New Tank Setup Day-2, Is water ok?

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Particleman

AC Members
Oct 23, 2004
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Irvine, CA
Hello...I've been reading a lot over the past couple weeks and finally was able to setup my new tank last night. It's a 55Gal. I've put in 40lbs of Live Sand, and 20lbs of aragonite. Currently no live rock, was going to add this next week. Equipment is two Peguin 550 Powerheads, and 200Watt Jager heater and a Magum 350 canister filter. Was planing on adding an Aqua C remora once the tank had cycled.

My quest is, I've read through the posts and my water readings seems to be different then what I would have expected given the info on the forums and articles I've read. I have a SG of 1.025, Ph 8.0, Nitrite, at <.3mg/l, a Nh3/Nh4 at .50mg/l and a KH of 13, Temp 80degrees.

Shouldnt I have a much higher live of amonia and or Nitrites? I saw mention of huge spikes once an aquarium is started up but I don't have anything like that. I was worried about a hazy/cloudyness in the water but after reading that I should have no filtration running and turning off the powerheads things have cleared up for the most part. Could something be wrong or am I missing a step? Any help would be appreciated.
 
Is there an ammonia source in the tank?

Cloudiness is often just the result of dust from the sand--I prefer to leave the water movement going, since a) moving water drops particles quicker, and b) you risk kicking up the dust again when you turn the powerheads back on.
 
You wont have an amonia and nitrite spike yet, since you dont have any fish in there to produce waste. The animals in the live sand produce some waste, but very very little, and the bacteria in the live sand is more than enough to break that down. Once you add a fish, you will see that spike.
 
Or, you can add an ammonia source that won't be killed by the resulting spike, like a few cocktail shrimp. It's a waste of money to buy SW fish and dump them in an uncycled tank--even with the 'cheap' damsels.
 
I agree on using cocktail shrimp for an ammonia source. You can put them in the foot of a panty hose that way it is easy removal once your ammonia spikes. If you have a sand substrate, the dust particulate will become weighed down as bacteria inhabit the surface, causing it to settle. Keep monitoring your ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate levels to follow your cycle. When you add your live rock, depending on how much you add at once, I would monitor again, in case you experience some die-off.

Good luck! The fun is just beginning :)
 
Thanks for the help, ill turn the powerheads back on to get some circulation going as I think the particles that are causing the cloudyness are to small for the micron filter in the canister filter. Seems like shrimp sounds pretty popular, now it's off to the market..thanks!
 
OrionGirl said:
It's a waste of money to buy SW fish and dump them in an uncycled tank--even with the 'cheap' damsels.
Click to expand...

On the other hand, cycling a tank takes some time, and you might prefer watching a few damsels rather than decomposing shrimp.

There is always the issue of the cycle harming the fish, but I've probably cycled a half dozen tanks with fish only (no seeding, no live rock, no live sand). I haven't lost a damsel yet and they are fun to watch!

Just my 2 cents.
 
I used Damsels too. Just keep in mind that if your going to put you live rock in before you take the Damsels out they are a major pain to get out of the tank. They are also not very friendly to other fish you might want to add when your cycle is complete. Took me about four days and removing all my rock to get my three out.
Doug
 
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