Need lil help getting started

[nanoguy]

Need help gettin my tank turned around...I have a 20 gallon tank that is only 3 weeks old..I have 2 damsels, 2 snails and about 10 pounds of live rock..I just hooked up the current skimmer last night. I have a aqua clear with sea gel, algone and carbon in it. I understand im about 15-20 lbs short for the live rock pounds for my tank..but how much longer is it gonna take until my nitrates and nitrites go down..I was under the impression that if i have a protein skimmer and use algone that my nitrates should be down some by now...Is there something i should be doin to get the levels down...I do a water change once a week...takin 10-20 % out...need some guidance

 

[jazzsam]

Is your rocked cured? It sounds like you got uncured rock and it is going through its own cycle. That would take a while to do. Does is smell really bad?

 

[nanoguy]

nah the rock i have is fully cured.i got it from my job..no odor at all...this is whats puzzling me...there are a few mushrooms on some of the pieces and they look good...

 

[mladencovic]

Need help gettin my tank turned around...I have a 20 gallon tank that is only 3 weeks old..I have 2 damsels, 2 snails and about 10 pounds of live rock..I just hooked up the current skimmer last night. I have a aqua clear with sea gel, algone and carbon in it. I understand im about 15-20 lbs short for the live rock pounds for my tank..but how much longer is it gonna take until my nitrates and nitrites go down..I was under the impression that if i have a protein skimmer and use algone that my nitrates should be down some by now...Is there something i should be doin to get the levels down...I do a water change once a week...takin 10-20 % out...need some guidance

Ammonia and nitrites should be 0 in a matter of days or couple of weeks at most, depending on bio-load, amount of LR and feeding. Unless you have DSB (deep sand bed) or algae growth, the only way to reduce nitrates are water changes. In general, protein skimmer does not remove nitrates by itself. Rather, it removes from water the various organic mater whose decomposition would lead to ammonia and further down the nitrogen cycle to the nitrates. Nor would Allgone (from what I have read about it) do it either.

Also, you said, that you have just hooked in a skimmer. So give it a time to start pulling out the gunk. And just because you got LR from well established tank, it does not mean that it is perfect for your system. That LR can be full of organic materials, laced and fully covered with it. The other system could be just very efficient in handling the breakdown of those organics. I have a few pieces of LR in my tank that are not exposed to the strong flow, and they tend to get covered in a lot of loose material with probably high organic content.

Be patient, monitor the nitrates level over longer period of time (couple of weeks) and watch if it increases despite the water changes. Also pay attention to the feeding. Damsels are voracious eaters and you should feed them only what they can consume in 10-20 seconds and not couple of minutes as most dry food packages state.

 

[nanoguy]

i understand that the cycling process takes some time...just frustrating at moments...i have done 3 small water changes over the past week...too much?or too often? i feed my fish about twice a day only a cube of brine shrimp each feeding...the only other thing in the tank are 2 nassarius snails and a flame scallop...i had some yellow polyps on a piece of live rock but they dwindled away either because of the water condtions or the temp fluxing in my tank...i live on the second floor and dont have a chiller hooked up to the tank...the temp raises the most to 86 before i can get it down by floating frozen 2 liter bottles in the tank...i try and keep the temp around 80...and for the intank fuge im goin to install it gets suctioned cup to the inside of the tank under the water line and comes with a power head..some rubble rock and algae are gonna be thrown in it to help break down my nitrate levels...i have 0 ammonia in the tank..its just a high nitite and nitrate levels...the phyto plankton i feed my scallop says there are 0 phosphates and 0 nitrates in the product-- do u think there may be a trace of it adding to the escalating problem in my tank...

 

[mynd]

aha.. so here you are.. get rid of the fish.. add 19lbs more live rock, get your parameters correct and find a way to maintain your temperature. You can't be watching it all summer and to make a nice take and have it dead next year is no good either..

Get a chiller - cl-150, set it for 78 degrees. It is 200 watts and if you ran it 12 hours a day for like 6 months straight it would still only cost you maybe 4 dollars a month. Keeps things alive.. With the added rock you probably would only have about 13 gallons of water in there. Plumb it proper, use an external pump like a blueline hd-20. Just see my thread in my signature..

Do it right be happy Do it wrong be sad

 

[JohnS_323]

i feed my fish about twice a day only a cube of brine shrimp each feeding...

This seems like way too much of the wrong type of food for 2 damsels. I'd recommend something like Formula 1 or Prime Reef and only feed half a cube 3 times a week. Brine shrimp is along the lines of potato chips and is not something you want to feed exclusively.

 

[mladencovic]

...the phyto plankton i feed my scallop says there are 0 phosphates and 0 nitrates in the product-- do u think there may be a trace of it adding to the escalating problem in my tank...

Even if it says 0 nitrates and phosphates, phytoplankton, dead or alive, is still organic matter which will eventually die (if not already dead) and decompose feeding the nitrogen cycle.

Scalops, at this point, is a poor choice for your tank. They are dificult to maintain even in established tanks.

 

[nanoguy]

well it seems my tank is coming around...i did a water change again today and seen noticable changes in the nitrate and nitrites...ammonia still at 0...nitrate is at 40 and nitrites are still high but not as bad as before....believe it or not my scallop is a trooper still very lively and going strong...im goin to add 4 more pounds of live rock tomorrow and then another 20 on payday...then here is a list of the things i want to get in the future...

ocellaris clown
royal gramma
watchman
and a scooter blenny

inverts
red legs
blue legs hermits

2 emerald crabs
pencil urchin
fromma star

corals
star polyps
green zooanthids
sun coral

 

[twan]

You list 4 fish in addition to the 2 already in there.
6 is too many for a 20g IMHO.

 

[nanoguy]

the damsels are not staying in there ...just starter fish for the tank...plan on moving them to another tank when i add the other in it...

picked up some formula one for them and gonna feed them that for now on...

my in-tank fuge is in the tank tomight..put 10 pounds of live sand in tank...and added some macro algae to the fuge...

 

[Phyl]

Pictures?

 

[nanoguy]

no pictures yet will be posted soon

 

[blange3]

Go slower and skip the scooter blenny.

They are cute and cheaper than Mandarins, but basically the same dietary requirements, lots of pods. Your tank is too small and too young to sustain a sufficient amount of live food for them. Even when they eat other things, they generally slowly starve to death.

Rethink the sun coral as well. You will have to target feed on a regular basis. Are you up for that?

Only bad things happen fast in reef tanks, and they happen faster in smaller tanks. When you add the new rock, no matter how clean it smells, you will get another 'mini' cycle. Be prepared to do water changes and wait it out.

Let me know when things stabilize and I'll give you some neon green star polyps.

 

[nanoguy]

once i get the lighting up and running then we will talk...not rushing things though...just added live sand and trying to get some more live rock in it... nitrates and nitrites are coming down from bad...i am goin to do another water change tomorrow to help bring it down more hopefully