Chris in Spain
New Member
I would be very grateful for any advice or opinions.
I`ll start with a little history first.
We had this particular tank set up and running stable for around a year before moving from the UK to Spain.
We had the tank, equipment, rocks and sand transported along with everything else.
At the time we decided to keep the sand because we were unsure on availability, which is limited in our region. The rocks amounted to around 60kg wet, so keeping them was a must.
The rock we have is Fiji and was live/matured purchased from a local LFS at the time.
Everything has been transported and stored for 2 years. The rock and sand had been washed until all the water had run clear before transported, we ended up having to give away all the corals and livestock.
We left the rocks and sand out in the weather once we got to Spain for a while, then rewashed it again. Eventually the rocks were left out to bake for 2 summers mainly because there was nowhere to store them.
When it came time for us to start thinking about setting the tank back up everything was washed then put in a mild bleach solution with water changes every 3 to 4 days for 2 weeks, then soaked in ro water which was changed until there was no trace of any bleach odour.
The tank was set up with a basic return system to ensure it was still good and water tested for 2 weeks. As everything was good to go we cleaned the tank out, unfortunately we couldn't remove some old coralline deposits on the weir box as it was damaging it. We decided it was such a small amount it wouldn't make much difference in the overall scheme, i guess that was a mistake.
We added the rock after it was dry again then the sand before filling with salt water. There was some cloudiness to the water due to dust from the sand but this cleared after 2 days. we then ran the setup for a week to ensure no problems then started dosing with 3% ammonia until we reached 2ppm then added Dr Tims to begin the cycle.
so at that time we tested the parameters and had Ammonia 2ppm nitrites 0 or as close to 0 as could be detected and the same with Nitrates. a week later we still had 2ppm Ammonia 0.5 nitrites and still 0 nitrates, A week following the ammonia was down to 1ppm Nitrites 5 ppm Nirtates 10ppm, following week Ammonia was 0 nitrites 10ppm nitrates 50 then a green tinge started to appear in the water, we expected this was the beginning of an algae bloom but no lights were on, the water had no odour. fast forward to this week (week 5) we have Ammonia 0 Nitrite still 5 and Nitrates 100 and still the water is slightly green only visible in the main tank, the sump looks clear due to its water volume. We have some diatoms on the sump rocks but none in the tank as yet.
As we have only ever cycled with live rock and live sand previously we never had this.
I this a normal cycle for using all dry? The green water is causing concern. The water still remains odourless.
I am still waiting for a Phosphate test kit which probably will not arrive for another 2 weeks.
Oh and just to make you smile the tank is in a cave house.
I`ll start with a little history first.
We had this particular tank set up and running stable for around a year before moving from the UK to Spain.
We had the tank, equipment, rocks and sand transported along with everything else.
At the time we decided to keep the sand because we were unsure on availability, which is limited in our region. The rocks amounted to around 60kg wet, so keeping them was a must.
The rock we have is Fiji and was live/matured purchased from a local LFS at the time.
Everything has been transported and stored for 2 years. The rock and sand had been washed until all the water had run clear before transported, we ended up having to give away all the corals and livestock.
We left the rocks and sand out in the weather once we got to Spain for a while, then rewashed it again. Eventually the rocks were left out to bake for 2 summers mainly because there was nowhere to store them.
When it came time for us to start thinking about setting the tank back up everything was washed then put in a mild bleach solution with water changes every 3 to 4 days for 2 weeks, then soaked in ro water which was changed until there was no trace of any bleach odour.
The tank was set up with a basic return system to ensure it was still good and water tested for 2 weeks. As everything was good to go we cleaned the tank out, unfortunately we couldn't remove some old coralline deposits on the weir box as it was damaging it. We decided it was such a small amount it wouldn't make much difference in the overall scheme, i guess that was a mistake.
We added the rock after it was dry again then the sand before filling with salt water. There was some cloudiness to the water due to dust from the sand but this cleared after 2 days. we then ran the setup for a week to ensure no problems then started dosing with 3% ammonia until we reached 2ppm then added Dr Tims to begin the cycle.
so at that time we tested the parameters and had Ammonia 2ppm nitrites 0 or as close to 0 as could be detected and the same with Nitrates. a week later we still had 2ppm Ammonia 0.5 nitrites and still 0 nitrates, A week following the ammonia was down to 1ppm Nitrites 5 ppm Nirtates 10ppm, following week Ammonia was 0 nitrites 10ppm nitrates 50 then a green tinge started to appear in the water, we expected this was the beginning of an algae bloom but no lights were on, the water had no odour. fast forward to this week (week 5) we have Ammonia 0 Nitrite still 5 and Nitrates 100 and still the water is slightly green only visible in the main tank, the sump looks clear due to its water volume. We have some diatoms on the sump rocks but none in the tank as yet.
As we have only ever cycled with live rock and live sand previously we never had this.
I this a normal cycle for using all dry? The green water is causing concern. The water still remains odourless.
I am still waiting for a Phosphate test kit which probably will not arrive for another 2 weeks.
Oh and just to make you smile the tank is in a cave house.
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