First Saltwater Tank

[pkppv]

I decided to go with the seafood method as that is what everyone suggested. This will be my first SW tank and is approximately 15 US gallons. I added the food source (fresh clams) this afternoon at around 1:00pm EST. I checked the ammonia at 3:30 pm today, expecting not to see anything so soon, but it is already up to a promising .5ppm!! Im using dry rock with 320gph flow rate and plenty of surface agitation. SG is about 1.0215. I will update any readings i get and let you all know when i add my CUC and first fish!! Please feel free to comment or advise me on any thing I should do differently during this process. Thanks a lot!

3:30 pm, 12/18/2011
ammonia-.5ppm
nitrite-0ppm
nitrate-0ppm

Will check again later tonight just to make sure everything is getting off to a proper start!

 

[lljdma06]

I decided to go with the seafood method as that is what everyone suggested. This will be my first SW tank and is approximately 15 US gallons. I added the food source (fresh clams) this afternoon at around 1:00pm EST. I checked the ammonia at 3:30 pm today, expecting not to see anything so soon, but it is already up to a promising .5ppm!! Im using dry rock with 320gph flow rate and plenty of surface agitation. SG is about 2.0215. I will update any readings i get and let you all know when i add my CUC and first fish!! Please feel free to comment or advise me on any thing I should do differently during this process. Thanks a lot!

3:30 pm, 12/18/2011
ammonia-.5ppm
nitrite-0ppm
nitrate-0ppm

Will check again later tonight just to make sure everything is getting off to a proper start!

You mean sg is at 1.0215, right? My goodness, otherwise, you're using a different meter, or we've got solid salt rock in your tank.

Are you not using LR? Explain to me what you're doing again.

L

 

[pkppv]

Correct! My fault. No im not using live rock, im using dry rock that i plan to colonize with bacteria. The food for the bacteria is the clams. I do, however, plan to add some LR in a week or two when it becomes available to me.

 

[pkppv]

Ammonia is currently 1ppm

Hopefully it will jump like crazy tomorow or the next day. I want atleast 4ppm

 

[lljdma06]

Correct! My fault. No im not using live rock, im using dry rock that i plan to colonize with bacteria. The food for the bacteria is the clams. I do, however, plan to add some LR in a week or two when it becomes available to me.

Aren't you going to trigger a mini cycle when you add the new LR? Unless you plan on getting cured LR?

 

[pkppv]

Also true! I am not sure if im going to get cured LR or not but im not concerned about a mini cycle because i dont plan to add anything before the final LR additions.

Just did tonights test...the results are quite fishy....

Ammonia- 4ppm

YESSS THIS EXCITES ME!!!!


Nitrite- 2ppm

This...confuses me...2ppm after 30 hours...seems kinda fast BUT i double checked my test kit with clean saltwater and it read 0ppm, so i guess it must be accurate, which means my cycle is moving along swimmingly!

(Did you guys pick up by this post that i like puns?) =p

 

[pkppv]

Nitrate tonight was at 35ppm....very strange, unless I'm witnessing the fastest cycle ever. I did pour water in there that I had soaked lots of mature media in, and the temp
Is quite high which I know helps speed things up, but nitrates on day 2? Common now...

If you're wondering, I checked my test kit (API) with clean saltwater to make sure it was working right and that my water source didn't all of a sudden become contaminated. The results were as expected and support the fact that my cycle is flying! Nitrate was less than 5ppm in the clean water, very very close to 0, with only the slightest hint of orange signifying any nitrate at all.

 

[pkppv]

Nitrate tonight was at 35ppm....very strange, unless I'm witnessing the fastest cycle ever. I did pour water in there that I had soaked lots of mature media in, and the temp
Is quite high which I know helps speed things up, but nitrates on day 2? Common now...

If you're wondering, I checked my test kit (API) with clean saltwater to make sure it was working right and that my water source didn't all of a sudden become contaminated. The results were as expected and support the fact that my cycle is flying! Nitrate was less than 5ppm in the clean water, very very close to 0, with only the slightest hint of orange signifying any nitrate at all.

 

[lljdma06]

My cycle moved fast too, but just be aware that as you add more LR, you may continue to get mini cycles. Don't add anything with regard to CUC until you are done with your LR and have gone through the last proper cycle.

Also, and this'll suck to you. Why bother testing the water if you're not done adding the LR in the first place? Does it really matter what your levels are at this point in the game with nothing but LR in the tank? Take it easy and save your test kits for when it counts. Right now, just worry about your sg and do your top-offs when you need to. Don't do any water changes at this time, and just leave things alone.

When you're done adding all your LR and you then start seeing algae and all sorts of junk, then start looking at your ammonia and nitrite levels. Right now, you're just wasting tests on a system that isn't at a stage where it's particularly important.

Just my opinion. Would love to see pictures, pictures are awesome.

L

 

[pkppv]

Well i dont see it as a waste. Im the kind of guy that likes to know whats going on, so theres no way i could just leave the tank alone! I need to know whats happening in there! haha

Also, I decided to test my ammonia source (clams) to see if that was the reason my levels were so high. Poured out some clam juice, tested it, and got triple zeros. No ammonia, no nitrite, barely a little bit of nitrate, maybe 2ppm, but that is due to the fact that my water source has a little bit of nitrate in it, as do many.

So my tank MUST be cycling crazy fast. Theres no other variable that I can think of. This is excellent! Ill try to get my LR asap!

 

[pkppv]

Ok, I'm getting the proper amount of LR on friday. So then what? Wait until 0 ammonia and nitrite and then add the CUC?

 

[SaltNoob]

I would still give it a few days after the ammonia drops to let the nitrites die down a little. Do a water change to help after the cycle has completed, then CUC! Ask if its Cured or Not. You decide what your clean up crew will be? What will you run your temperature at? how much flow do you have in the tank? Just curious =)

-Tyler

 

[pkppv]

i have 320gph and i plan to run it at 75F or so

 

[lljdma06]

Wait until both ammonia and nitrite test at zero. Then do a water change to bring your nitrates to less than 10ppm, then add CUC, it may well take more than one water change to bring it back down to less than 10ppm. Make sure that your water change water matches the temperature and sg of your tank.

You can test all you want, I'm just trying to save you some money on tests.

75 is a bit low, but still manageable.

L

 

[pkppv]

My heater is quite adjustable. Just tell me what's best and I'll do it