New update

[sergifed91]

since I added more flow to the tank. my levels are hopefully going to drop.
Tested this morning
NO2 is still at 10 ppm
but NO3 level has dropped from 160 ppm to 80ppm. hopefully I will see a drop in No2 by the time I get home tonight from the dungeon.
at this point should I reintroduce the shrimp at all through the process. I'm not using fish flakes yet. so shrimp will be my option for now. cause right now I know I want to wait for NO2 to drop and hopefully it will soon since NO3 has dropped drastically over night.

 

[Brew12]

since I added more flow to the tank. my levels are hopefully going to drop.
Tested this morning
NO2 is still at 10 ppm
but NO3 level has dropped from 160 ppm to 80ppm. hopefully I will see a drop in No2 by the time I get home tonight from the dungeon.
at this point should I reintroduce the shrimp at all through the process. I'm not using fish flakes yet. so shrimp will be my option for now. cause right now I know I want to wait for NO2 to drop and hopefully it will soon since NO3 has dropped drastically over night.

You likely have some NO2 measurement accuracy issues happening. NO3 won't drop in a new tank without water changes. The reason you are seeing a drop in NO3 is likely because you have less NO2.

And no, I wouldn't add a shrimp back. I'd let it run its course.

 

[IslandLifeReef]

Don't test nitrate until nitrites show zero. Your nitrate test kit likely turns nitrate into nitrite and then measures the total nitrite. If you already have nitrite present, you get a high nitrate reading. Quite a few popular test kits work this way.

 

[sergifed91]

You likely have some NO2 measurement accuracy issues happening. NO3 won't drop in a new tank without water changes. The reason you are seeing a drop in NO3 is likely because you have less NO2.

And no, I wouldn't add a shrimp back. I'd let it run its course.

I think by adding that wave maker and getting more movement in the tank has helped. So hopefully soon I will see those NO2 and NO3 dropping more in the next 6 weeks or so and diatons showing up.

 

[Brew12]

I think by adding that wave maker and getting more movement in the tank has helped. So hopefully soon I will see those NO2 and NO3 dropping more in the next 6 weeks or so and diatons showing up.

Unless you had almost no flow, adding flow won't do much to a tank that is cycling.

 

[sergifed91]

Unless you had almost no flow, adding flow won't do much to a tank that is cycling.

I practically had no flow at all. so the wave maker helped

 

[sergifed91]

I got home this afternoon and noticed that I have diatom algea blooms on 1 of my dry rocks and the other 2 are starting to get the diatoms.

 

[Brew12]

I got home this afternoon and noticed that I have diatom algea blooms on 1 of my dry rocks and the other 2 are starting to get the diatoms.

That is a good sign!

 

[sergifed91]

I haven't seen any In or on my live sand yet. but it will happen. I have heard from every place I read that people go to bed and wake up the next morning and all there dry rocks are filled with diatoms. I don't know if it happens that fast or just over time of a few days or several days or up to a week or 2. we'll see if it happens to my tank.

 

[sergifed91]

I did find a free ebook that I think is fairly good. I'll include it here

 

[sergifed91]

I just tested my water looks like NO2 and NO3are definitely going down. Not seeing diatoms now. but sure it will be soon. will post a video of the tank in my next post for an update tomorrow.