My Tank :)

Firstly what is in the tank to create bacteria ?

Rea Sea kits are not known as the best.

I would question the zero Nitrates and nitrites before the Ammonia.

Personally I have never had zero nitrates in my 10 month old tank, but regularly have zero ammonia.
 
I would say it is possible.

As carbons break down they are converted to Ammonia. This will rise as the bacteria that breaks down carbons increase. While the ammonia increases the bacteria that converts it to nitrites slowly increase as well. bacteria that converts nitrites to nitrates also start to increase. and so on.

But there is a time lapse of a few days to a week between when the ammonia starts increasing to where the nitrites start increasing and eventually until the nitrates start increasing.

So what you are probably seeing is the ammonia increasing and the nitrites not yet starting to rise.

Be patient. You cannot add fish until ammonia is zero anyway. When your ammonia hits zero your nitrites will probably only start peaking.
 
dogstar give your ammonia time, remember its only been a week and a half. I wouldn't even waste my test kit further if I were you. Start testing again after 3 - 4 weeks. Dont worry I know why you constantly testing, your ass is itching for that cycle to complete. Rather not rush things. Has any diatoms formed yet? This is usually a good indication of your cycle coming to a end.
 
Warr, got live rock in the tank to create the bacteria.

Dont get me wrong guys, I am in no rush to stock. There is plenty of life in the tank already to keep me going.

I test every second day to make sure all is in order, and my observation is that I have hit the ammonia, nitrite and nitrate peaks, and the levels have slowly decreased to where they are now, i.e. Ammonia 0.25, Nitrites 0, and Nitrates <1

I reckon that probably the bacteria that breaks down the ammonia to Nitrites is not as well established as the bacteria that is taking care of Nitrites and Nitrates.
 
dogstar said:
Warr, got live rock in the tank to create the bacteria.

Dont get me wrong guys, I am in no rush to stock. There is plenty of life in the tank already to keep me going.
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thats really good to hear:) you have some fun LR there, lots of fellas to keep you happy for now. run it in slow wait a while before you even think of cuc, let the guys that are in there help out for now:)

and i am very glad to hear you caught and sump sided those crabs, good on you, as mike said they would prob prefer to be in the ocean than your tank. good on you for not killing:)
 
My DT dimensions are 1m x 0.5m x 0.5m. I have two Seio M820's. I plan to eventually stock some soft corals, probably not hard.

So regarding flow,how far off the mark am i here? or do you reckon these will suffice, at least for 6 months?
 
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yeah for now that flow sounds fine:) especially for softies.

looking good there:)

do u have another pic so we can see if its cleared?
 
crispin said:
yeah for now that flow sounds fine:) especially for softies.

looking good there:)

do u have another pic so we can see if its cleared?
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Oh, where is the best placement of those seio's?

My liverock is laid out across the middle of the tank, with equal space behind and infront of the rock.
 
Have your Seio's on either end of the tank facing each other. This way, when the flow meets it will disperse. Or you can have you Seio's facing your front pane, from there the flow will bounce back onto your rock work.
 
Went to exotics yesterday, got my water tested by them.

As predicted, the red sea kit is not so great with the ammonia test, i kept on getting readings of 0.25, it was tested to read 0.1 at exotics.

Nitrites 0 and nitrates <1 confirmed at exotics, so thats all good.

So, latest update is that i am waiting for that ammonia to drop to 0, before i stock anything.
 
As promised a full tank shot, sorry its a bit blurry, had to use the cellphone.

a02112008388.jpg
 
looking good there dog, great to see its cleared and so much LR, also nice scaping.

Might want to point them seios at glass more a little later and bounce that stream a bit:) same as mek suggested:)

softies gonna look fantastic there fella:)
 
Yeah, put both Seio's on the back glass in the corners pointing to the centre of the front glass ;)

Tank looks good!
 
thanks for your feedback guys.

Will change those seio's around this evening.
 
i have a rock on which some star polyps are starting to thrive. There were only a few heads when i got the rock and now its growing like crazy, heads popping up everywhere.

On the same rock i have some rics growing.

Is the growth of the polyps going to be an issue for the rics?
 
any other advice on the rics and polyps issue?


I have a diatom bloom in full swing.

I am concerned though, I see almost no pods running around the tank anymore. I think they have died, am i doing something wrong? I still see alot of snails all over the place and the bristleworms too, so i am not sure how come the pods are not to be seen. Any advice on this or what could be the cause?
 
dogstar said:
any other advice on the rics and polyps issue?


I have a diatom bloom in full swing.

I am concerned though, I see almost no pods running around the tank anymore. I think they have died, am i doing something wrong? I still see alot of snails all over the place and the bristleworms too, so i am not sure how come the pods are not to be seen. Any advice on this or what could be the cause?
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Don't worry about the polyps and rics, they will sort themselves out. If you really concerned then move the ric, easier than the polyps.

Pod issue: What livestock do you have in the tank ?

You say you have lots of bristleworms, this is normally a sign of high bioload or nutrient overload. All tanks have these worms, but you shouldn't see lots maybe one every now and then.

These may also be the cause of your pod population being depleted.
 
Warr7207 said:
Don't worry about the polyps and rics, they will sort themselves out. If you really concerned then move the ric, easier than the polyps.

Pod issue: What livestock do you have in the tank ?

You say you have lots of bristleworms, this is normally a sign of high bioload or nutrient overload. All tanks have these worms, but you shouldn't see lots maybe one every now and then.

These may also be the cause of your pod population being depleted.
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Hi Warr,

I have not livestock in the tank. Its still cycling. The worms, snails few crabs that were in there all came in as hitch hikers on the rock.

Hmm, i see the worms quite often. Dont know where the nutrients or high bioload is coming from, because i have not added anything to this tank.

I did a water change yesterday, about 10% because of the diatom bloom. I gave the subtrate and rocks a blow with a powerhead, was surprised to see how much detritus had accumulated.
 
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