Supergiantrobot's 90 G tank setup

[HClH2OFish]

1) Yeah, I figured cutting it back would cause the cycle to short circuit. Just wanted to check.

2) Yep..only things I scrubbed off were dead items...tweezers are good for pulling dead things out of cracks too. I also don't scrub *any* area w/live algae or nonblack coralline.

 

[supergiantrobot]

Here are my Day Four statistics:

PH: 8.8
Ammonia: 8.0
Nitrite: 5.0
Nitrate: 10.0
Salinity: 1.023
Temperature: 80

I did a water change two days ago, and will likely do another tomorrow when the RO/DI unit is back on track.

I also have some sort of algae growing in my refugium, which has a small fluorescent flood light of its own. That light runs maybe ten hours per day.

And my inevitable list of questions:

1/ When the cycle is complete, should I clean the dead-looking stuff off the live rock?

2/ Where can I find a good discussion on algae? I'd like to know what's good, what's bad, and what's ugly. (Or maybe in this day and age, it's what's fast and what's furious...) A link please... (I'll also hunt this forum...)

Thanks again.
Martin

 

[ChrisRD]

Your ammonia is still off-the-charts high and now your nitrite is as well. The nitrates are not really an issue at this point. You really need to do some large water changes ASAP. Also pick off any dead stuff from the rocks ASAP as this will ease the load.

 

[wade1]

I'd highly suggest you cut all but a couple meager hours of lighting off per day. As that nitrite and nitrate goes screaming up, you are going to get massive blooms of algae. It won't hurt anything at all to run the lights for short duration initially. Keep up the 20-30% water changes and let the tank run its course.

 

[HClH2OFish]

1/ When the cycle is complete, should I clean the dead-looking stuff off the live rock?

IMO you should clean the dead stuff off right away. That's likely the reason you're seeing the huge ammonia readings. Remove the dead stuff and you've removed the initial source of it. Then your bacteria can handle what is left and convert it all until you have the nice 0/0 readings on ammonia and nitrite

It's not a big issue...just a longer cycle and you'll lose any microfauna that can't tolerate those conditions for an extended period. Personally I'd rather scrub the rock and lose some, than not scrub and lose most.

Disclaimer as always -- just my edumacated guess... I'm sure if I'm off base, I'll hear about it

Oh, and FWIW there is a *great* article in this months Coral mag re:the Nitrogen cycle. Great reading.

 

[supergiantrobot]

My RO/DI unit is now setup and automated. As soon as I get enough water for 20% change, I'll do that and continue making water changes every other day or so. I'll see if I cannot clean some of the dead stuff off, too.

 

[wade1]

Did you plumb it straight into the sump? Or do you have some sort of basin for it prior to the tank?

If you don't, you should REALLY consider it. One screwup where the RO doesn't shut off and it'll dilute out your tank (not to mention fill the floor).

 

[supergiantrobot]

One of these days, I will draw a schematic of my system for everyone to see (and bash!)

No, the RO/DI goes into a 30 G Rubbermaid tub. I have a hose to draw water on demand (for water changes) and a small line to connect to the kalk reactor. The kalk reactor sensor will top-off with kalk as evaporation occurs.

 

[supergiantrobot]

Day Six readings (just prior to a water change):

pH: 8.0
Salinity: 1.023
Ammonia: (down to) 1.0
Nitrite: 5.0
Nitrate: 5.0
Temperature: 80

 

[supergiantrobot]

Day Seven readings, a few hours after a 20% water change.

pH: 7.8
Salinity: 1.022
Ammonia: 0.5
Nitrite: 5.0
Nitrate: 7.5
Temperature: 80

The water is clearing, and the algae keeps growing in the refugium. I blasted the live rock with the powerhead to remove some detritus, but did not go so far as to remove the rock and scrub or pick things off.

The inevitable questions:

1/ Next steps?

2/ If everything got nuked on the live rock due to the high ammonia for the last week or so, will the live rock recover to produce and foster nitrite-destroying bacteria?

3/ Should I attempt to more vigorously clean the live rock for the benefit of the future of the tank?

Martin

 

[Len]

I'd slowly elevate the specific gravity to 1.024-1.025. Natural seawater is this level (not sure why old books recommend 1.022-1.023).

The live rock will recover once the tank is fully cycled. You'll see life pop up all over the place. Nitrifying bacteria will populate rapdily.

I wouldn't scrub the live rock at all. Manually remove anything that is obviously dead and decaying, but don't vigorously scrub it .

 

[supergiantrobot]

Here are my Day Nine readings:

Salinity: 1.023
pH: 8.0
Ammonia: 0.0
Nitrite: 5.0+
Nitrate: 7.5

Is it time for a 50% water change to get rid of that nitrite value? Or do I need all of that fuel to grow the bacteria for the remainder of the cycle to occur?

 

[ChrisRD]

IMO the water change is a good idea, I'd do it ASAP. Cutting that nitrite level in half still leaves you at highly toxic levels. Don't worry about the cycling finishing-off, there's plenty of fuel and bacteria in your system for that.

 

[supergiantrobot]

I promised to post the schematic of my system some time ago. Here goes. The arrows are water flow.

Let the arrows fly....

 

[ChrisRD]

Looks good to me. Forgive me if I missed it in the text, but what is the "on demand" pump for again?

 

[supergiantrobot]

The on-demand pump is used for water changes. I turn a simple valve at the other-end of the on-demand pump whenever I need large amounts of RO/DI. I used an on-demand pump because of the distance from the reservoir tub to the tank. It s super convenient.

I almost want to plumb a faucet in the wall to make it even easier! But that might look weird in a room filled with computers.

 

[Anonymous]

with ammonia down to 0.0 it look like you are well on your way. With the refugium full of plant life nitrAtes should come down next.

NitrItes will come down as the aerobic bacteria builds up.

So as long as you have sufficient plant life all three should be 0.0 in a week or two.

 

[supergiantrobot]

Plant life? Like? I don't have any plants, per se. Do you mean algae? I was considering mangroves, about a dozen or so, but I do not have the pods yet.

 

[Anonymous]

Plant life? Like? I don't have any plants, per se. Do you mean algae? I was considering mangroves, about a dozen or so, but I do not have the pods yet.

I specifically use the generic term plant life to mean any plant life. Including macro and micro algaes.

Based upon my experience, sufficient plant life would have not resulted in the huge ammonia spike you experienced. Plant life prefers to consume ammonia thereby cutting short cycles such as you experiened.

By contrast, water changes can reduce ammonia, nitrItes, and nitrAtes but will never bring them down to 0.0 or any other parameter to correct values. Further, that any ammonia, nitrItes, or nitrAtes in the water will also be consumed by the plant life. So non-pristine water just means you get a little more plant growth.

So I suspected you simply did not have sufficient plant life to handle the bioload from your system. You also did not list macros in your refugium in the first post. So my recommendation is to either establish or increase the plant life such as macros in your refugium. Just makes the system more stable and forgiving of whatever conditions are present.

Or you could just encourage any existing plant growth.

Just my .02

 

[supergiantrobot]

What is an easy way to increase the macros? Can they be seeded? Encouraged?