Very new to saltwater and need help

[Kelloggs2800]

I am not sure if something like this has been posted as I couldn't find it but here we go. To note before I explain. I do not have any fish yet.

I recently bought a used evo 13.5. The person I bought it from told me that the water is cycled so I shouldn't have any issues. I bought some live rock to set up and received a tester kit about 5 days later. I did a quick test just to make sure levels were good but low and behold all of them are off the chats (except maybe pH).

pH is at about 7.8, Ammonia is in between 0.50ppm-1.0ppm, Nitrite is between 0.25ppm-0.50ppm, and Nitrate is crazy at 80ppm maybe even 160ppm (hard to tell by colour).

I have asked a couple of friends and they believe that it may be doing a cycle as I introduced the live rock to the system. My concern is that I have no idea what to do next. I do not know if I need to add something to the tank to get these test results in order or if I just wait it out and hope for the best.

I would appreciate any insight as like I said I have no idea what to do now.


This test was done 2 days ago. I did another test today and all the levels are the same but the Nitrate is worse now. The levels I gave in the post are the updated readings.

 

[Bucs20fan]

I am not sure if something like this has been posted as I couldn't find it but here we go. To note before I explain. I do not have any fish yet.

I recently bought a used evo 13.5. The person I bought it from told me that the water is cycled so I shouldn't have any issues. I bought some live rock to set up and received a tester kit about 5 days later. I did a quick test just to make sure levels were good but low and behold all of them are off the chats (except maybe pH).

pH is at about 7.8, Ammonia is in between 0.50ppm-1.0ppm, Nitrite is between 0.25ppm-0.50ppm, and Nitrate is crazy at 80ppm maybe even 160ppm (hard to tell by colour).

I have asked a couple of friends and they believe that it may be doing a cycle as I introduced the live rock to the system. My concern is that I have no idea what to do next. I do not know if I need to add something to the tank to get these test results in order or if I just wait it out and hope for the best.

I would appreciate any insight as like I said I have no idea what to do now.


This test was done 2 days ago. I did another test today and all the levels are the same but the Nitrate is worse now. The levels I gave in the post are the updated readings.

Lots of things here, by live rock, is it actually live, aka came from the ocean or an already established tank? Or did you buy the purple rocks that are dry and called "Life rock" If its dry, its not true live rock, its just the white rock painted purple.

Did you buy any bottled bacteria to add to the tank when you started up? You have a considerable ammonia concentration, and Its not .5 to 1.0 its between 1.5 and 2.0. This level of ammonia will not sustain life.

All you need to do is go to your LFS and buy a bottle of Fritz turbo start, the small bottle will do just fine. Its about the best you can get and will have your tank cycled in no time at all. Or you can add a few pellets or a piece of shrimp to the tank and do it the old fashioned way, and it will take about a month to fully cycle.

A cycled tank will have no ammonia or nitrites present, but it will have nitrates.

 

[Kelloggs2800]

Lots of things here, by live rock, is it actually live, aka came from the ocean or an already established tank? Or did you buy the purple rocks that are dry and called "Life rock" If its dry, its not true live rock, its just the white rock painted purple.

Did you buy any bottled bacteria to add to the tank when you started up? You have a considerable ammonia concentration, and Its not .5 to 1.0 its between 1.5 and 2.0. This level of ammonia will not sustain life.

All you need to do is go to your LFS and buy a bottle of Fritz turbo start, the small bottle will do just fine. Its about the best you can get and will have your tank cycled in no time at all. Or you can add a few pellets or a piece of shrimp to the tank and do it the old fashioned way, and it will take about a month to fully cycle.

A cycled tank will have no ammonia or nitrites present, but it will have nitrates.

The live rock (as my LFS called it) was in a tank with water. They told me it is live. However it is a white colour. Some spots are a bit darker as it looks like there is bacteria starting to grow but I really do not know.

Okay so buy the turbo start and add the whole bottle? After that continue testing until both Ammonia and Nitrite is at 0 and then I would be good to go?

Will it auto fix the Nitrate level or is it supposed to be high?

