Has my tank finished cycling?

rakos1

rakos1

New Member
not a new hobbyist but first time writing. I have a 150 acryic that I started in October. I started by adding 100 pounds of live sand and 150 pounds of keys base rock. I waited until two weeks ago, at which time i added another 300 pounds of Fiji and Pukani rock (Walt Smith).
Ammonia is about 0.1
Nitrites about 0.5
Nitrates are off the chart.
I am also running a refugium sump which I put in miracle mud, and some more live rock in all compartments.
I am getting a ton of green hair algae.
No CUC yet, and no caulerpa yet in the refugium. Skimmer foaming plenty.
Am I ready for things yet?
 
nycbob

nycbob

Active Member
ammonia and nitrite hv to be zero, and nitrate has to be low enough b4 adding inverts. wait another week or so and test again.
 
tank a holic

tank a holic

Active Member
the ton of green algae is from the ton of nitrates
once your ammonia and trItes get to zero do a WC
also I would leave the skimmer off till the cycle is over, all your doing is taking food away from the bacteria just my opinion though
 
spanko

spanko

Active Member
I would do an immediate succession of water changes, 20% then in three days another 20% until you get the trates down to around 20 or so. IMO this will not affect your continued bacteria population but will help to remove the nutrient, nitrates, that are going to cause an algae growth that you will spend a long time getting control of.
I know this is going to start some heated discussion but tis what I believe.
 
tank a holic

tank a holic

Active Member
not bad idea i guess... never really thought of it that way, but ya really got nothing to lose except salt, may take a little longer to cycle
but hey
patience is the name of this game
 
spanko

spanko

Active Member
Again IMO the tank will not take any longer to cycle as there will still be ammonian and nitrite in the water column to allow the bacteria population to use to grow with.
 
rakos1

rakos1

New Member
Thanks to all for keeping me from getting impatient. I have done one 30% water change last week. tested this morning. ammonia around 0.1, trites near 0, and trates down to about 40. sounds like I am ready.

Now for the next part--as I had metioned I have HUGE green hair algae. Best way to describe it would be the nice thin green grass that grows on a new lawn in the spring! Mostly near the top near the lights. I know I will need to pull off a lot of it, but what can I add to my starter CUC that will help me get a lot of this out.
Matter of fact, what would you guys recommend for a 150 acrylic CUC?
 
E

eric b 125

Guest
i would do another water change or two, to get those trates down a bit. water changes are the best way to lower trates.
 
rakos1

rakos1

New Member
I am running my PC's for about 10 hours, and my MH for about 6
I am going to shut them off for about a week and see if thaty slows it down, as I doubt i will have time during the week for another water change
 
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