Hi all.....what do you think?

borgatagal

borgatagal

Member
I am 9 days into my cycle of 50 gallon tank with 40 pounds of live sand and 45 pounds of live rock.

My levels rechecked today. What do these levels sound like?
Temp 97
Specific grav- 1.021
ph 8.2
alk- normal
nitrate NO2- 0
nitrate NO3- 250 HIGH
Ammonia NH3/NH4- 0
My shrimp are dissolved and gone. No active critters.
What do I do now??? When do I do a water change? When do I start ghost feeding the tank? etccc.... Just intrigued. :notsure:
 
lion_crazz

lion_crazz

Active Member
Originally Posted by BorgataGal
Temp 97
:scared: :scared: :scared:
Typo, hopefully? That is extremely overheated. The first thing to do is to get that down if it is really that high?
 
drew2005

drew2005

Active Member
Yea i hope that was a typo. Get it down to 78-80 degrees. No need to ghost feed your cycle has already started. Juts let nature take its course. Good luck.
 
borgatagal

borgatagal

Member
Yes, that was a typo-- temp is 78 degrees :hilarious
Now the only thing I am watching and waiting for is for the nitrates to bottom out to 0, correct??
 
lion_crazz

lion_crazz

Active Member
Originally Posted by BorgataGal
Yes, that was a typo-- temp is 78 degrees :hilarious
Now the only thing I am watching and waiting for is for the nitrates to bottom out to 0, correct??
No, that will require you doing a few 25% water changes.
Also, while you are doing that, get your SG up to 1.025. It is better for fish and livestock, and definitely for inverts.
 
drew2005

drew2005

Active Member
Originally Posted by BorgataGal
Yes, that was a typo-- temp is 78 degrees :hilarious
Now the only thing I am watching and waiting for is for the nitrates to bottom out to 0, correct??
Well you wanna wait until ammonia and nitrite are 0. At that point the nitrate should spike and start to drop. Thats when you start doing 20% water changes to get them under control and as close to 0 as possible. 10ppm and under is ideal. Of course 0 is what you really want.
 
lion_crazz

lion_crazz

Active Member
whenever you want. Your tank sounds cycled to me. Did you see both of those levels spike and come back down?
 
borgatagal

borgatagal

Member
Both the nitrites and ammonia spiked during the week and are now zero. The nitrates have gone from 50 to 250 since the beginning of the week. I don't have any algae on my live rock. I have some die off, I assume, brown spots and some purplish areas on the rocks. A couple spots of plant like material starting. Normal??
Now when I do a water change that is salt water correct? Do you mix your salt water in a bucket and let it sit overnight with a heater? Or what do YOU do? I have a 4 gallon bucket already with salt mixed up last night sitting.
This, as you know, is my first tank so I am trying my darnest to start and continue on the right path. LOL
You guys have been great! Thanks!
 
jsgreer1

jsgreer1

Member
the purple spots on your live rock are good that is purple coraline algae. but lion definately knows more about this than i do. i put my water in a five gallon bucket with a powerhead and a heater overnight before adding it to my tank for a water change yes. but like i said lion knows more than i do
 
bimac

bimac

Member
Wow thats a pritty fast cycle. I put up my 90 gallon with live rock about a month ago. its been going for a wile I eventualy had to ad a protien skimmer because the uncured live rock was producing so much wast it probably would have taken months for the bactiria to distroy it all. but it is going well( Ive done this before with my 30 gallon) But the cycle is still going hopping it will finish soon.
 
lion_crazz

lion_crazz

Active Member
When I do a water change, here is my process.
I have 2 trash cans. A good water bucket, and a bad water bucket. The two are never mixed. I have "good" on one, and "bad" on the other. Since I do 40 gallon water changes, I use a 40 gallon trash can. You only need a 15 gallon bucket, since 10 gallons would equal 20% for you.
Fill up a trash can with water. Pour the salt in. Guess-timate it the first time. Put a heater in, and heat it to the exact temperature of the tank. For the first 24 hours, put a powerhead on the bottom of the bucket/trash can to mix the water with the salt. Salt will fall to the bottom, so this is where you want your powerhead. After 24 hours has passed, bring the powerhead closer to the top to increase the oxygen. Dissolving salt with water uses the oxygen up in the water, so you need to replace this. You could use an airstone, but I just use a venturi powerhead because it sucks air in (I run 2 poweheads, one at the top, and one at the bottom, since I have such a huge trash can - you only need one). After the first 24 hours has passed, check the salinity and adjust accordingly. If it is too high, add regular water. If it is too slow, add more salt. Once the salinity is EXACT to your tank, you are ready to do a water change.
In your case, I would make up water that is higher for the first time, since you want to bring your SG up to 1.023-1.025. You have no animals in your tank, so it will not hurt anything to make the water higher.
 
lion_crazz

lion_crazz

Active Member
Originally Posted by BorgataGal
Thanks lion!
Your experience is so much appreciated! You really know your stuff.

Thank you very much! I am very glad to help you. :happyfish
 
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