Jnickles85
New member
I still have the presence of ammonia but I also have Nitrates. Should I do a water change or just let it be ?
Tank is a month old and its a 24g.
Tank is a month old and its a 24g.
Water Change question
- Thread starter Jnickles85
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Jnickles85
New member
well for about 4 days I had an ammonia presence around .5 on my test kits. Then for two days I had ammonia around 2. Now it is back down to .5 and I now I have presence of nitrates. I did not test the last two days for nitrates just tracking ammonia. I still have yet to see any nitrites.
Is that over the month of cycling or the last few days?
Jnickles85
New member
That would be in the last two weeks
Well the slight ammonia spike is being dealt with by your tank so - unless you have live stock - I would allow it to run it's course, it looks like it's processing things well.
Jnickles85
New member
The only thing I have in my tank is what came on the 1 little piece of live rock I purchased to try and get my tank to cycle faster about 5 days after the tank was running. There are a few serpent stars, a couple really small stars, a bunch of small feather dusters, and a about 6 Zoas bunched together.
They should be okay, but if you are more comfortable with doing a water change to make sure they are then that's a good thing to do. A water change will mean that you are getting readings for a bit longer but they will be lower (and ammonia may go completely).
Personally, seeing as you do have some living creatures, I would do a 10-15% water change, just for peace of mind.
But what are you using to actually cycle the tank? A small piece of cured live rock isn't going to provide much 'fuel' for a robust bacteriological filter.
Jnickles85
New member
I am not sure if the rock was actually cured. It came from the local store and I have read in other topics that when you buy the live rock and bring it home you are most likely going to have die off from that rock that will help boost the cycle. That opinion could be wrong but I did not think it would hurt getting a small piece.
Other then that I have fed the tank twice with a small amount of mysis shrimp. That was at least a week ago.
IME there is no such thing as cured rock, it is either live or dead. Sounds like yours was live. (But yes, some stuff on rock/sand dies and adds to the cycling process).
I think that what Carole means though is that with only a small amount of live substrate you wont be able to build up a strong system for quite a long time. It takes ages for dead rock/sand to become live.
The more "live" stuff you have the stronger and healthier your system will be and so the better your tank will run long term.
Jnickles85
New member
Okay makes perfect since to me. After I do this water change am I able to add some clean up crew critters ? or a fish ? The tank will be a month old tomorrow. Unless there are more ways you more experienced reefers have to build the eco system.
Do you have algae? I wouldn't add a clean up crew until you have plenty of algae for them to feed on (using your lights a lot will encourage algae growth).
Personally I wouldn't add any fish until all levels are at 0 (or there abouts).
You can "ghost feed" the tank daily, which will help to build up a stronger system and prepare it for the arrival of a fish. Just a pinch of flakes once a day should do it.
Jnickles85
New member
I really appreciate all the help and feedback. I am going to post today's pictures of the tank. I also have a thread just about my tank if you ever want to look in on it. http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2382853&page=2
I have a few spots of hair algea and a spread of some brown. Once I have better lighting the purple rock in the middle I plan on putting on the sandbed.
Jnickles85
New member
Thanks! yeah the lights I have right now came with the Fluval marine package. After some research and help from a fellow reefer here we have determined they are very inefficient. That is why I have them as high as I can in the tank right now. The light is the Fluval marine LED. According to fluval I can support sps up to 6 inches deep. Well from what other reefers have told me and that I have read that is way off base. I can not complain though I did not pick the light myself and it came with the package deal.
From what I understand they will keep SPS's alive but they wont thrive under them.
These package deals annoy me sometimes, you expect a reputable manufacturer to have things right and include what you need!
What type of lights are you going to replace with?
Jnickles85
New member
I am hoping to stay LED I have heard they have the best penetrating rating. If not I am going to go to T5s. I have heard good things about them.
I've never use LEDs but I've heard lately that they drop PAR really quickly. Might be worth looking on the lighting forum for peoples experiences with them? They seem very expensive if they don't last long!
Jnickles85
New member
Yea that would be true. I know they say the life of the LED's last up to five years but I guess that really doesn't mean they are the same strength. Is there a certain type of lighting you would recommend ? I really want to be able to have the ability to keep almost whatever I want in this tank. Except for clams. I would really like to be able to have an anemone with my couple of clowns a couple more different zoas and helpfully a montipora cap (sp)