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

I recently bought a used evo 13.5. The person I bought it from told me that the water is cycled so I shouldn't have any issues

This is a common misconception. There is very little nitrifying bacteria in the water column. By reusing the water, you likely did no harm, but it does not help the tank to cycle.
Also, in the majority of cases (and I would say in 99% of cases involving someone setting up their first tank), moving a running aquarium to a new home will require going through a new cycle... Or at least preparing as if you will need to. Moving sand and rocks disturbs all kinds of gunk that can pollute the water.

My best advice, especially since the tank is so small, is to do a 100% water change to remove/reduce the ammonia and nitrates. You didn't post a photo so you may have enough, but rock in a saltwater aquarium is not just for decoration like in freshwater. It serves as your primary biofilter and gives nitrifying bacteria a place to live. Be sure you have a good amount of rock or other biomedia and after the water change, add some bottled bacteria like Bucs20fan suggested. Like them, I am partial to Fritz turbo start but there are others that will work.

Once you've done this, since you DO already have some things in your tank, wait 24 hours and test ammonia and nitrates and report back. We'll get you sorted out

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

Oh, and please post a picture of your tank

 

[Kelloggs2800]

This is a common misconception. There is very little nitrifying bacteria in the water column. By reusing the water, you likely did no harm, but it does not help the tank to cycle.
Also, in the majority of cases (and I would say in 99% of cases involving someone setting up their first tank), moving a running aquarium to a new home will require going through a new cycle... Or at least preparing as if you will need to. Moving sand and rocks disturbs all kinds of gunk that can pollute the water.

My best advice, especially since the tank is so small, is to do a 100% water change to remove/reduce the ammonia and nitrates. You didn't post a photo so you may have enough, but rock in a saltwater aquarium is not just for decoration like in freshwater. It serves as your primary biofilter and gives nitrifying bacteria a place to live. Be sure you have a good amount of rock or other biomedia and after the water change, add some bottled bacteria like Bucs20fan suggested. Like them, I am partial to Fritz turbo start but there are others that will work.

Once you've done this, since you DO already have some things in your tank, wait 24 hours and test ammonia and nitrates and report back. We'll get you sorted out

Pics are posted.

 

[Kelloggs2800]

Oh, and please post a picture of your tank

Pics are posted.

 

[Mschmidt]

As others have said. Your tank is cycling now. Since you have nitrates, you have some bacteria in the tank already, but bottled bacteria will help speed it along. What likely happened is something was alive in the rock and it's now dead and making ammonia. Unless you are adding ammonia, but you didn't say you were. So I will assume you are not.

My recommendation is as Erin said. Do a big water change, then add bacteria and wait. The water change will lower all the levels but that will make it easier for the bacteria to work. Wiat till you see no ammonia nor nitrites and you're good to start adding livestock, slowly.

In time, better test kits will help. But I have started at least 12 tanks over the years with API with non issues.

 

[Kelloggs2800]

Looks like the consensus is to do a full water change. Luckily I already bought the salt but I do not have enough RO water at the moment to fill the tank again. I will need to purchase that but I appreciate everyones advice. I tried going on YouTube to find all of this out and while they explain some things they say it assuming you know most of this stuff and I do not lol.

A friend recommended this post and it's already been more then helpful.

 

[Kelloggs2800]

For filtration I have a skimmer and then just a piece of sponge and ceramic things for bacteria. Should I get anything else?

 

[Mschmidt]

The rule I was given when starting was 1.5+ pounds of rock (sand probably counts here too) per gallon of water for biological filtration. From the pictures it looks like you have enough rock/sand. The pump looks off in the picture. Is it usually running.

You can follow the dosing directions on the bottle for the bacteria. I never do, but you might want to. You won't ruin it by adding too much, but you will likely not need the whole bottle for your needs.

And with everything salt water...

 

[Kelloggs2800]

The rule I was given when starting was 1.5+ pounds of rock (sand probably counts here too) per gallon of water for biological filtration. From the pictures it looks like you have enough rock/sand. The pump looks off in the picture. Is it usually running.

