questions for the experts

skiper gre

skiper gre

Member
I have had my system set up for 6 days now. Doesn’t look like there has been a cycle started. I have been running the lights for 12 hrs a day. The test readings are
Nitrate 5.0 ppm
Nitrite 0 ppm
Ammonia 0 ppm
Ph 8.2
With specific gravity at 1.20 to 1.21
The tank has been running warm cooling to 81 at night and getting to about 85-86 by the end of the lights on time. (working on ways to fix this)
The tank is a 125g with 30 gal sump. I started it with 125 pounds of live rock, 200 pounds of live sand and it took about 95 gallons of water, the water was ocean water from the LFS. I added two damsels Friday and they seem fine.
So my questions to the experts are.
Is it possible with the combined live sand, cured rock and ocean water the tank will not need top cycle?
There is some brown algae starting to grow on the sand, should this be a concern?, do I need a clean-up crew yet?
There are small bubbles forming in the sand bed then rising to the top, is this normal?
There are lots of very small micro bubbles the instructions for my protein skimmer said this may happen for the first two weeks so I think this is normal, could this be causing the bubbles in the sand?
Here are some pics of the tank.
 
shawnts106

shawnts106

Member
ocean water
Do you mean ACTUAL OCEAN WATER from the... well... Ocean or just Cycled tank water...????
Is it possible with the combined live sand, cured rock and ocean water the tank will not need top cycle?
Top cycle... not sure what you mean, please explain, if you are asking if your tank doesnt need to cycle b/c of the live rock and sand the answer is YES IT DOES need to still cycle which cant take up to 3 months...
There is some brown algae starting to grow on the sand, should this be a concern?,
No not really just part of the normal cycling process... it should clear up on its own with time, just make sure you do water changes about twice a month... but not untill the first 3 weeks is over from the start of the tank... also this isnt Brown Algae this is called Diatoms, they are tiny glass bodied creatures living in sea water,,, what you are seeing is the dead bodies of these interesting creatures!.. nothing to be concerned about!
do I need a clean-up crew yet?
How old is your tank? you should start to get snails and hermits after the first 3 to 5 weeks... this way they have some good stuff to eat!
There are small bubbles forming in the sand bed then rising to the top, is this normal?
Yes absolutly, this is O2 and CO2 given off by the algaes in your sand bed, perfectly normal!!! and a GOOD SIGN!
There are lots of very small micro bubbles the instructions for my protein skimmer said this may happen for the first two weeks so I think this is normal, could this be causing the bubbles in the sand?
No probably not causing this bubbles in your sand bed, however to stop this you can take a simple cheap aquarium carbon pack and cut it so you have just the bag and the carbon in it... then take that and a good rubberband and place over the output of the skimmer, this way it will help keep the bubbles down.... I really had this part of skimming!!!!
hope this helped! if you have anymore questions post them for us!! :)
good luck reef-keeping!!!!!
 
skiper gre

skiper gre

Member
tanks for your openion
Do you mean ACTUAL OCEAN WATER from the... well... Ocean or just Cycled tank water...????
the LFS here in southern Ca sell fresh ocean water. thats what I used.
quote:

[hr]
Is it possible with the combined live sand, cured rock and ocean water the tank will not need top cycle?

[hr]
oops typo need to cycle, toy ansered that one.
 
thedude

thedude

Member

the LFS here in southern Ca sell fresh ocean water. thats what I used.
hmm, i doubt it....ive never heard of this...you should typically not put any nasty polluted ocean water in your tank, especially if your from down here. :notsure: Interesting...
you might need to feed the damsels more to jump-start the cycling process, I think the general rule is something like 1" of fish per 10 gallons of water (could be totally wrong though
:rolleyes: ) Altthough I would suggest removing them altogether and adding a raw shrimp.
 
bang guy

bang guy

Moderator

Originally posted by theDude
hmm, i doubt it....ive never heard of this...
I have. There's even a couple places to get it free.
 
solonfairy

solonfairy

Member
i stand corrected...... but i still think its a dumb idea
maybe thats why it was a question for the experts
 
nm reef

nm reef

Active Member
Based on the LR/LS/Ocean water...you may have only had a small cycle...even with the damsels and few critters the initial ammonia spike may have been small and the available bacteria may have quickly consumed it. You may have a sort of partially cycled system. If you were to add much livestock at this point the extra ammonia may trigger a larger cycle and throw things out of wack. if it were me I'd leave it as is and maybe add a small raw shrimp for a ammonia source and monitor the water chemistry for a few weeks. You should be able to see how quickly the system can process the ammonia and once it stabalises than consider adding more livestock. Sounds to me like you've got the foundation for a real nice system....keep us posted and toss in more pics as it progresses.
 
