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Padawanreefaddict

Padawanreefaddict

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Ok guys I have been a member for quite sometime but have been so busy with work. Also wanted to feel things out. I have been into the hobby for close to 3 months now and quite naturally I am hooked. It been a fun 3 months doing tons of extensive research on everything I currently own and then some.

Got my first tank back in March which is a 29 gallon biocube which was already established. After a few mishaps with a peppermint shrimp that ate my first hammer frag and a female clown that was not so friendly (banished) I have had great success with keeping almost everything that I have stocked in the tank except for a Royal Gramma that just disappeared and I am clueless as to what has happened to it. So here we are a few months later and a trip to RAP here in Orlando and now I also have a small 4 gallon pico tank that has been started from scratch and has been going for about 2 1/2 months now. Been doing weekly water changes and yesterday I decided to test and noticed that my nitrites were at .25 ppm. From what I've read, I shouldn't panic but I'm just wondering what changed to slightly elevate the levels. Only difference that I can think of would be that I added a Sicce Syncra Nano pump as a circulation pump and at one point it spread some of the Bahama Oolite a bit from one corner but nothing serious. Ammonia was at 0 as well as nitrates 0. I want to have a back up plan incase things get crazy so any advice would help. Oh and it's good to finally get my first post out of the way, lol...
 
Tidal Gardens
Welcome to R2R! If you have nitrites your tank is either not fully cycled, OR something has started to decay to cause them (something died or food is rotting somewhere). A water change to dilute the nitrite is a good idea. A pico is difficult because you dont have a lot of room for mistakes. There isn't enough water volume to have a buffer for things like over feeding to a failing coral. Good luck!
 
Hello Mely,

Thanks for your advice. Yes I agree that a Pico would be quite the challenge. Lol. I believe it was feeding more than anything. I fully cycled the tank about a month ago and made sure my parameters were stable for at least a week before adding anything to it. Just added CUC when the nitrates were slightly below 5 ppm. Should I be picking up more CUC to get rid of the uneaten food? I think I will change up feeding to only pellets for the fish. I was feeding a little reef frenzy but I'm thinking that's too much for a small tank. Only worried about how my clown goby will eat.
 
ReefBot Lab, Automated Water Tester
Welcome to R2R! Yeah, NO2 is not good and is a sign you tank isn't mature yet. As @melypr1985 said, do frequent water changes until you don't read any NO2. Hold off on any further livestock until your system catches up to what you have now:)
 
WWC
Salty1962 said:
Welcome to R2R! Yeah, NO2 is not good and is a sign you tank isn't mature yet. As @melypr1985 said, do frequent water changes until you don't read any NO2. Hold off on any further livestock until your system catches up to what you have now:)
Click to expand...
Ok see that's the part that had me confused. I did extensive reading when it came to starting a tank from scratch and cycling. I used live sand and live rock and salt water from my LFS which I've been using from the start. I went through the cycle of high ammonia which turned into nitrites and later became nitrates. When my nitrates got to about 5ppm and lower I added CUC. I also started treating with Microbacter 7 after the second day of the cycle. In either case about a week and a half after adding CUC all parameters were normal Ammonia 0, Nitrites 0 and Nitrates 0. First day of RAP I added my two clowns and some corals and for weeks my parameters were stable. But yesterday I had slightly elevated levels of nitrite. I don't think it was a cycle thing. More than likely feeding.
 
Welcome home, you will love it here! Post up some pics soon! :)
 
BRS
www.dinkinsaquaticgardens.com
Hey all. Sorry, been a little busy feeding the kids and then checking in the aquatic kids. Lol. Thank you all for the warm welcome. Ok so I came home to another small issue so this morning I woke up and noticed my anemone crab was missing one of his hind legs. Hermit crab was enjoying himself like my wife at Red Lobster lol. Headed to work and when I got home this afternoon I noticed a few of my hermit crabs having a feast with the poor crabs left claw I doubt it was the hermits. I think my female Picasso wasn't happy that the crab was taking up too much anemone time and put in some work on him poor crab is on the complete other side of the tank now
 
Padawanreefaddict said:
Hello Mely,

Thanks for your advice. Yes I agree that a Pico would be quite the challenge. Lol. I believe it was feeding more than anything. I fully cycled the tank about a month ago and made sure my parameters were stable for at least a week before adding anything to it. Just added CUC when the nitrates were slightly below 5 ppm. Should I be picking up more CUC to get rid of the uneaten food? I think I will change up feeding to only pellets for the fish. I was feeding a little reef frenzy but I'm thinking that's too much for a small tank. Only worried about how my clown goby will eat.
Click to expand...

I believe it is Mrs Mely :cool:
 
WWC
welcome2-jpg.351413
 
BRS
Ok so just wanted to give a quick update on the pico tank. I decided to dose a squirt of Microbacter 7 after about a 2% water change and let the tank run for a few hours. I tested my parameters and it looks like its normalizing a bit. No ammonia at all, nitrites are down to less than .25 ppm and no nitrates. Salinity holding steady at 1.025 so I'm breathing a little easier right now. lol. Anemone Crab is still hiding and staying away from my girl. I think he'll be toast if he goes back to the anemone. Lol. Thanks all for all the advice. Looking forward to learning more from everyone. Btw, here are a few pictures of the pico tank.
70d4b9c6dbfa38954da9739ba33bb367.jpg
26f5c97fa86a944ffc8fa0705bd574ad.jpg
6389001a0e38170c77dae5037170c089.jpg
 
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