Hello everyone! New and got a few questions.

[808jaymakoa]

Hey everyone I'm originally from Hawaii and moved to Texas so I decided to get me a saltwater aquarium to remind me of home. I got a 55 gallon tank with all the necessary equipment. Green element 48" led lights, odyssea 75 protein skimmer hang on, cascade 1200 canister filter moving 350 gph. I bought 65 lbs of live rock. Half of it is 3 big base rocks (cured Fiji) that has no growth or coralline and the other half is smaller Marshall island rock with tons of growth and coralline. The Marshall island rock had brain coral, one had protopalythoa I think, macro algae and other plant life some of which I'm not sure if its good or bad. Multiple clams, Two sea urchin were included. I set it all up and everything was great. For 3 weeks I had zero ammonia nitrate or nitrite. So I asked local fish store if I could add fish and some more corals and he thought that maybe I wouldn't have a cycle due to good filtration. So I added 1 clown, 2 yellow tail damsels and 1 yellow belly damsel. I also added 1 red crystal shrimp and 2 emerald crabs. For corals I added a bubble tip anemone, condy anemone, auphilia, and another brain. Two days after adding this I had a diatom breakout on sand bed and on live rock. Still no ammonia nitrate or nitrite so I asked Lfs and he said get a clean up crew so I added 4 Mexican turbo snails and 10 emeralds and one diamond goby. I added them in and that night one yellow tail was clearly about to die so I put him out of his misery ( sorry if that's harsh but he clearly wouldn't make it any longer ) and the next morning the goby died. I checked levels and still nothing at all. All other fish and inverts are healthy. Corals are healthy and actually growing especially the protopalythoa and another plant next to it. I cut back on light significantly and feed fish sparingly and nutrients are given at half dose to try and get rid of the diatoms. Actually snails have done a lot of work on the algae. Hermits seem pointless haha. Water clarity is perfect and skimmer is definitely doin its job now. Any suggestions or let the tank run its course on the diatoms. Do I have anything to worry about and are any of the things in the pictures below problems or concerns. Thanks ahead of time?

 

[808jaymakoa]

 

[808jaymakoa]

 

[808jaymakoa]

 

[808jaymakoa]

 

[SeahorseKeeper]

What test kits are you using?

 

[SeahorseKeeper]

Also, how long has the tank been running?

 

[calvo15290]

Nice !!! I got a finger leather from a farmer in Hawaii a power head knocked down and killed it n my nephew was born there wile my brother in law was stationed there .its a lovely place .my sister was glad to leave because of no target there haha


Andrew calvo

 

[808jaymakoa]

I'm using API. Only reads ph which is 8.3 ammonia nitrate and nitrite. By the way salinity is 1.023

 

[808jaymakoa]

Tank has been running almost one month.

 

[808jaymakoa]

Yea Andrew it is. I was a beach bum and miss it but had to better my life so moved. This is my way to still have a little island life in me

 

[ReeferBob]

One month? That is way, way too quick. Odds are most of that tank will be dead soon. I really doubt it was even cycled. What are your ammonia readings? Sorry to be a downer but that is what usually happens when you move way to quick in this hobby. On the brighter side the tank looks great...for now...

 

[808jaymakoa]

Ammonia is 0ppm. I hear you reefer bob. I followed advice from owner at lfs. But as of this morning diatoms are minimizing and fish corals and inverts look healthy and moving around. What to do now though. Is the tank cycling if I'm seeing diatoms? Is it not gonna cycle due to good filtration via cannister filter and live rock? Are beneficial bacteria being generated if I had a diatom break or is the cuc cleaning it up only?

 

[AZDesertRat]

What are you using for water? Hopefully it is RO/DI so you have control over what you are putting in your tank. Water is the single largest ingredirnt in a reef tank and everything depends on its quality and its stability, use only the best.

At 1 month you should not be adding any inhabitants to the tank yet, you are still in the middle of your initial cycle and the bacteria are not sufficient to support any bioload beyond their own colonization.

What is your tanks temperature, pH and salinity?

