bed of new CaribSea Aragonite Aquarium Reef Sand (again rinsed really well)
dry live rock that came with the tank (soaked in boiling hot water overnight then rinsed well)
Temp kept right at 79
125 Gallon:
Drilled through back with 4 1" drains into 48" ghost overflow system with 2 1 1/2" fully siphon drains and 1 1 1/2" emergency drain.
40 Gallon sump with refugium
Precision Marine RL200 Skimmer, running to break it in but there is nothing to skim
All new CaribSea Aragonite Aquarium Reef Sand about 2 - 2.5" thick (120 lbs)
All new BRS Pukani rock. soaked in boiling hot water overnight and then rinsed well (this I've learned might have been incorrect information and I should have "cooked" it for a week +)
Temp at 79 but raised to 82 a few nights ago
47 Gallon:
Not drilled (all tempered glass) using a
Sump with refugium (not sure of size, I'm using the bottom portion of an old Tide Pool sump that I added sections to)
Reef Octopus skimmer from 90 gallon. Running it to break in but nothing to skim at this point
About an 1" layer of used sand from 90 Gallon under a 3 - 3.5" layer of new CaribSea Aragonite Aquarium Reef Sand.
One large piece of new Pukani rock and 4 or 5 smallish rock that came with the 90 gallon.
Temp at 76
I focused on the 90 first, I had already agreed to buy the first fish for it, I put in 3 small/medium "seed" rocks in from my 29 gallon, 2 bottles of Fritz Zyme (misread the instructions in the store) in it followed by 7 days of Stability. Within 3 weeks the ammonia had spiked and dropped to 0, the Nitrite had spiked and was on it's way down (about 0.25) and Nitrates were right around 10 so I set the first fish free (about a 12 - 15" black edged moray eel). I kept an eye on the ammonia , nitrites and nitrates and did about a 25% PWC every other day for the first week. Then started extending the time between PWCs since the toxins were staying low. About a week later I added a porcupine puffer and again kept an eye on stuff all was going good a week later I added the final occupant, Volitan Lionfish,. It's been about three weeks since the lionfish went in. The tank looks really good, it started getting green algae on the rocks from the pressure of the fast push to get fish it it but that has since started turning brown and I'm seeing a couple spots purple popping up on some of the rock.
The 125 was next and it had water in it the day after the 90 from the same premixed batch. I cheaped out and did the stability regiment for a week but the ammonia climbed and started coming down so I thought I was good. It was stuck at about 6-8 for a few days so my LFS recommended a second week of stability. On the 3rd or 4th day the ammonia dropped, seemingly overnight, to 0.4 and by the end of the week it was at 0 and has been there for the last 2.5 weeks. At about that same time the Nitrites begin to climb as expected and by the time ammonia was 0 they were off the charts, turning almost red on the Red Sea test kit. Now 2.5 weeks later they are still up there with no sign of a change, even after a small PWC. I'm going into the 7th week with water and nothing else in the tank.
About a week later I put water in the 47 and started it on the week long Stability track. The ammonia has spiked and is at zero, the nitrite has spiked and coming down at about 0.5 - 1.0 now and nitrates are between 10 and 20. So this one is moving along and I'm hoping to be able to move the Seahorse into this tank by the end of the weekend.
So in short I've got one tank about 7 weeks old with 3 fish in it doing great, another tank set up at the same time that is still stuck with high nitrites and one that's about 6 weeks old about done with it's cycle.
My question is has the cycle in the 125 stalled or am I just being impatient? Again the nitrites have been off the charts for 2.5 weeks now and I tested nitrates and they are way off the charts as well but I know that can be false due to the nitrites. Is there anything I can do to re-start the cycle? I upped the temp a couple nights ago as I'd read that would help. I started getting enough water ready last night because I'd heard that I needed to do a 90%+ water change but don't want to kill the bateria that's in there if I do that.
HELP I'm tired of looking at an empty tank.
I'm a lifetime freshwater guy and recently took the plunge into saltwater. In usual fashion I jump into the deep end of the pool with both feet and went from zero saltwater aquariums to 5, 6 if you count the quarantine/hospital one, in the matter of a month or 2. The first 2 were an 8 and 29 gallon nano-cube. They were bought as up and running and all sand, rock and water was transferred and they are doing great. The 8 is now the quarantine/hospital and it was replaced with a 29 gallon and it's doing great. Then I grabbed a 47 column (seahorse tank), a 90 gallon (aggressive tank) and 125 gallon (docile tank). The 90 was a complete used system, that had been dry for a year before I bought it, and the 47 & 125 were basically just the tanks. Anyway here is the progression of my systems, ultimately leading up to my question.