You can follow the dosing directions on the bottle for the bacteria. I never do, but you might want to. You won't ruin it by adding too much, but you will likely not need the whole bottle for your needs.

And with everything salt water...

The pump is on but it is an aftermarket one that doesn't work well for flow so I will be buying a wave aker once I am ready for fish.

I will eventually be getting corals but wayyyyyyyyyy in the future lol. I am definitely not going to do too much at once, especially being a green as I am to all of this.

 

[Mschmidt]

You're on the right path. The scape looks nice. I'd change the water any time the nitrated go over 100 before adding livestock and 40 after adding livestock. Other than that, enjoy the tank.

 

[Rob Biederman]

The pump is on but it is an aftermarket one that doesn't work well for flow so I will be buying a wave aker once I am ready for fish.

I will eventually be getting corals but wayyyyyyyyyy in the future lol. I am definitely not going to do too much at once, especially being a green as I am to all of this.

That patience GIF is the key, and that is the one thing I wish I had listened to. Yes your tank is cycling it sucks make sure there is some flow in the tank. I know you said that the pump isn't very good but you do need constant water movement. Good luck with the tank welcome to the hobby. It can be a love hate relationship at times lol.

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

If you haven't already, check out the sticky threads on this forum.
BRSTV's 52 weeks of reefing also has a lot of good videos.

Edit: as @Mschmidt points out a few posts down, there is a Beginners series of videos on BRSTV that is probably better for this situation

 

[death-by-reef]

The live rock (as my LFS called it) was in a tank with water. They told me it is live. However it is a white colour. Some spots are a bit darker as it looks like there is bacteria starting to grow but I really do not know.

Okay so buy the turbo start and add the whole bottle? After that continue testing until both Ammonia and Nitrite is at 0 and then I would be good to go?

Will it auto fix the Nitrate level or is it supposed to be high?

only water changes with deal nitrate (mostly)

 

[Rmckoy]

Lots of things here, by live rock, is it actually live, aka came from the ocean or an already established tank? Or did you buy the purple rocks that are dry and called "Life rock" If its dry, its not true live rock, its just the white rock painted purple.

Did you buy any bottled bacteria to add to the tank when you started up? You have a considerable ammonia concentration, and Its not .5 to 1.0 its between 1.5 and 2.0. This level of ammonia will not sustain life.

All you need to do is go to your LFS and buy a bottle of Fritz turbo start, the small bottle will do just fine. Its about the best you can get and will have your tank cycled in no time at all. Or you can add a few pellets or a piece of shrimp to the tank and do it the old fashioned way, and it will take about a month to fully cycle.

A cycled tank will have no ammonia or nitrites present, but it will have nitrates.

Agree with above except for even if it’s cycled api test kits will still show false positive results typically .25 ammonia
I haven’t tested nitrite in many years but it’s been proven by many here that it’s almost irrelevant in saltwater .

Nitrates if you have high nitrates it’s a good sign you’re either finished cycling it almost complete

 

[bnord]

Let me join in the chorus of recommendations for the water change and bottled bacteria. In addition to that pay attention to some of the recommendations that say go very low light or no light for a period.
Be ready with a clean up crew plan, as signs of life appear on hte rock and glass.
From the nature of your questions and response to the suggestions I predict great success for you in the short medium and long term. Best of luck, stay in touch, and will all be following along to see how you do. And lastly I do think an improved set of test kits primarily for nitrate are in the future. By the time you get those you won’t need ammonium or nitrate
And patience is a virtue, be virtuous

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

only water changes with deal nitrate (mostly)

???

 

[Tray21]

When I set up my tank last year, I did everything the same as you. But... I left the tank alone for almost 2 months after adding bottled bacteria. Many companies make it, I used Seachem stability. Once I noticed my ammonia and nitrites were at 0, then I performed my first water change. Testing frequently is key to success early on in this hobby. Many will tell you to ditch the API kits as soon as possible. But I found that especially during the cycle it helped me to establish good testing habits without breaking the bank. As you get closer to stocking your tank, I would start looking at better options. As has been said patience is key. This is a marathon not a sprint. You got this!