Once you are through the initial cycle you can slowly, I repeat Slowly, start adding a clean up crew to deal with the phases or forms of algae you will experience. Add things slowly so the colonizing bacteria can adjust and adapt to the increased bioload, it does not happen overnight. Take your time! I cannot stress this enough and it is the reason more new reef hobbyists quit than anything else, patience is key. If you LFS continues to give you questionable advice you may want to seek out a better one. Many will start selling you all sorts of magic potions to kill algae, magically make nitrates disappear, align the ions of the water, make corals sprout ovenight and be vibrant, etc., when really all these things will take care of themselves in time with good habits like normal small water changes using RO/DI and a name brand salt mix.

 

[ReeferBob]

Ammonia is 0ppm. I hear you reefer bob. I followed advice from owner at lfs. But as of this morning diatoms are minimizing and fish corals and inverts look healthy and moving around. What to do now though. Is the tank cycling if I'm seeing diatoms? Is it not gonna cycle due to good filtration via cannister filter and live rock? Are beneficial bacteria being generated if I had a diatom break or is the cuc cleaning it up only?

Diatoms are just part of a new tank breaking in and not related to the nitrogen cycle. Beneficial bacteria are present albeit probably not in great numbers. Definitely keep up on water changes and check the ammonia at least every 2-3 days being prepared for large water changes if you see any. With enough cured live rock you can skip or shorten the initial cycle and you may have done that. Hopefully. But most recommend waiting 6 months to a year before introducing corals to a tank. They just don't fair well in new tanks. Keep a real close eye on all the water params, keep up with water changes and you might just pull off a coup!

You should lose the canister. Corals and inverts do not like high nitrates and canister filters tend to do just that. Plus you do not want live bacteria colonizing in the canister filter you want them in the rock. The canister filter will stop processing the nitrogen cycle at the nitrate level. Live rock will break down the nitrates completely (with time, this is what an established tank gives you).

 

[AZDesertRat]

Do not do water changes when you see ammonia.
The ammonia is the food for producing nitrites and without it your bacteria population will be weakened.
Nitrosonomas and noitrobacter bacterias consume ammonia turing it to nitrites and then to nitrates. You don't start any water changes until the ammonia has come and gone, nitrites have come and gone and your nitrates start to rise, this means you bacteria are thriving and the initial cycle has been completed. If you do water changes too early you prolong the process as you have robbed the food they need to multiply and colonize.

 

[808jaymakoa]

AzDesertRat when I set up the tank I used tap and a dechlorinator and have used only RO water since. For fill ups and did one water change. Temp is 82 all the time. Ph is 8.2 as of this morning. Salinity is 1.023. I've checked parameters every day and all zero. I even have my fiancé check and color match to make sure I'm not crazy which drives her crazy. What kind of stumps me is everything is growing, bright and I see new life all the time but diatoms showed its ugly face. Not to bad and its starting to go away. Ill back off though and give the tank a couple months to stabilize. Is it possible i skipped this cycle or should I still be expecting it. Just thought it would have started already.

 

[AZDesertRat]

You should be seeing nitrates rise if it is cycled.
Diatoms are a part of the maturation process and you will see many more phases before the tank is fully mature. You will struggle with hair algae, slime, possibly bubble algae, aiptasia and many others, its all normal and will go away in time, many on their own with no intervention.

I'm sorry to hear you started with tap water, not good. Are you using RO only or RO/DI at this point for top offs? RO is only 90-98% treated so still contains TDS. If you are buying water look for RO/DI or distilled, both should be 0 TDS or very near it. If you must use RO, find a good clean Water & Ice type store and make friends with the owner. Share with them that the water is for a reef tank and they will be more than happy to show you the conductivity or TDS of their water. Avoid vending machines like the plague, most have little maintenance and what they do get is usually as little as changing a sediment filter or wiping the machine down with a bleach rag, neither of which has anything to do with TDS removal. Use a staffed water and ice store where they take pride in their product.

Better yet, a reef quality RO/DI unit is only $130 and will save you a tone of headaches. It can also be used to fill drinking water jugs or bottles so is easy to justify the purchase if you buy much drinking water, we love the taste of RO only water from ours and have been drinking it for almost 20 years now. In the southwest we go through a lot of water in a days time so the RO/DI pays for itself in a matter or months easily.

 

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[808jaymakoa]

My lfs sells RO water premixed with salt and plain RO water. Not sure which it is but he claims its the same stuff that's in all his tanks. Everything seems healthy today. More brown algae disappeared. I fed 3 fish a bit and they fed like I starve them which I assume is good that they are eating. I tested water parameters again and no ammonia nitrates or nitites