New Nano Reef Advice

[lil sumpin]

Hello all, hope everyone's doing swell! I just started cycling up a nano reef; it's my first dive back into the hobby in 11 years. Some background about the setup:

14gal cube with 15 lbs CaribSea Life Rock, 20lbs CaribSea Arag-Alive Special Grade Substrate, Aquaclear 50 HOB filter, AutoAqua Micro ATO, 50w Fluval heater, Reef Breeders 36w Nano LED

I began the cycle with Fritz Fishless Fuel and I also added Turbo Start 900. Currently on Day 3 of the cycle, after Day 1 I tested 1.5ppm ammonia and > 4ppm nitrite. Day 2, I saw around .5ppm ammonia and about 4ppm nitrite again and out of curiosity I happened to test for nitrate as well which showed 100ppm. Tested with Salifert

Does this mean I'm due for a significant water change in 2-3 days? I also began to notice this taking up some space on the glass.. not sure how to really describe them. One thing I noticed was these small circles with tiny white specks in or beside them.. donuts if you will...the other is a white film that kinda has a chalky residue look to it.

Was wondering if anyone could help me ID them and present me with some insight as to what's going on? Any other advice is greatly appreciated as well!

Thanks Reef2Reefers!

(I'm currently not running the lights! Just thought I'd take some pics with them on)

 

[blaxsun]

I would continue to follow the cycling process as indicated, including water changes (etc.) where notes.

 

[RandyL]

This is going to be a really awesome setup and a lot of fun for you. A lot has changed in the hobby in the last 11 years, but the tech has really improved so it’s all positive.

I agree that you should just follow the recommendations that came with your cycling solution and continue to test. While it won’t really hurt anything to do some water changes, it does tend to slow down the cycling process a bit. As long as you don’t have any livestock suffering as a result of the cycling process, you should be fine.

 

[lil sumpin]

Thanks for the responses. No livestock added yet. Thinking to modify the HOB filter into a fuge and establish copepods after parameters stabilize.

Today’s tests showed around .25ppm Ammonia, 4ppm Nitrite and 100ppm Nitrate

 

[7of9]

Welcome back!

I second the advice to just let it sit a bit before doing any major water changes.

 

[lil sumpin]

7 days in! Readings are currently:
approx .15 to .25ppm Ammonia (having a hard time discerning colors on Salifert)
still around 4ppm nitrite and > 100 ppm nitrate

Is it possible that the nitrite is skewing the nitrate result on Salifert?

 

[7of9]

 

[hrogi-salty-guy]

Give it time. Each tank is different.

 

[lil sumpin]

 

[Townes_Van_Camp]

Let it ride new friend. All part of the process.

 

[lil sumpin]

The diatoms have started to appear