Cycling question

H

Heatherbun

AC Members
Feb 26, 2007
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I have a 45 gallon that has about 10 lbs of live rock, 10 lbs of live sand, and 3 damsels. It has been set up about 2 1/2 weeks. It has been having high nitrate and nitrite the past 4 days. Yesterday the water started getting cloudy....I did a 10% water change (I know I'm not supposed to do anything, but figured 10% couldn't make that much of a difference). I checked the filters and they both looked really dirty. I have a cheap 60 gallon filter on it and a Marineland Biowheel also. Should I clean the filter media? How much longer do you think until the nitrites go down? Also, if I buy a new filter ( was thinking of a Rena) will that mess up the cycling process, since there won't be any bacteria in the filter?
Thank you for your help
 
First off...Welcome to Aquaria Central....

Well, you do need more live rock in there really, you have in the regeion of 1 - 1.5lbs per gallon of water..so, on your tank, be aiming for about 50 odd lbs of rock...

Anyways....How long the nitrATES stay high will all depend on the die-off from the live ( or not so live ) rock you have. If the filters are really bad, then yes, clean them in some tank water and not fresh water..This way you will wash of the gunk and junk, but hopefully leave the good bacteria on the filter media itself.

If you are going to buy a new filter, at least wait untill you ahve finished the cycle ( ammonia = 0...NitrITE = 0..NitrATE = <5)..

Of course, if you up the live rock to the recomended levels, you do not need any cannister filters or bio-wheel filters. The rock provides all the filtration you need..

Hope this helps a little bit

Niko
 
Ok, so if I buy more rock...should I get rid of the bio-wheel? I have heard some bad reviews of the bio-wheel with the live rock. I am eventually aiming for 2 clown fish and some firefish, and a goby or 2. Thank you for you help....
 
Well, after learning the expensive way ( buying filters ) i would not suggest a filter on a marine tank..Or i suppose i should say, if you have a filter on there, remove all media and use it just for extra water circulation...

I dont like Bio-Wheels full stop, but that is just my opinion....So, answer to your question is yes, get up to 45 55 lbs of live rock and stop using the bio-wheel...

Your fish choices sound great to me. Your going to be looking at about 6 fish in your 45gal tank..Just spend time researching the needs of the indevidual fish to ensure you can cater for their needs..

By all means, ask any question you like on here. I say this to every new person who is venturing into marine..."there is never a stupid or dumb question and NO-BODY will laugh at you". We are here to help you in anyway we possibly can...

Niko
 
I have a 46 bow with about 45 lbs of live rock. I am running my old penquin 330 with 2 bio wheel form my freshwater days plus a skilter 450(?) with built in skimmer.

Will the filtratration or bio wheels cause me problems? I don't run any carbon with the media and wash the filters every couple of weeks. Is this just overkill, fine or dentrimental?

Thanks.
 
I would take off the bio-wheel, i dont see any need to be using it to be honest..The skilter you will have to use as this is also your skimmer...just run it without any media and use it for extra circulation...

Niko
 
media isnt bad....i know u feel strongly against it but thanks to media in my filter i have successfully kept seahorses alive longer than most people, kept a cleaner wrasse alive, and my new sea pen is doing great. dont stray away form it completely it can really help. also most people dont have the discipline as u do atnixon:) and over feed or stock to quickly and most chemical filtration can suck up the problem before it happens. also the use of live rock instead of bio balls in filters works very well. and there are many resins that stabilize ph very nicely and can aid in much more such as instant phosphate removal from feeding commercial frozen foods(which most people use) i have never had any problem with media becoming a nitrate sponge. you just need to keep up a regular cleaning every month and understand basic chemistry.
as for the bio wheels though they are the worst of the filters to use for saltwater....i had to get the emperor 400 meant for over 60 gallons just to filter my 20 gallon lol
 
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