Cycling issues and Dr. Tim's arrived frozen :(

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brownec

New Member
I have a 120 gallon tank. I have an aquatop canister filter with UV. I upgraded from a 55 gallon dumb enough to think it might not recycle. Everything died or had to be rehired because it did :(

Ammonia is 8.0 Wont go down. It's been weeks. No nitrites, not nitrates. I got some Dr. Tim's from my LFS. After 48 hours, no change. I then ordered some off Amazon and it arrived frozen. I thawed it, even though I know it's probably useless, and put it in. Still no change. I did turn the UV off after adding the Dr.TIm's.

I have 120 pounds of live sand and 100 pounds of live rock.

any other ideas to get this going? Any chance the frozen Dr. Tim's survived?
 
geridoc

geridoc

Well-Known Member
There's no way to know how good the Dr. Tim's is after freezing. Your ammonia levels might not even be true - did you test the kit against your LFS? Also, ammonia levels that high may inhibit the growth of the very bacteria you want to grow. You should make some water changes to get it down to at least 2, but 1 would be better. DO NOT use the UV - its job is to kill bacteria. As a new unit it will be effective at that for a few months, then it will lose its bactericidal effectiveness.
 
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brownec

New Member
API. What do you suggest? I have an ammoalert patch too that says the same thing. UV is off.I did a 20% water change. How much do you suggest? I miss my beautiful tank :(. I'm a foster parent and it's such source of stress relief and joy for my kids
 
beaslbob

beaslbob

Well-Known Member
brownec said:
API. What do you suggest? I have an ammoalert patch too that says the same thing. UV is off.I did a 20% water change. How much do you suggest? I miss my beautiful tank :(. I'm a foster parent and it's such source of stress relief and joy for my kids
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the ammo dot does read the dangerous ammonia but the api kit cannot tell the difference between lock and dangerous. You might try some macro algae like chaeto to consume the ammonia directly. You need to balance out the tank wither through aerobic bacteria build up or by adding macro algaes. I do not recommend ammonia locks or dechlors as they lock up both the ammonia and oxygen. In a week or two the ammonia should start coming down.

my .02
 
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brownec

New Member
where would I get macro algaes? Still no nitrites. is the what you mean by aerobic bacteria build up. I don't know why my nitrites wont show. they have the worlds biggest meal of ammonia waiting for them. My pH is a bit low. Do I do water changes Orr just leave it for a week and see what happens?
 
silverado61

silverado61

Well-Known Member
*************.com has macroalgae for sale online. I would get the Chaeto. As geridoc recommended, do water changes. I think 20% every other day would be good and keep testing your water. When you mix saltwater for changes make sure you mix it for at least 24hrs using a power head, check to make sure it's 1.025 and heated to the same temp as your display before using.
 
Jesterrace

Jesterrace

Active Member
brownec said:
API. What do you suggest? I have an ammoalert patch too that says the same thing. UV is off.I did a 20% water change. How much do you suggest? I miss my beautiful tank :(. I'm a foster parent and it's such source of stress relief and joy for my kids
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I see two problems here. API is great for freshwater but one of the most wildly variable for Marine Tanks. Second Canister filters are very problematic in saltwater tanks (nitrates can build up quickly, be a pain to clean, etc.). As for the ammonia, what did you transfer over for live rock and what stock did you have in the tank that you transferred? In late november I transferred the 40lbs of live rock from my 36 gallon, a Diamond Watchman Goby, A young Melanurus Wrasse, a handful of snails and crabs and 3 coral frags into my new 90 gallon and I never got any ammonia or nitrites at all. When you transferred the live rock what did you do? (ie how long did the rock spend out of water) and also how long had your 55 gallon been cycled?
 
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brownec

New Member
I actually had a wet dry sump with an overflow, but it was a pain to clean. I still have it and could hook it back up once I get this thing cycled. what do you suggest. It had been cycled 6 months. live rock spent seconds out. it didn't do this for a month and I did find something dead...I screwed up there. Now there's nothing in but live rock. I had transferred a little striped dog face puffer, tiny copper band, diamond gobby, sixline wrasse, green wolf eel, and dwarf lion. yes, it was overstock, hence the upgrade, although they were all tiny and water quality was beautiful.

even if API is off a bit, I highly doubt there's not a dangerous level of ammonia.
 
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brownec

New Member
also, so the pump in my wet dry broke and I bought the exact same one and hooked it up. I also cleaned the gunk (and it was A LOT) out of the tubing before hooking it up. this was after the crash/no live stock. in the morning, huge bubbles were overflowing the tank. I knew the wet dry sump was made for the 50, so knew it wouldn't be enough for the 120, so I figured it could supplement the canister....but not sure what to do about the bubbles or why that happened.

Trying hard to be patient!
 
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brownec

New Member
I know. thats why there is nothing in there now. I can't watch them suffer. right now, I'm trying to get it to cycle and see some nitrites and nitrates so I can add again
 
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