# nitrogen cycle not right



## jbhillman (Aug 14, 2011)

I filled my 75 gallon on the 13th of this month. It has a mixture of base rock and live rock and has a sand and live sand substrate. I am not in a hurry for it to cycle but I got some strange readings. On the 16th I tested everything.
Salinity between 1.020 and 1.021
Ammonia .5PPM
Nitrite 0ppm
nitrate 0ppm
PH 8.0

Today I tested again.
Salinity halfway between 1.020 and 1.021
Ammonia 0 PPM

What happened? Ammonia should be higher, not 0. The live rock and live sand could not have already cycled could they? Or should I be adding something to generate ammonia?

There are no fish in the aquarium. I have a 29 gallon sump with bioballs. There is a picture of my tank and sump in my photo gallery


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## Reefing Madness (Aug 12, 2011)

Salinity should be 1.025-1.026
How much live rock did you put in? How much live sand? This will play a big roll in how long your it actually takes your tank to cycle. But if you saw some ammonia, and never saw trites, the cycle isn't there yet. Give it some time. Your live rock will start the cycle, especially if it wasn't fully cured, you will have die off.


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## NeonShark666 (Dec 13, 2010)

One of the functione of Live Rock and Live Sand is to cycle Ammonia to Nitrate. Where are your Nitrates? Ammonia always cycles to Nitrate. Check your tests to make sure they are correct. Take a sample of your water to your local TFS and have them test it.


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## jbhillman (Aug 14, 2011)

Reefing Madness said:


> Salinity should be 1.025-1.026
> How much live rock did you put in? How much live sand? This will play a big roll in how long your it actually takes your tank to cycle. But if you saw some ammonia, and never saw trites, the cycle isn't there yet. Give it some time. Your live rock will start the cycle, especially if it wasn't fully cured, you will have die off.


I put 15 pounds of live rock in with 60 pounds of base rock. I put 120 pounds of sand with 30 pounds of that being live sand.

I didn't test for trites after the ammonia test came out negative since I thought something had gone wrong.


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## jbhillman (Aug 14, 2011)

NeonShark666 said:


> One of the functione of Live Rock and Live Sand is to cycle Ammonia to Nitrate. Where are your Nitrates? Ammonia always cycles to Nitrate. Check your tests to make sure they are correct. Take a sample of your water to your local TFS and have them test it.


I bought the Test Kit online from F&S. Where does the ammonia come from if you don't have fish? Taking a sample for testing is going to be difficult as I don't drive and have to go into Houston (75 miles) to get to a good aquarium store.


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## tike (Nov 10, 2008)

Take a nitrite and nitrate test. It isn't unusal for this to happen. I have actually started brand new reef tanks with cured live rock and added livestock in a few days. Lets see the other numbers to see if your cycle is complete.


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## jbhillman (Aug 14, 2011)

tike said:


> Take a nitrite and nitrate test. It isn't unusal for this to happen. I have actually started brand new reef tanks with cured live rock and added livestock in a few days. Lets see the other numbers to see if your cycle is complete.


This still doesn't make sense. Just tested everything. Salinity is 1.023. After I added 1 cup of salt into the overflow and let it run for awhile. That number may change.
PH 8.0
Ammonia 0PPM
Nitrite 0PPM
Nitrate 0PPM
Temperature is 78 degrees. Heater is not running. 78 is what the room temp is also.

I was very careful to do the tests exactly like the instructions say. These are liquid tests in tiny test tubes. I have kept fresh water fish for decades so I do know how to do water tests.

I have little plants growing on the live rock. The bigger plants were there when I put the rock in the tank. Those are visible in the picture in my photogallery. Now I see little tiny plants growing. Some look like tiny almost clear umbrellas that are turned inside out. Others are like fine hair. Then quite a few that are smaller versions of the large ones. There is some dead plant life on the rocks that died shortly after I put the rock in the tank.

I am afraid that if I do not get something in there to produce ammonia that all my live rock and live sand will die. I know there are products that do that, but since I must buy everything online and have it shipped to me, the week long delay may be all that it takes for the rock and sand to die. Yes, I know the rock isn't alive, but you know I am referring to the bacteria that lives there that I paid money to get.


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## tike (Nov 10, 2008)

I would wait a few days and do another complete test. Not seeing any nitrate leads me to believe cycle isn't complete. What brand test kit are you using? How old is it. I am a fan of salifert test kits....not the absolute perfect kit but gives a very good idea what's going on. 

Without a pic I thing the little "umbrella" things are small tube worms. Again, difficult to sat without a pic. The plants are macroalgae and could take over the main tank display without some sort of grazer to them in check.


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## jbhillman (Aug 14, 2011)

tike said:


> I would wait a few days and do another complete test. Not seeing any nitrate leads me to believe cycle isn't complete. What brand test kit are you using? How old is it. I am a fan of salifert test kits....not the absolute perfect kit but gives a very good idea what's going on.
> 
> Without a pic I thing the little "umbrella" things are small tube worms. Again, difficult to sat without a pic. The plants are macroalgae and could take over the main tank display without some sort of grazer to them in check.


Test kit is API Saltwater Master Test Kit. I bought it from F&S Aquatics. It is new.
I'll try to get a pic of the umbrella things. What kind of grazer do I need for the macro algae?


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## tike (Nov 10, 2008)

jbhillman said:


> Test kit is API Saltwater Master Test Kit. I bought it from F&S Aquatics. It is new.
> I'll try to get a pic of the umbrella things. What kind of grazer do I need for the macro algae?


Well the Tang police will scream at me because you have a 75 gallon tank and most tanks should have a larger system but I am a fan of the yellow tang.


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## jbhillman (Aug 14, 2011)

tike said:


> Well the Tang police will scream at me because you have a 75 gallon tank and most tanks should have a larger system but I am a fan of the yellow tang.


I have 100 gallons of circulating water in my system. Does that help or is it the physical boundaries of the tank that is the problem?


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## tike (Nov 10, 2008)

Physical boundaries, you can always buy a small one! I have kept medium sized yellow tang in a 80 gallon before with no worries for a 3 years before they out grew the tank.


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## tike (Nov 10, 2008)

Just looked at your gallery and I would remove the bio balls from the sump. They will cause nitrate to build up a bit. However, that chamber will be excellent refugium to house macro algae to help reduce nitrates.


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## Reefing Madness (Aug 12, 2011)

jbhillman said:


> Test kit is API Saltwater Master Test Kit. I bought it from F&S Aquatics. It is new.
> I'll try to get a pic of the umbrella things. What kind of grazer do I need for the macro algae?


I use API, should be ok with that one. Grazers would be turbo snails, emerald crabs.


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## Reefing Madness (Aug 12, 2011)

tike said:


> Well the Tang police will scream at me because you have a 75 gallon tank and most tanks should have a larger system but I am a fan of the yellow tang.


Na, i'm wth ya on that one. They recommned 100 but, man thats close.


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## Reefing Madness (Aug 12, 2011)

jbhillman said:


> I put 15 pounds of live rock in with 60 pounds of base rock. I put 120 pounds of sand with 30 pounds of that being live sand.
> 
> I didn't test for trites after the ammonia test came out negative since I thought something had gone wrong.


Wait another week before testing anything. You have not enough beneficials in there yet. Your 60lbs of base rock is going to cure, your Live Rock will see to that. The 15lbs LR and 30lbs LS will definately help, but it ain't over yet. the cycle should start from your Live Rock die off. Decaying organisms. If you would like, throw in a jumbo shrimp from the grocery store.


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