Ha Ha Ha....I would be all for it but I will be in Pittsburgh for my niece's college graduation.
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My 280g build....
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Ha Ha Ha....I would be all for it but I will be in Pittsburgh for my niece's college graduation.
I think you’re a poor parent! Taking away your kids play kitchen and basketball hoop….what’s wrong with you? Your kids will probably need psychotherapy when they get older.
I’m going to be a nice guy and take away all that cabinetry and tank so that you can give your kids back the play toys they deserve.
By the way, very, very nice!
No worries......I got it covered. I just couldn't take away their kitchen!
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Nitrates nitrates nitrates
Because of a total brain freeze on my choice of how to cycle the tank....I am left with incredibly high n03 levels 160 ppm I got aggressive with water changes and after doing a 230g change and then another 200g change last night, my n03 is down to 40 ppm 
I am gearing up for another 200g change tomorrow night which will hopefully get me under 20 ppm and at which point I will control it from there with regular weekly water changes. My Algae Turf Scrubber has been running for a little over a week now and starting to develop some growth on the screen. Once that has a couple of weeks to grow that will also help with exporting the rest of the n03.
GHA is starting to appear on some of the rock so I put a single hermit crab in there and he has been having a field day so I think its time to order a clean up crew. If all goes well, I will be moving some of my less sensitive coral over next week and hopefully get some fish in there.
Because of a total brain freeze on my choice of how to cycle the tank....I am left with incredibly high n03 levels 160 ppm
I got aggressive with water changes and after doing a 230g change and then another 200g change last night, my n03 is down to 40 ppm I am gearing up for another 200g change tomorrow night which will hopefully get me under 20 ppm and at which point I will control it from there with regular weekly water changes. My Algae Turf Scrubber has been running for a little over a week now and starting to develop some growth on the screen. Once that has a couple of weeks to grow that will also help with exporting the rest of the n03. GHA is starting to appear on some of the rock so I put a single hermit crab in there and he has been having a field day so I think its time to order a clean up crew. If all goes well, I will be moving some of my less sensitive coral over next week and hopefully get some fish in there.
Tell me about it...I cant wait to see my water bill! This has nothing to do with the rocks. Someone on RC suggested I use pure ammonia to cylce the tank and they gave me what they thought was the "suggested dosing amount and schedule". Since I had never heard of this method I did do some research on it but fell short on my due diligence and never confirmed the dosing amount. I proceeded to add way too much and while I saw a quick spike and reduction in ammonia and nitrites, it caused an incredible amount of n03. I actually think the level was higher than 160 but thats as high as the api kit goes. I will add livestock very slowly so if there has been any die off of bacteria, I wont shock the system too much.
Ahh that stinks. Well, I've been following your thread over there as well, and thats how I found out about the cycling with ammonia. So I'm cycling just like you. Though, I'm using the ammonia calculator that was posted on your thread to get the right amount of dosage.
I probably asked the question the wrong way. What I meant to say was, What is keeping the bacteria alive in/on the rocks if you have no fish in the tank? I'm just wondering how long will the bacteria last without being fueled by something to stay alive.
I probably asked the question the wrong way. What I meant to say was, What is keeping the bacteria alive in/on the rocks if you have no fish in the tank? I'm just wondering how long will the bacteria last without being fueled by something to stay alive.
hahahhah this happened to me on my 55G FW tank when I set it up. I actually have used this method for both FW & SW tanks. for future reference the correct dosage is ~10-15ml for 50 gallons if you're using the "janitorial strength" ammonia from ace hardware
I've had bacteria in my FW setups last for a full month at near the same strength without any ammo for them to consume.
Thanks for the clarification Ryan. I was beginning to wonder that myself. As far as adding the ammonia...I added the right volume but where I think the confusion comes in is for how long do you dose. I will keep this for future reference if someone else is looking for info on it but there will be no other tanks for me so this is my one and only upgrade.
Any reason why you and Rich did not use Biospira to cycle the tank? It would have done it overnight and you could have added the fish the same time.
You need to throw in some raw shrimp or some sort of food with the rocks in the drum Rich. This will keep the bacteria going.
You need to throw in some raw shrimp or some sort of food with the rocks in the drum Rich. This will keep the bacteria going.
I knew I heard of something like Biospira. I should have asked about it. Well this is my third day dosing ammonia. Since the Biospira detoxify ammonia and nitrite, would you think starting the Biospira now will cause any problems? I can probably dose the Biospira now, than do a water change and dose Biospira again. What do you think?
No need to change water. yes, add Biospira. It is the bacteria that will feed on ammonia and convert it to nitrite and then nitrate. Once you have no traces of ammonia and nitrite, that is when you do a water change.
Aquatic Obsessions have it in stock most of the time. Get two bottles (one does 75G). Add one bottle now. Then test and add the other one if needed. It can be stored at room temperature and you can reuse it later.
Sunny
We used Dr. Tims (same theory as Biospira) and have been very happy with it. When we were breaking down and setting up new tanks or setting up tanks after our crash, we used it. Our tanks were cycled within a day and we have had no issues since. We were very happy with it and will use it in the future.
Since you are dosing bacteria, there is no way to overdose your tank. Just a word of wisdom, you want to add fish pretty soon afterwards because if you don't then the bacteria will die as there is no ammonia to feed them.
Since you are dosing bacteria, there is no way to overdose your tank. Just a word of wisdom, you want to add fish pretty soon afterwards because if you don't then the bacteria will die as there is no ammonia to feed them.
No problem Steve. Normally you use that figure to dose up to 4ppm which is a HUGE bioload then test in a few days (if using only dry rock push that out to over a week)then if it reads below 2ppm dump enough in(using the2.5ml=1ppm/50gallons formula) to get to 2-3 ppm depending on how strong you want it & repeat. after that 2nd test you should have super bioload. With that, you can pretty much 50% stock the tank without a hiccup.
I was ready to use the biospira but since I didnt have a light on the tank when I started the cycle and new it would be a few before I did get one I decided to try something different because I didnt want to put any livestock in without a light on it. When I heard about using ammonia it sounded interesting so I figured what the heck. What a brain cramp that was. Fortunately the water changes are working. Live and learn.
And The Move Begins.....
Now that my n03 levels are under 10ppm I have decided to start moving my corals to the new tank. Here are a few shots taken with my dslr...need to get a steadier hand on some of them and start looking for a macro lens. Pictures were taken under led only with whites set at 25% intensity and all other colors at 45% intensity.
Enjoy......
Now that my n03 levels are under 10ppm I have decided to start moving my corals to the new tank. Here are a few shots taken with my dslr...need to get a steadier hand on some of them and start looking for a macro lens. Pictures were taken under led only with whites set at 25% intensity and all other colors at 45% intensity.
Enjoy......
