About to give up on saltwater...

[Mike1995]

I tested a few days ago and again this morning. There wasn't any ammonia showing up. Only thing showing up was nitrates.

 

[Mike1995]

First off stop and take a deep breathe. It will workout. I think scott is asking running carbon is not dosing carbon. Instead do you have carbon media. Like others have said it probably an algae bloom. You are doing water changes to lower nitrates correct. what did you do to start the cycle with no fish. Tell us about you equipment you have. Do you have sump or not. That will help us better to help you. I know it can be frustrating. You will learn how to deal with issues as you going.

Current equipment is a big brute tote as a sump.. the used one i got leaked all over my floors lol. I plan on a real sump this week.
A few power heads. Heater. Seaclone skimmer. One of those finnex marine lights. I know it's inadequate for anything but fowlr but it's all i could afford for now. That's about all I have for equipment. I started the cycle with pure ammonia. I do have csrbon media. How do I use it?

 

[scott11106]

Agreed with all the above, and please never take anything on here that I or anyone post as a negative, I/we am very eager to help and I still make mistakes all the time, to be honest that is how i have learned most things with this hobby... painful/frustrating sometimes but well worth it in the long run. I am far from an expert and really still learning. You will be amazed how quick you learn this and start picking up the do's and dont's as you go.

the first couple months of the tank life is a constant change and evaluation, Try not to worry too much as some of the cycling needs to just run its course and if you did not get cloudy water, algae blooms and a host of other things just means your tank has not started the process so in retrospect i think things are going the way they should for you...

oh yea, it will be ugly for a bit..

 

[Rattzreef]

higher nitrates wont kill a saltwater tank unless really high, so I wouldn't stress on that at the moment.. with the lack of algae now taking up the excess nutrients in the tank due to the snails consuming it Im guessing the bacteria in the tank had a population explosion with all the available nutrients. New tanks go through many different cycles the first year they are set up.

 

[Mike1995]

Agreed with all the above, and please never take anything on here that I or anyone post as a negative, I/we am very eager to help and I still make mistakes all the time, to be honest that is how i have learned most things with this hobby... painful/frustrating sometimes but well worth it in the long run. I am far from an expert and really still learning. You will be amazed how quick you learn this and start picking up the do's and dont's as you go.

the first couple months of the tank life is a constant change and evaluation, Try not to worry too much as some of the cycling needs to just run its course and if you did not get cloudy water, algae blooms and a host of other things just means your tank has not started the process so in retrospect i think things are going the way they should for you...

oh yea, it will be ugly for a bit..

Alright.. sorry about that..
So, should i leave it alone and let it do its thing?

 

[scott11106]

Current equipment is a big brute tote as a sump.. the used one i got leaked all over my floors lol. I plan on a real sump this week.
A few power heads. Heater. Seaclone skimmer. One of those finnex marine lights. I know it's inadequate for anything but fowlr but it's all i could afford for now. That's about all I have for equipment. I started the cycle with pure ammonia. I do have csrbon media. How do I use it?

that equipment sounds good to start (over time you can get gear, but i have seen awesome systems run for years with almost no gear so dont worry about that) as far as carbon you just need a small filter bag and put it somewhere in the sump where water will pass through it but you most likely dont need that yet (may help clear water but honestly you want the cycle to run its course first)

 

[Mike1995]

higher nitrates wont kill a saltwater tank unless really high, so I wouldn't stress on that at the moment.. with the lack of algae now taking up the excess nutrients in the tank due to the snails consuming it Im guessing the bacteria in the tank had a population explosion with all the available nutrients. New tanks go through many different cycles the first year they are set up.

ah alright.. so should I just leave the tank alone to do its thing?
Is there anything I should be doing?

 

[WVNed]

Please don't assume im doing everything wrong. Im trying or else I wouldn't be on here asking for help. I don't completely understand how to cycle a saltwater tank . I don't understand this cloudy water. Im getting frustrated. I see people on YouTube with these new tanks that are crystal clear and look awesome... I just would like to do that but i dont know how.

There are also lots of videos on YouTube of perpetual machines running.

New tanks look clean and pretty for few weeks at most. Then life expolodes into a blank environment. The stuff that explodes first is the microscopic stuff like bacteria because it reproduces the fastest.

My advise would be don't do anything. Do regular water changes. 20% a week for a while, then 10% a week. Dont dose, or filter or media reactor or all the other complicated stuff.
Make sure your skimmer is clean and running right. It will do everything you need right now.

You can keep hardy sea life if you give them nothing more than clean water with good flow under a decent light with a decent amount of rock. Don't overfeed the tank. Build the bioload slowly so the biologic filter has time to grow as the bioload grows.

Like anything worthwhile in life there is a learning curve. With Marine tanks it is only as steep as you make it.

 

[Rattzreef]

ah alright.. so should I just leave the tank alone to do its thing?
Is there anything I should be doing?

Read.... Read everything you can about everything you can .. and then re read it.. LOL Knowledge is key in this hobby and so is patience. Nothing good comes quickly and most importantly.. ENJOY YOUR TANK.

 

[andy020]

It sound to me that it’s just growing pains..
No need for a skimmer, IMO.. waste of money..

Algae blooms, even nasty ones are pretty normal with new tank setup, I had them for quite a while and believe that lighting and light cycle play a big role..

This really is part of the process and path to a healthy tank, so my only advice is too relax a little, be proactive (like you are) right now, read up on what others have done.

With any salt water tank, you need to ride out challenging times that will become less frequent... just don’t give up, we’ve all been there and will probably be there again at some point.

