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#1
11-24-2008, 09:43 PM
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Holy shitballs! That's waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too much ammonia!! In a saltwater tank, when cycling you don't want ammonia over 2 ppm, and you don't want to add ammonia repeatedly to keep it there either. When using ammonia to cycle a tank, you just do the one initial dose, and don't repeat it. There are a lot of differences between a saltwater and a freshwater tank, so don't assume that what you did with your freshwater tank will be what you need to do with your saltwater tank. You would be surprised how much can survive in a bin with no heat or circulation, but if there was any remaining life on that live rock it is now dead after adding all that ammonia.
Having said that I would suggest you do several 75% waterchanges every day until your numbers are in line. I'm betting you will have to do these daily 75% waterchanges for a week...maybe more. Don't add anything alive to the tank (hermits, snails, fish, ANYTHING) until you have 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites, and <10ppm nitrates. I would also suggest you keep the tank lights off, and shade the tank if it gets any natural light until your numbers are correct. Also, read the Cycling link in my signature. 
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#3
11-30-2008, 05:09 AM
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That's looking a lot better! You probably have another week or two before your cycle finishes. Make sure your ammonia and nitrite are both at 0 before adding a small clean up crew. What kind of salt are you using? Your alkalinity is low. I like to keep mine between 8-9 dKH. You're going to need a buffer to bring that up, but don't bother until your cycle is over. I use SeaChem Reef Buffer. Works well. You might want to take a look at two part Cal/Alk solutions as well like C-Balance.
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#4
11-30-2008, 06:05 AM
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Go
Yeah, I'm happy to hear that you've done a significant ammount of water changes, your parameters are looking a lot better than before.
________ vapor genie vaporizer Last edited by moldrik; 01-24-2011 at 02:04 PM.
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#5
11-30-2008, 09:04 AM
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i use seachem reef salt i use a few of their products for my planted tank and am happy with them hence why i chose their salt
i threw the rock in a month ago and nothing happened for 2 weeks then the ammonia trama happened could thecycle possibly be open as soon as next week? i was under the impression it would take close to 2 months? also this is the LFS http://www.jlaquatics.com/info/250/Reef+Custodians.html what do you reccomend as far as a clean up crew?? i have a 120 G tank with a 40 G sump but their 100-150G package seems crazy excessive 115 hermits and 90 snails?
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#6
11-30-2008, 09:45 AM
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Go
I would add them as you see fit. Do you have a lot of algea in the tank? Are there any problems that bringing in a clean up crew is required? I would suggest adding some snails, maybe 1 per 5 gallons, or something like that. Add enough for 1/2 of the tank, if they aren't maintaining it properly, add more later. There is no sense for you to bring in a ridiculous number of new critters into your system. It might throw your cycle off whack, since it's a young tank. As I've heard, I probably wouldn't even add cleaners unless you're trying to solve an issue.
Start with a small, hardy fish for your tank, possibly some snails. You want to add your smallest fish first, biggest fish should be the one you add last so that the territories work out. Corals, add later. If you're gonna add any clean up crew, add snails. Crabs will attack other critters as well, so you don't want too many otherwise they'll fight. You want to balance things out. ________ Yamaha TY250 Last edited by moldrik; 01-24-2011 at 02:04 PM.
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#7
11-30-2008, 09:47 AM
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Here's a link to a thread discussing J&L's clean up crew package.
http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=46769 ________ vaporizer guide Last edited by moldrik; 01-24-2011 at 02:04 PM.
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#8
12-01-2008, 02:40 AM
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Quote:
I'm not familiar with the SeaChem salt. I use Instant Ocean. It lacks a bit in calcium, but it's still the cheapest even after adding the needed calcium. I've tried many other brands over the years, and never noticed a difference, so I always went back to the IO. IO has an alkalinity level of about 10-11 dKH when mixed at 1.026, so that works for me. Just be sure to up your alkalinity before you add corals, or if you're noticing algae issues. The red algae you're getting is likely cyanobacteria. It's not actually an algae. It is a sign of excess nutrients (as with all algaes), likely caused by the huge amount of nitrate you had in there recently. Take aread through the Hair Algae Guide in my signature for advice on dealing with all algaes and cyano. LFS's ideas of a cleanup crew are to make money. You don't need that many critters. If you buy that many, then many of them will perish from starvation. Be aware that hermit crabs will often eat snails to steal their shells, or if the hermits are hungry from lack of food in the tank. I prefer snails to hermits, so I don't keep hermits in my tank. My personal reccommendation for your tank would be: 10 Astrea 15 Cerith 15 Nassarius 2 Brittle Stars Then in 3 months add: 3 Cleaner shrimp (added benefit of cleaning some of your fish of parasites) 3 Peppermint shrimp (added benefit of eating small aiptasia that may grow in your tank) 2 Fighting or Orange Lip conches More snails if needed I just put a couple green Emerald crabs in my tank to hopefully help with Bubble Algae, and I have noticed they sure spend a lot of time picking at the rocks and eating several different types of algaes, so I may add these to my "must have" list of clean up crew. so that's another thought as a hermit crab replacement. Ring Cowries are another "snail" I really like. J&L often has them in stock. Wait until your tank is a few months old at least though as they can be sensitive.
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