I bought a 180g (running) reef off of Craigslist a little over a month ago. We were very careful and saved everything during the move. I recently discovered that keeping the sand was the wrong thing to do, considering it was all stirred up. I did over 200 gallons of water changes during this month but could not bring the nitrates down below 20ppm. Frustrated, I removed all the livestock and rock. I drained the tank and proceeded to rinse the sand with straight rodi, which was completely stupid. I stopped that process after about 50 gallons, added new water with a high salinity to try to save any bacteria that could possibly still be live. After refilling, I added the rock. Should I expect a cycle? After testing, all the parameters are acceptable except the ammonia .25, nitrite 0, nitrate about 10 (API)
Before I added the rock, I also added a 40lbs bag of live sand and a bottle of bio-spira to help re-seed. What I've read is that it's normal for the ammonia to be a lot higher and nitrates to be zero until it's been converted from nitrite, which is zero right now. It seems like I've completely confused the tank and myself. Am I on the right track here or is there something else I need to do? All of the water is new so I figure the nitrates are a residual from the sand. I tested the rodi before and after adding salt.
Before I added the rock, I also added a 40lbs bag of live sand and a bottle of bio-spira to help re-seed. What I've read is that it's normal for the ammonia to be a lot higher and nitrates to be zero until it's been converted from nitrite, which is zero right now. It seems like I've completely confused the tank and myself. Am I on the right track here or is there something else I need to do? All of the water is new so I figure the nitrates are a residual from the sand. I tested the rodi before and after adding salt.