Help me decypher?!?!?

[edpete97]

Hey all. I started my 90gal reef tank two Saturdays or 10 days ago. Nine days ago, Sunday, I opened my live Sand (80lbs) in the tank (fiji pink). Wednesday, a week ago tomorrow (10/25) I put 80lbs of cured live rock. Friday, 10/27 I dropped an uncooked shrimp in. I've been measuring my parameters every other day and not much is going on.
10/22 (AM)
SG-1.026
KH-13.8
PH-8.0
Alk-4.91
Added 136ml of BioStart
Ammonia-0
Nitrates, rites 0
10/22 (PM)
PH-8.0
Alk/PH through the roof-my bad, I put a booster in at the advice of LFS, but soon after realized my mistake.
10/26
Got a refractometer
Salinity 1.0245
KH-9.9
Alk-3.54
PH-8.0
NH3-.25
Nitrites-1
Ammonia-.25
10/29
Ammonia-.25
Nitrates-25
Nitrite-3
Ph-Between 8 and 8.3
KH-8.6
Alk-3.09
Salinity 1.025
10/31
Ammonia-near 0
Nitrites-near 0
Nitrates-near 0
Salinity-1.025
What do you think?

 

[anonome]

I would wait out the 30 days. Your numbers are really fluctuating. Don't rush, you can't go wrong in waiting. After 30 days you are good to go, but slowly of course. You have gone 10, just go another 20. Jmio.

 

[cymbal67]

30 days....thats nuts.....if you have enough fresh live rock and a fuge with a deep sand bed you can cycle quickly, especially if the tank is big enough. if levels are zero....levels are zero. just dont add too much too fast.

 

[teen]

wait till your ammonia and nitrites reach zero. once this happens your nitrates should be a little elevated, give it 3-5 days maybe a little longer and makes sure the ammonia and nitrites dont spike again. if they dont, then i would do a small water change and try to get your nitrates down to zero. and i wouldnt add anything else to the tank as of now, just let it sit and do its thing.

 

[1journeyman]

Originally Posted by cymbal67
30 days....thats nuts.....if you have enough fresh live rock and a fuge with a deep sand bed you can cycle quickly, especially if the tank is big enough. if levels are zero....levels are zero. just dont add too much too fast.
Or it means that you didn't have a cycle and adding livestock will crash the tank... either one is possible.
You said three important things: 1. Fresh live rock 2. a deep sand bed. 3. Bigger tanks can cycle quicker.
1. Fresh live rock is uncured live rock. Cured live rock from the pet store can be great rock. It could also be trash, depending on how they cured it. If you are using "fresh" live rock you will have die off and a cycle.
2. A deep sand bed will not cycle a tank faster. A deep sand bed provides anearobic habitat for nitrate fixing bacteria to form. That takes time. Using "live" sand out of a bag may or may not provide bacteria. Bacteria don't have an infinite shelf life like those bags of sand... Bacteria takes time to develop.
3. Bigger tanks cycle too. Not sure what you were implying unless you meant the water dilutes the ammonia.
I agree, as most hobbyists would, with your final point. Don't add too much too fast.

 

[anonome]

Originally Posted by cymbal67
30 days....thats nuts.....if you have enough fresh live rock and a fuge with a deep sand bed you can cycle quickly, especially if the tank is big enough. if levels are zero....levels are zero. just dont add too much too fast.
How can you say that, every tank is different. You are spending a lot of money for livestock.....waiting thirty days for the tank to do its thing is not abnormal.

 

[edpete97]

Thanks for the replies. My shrimp is looking nasty. At what point do I take it out. It is quality cured live rock. It is not fresh and uncured. It's been sitting in my LFS curing tank for some time. It's actually beautiful. It's got some gorgeous purples on it. Very nice. I'm just unsure when to pull that nasty shrimp out. My goal is to elevate the Nitrates a little with the ammonia and nitrites at Zero, correct? Then put 2 or 3 fish in? At what point do I put workers in?

 

[cymbal67]

very true every tank is totally different. and hell i shouldnt even be giving any advise at all, i am wayyy too new at this. the rock i had did have some die off on it, that caused the initial ammonia spike (i guess). my levels spiked good but came down fast. nitrites went to around 4.0 but came down to 0. i am not sure how it happened so quickly, but i was lucky. and shouldnt be telling others the same will happen in their tanks.

 

[1journeyman]

Originally Posted by edpete97
Thanks for the replies. My shrimp is looking nasty. At what point do I take it out. It is quality cured live rock. It is not fresh and uncured. It's been sitting in my LFS curing tank for some time. It's actually beautiful. It's got some gorgeous purples on it. Very nice. I'm just unsure when to pull that nasty shrimp out. My goal is to elevate the Nitrates a little with the ammonia and nitrites at Zero, correct? Then put 2 or 3 fish in? At what point do I put workers in?
Watch your ammonia... do a water change if it approaches 1ppm. You don't want it to go that high.
You can take the shrimp out if you want, just keep feeding the tank a little fish food. The idea is to keep producing ammonia in the tank to feed the bacteria. If you remove all sources of ammonia the bacteria will starve and you'll be back to the beginning. When your ammonia goes to 0.0 it doesn't mean their is nothing in the tank producing ammonia, it means you hava helathy population of bacteria eating the ammonia.
Yes... after your nitrite has spiked and gone to 0.0 then your nitrates will be elevated. How high depends on how much nitrate fixing bacteria (bit of a different subject as the bacteria live in oxygen poor areas of your tank such as a deep sand bed or in the core fissures of your live rock) you have and how many water changes you've done.
Add a clean up crew as your algae takes off. Just add them slowly. They eat a lot and you can end up ordering too many and having them starve.

 

[edpete97]

Okay, just so I have everyone straight. I need to pull the shrimp when my Ammonia spikes enough. Also, put a small clean up crew when my algea blooms. Anything else?
There isn't much left of my shrimp and the ammonia hasn't spiked, should I add another one?

 

[1journeyman]

Keep feeding the tank some fish food. That can do the same thing as a shrimp.
Add a cleaning crew AFTER the cycle once algae starts up good.
Of course, "cleaning" crew is a broad term. Many scavengers eat detritus and fish food scraps instead of algae.

 

[edpete97]

Okay...this is totally wiered. Two nights ago there was about 3/4 of the shrimp left. Last night when I got home, the shrimp was GONE. What could have happened to it. I had it up against one of my live rocks.
Erik