90 Gallon (this is the only "large" tank with livestock in it):
Drilled through bottom with corner overflow, 1" drain(using 1 1/4" pipe reduced right at bulkhead) into 4" 200 micron sock. 3/4" return with Mag 9 return pump.
30 gallon sump with refugium
Started off using a reef octopus skimmer, now using a bubble magus Curve 5 skimmer. Still adjusting but getting decent skim out of it.
used a thin layer of the sand that came with the tank, rinsed really well, under a 2" bed of new CaribSea Aragonite Aquarium Reef Sand (again rinsed really well)
dry live rock that came with the tank (soaked in boiling hot water overnight then rinsed well)
Temp kept right at 79
125 Gallon:
Drilled through back with 4 1" drains into 48" ghost overflow system with 2 1 1/2" fully siphon drains and 1 1 1/2" emergency drain.
40 Gallon sump with refugium
Precision Marine RL200 Skimmer, running to break it in but there is nothing to skim
All new CaribSea Aragonite Aquarium Reef Sand about 2 - 2.5" thick (120 lbs)
All new BRS Pukani rock. soaked in boiling hot water overnight and then rinsed well (this I've learned might have been incorrect information and I should have "cooked" it for a week +)
Temp at 79 but raised to 82 a few nights ago
47 Gallon:
Not drilled (all tempered glass) using a
Sump with refugium (not sure of size, I'm using the bottom portion of an old Tide Pool sump that I added sections to)
Reef Octopus skimmer from 90 gallon. Running it to break in but nothing to skim at this point
About an 1" layer of used sand from 90 Gallon under a 3 - 3.5" layer of new CaribSea Aragonite Aquarium Reef Sand.
One large piece of new Pukani rock and 4 or 5 smallish rock that came with the 90 gallon.
Temp at 76
I focused on the 90 first, I had already agreed to buy the first fish for it, I put in 3 small/medium "seed" rocks in from my 29 gallon, 2 bottles of Fritz Zyme (misread the instructions in the store) in it followed by 7 days of Stability. Within 3 weeks the ammonia had spiked and dropped to 0, the Nitrite had spiked and was on it's way down (about 0.25) and Nitrates were right around 10 so I set the first fish free (about a 12 - 15" black edged moray eel). I kept an eye on the ammonia , nitrites and nitrates and did about a 25% PWC every other day for the first week. Then started extending the time between PWCs since the toxins were staying low. About a week later I added a porcupine puffer and again kept an eye on stuff all was going good a week later I added the final occupant, Volitan Lionfish,. It's been about three weeks since the lionfish went in. The tank looks really good, it started getting green algae on the rocks from the pressure of the fast push to get fish it it but that has since started turning brown and I'm seeing a couple spots purple popping up on some of the rock.
The 125 was next and it had water in it the day after the 90 from the same premixed batch. I cheaped out and did the stability regiment for a week but the ammonia climbed and started coming down so I thought I was good. It was stuck at about 6-8 for a few days so my LFS recommended a second week of stability. On the 3rd or 4th day the ammonia dropped, seemingly overnight, to 0.4 and by the end of the week it was at 0 and has been there for the last 2.5 weeks. At about that same time the Nitrites begin to climb as expected and by the time ammonia was 0 they were off the charts, turning almost red on the Red Sea test kit. Now 2.5 weeks later they are still up there with no sign of a change, even after a small PWC. I'm going into the 7th week with water and nothing else in the tank.
About a week later I put water in the 47 and started it on the week long Stability track. The ammonia has spiked and is at zero, the nitrite has spiked and coming down at about 0.5 - 1.0 now and nitrates are between 10 and 20. So this one is moving along and I'm hoping to be able to move the Seahorse into this tank by the end of the weekend.
So in short I've got one tank about 7 weeks old with 3 fish in it doing great, another tank set up at the same time that is still stuck with high nitrites and one that's about 6 weeks old about done with it's cycle.
My question is has the cycle in the 125 stalled or am I just being impatient? Again the nitrites have been off the charts for 2.5 weeks now and I tested nitrates and they are way off the charts as well but I know that can be false due to the nitrites. Is there anything I can do to re-start the cycle? I upped the temp a couple nights ago as I'd read that would help. I started getting enough water ready last night because I'd heard that I needed to do a 90%+ water change but don't want to kill the bateria that's in there if I do that.
HELP I'm tired of looking at an empty tank.
