AgentAlice
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How will I know when the bio spira working like it should?
Bio spira
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AgentAlice
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What should I test for and I ghost feed going on two days now. I was thinking I'm doing something wrong
mjlash22
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Ammonia, nitrite and nitrate. You want your ammonia at 0, nitrite will spike then go down to 0, then nitrate will start rising. Do a water change to reduce the nitrates and you're all set. Time needed to complete this cycle can vary based on each individual tank and what you have in it.
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AgentAlice
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I'm using dry live rock and live sand. And the ammonia is somewhere between 0.25 and 0.50. The nitrate and nitrite went up slightly but not much. I'm also sorry if I'm being alil annoying too.
mjlash22
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No worries! That is what this forum is about, asking any types of questions.
The next step after you have a good amount of bacteria, you will see your ammonia go down to 0. Then you should see your nitrite go down to 0. Nitrates should stay slightly high, maybe 20-50ppm range. Do a substantial water change at that point to remove a lot of your nitrates and then you should be all set!
It is normal for most tanks to have nitrates. They are not as harmful to livestock as the other 2 are. A good goal would be to keep them as close to 0 as you can.
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AgentAlice
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Okie dokie; should I continue to ghost feed everyday as if I already have fish in my tank and if so when should I stop doing ghost feeding
I was just looking up Bio-spira stories, because I can't believe how good this stuff works. Yes, you should continue to ghost feed, in the amount that you think you'll be feeding your fish. Have you had any brown, red, or green algae show up yet?
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AgentAlice
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Ok bout ghost feeding and nope on any brown, red or green algae showing up. But my lights on my tank is off two; should I turn them on?
Well there are a couple ways to go here. You can now go through the algae stage of cycling. That's where you turn your lights on, and at first you'll get diatoms. They're a brown algae. It's ugly, but not a bad thing- and you can add snails to help keep it under control at this point. Use the search bar on the forums, and you'll find the right snails for the job.
That bloom can be followed by a red bloom, and then a green. It's a good time to add a live rock with coralline algae, or a coralline strip, so the coralline out-competes the not so pretty algae(s). A lot of people wait a few weeks longer after, but many people have said they were 100% ready to go after a week, using Bio-spira. I'm personally using an algae turf scrubber, and keeping my main tank lights off, and only running them on the ATS. It's growing diatoms and my ammonia and nitrate are 0ppm and nitrates are .25ppm (because of the algae).
If you do a water change and get rid of a lot of the nitrates, you'll have less algae to deal with in the tank and the snails and whatever other clean up crew you add, can handle the rest. I'll post a link to my Bio-spira story I posted last night, so you can see what my experience is at the moment- more in-depth. But in your case, running your lights at this point and getting ready to add livestock seems like a very viable option for you at the moment. I'd do so when seeing ammonia and nitrites at 0ppm and low nitrates.
That bloom can be followed by a red bloom, and then a green. It's a good time to add a live rock with coralline algae, or a coralline strip, so the coralline out-competes the not so pretty algae(s). A lot of people wait a few weeks longer after, but many people have said they were 100% ready to go after a week, using Bio-spira. I'm personally using an algae turf scrubber, and keeping my main tank lights off, and only running them on the ATS. It's growing diatoms and my ammonia and nitrate are 0ppm and nitrates are .25ppm (because of the algae).
If you do a water change and get rid of a lot of the nitrates, you'll have less algae to deal with in the tank and the snails and whatever other clean up crew you add, can handle the rest. I'll post a link to my Bio-spira story I posted last night, so you can see what my experience is at the moment- more in-depth. But in your case, running your lights at this point and getting ready to add livestock seems like a very viable option for you at the moment. I'd do so when seeing ammonia and nitrites at 0ppm and low nitrates.
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AgentAlice
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Thanks but I can't afford any live rock right now I'm on a budget right now
Well, I'm doing a budget build at the moment... I try and cut corners at every angle when spending, but there are a list of priorities that I made sure to have, as I am trying to start a business selling coral locally. Not taking the right steps could be catastrophic. So, my advice... Which is a common theme around here, is take it slow. And you don't have to buy a $40 dollar piece of liverock. A tiny piece of rubble that weighs a 1/5th of a lb. will suffice I am sure (If your local LFS sells LR at $5 a lb- that's a $1).
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AgentAlice
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That's the thing that I know it's not a local place to buy any type of rock (live or dry rock) besides online. And the online one I found is always out of stock. Good luck on starting ur business as for me if I start up a business it's photography architecture or art....if it take me 4 months 6 months or even a year before I can add fish I will wait as long as I'm going in the right path I need to go I'm good
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