First saltwater tank

[Rodolfo Garcia]

How's it going guys? Its been 4 days since i established my very first saltwater tank. Its a 20 gallong with 15 pounds of live rock. I am using a HOB filter , i have a heater set at 82 degrees, i have a powerhead rated at 550 gph. I have a regular light that came with the aquarium. I am planning to upgrade lightning later in about 3 months when the tank is settled since i want it to be a reef tank. I am buying 2 clownfish for this tank and a few snails, that is all since the tank is not that big.(When done cycling of course)
Today i measured my water parameters:

Ammonia: 4.00 PPM
Nitrites: 0.00 PPM
Nitrates: 20.00 PPM
Phosphates: 0.25 PPM

Any idea as to why ammonia is considerably high but no trace amounts of nitrites? Does this mean i don't have to worry about a nitrite spike anymore?
I am using tap water at the moment, i am planning on buying saltwater from my local fish store from here on out. At 0.50 cents a gallon it will be ok , since the tank is smallish, i can get away with about 5 gallons a week when i start doing 10-20% water changes.
Any advice you guys would like to give a newbie ?

 

[Rodolfo Garcia]

 

[Kevin Junkin]

How's it going guys? Its been 4 days since i established my very first saltwater tank. Its a 20 gallong with 15 pounds of live rock. I am using a HOB filter , i have a heater set at 82 degrees, i have a powerhead rated at 550 gph. I have a regular light that came with the aquarium. I am planning to upgrade lightning later in about 3 months when the tank is settled since i want it to be a reef tank. I am buying 2 clownfish for this tank and a few snails, that is all since the tank is not that big.(When done cycling of course)
Today i measured my water parameters:

Ammonia: 4.00 PPM
Nitrites: 0.00 PPM
Nitrates: 20.00 PPM
Phosphates: 0.25 PPM

Any idea as to why ammonia is considerably high but no trace amounts of nitrites? Does this mean i don't have to worry about a nitrite spike anymore?
I am using tap water at the moment, i am planning on buying saltwater from my local fish store from here on out. At 0.50 cents a gallon it will be ok , since the tank is smallish, i can get away with about 5 gallons a week when i start doing 10-20% water changes.
Any advice you guys would like to give a newbie ?

if I were you id start the cycle over completely using RO/DI made salt water and probably new rock. the stuff that is in the tap water could really affect your tank in the long run because it soaks into the rocks. some people say its just fine using tap but I've just heard way too many horror stories to even chance it. also, certainly upgrade the light ASAP, if you plan on it being a reef tank. id bring your temp down to about 78. the smaller total tank volume you have the more your going to have larger parameter swings from evaporation. especially with salinity which can have adverse effects for most livestock. your ammonia could be just starting for your cycle. did you start the system with live rock or dead rock and did you use any cycle starter (like bio-spira) or are you phantom feeding or fish cycling. keep in mind it can take up to 6 weeks to fully cycle a tank all that being said welcome to the addiction

 

[Rodolfo Garcia]

if I were you id start the cycle over completely using RO/DI made salt water and probably new rock. the stuff that is in the tap water could really affect your tank in the long run because it soaks into the rocks. some people say its just fine using tap but I've just heard way too many horror stories to even chance it. also, certainly upgrade the light ASAP, if you plan on it being a reef tank. id bring your temp down to about 78. the smaller total tank volume you have the more your going to have larger parameter swings from evaporation. especially with salinity which can have adverse effects for most livestock. your ammonia could be just starting for your cycle. did you start the system with live rock or dead rock and did you use any cycle starter (like bio-spira) or are you phantom feeding or fish cycling. keep in mind it can take up to 6 weeks to fully cycle a tank all that being said welcome to the addiction

Thanks for your reply Kevin. I am a struggling college student and to start of with new rocks at 8.99 a pound from my local fish store is impossible. Should i consider doing water changes during the cycling stage? Im going to take a risk and leave it as is, just from here on out i will buy all my saltwater from my local fish store when performing weekly water changes. Yes i will upgrade to a newer light as soon as it is done cycling. My rocks are live and i used something called Fritz Zyme 9 which basically is live Nitrifying bacteria in a bottle , it says it helps remove ammonia and nitrite. I have no fish in my tank as i do not want to harm any living creature, i am occassionally adding fish food to help kick of the ammonia cycle. And trust me i know how addicting this could be, i already have a 80 gallon planted freshwater fish tank but the sciences behind these two aquatic hobbies are totally different.

