Zero Ammonia after 1 week

[Scott4335]

I am setting up a new reef. It is a Biocube 32. I am a week in. I started the tank with RO water, live sand and 28 lbs of cured live rock that I got at a LFS. I also but in a sandwich size bag if cured sand from the LFS. I have the Intank media tower with floss, purigen and ceramic rocks. I have the Tunze 9001 Skimmer. After the first week, the tank looks great. The testing in PH 8.0 Ammonia 0, Nitrite 0 and Nitrate 0. Salinity is 1.025 and the temp is 78.5.
My question is that I did not start testing until two days ago. I have gotten the same result both days. I am confused why all are at zero? I would expect to see something. I am starting to get a little brown algae on the sand bed. Some of the live rock has small, tiny frags of coral that seems to still be living.

Is it possible that the cured rock from the LFS is treating this tank as a transfer? I know patience is key and do not want to get ahead of myself, but wondered if I should put in a clown or clean up crew in the next week if readings remain at zero?

Any insight would be great! Very excited to join this forum. Ready to learn!

 

[mcgyvr]

Is it possible that the cured rock from the LFS is treating this tank as a transfer?

Absolutely..

 

[rjjr1963]

I did the same and transferred a couple fish in within a week. Might not hurt to add a source of ammonia first and see what happens.

 

[gigamanx]

I second the idea of ghost feeding the tank. I always felt more comfortable after my first algae bloom and letting things go back to zero. My tank took about a month and that was with established live rock and an 80/20 mix of sand/live sand. Clown fish are pretty hardy, but many reefers would say be patient so as not to kill a poor fish before its ready.

 

[thegrun]

You most likely will not have a cycle since you started with cured live rock. The fastest way to find out is to add pure ammonia without surfactants or perfumes, you can find it at Ace Hardware. To raise 100 gallons of water from 0 to 2 ppm ammonia you would need to add 0.8 grams (8 ml) of standard 10% pure ammonia, so for your tank 2ml would be about right. If the tank is cycled the ammonia will drop back to zero from 2ppm overnight. If not, simply wait for nature to take over and once the ammonia does drop to zero and your nitrites are also back to zero you can slowly start to add livestock.

 

[Scott4335]

Thank you guys very much! I greatly appreciate the ideas. I will hang tight and maybe do a ghost feeing or add the 2 ml of ammonia later today.

 

[Scott4335]

So I went to Ace and got the ammonia. Put in 2ml and tested the water about 10 minutes after. It read at 2ppm.

I will continue to test every 6 hours to see if it declines. I assume the speed of the transition to nitrite will help me know how cycled my tank truly is? Hopefully by 10:30am tomorrow, I will have a zero ammonia read.

 

[Scott4335]

These are a few of the creatures I have in my live rock. Anyone wanna take a shot at what they are?

 

[anthonys51]

clove polyps, sponge and bristle worm

 

[Scott4335]

I have this other rock that has these white little clumpy tubules all over it. These long white wispy tentacles come out and flow in the water.... any insight on those? Crazy all the stuff that I keep finding...
Fascinating.

 

[scooter31707]

So I went to Ace and got the ammonia. Put in 2ml and tested the water about 10 minutes after. It read at 2ppm.

I will continue to test every 6 hours to see if it declines. I assume the speed of the transition to nitrite will help me know how cycled my tank truly is? Hopefully by 10:30am tomorrow, I will have a zero ammonia read.

Yep, give it 24hrs. If it is cycled, then you should only have some nirate readings.

 

[Scott4335]

Getting a lot of brown algae on the sand and some fluffy kind on some of the rocks. The sand bed is being overtaken. Should I let this get out of hand or try a cub before fish?

 

[scooter31707]

Getting a lot of brown algae on the sand and some fluffy kind on some of the rocks. The sand bed is being overtaken. Should I let this get out of hand or try a cub before fish?

Very normal for a new/immature tank. Brown algae is probably diatoms which will go away on their own. The fluffy stuff could be a number of things, hard to say w/o a pic. My guess would be it's probably green hair algae.

 

[scooter31707]

Getting a lot of brown algae on the sand and some fluffy kind on some of the rocks. The sand bed is being overtaken. Should I let this get out of hand or try a cub before fish?

I also would start out with some CUC before introducing fish.

 

[Scott4335]

Here is a photo. I think you can see it. Hopefully just diatoms. I am using my LED lights during cycle - 8 hrs a day. I want the clove polyps to survive if possible. The lighting could be making the algae bloom worse, right?

 

[Scott4335]

SO testing the tank - The Ammonia has gone down 25%-50%. Looks like it was 2% and now 1-1.5%. Nitrites are 0. Nitrates are 5.0. Was hoping that the Ammonia would be lower after ghost feeding. Any insight on what I might do at this point (if anything would be great. Diatoms are increasing. WOuld like to add a cleanup crew (a few). Any suggestions on if I can, and if so which would be most helpful and hardy?

 

[gone fishin]

I would do nothing and just wait until the ammonia and nitrites are zero. Just my 2 cents.

 

[Scott4335]

Thanks Tony.

So the Ammonia is at .25 this morning.
Weird thing is I have never gotten a reading on the nitrites. They have remained at zero. Interns of Nitrate - I am up to 10ppm.

Seemed like a while to get the ammonia down - and still working toward zero.

Any insight on the nitrites being zero? Seems like that could be a good thing.

Thinking about adding my cig when ammonia and nitrite are both at zero. Would you do that, or redoes the ammonia until it processes it back to zero faster?

Any insight is appreciated.

 

[gone fishin]

Thanks Tony.

So the Ammonia is at .25 this morning.
Weird thing is I have never gotten a reading on the nitrites. They have remained at zero. Interns of Nitrate - I am up to 10ppm.

Seemed like a while to get the ammonia down - and still working toward zero.

Any insight on the nitrites being zero? Seems like that could be a good thing.

Thinking about adding my cig when ammonia and nitrite are both at zero. Would you do that, or redoes the ammonia until it processes it back to zero faster?

Any insight is appreciated.

Sorry I have not been back, I banged my knee up at work and have been laid up for a few days.

Do you mean CUC "cig", since you started with some cured live rock then once the ammonia and nitrite zero out then I would add in a bit of a CUC. If you do not plan on quarantine (QT) your fish then you could add a fish in as well. I would suggest looking into QT your fish.

 

[Sk8r]

If you add a fish to a tank with sand, and it dies, ich can infest the sandbed and wait for the next fish. It's the way its life cycle works.