Cycling - H20 Changes: To Change or not to Change?

[gamma]

i did this test in the evening. i'll work on the pH, alk & calcium.

i thought i needed to get my nitrates down to ~ 0?

Matt reply > Alk is low if I am reading that right. Should be around 11 or so. Try to get that up too.
There are not many day where you get to pick on the boss but today we get too. Matt is correct alk should be 7 to 11 DKH butt GaMmA never posted what his alk was but would imagine is would be low because everything else is low.

Here are the latest readings:

sg = 1.019
pH = 8.0
ammonia = 0
nitrite ~ 0
nitrate = 12.5
kH = 8
calcium = 310
phosphate = 0.5

The only good way to get rid of Nitrates is to do small water changes.
Use Salinity for salt tanks- yours is low ( when mixing salt for a water change mix it stronger 1.028 so tank will level to 1.025 or close to that) The reading is not bad.

For calcium and Alk what are your additives? the brand names?
I personally like CalxMax 2 parter.
There is a calculator that will tell us what you need to do to reach 450 on cal and 11 on alk but need to know what you use.

Your pH is low but this is due to your Cal and Alk being low and once the cal and alk is balance the pH will move to 8.3 8.4 target range.

You have nothing in the tank right now? Put a cheap fish but a hearty fish in there. a small one.
How much water movement do you have? power heads?

[JOER0178]

MY NITRATES WERE SIMILAR TO YOURS GAMMA. *CANT EXPLAIN IT I THOUGHT MY TEST EQUIPMENT WAS BAD SO I TOOK A WATER SAMPLE TO 3 LFS'S AND THEY ALL GOT THE SAME READINGS AS I DID. *AT ITS HIGH POINT THE AMMONIA WAS .4PPM AND THE NITIRITES WERE AT .2PPM AND MY NITRATES HAVE NEVER BEEN HIGHER THAN 10PPM. *SO I GOT A SMALL CYCLE I GUESS. *DID YOU HAVE A SIMILAR OCCURANCE. *YOU WANT TO GET THE CALCIUM UP THE CORALINE ALGAE WILL NOT *GROW ON YOUR ROCK W/O CALCIUM. * MY ADVICE IS TO DO WHAT I DID, FIGHT THE URGE MAN, WAIT A LITTLE LONGER WATCH YOUR NITRATE NITRITE AMMONIA ECT... *FOR A WEEK OR TWO TO MAKE SURE THEY STABLEIZE BEFORE YOU ADD ANYTHING. *I FIGURED I SHOULD ERROR ON THE SIDE OF CAUTION. *I NOW HAVE FISH AND STUFF IN MY TANK FOR WEEKS W/ NO ILL EFFECT SO DONT WORRY JUST BE PATIENT SO YOU AVOID A DISASTER. *I ALSO GOT A HARDY FISH AS MY FIRST FISH A CLARKII CLOWN. *I FIGURED IF I DID GET ANOTHER AMMONIA SPIKE HE WOULD BE A GOOD CANDIDATE FOR LIVING. *GOOD LUCK MAN. *ONE OTHER THING THE GUYS ON THIS SITE ARE GREAT AND VERY KNOWLEDGEABLE AND I LEARNED VERY EARLY ON TO PICK THERE BRAIN I SUGGEST YOU DO THE SAME.

[Craig Manoukian]

Great advice everyone. Go slow and let it grow, eh?

[JOER0178]

do you have a lot of algae in the tank.... green hair. I did, i had a lawn, figured that the LS was converting the ammonia nitrites into nitrates quick and the algae was using up the nitrates. if you have a similar condition try testing in the morning when the lights have been off all night

[gamma]

Not using any additives for alk or calcium. Any recommendations for additives for buffing up the alk & calcium?

My alk = 8 dKH (is this still too low?)

How much water movement do you have? power heads?

I have the 2 returns as well as 2 1200 maxi jet powerheads. Is this enough?

Posted by: JOER0178
do you have a lot of algae in the tank.... green hair.

No green hair algae.(knock knock)

[Craig Manoukian]

Not familiar with the GPH ratings for all of your pumps, but you want beween 1,800 and 2,400 GPH flow in your 120.

GaMmA =Not using any additives for alk or calcium. *Any recommendations for additives for buffing up the alk & calcium?

Eveyone here knows I like CalxMax 2 parter. but since you just need to up the calcium I would use Kent Turbo calcium powder.

My alk = 8 dKH (is this still too low?)

anywhere between 7 and 11 is concidered good.

I have the 2 returns as well as 2 1200 maxi jet powerheads. *Is this enough?

Add your return line distance GPH from the pumps and the power heads GPH toghether. If not enough add some more

[Black_Raven]

Hey GaMma, *Looks like your tank has cycled for sure. *I would get your salinity up first before worrying about the calcium and alkalinity. *Adding more salt may help with the calcium depending on what brand of salt you use. *I use reef crystals because it has extra calcium and other minerals needed to maintain a reef tank. *I'm sure there are better salts but this is what I have access to locally for a reasonable price. *Once your salinity is corrected then recheck Ca and Alk. *If both are low I would use a reef buffer like seachems reef buffer, kent marines superbuffer or something similar. *All these products are very similar if you look at the ingredients. Then I would correct the CA . *I would use Tropic Marin's Bio Calcium because it contains a mixture of calcium compounds not just CaCl or Ca-gluconate. *Do not add the reef buffer and the calcium supplement together or you will precipitate out carbonate, wait 24hours. *As far as your nitrates go, are you skimming yet? If not, start skimming and this will help along with water change. *You can also just wait a few days and see if the skimming makes a difference. *I would also address the Phosphates to prevent an algae bloom especially with the nitrates a little high. *I would use a phosphate abzorbant like phoshozorb which eliminates silicates as well as phosphorous. *I have had much luck with this product. *Limiting phosphates, silicates and nitrates will limit the algae bloom every new tank goes through. *Reading the forum looks like very one is on the same page concerning your tank numbers. *Looks like you have a good start so far.

[Phil5613]

Ok i need to figure how to write a new thread on this but I want some info known to everyone who has "Cycled" the tank in a few days or have never seen a cycle. The bacteria that does the amm-trite-trate conversion grows very sllooooww, things like lr an ls help because they are covered/surrounded/loaded with said bacteria. So if you miss a spike or the spike is very short That means the lr and ls have balanced the bacteria in them great! Now then what about the cycle being done NOPE if you go too fast or add to much bingo not enough bacteria and the tank goes crash! the reason for this in my belief is the bacteria hasn't grown on all the surfaces of the tank filter and plumbing so any additional bioload needs to be slow to let the tank catch up. Just a theory and any comments or thoughts are appreciated