 

[Kevin Junkin]

Thanks for your reply Kevin. I am a struggling college student and to start of with new rocks at 8.99 a pound from my local fish store is impossible. Should i consider doing water changes during the cycling stage? Im going to take a risk and leave it as is, just from here on out i will buy all my saltwater from my local fish store when performing weekly water changes. Yes i will upgrade to a newer light as soon as it is done cycling. My rocks are live and i used something called Fritz Zyme 9 which basically is live Nitrifying bacteria in a bottle , it says it helps remove ammonia and nitrite. I have no fish in my tank as i do not want to harm any living creature, i am occassionally adding fish food to help kick of the ammonia cycle. And trust me i know how addicting this could be, i already have a 80 gallon planted freshwater fish tank but the sciences behind these two aquatic hobbies are totally different.

yeah its insane how different they are. as a kid I had three planted tanks in my bedroom the biggest being a 150. (most of the equipment I got from the trash or pawnshops and flea markets). since I stopped traveling I figured it was time to finally get into reefing... as for water changes I'd wait till your tank pretty much stops producing ammonia and there is no nitrites and at this point your nitrates should be very high. what I did with my 20g reef that I recently started is after the cycle was completed I did a 100% water change. waited a week jst to be sure and I took a few frag zoas and paly's from my tank and slapped them in there literally 2 days ago. as for getting equipment and livestock try looking on craigslist, letgo, and offerup. or even posting in a local reef club on here or facebook. that's how I scored my first system. got a 75g complete running system with lights sump pumps skimmer and extras for $200. used equipment can be really helpful in getting a project started or saving your butt when something breaks when youre on a budget

 

[KJ]

Welcome to R2R!!!
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/the-supreme-guide-to-setting-up-a-saltwater-reef-aquarium.138750/

 

[cmcoker]

Nitrite could still show up, there are strains of nitrifying bacteria that will take ammonia straight to nitrate, so nitrites could still show up or not.
Nitrites is not toxic to saltwater fish except at very very high levels that we wouldnt really see. So you really only have to worry about ammonia.

 

[JamesP]

Are you treating your tap water with a chlorine neutralizer like seachem prime?

 

[Rodolfo Garcia]

Are you treating your tap water with a chlorine neutralizer like seachem prime?

Yes i am currently treating it with Seachem prime

 

[Rodolfo Garcia]

Nitrite could still show up, there are strains of nitrifying bacteria that will take ammonia straight to nitrate, so nitrites could still show up or not.
Nitrites is not toxic to saltwater fish except at very very high levels that we wouldnt really see. So you really only have to worry about ammonia.

Ok well i will keep testing my water parameters. Does my live rock help with cycling my tank?

 

[Rodolfo Garcia]

Welcome to R2R!!!
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/the-supreme-guide-to-setting-up-a-saltwater-reef-aquarium.138750/

Thanks for the link man. A lot of useful information on that thread.

 

[FishLover01]

I understand you're a college student on a budget. With that being said, here's what I would do. First, don't add anything else to the tank. It hasn't finished cycling all the way yet. This may take from 4-6 weeks. Your ammonia should go from 4ppm to 0ppm in that amount of time. You should get a NO2 reading after a couple of weeks. After this happens, your ammonia will drop. Your tank is not fully cycled until both the ammonia and NO2 (nitrites) are both 0ppm. NO3 (nitrates) for a fish only tank should be anywhere from 5-30ppm. After you have this nitrate reading with absolutely no ammonia and no nitrates, then and only then is the tank fully 100% cycled. After this has happened, do about a 5 gallon water change (25%) and then you'll be safe to add.those two fish and clean up crew. You can easily do this without having to spend additional money. Good Luck.

 

[TheLadyCrash]

+1 On bringing the temp down. I usually run mine at 79 or 80 degrees max.