shawnts106

shawnts106

Member
WOW REALLLLLL OCEAN WATER? I would test it and make sure it was 1.025 SG, and 0 in the whole water quality department iiiffffff you KNOW what I MEANNNN!!! lOL
 
reefer44

reefer44

Member
yup you skipped it.......the diatoms on the sand are a result of to low of flow and your tank being so new.........although some ppl think it is impposible the cycle is quite easy to skip (as long as you have the resources like you did)
Brad
 
nm reef

nm reef

Active Member
...but even if the cycle was quick...or even skipped...and I agree that can happen...it would still be wise to procede with caution until you are certain the system is stable and can adaquately cope with additional bioload. It may be able to maintain at current levels...and may indeed have cycled already...but take care not to place too much load on it too soon.
 
smarls

smarls

Member
Skiper,
Don't stress the ocean water thing too much - or else I guess I am an idiot too.
I use ocean water, with ro/di top-offs. My LFS sells the water which is collected quite far out at sea (I think roughly 10 miles or something), filtered a few times, then brought to the LFS. Since switching from mixed water (about a year ago), I think my tank has improved...perhaps this is due to my lack of salt-mixing ability, or because I never let the mixed water sit long enough at exactly the right temp, prperly buffered, etc.
As far as "checking the water parameters", well it is ocean water...so one would assume (absent any form of pollutants) that it is pretty much in-line with what the ocean animals are used to (obvious variances in temprature). I have tested the water for phosphate, etc., and it reads zero.
While I obviously do not have the skill nor the equipment to test the water for every known possible pollutant, I would question whether or not people know exactly what is in their salt mixes, and in what quantities?? I remember reading a thread or two about bad batches of salt mix from manufacturers...
Anyways, assuming for a moment that there are limited pollutants in the ocean water I use, it would be possible to thoerize that there are other beneficial items in the water that us aquariasts do not yet fully understand or recognize, let alone test for.
Just my .02c, but I didn't want skiper to freak out that he was doing something stupid. It is a matter of choice, and I am sure there are benefits either way, salt v. ocean.
Stewart
 
skiper gre

skiper gre

Member
Thanks for the info again. Brad, I don’t think there is low flow, I have two pumps rated at 1250 GPH with four returns witch two of are split so six returns and the only place the brown stuff is not in is in the literal sand dunes created by the flow. I am not at all trying to be the expert just saying the way it is. Today I added another 85 pounds of rock some really cool looking pieces and a small goby I forgot the name, it was white with some gold flakes, the guy at my LFS again didn’t recommend adding fish but said if I was doing to add a goby to add this guy. He talked me out of a mandarin goby. I can’t wait for time to add corals. I will defiantly be looking to the expert advice from the helpful people from this board I have had a fish only tank years ago but not to this degree.
pic
With all the rock I think I will need
 
wrassecal

wrassecal

Active Member
A diatom bloom is a normal part of the early stages of tank development. What you are seeing are the silica casings as the diatoms die off. Diatoms are unslightly but not necessarily bad for your aquarium because they provide phytoplankton for feeding. With good water conditions (much discussion above) they should cycle through and out of you tank witin a few weeks. The worst diatom bloom I ever had was from a ligthing upgrade.HTH
 
golfish

golfish

Active Member

Originally posted by skiper gre
The tank has been running warm cooling to 81 at night and getting to about 85-86 by the end of the lights on time. (working on ways to fix this)

Its about as cold as it gets in So Cal these days. I'd work on this first because it WILL get a lot worse during the summer.
Originally posted by skiper gre

So my questions to the experts are.
Is it possible with the combined live sand, cured rock and ocean water the tank will not need top cycle?

its possible but there's alot more to a "cycle" then just whatching the ammonia and nitirte levels drop to zero. I'd still let the system run for 6 months before you start adding corals.
BTW, nice looking tank
 
golfish

golfish

Active Member

Originally posted by theDude
hmm, i doubt it....ive never heard of this...you should typically not put any nasty polluted ocean water in your tank, especially if your from down here. :notsure: Interesting...

Cataline water company is really big here in So Cal. They collect water off of Cataline island and distribute all over.
 
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