I have a 72 gal bow front aquarium, with a wet/dry filter. I set up my tank in July, and my tank is cycling now,( in Sept) it has the brown diatoms and the nitrates are very high. Since it took so long for my tank to cycle , is there a way that I can "rush" through the high nitrates. I only have live rock and something call black moon sand ( Not LS), about 1" on bottom of the tank. If I add LS will that help with the cycle or will the cylce have to start over? or should I keep the light on 24/7, or off?
Another question once my tank cycles and I add corals, where do I put them--in the bottom in the sand or on the rock?
And final question for now - adding to salt to the tank - what is the safest way?
thanks Starfish
With Live Sand and Live Rock the cycle goes rather quick. For the corals, you should place them on the Live Rock. You can use rubber bands and what not for this. I usually wedge mine around in various places till it sets really well and to me thats a sign of where that coral should be. LOL. I would say keep the lights on a normal daytime cycle. 24/7 would create a lot of algae and probably reduce the lifetime of your lighting. I don't quite understand what your last question is asking. You shouldn't need to add more salt to the tank. With routine water changes and what not the salt content would probably only increase due to evaporation. What type of lighting are you running on the tank? A automatic top off system might be on your purchase list....
First off, if your wet dry filter has bio-balls, you might consider removing them. They can increase your nitrates. The live rock should, if you have the right amount, provide all of the biological filtration that you need.
Next, you should NOT add salt mix to the tank!!! prepare the salt water in a container and make sure the salinity and temperature are the same as your tank before adding.
Also, when water in your tank evaporates, the salt stays behind and becomes more concentrated. Therefore, to maintain the right salinity levels, FRESHWATER should be added to top it off.
Most corals come attached to rocks already. Some corals can go right on the sand bed (ie trachyphillia) but the majority go on the rocks.
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starfish, welcome bud. always nice to see new faces.
list your equiptment bud, that way we can advise what you should use, can use, &/or need.
Wheres your knowedge base up to bud, you completely green or only half green, no shame being green, we all started just the same, at least this way we can guide you correctly & help you avoid the pitfalls that many of us have experienced by rushing in & doing detrimental funky stuff?
Do you understand the nitrogen cycle? you understand bactera is populating your tank right now & in reality it cant be rushed, add what people coin "live" just means adding stronger bacterial populations that have already got a firm foothold on the item your adding, & hence replicates in your tank.
lighting for the display will be resemble normal daylight hours, that why not to many coral reefs can be found far from the equater. In a refugium the lighting cycle is alittle different, namely to stop certain plants going sexual, but thats another rabbit hole you wont need to visit for some time.
you can light you tank now, or leave it dark, the choice is yours. The tank will get alot more messy over the coming weeks so i wouldn't be stressing about seeing it in my opionion.
I dont know what your black moon sand is, first ive heard of it, maybe others can fill that gap for me. however sand (substraite) is realestate for bactera to do their thing, so whether you do bare bottom, shallow bed, or deep bed, the choice is your, just keep in mind that the choice you make here will dictate the running & other factors of your tank down the track. If you dont understand what i mean we can explain it.
basicly chew on that, read what the others will chime in with, write a list of things you would like some clarity on, postem up & we'll help you understand whats happening. I stress to you now that rushing will leave you disappointed & often with an expensive mess.
those should get some base knowledge build up
i recommend working through as many of the shows as you feel are relevant (obviously seashore shows may not be relevant) they will help you alot in your understanding.
i think most of the questions you as have been answered but i will give it another try just in case
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I have a 72 gal bow front aquarium, with a wet/dry filter.
I set up my tank in July, and my tank is cycling now,( in Sept) it has the brown diatoms and the nitrates are very high.
diatoms are very normal in a new tank and will go away if the conditionssettle properly.
it does look liek your nitrates need somehelp, i would again refer to the shows on substrate and wet/dry filters. those filters can cause nigh nitrates and having a DSB can help reduce them... two things too look at
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is there a way that I can "rush" through the high nitrates.
no, you can only let it progress naturally, if its taking more than 60 days, then something is wrong.. we need to correct that and things will fall in line
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I only have live rock and something call black moon sand ( Not LS), about 1" on bottom of the tank. If I add LS will that help with the cycle or will the cylce have to start over? or should I keep the light on 24/7, or off?
here is a secret... that sand you added.. well its now live sand... i personally do not believe in store bough "live sand" (betting sand from another tank is different) all sand in a tank will becomes seeded by the rock and become LS it self. however increasing your sand bed depth would help in the future with nitrate issues.
regarding the light cycle.. while you are cycling the tank, just leave the lights off.. it will help keep the blooms to a minimum and there is non need to have them on now.. once you stock the tank, then set them to a normal day/night cycle
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Another question once my tank cycles and I add corals, where do I put them--in the bottom in the sand or on the rock?
cant answer this without knowing the type of coral, some go on the sane, others on the rock, some go high up, some like the lower spots... some need lots of flow, other need calm waters... we would need more details to answer this properly
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And final question for now - adding to salt to the tank - what is the safest way?
as noted salt should NEVER be added directly to the tank... as the days go on, the water in your tank will evaporate.. water evaps salt doesn't.. this means that after a few days your tank will have less water, but the same amount of salt.. this will make the salt concentration higher... so as the days go on you will have to top off with FRESH WATER. it should also be noted.. do not use tap water in your marine tank.. get RO/DI water or distilled water.
hope that helps ya
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Hi Starfish and to TR. It sounds like all of your questions have been answered, just let us know if we confused you. Regarding lights, there are people who light their tank through the cycle and those who don't. The lights at this point are really just for you. Since nothing in there needs light right now my practice is to leave the lights off unless I am looking at the tank.
I want to thank you all for your fast replies
I removed my bioballs from my filter last night, so we will see if this helps my nitrate levels as suggest by Physcojam
The suggestion from Rob suggests a DSB could also help reduce my nitrate levels, would it be advisable to add some sand at this stage?
I am very green in SW tanks, willing to learn, listern, take advise and love the hobby
as noted start by listening to the audio podcasts i linked to..
its important to understand why you are doing what you are doing, not just doing it because you were told to... those shows will help you with that.
regarding the sand bed, its best to do it now. once the tank becomes stable and is stocked it will be a major disruption. its best to get it over with now...
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to TR. It sounds like all of your questions have been answered, just let us know if we confused you. Regarding lights, there are people who light their tank through the cycle and those who don't. The lights at this point are really just for you. Since nothing in there needs light right now my practice is to leave the lights off unless I am looking at the tank.
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