Question about nitrates and tank cycle 1 month in

[OrthoVet05]

Hey guys! I have been cycling my total 75 gal system (57 oceanic and Eshoppes 20 gal sump) for the past month, started out with dosing Dr. Tims and ammonia at 2 ppm and threw in a couple pieces of dead shrimp. I had an algae bloom this past week which I am not overtly concerned about as it seems my tank is in the awkward teenage stage and I have kept my lights on which don't help, but oh well.

Anyways, I haven't had any filtration other than about 80 pounds of dry rock and I turned on my protein skimmer (ReefDynamic IS80) which is still breaking in.

Main question is my nitrates were through the roof yesterday (around 80 PPM) and today were undetectable. Could it have been that the algae used up the nitrates in 24 h period? I use API test kit and checked it twice each time. Attached are my parameters below. I was going to start with a pair of clowns and add them once my nitrites were at 0 ppm. Any thoughts, suggestions, or concerns? I know my salinity is all over the place as I was trying to figure out the best way to estimate how much salt and water combination I would need for water changes, etc. earlier in the month. It is still a little high as I would ideally like it at 1.025. Could I also get an ID on this algae? Is it brown hair algae and diatoms? Thanks for helping a newb!

 

[Brew12]

Hey guys! I have been cycling my total 75 gal system (57 oceanic and Eshoppes 20 gal sump) for the past month, started out with dosing Dr. Tims and ammonia at 2 ppm and threw in a couple pieces of dead shrimp. I had an algae bloom this past week which I am not overtly concerned about as it seems my tank is in the awkward teenage stage and I have kept my lights on which don't help, but oh well.

Anyways, I haven't had any filtration other than about 80 pounds of dry rock and I turned on my protein skimmer (ReefDynamic IS80) which is still breaking in.

Main question is my nitrates were through the roof yesterday (around 80 PPM) and today were undetectable. Could it have been that the algae used up the nitrates in 24 h period? I use API test kit and checked it twice each time. Attached are my parameters below. I was going to start with a pair of clowns and add them once my nitrites were at 0 ppm. Any thoughts, suggestions, or concerns? I know my salinity is all over the place as I was trying to figure out the best way to estimate how much salt and water combination I would need for water changes, etc. earlier in the month. It is still a little high as I would ideally like it at 1.025. Could I also get an ID on this algae? Is it brown hair algae and diatoms? Thanks for helping a newb!

Best advice I can give you is to relax.

You cannot get an accurate test result on nitrates as long as you have nitrites in your system. Most nitrate tests work by breaking nitrates down into nitrites and then doing a color change. If you already have nitrites in your system it can cause test results that are all over the board.

Just let your system do its thing, get everything stable and wait it out.

 

[OrthoVet05]

Best advice I can give you is to relax.

You cannot get an accurate test result on nitrates as long as you have nitrites in your system. Most nitrate tests work by breaking nitrates down into nitrites and then doing a color change. If you already have nitrites in your system it can cause test results that are all over the board.

Just let your system do its thing, get everything stable and wait it out.

Thanks for the piece of mind Brew12! It is nice to see some maturation finally.