 

[brandon429]

chance of being a bac bloom /01%

chance of being a silty sandbed/needing pre rinse before setup or a nice quick redo/post rinse given its two mos= let me see full tank shot

pouring back in water over a sandbed that was never rinsed at all is why I have a 12 page sand rinse thread, post your full tank shots. Given no ammonia spike here, your tank is easily savable. nothing is wrong. everything is decided on what your full tank shot picture looks like, not any of the params. Certain details in the pics give the critical params, the ones from test kits can vary wildly.

at two mos, you know you are past the cycling portions, time to sail the ship and we can keep it on course easily without a big deal. pics

 

[Zotch]

You need to stop what you are doing and spend a few days watching videos to learn the basics. Also did you rinse your sand before putting it in?

 

[Bj’s Reef]

Nothing good happens fast in this hobby. Every tank goes thru the ugly stage. Just ride it out, it will get better. Don’t make a bunch of changes all at once. Time is your friend, take some pictures of your tank every week. You may see things getting worse. However with reference pictures you will see when things start to get better. Which will give you a big boost of confidence. As far as equipment goes don’t sweat it. If you are like some of us. You will forever be changing some piece or another, we all like to tinker. I believe if it was all smooth sailing all the time, I would get bored and take up golf.. Hang in there you can do it we can help.

 

[marvelousone]

Current equipment is a big brute tote as a sump.. the used one i got leaked all over my floors lol. I plan on a real sump this week.
A few power heads. Heater. Seaclone skimmer. One of those finnex marine lights. I know it's inadequate for anything but fowlr but it's all i could afford for now. That's about all I have for equipment. I started the cycle with pure ammonia. I do have csrbon media. How do I use it?

Ok You have a good start on your equipment. The tote is ok it will work. Put the carbon in a mesh bag and put it in the sump where there is some flow. I personally would not do water change. Nitrates are not that high with no fish and coral. I guess no coral. Even with fish the nitrates are not that high. Let the tank run. I don't run the lights till the tank is cycled and ready for fish. A good point by brandon429 did you rinse your sand. You say it is cloudy what color is it. Can you post some pictures.

 

[Bj’s Reef]

As far as videos go. Start looking at the Bulk Reef Suppy 52 weeks of reefing to start with.

 

[redpine42]

My cloudy tank was probably an algae bloom, since the tank started growing green hair algae right after, but don’t really know.

I just road it out four 4 days and it went away on its own.

Been crystal clear ever since.

 

[MamaLovesHerReefTank]

Parameters- ammonia 0nitrite 0 nitrate I think about 10-15.. ive been trying to lower that with water changes .
No fish . Tank has only been up for 2 months. I'm not dosing carbon. Not really sure what that means. Only equipment is a skimmer, heater, pump and a few power heads and wavemakers.

Mike, I am running pretty much the same equipment on my 3 yr old tank. I don't have a sump, I use a fluval fx6 canister or my 125g.

Give it time to settle in before rushing out to buy new equipment. The cost of that stuff alone will scare you out this hobby.

It took a few months for my water to really clear up. Carbon and some fine filter pads helped get it there.

Keep it as simple as possible while you learn as much as you can by asking questions on this forum. Read other members posts as well. Read all the answers in the posts.

Not every answer will be right for your tank. There isn't one system in the world exactly like yours.

You will soon figure out which people know what they are talking about.

Take your time and research every purchase as much as possible beforehand. Especially livestock. Live aquaria is my first go to along with asking here.

Majority of the people here genuinely want you to have success in this hobby.

I got into this hobby thinking I could buy a tank, filter, add water and table salt ( not lying here ) and add 15 fish right away. Happily I found this forum my first night of searching for information.

Make one change at a time, see how your tank reacts.

 

[MTBake]

chance of being a bac bloom /01%

chance of being a silty sandbed/needing pre rinse before setup or a nice quick redo/post rinse given its two mos= let me see full tank shot

pouring back in water over a sandbed that was never rinsed at all is why I have a 12 page sand rinse thread, post your full tank shots. Given no ammonia spike here, your tank is easily savable. nothing is wrong. everything is decided on what your full tank shot picture looks like, not any of the params. Certain details in the pics give the critical params, the ones from test kits can vary wildly.

at two mos, you know you are past the cycling portions, time to sail the ship and we can keep it on course easily without a big deal. pics

Very good point about rinsing sand! I often forget about that being a problem if it isn't done.

OP, things will get better. I started the hobby with a used freshwater setup about 14 years ago. Ran it with tap water and power compact lighting All in all, it didn't do too bad actually. I learned a lot with my first setup. Gotta start somewhere.

 

[Mike1995]

You need to stop what you are doing and spend a few days watching videos to learn the basics. Also did you rinse your sand before putting it in?

Lol yes I have many other tanks with sand so i at least knew that far

 

[lejeune981]

Welcome to the ugly stages of a saltwater tank...it will all pass in time..
At one point.. you couldn't see my rock.. just waving fields of algae, cyano,And dinos...
Now she is beautiful

Besides my current aptasia outbreak..

Oh.. my system is 100 gallon water volume.. 250 lbs of rock 90 display.. 49 gallon xenia fuge..

I run an old hob red sea slimmer.. ment for a light bioload 50 gallon tank..

It's served me just fine for 2 years now.. and I bought it used for like 10 bucks..


Welcome to the most addicting aquarium life there is... saltwater.. always new life to find in your tank.. and always something new to learn