Cycle question..

brandon429

why did you put a reef in that
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for sure, if my tank ever went cloudy id just rip it all out, wipe the insides down and refill with 100% new sparkly clean. Rinsing off the rocks roughly outside the tank will not reset your cycle at all, put them back in and continue digestion work imo, easy.
 

saltyfilmfolks

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The benificial bacteria is contained in the billions in and on the grains of sand and in the live rock primarily. Also in the water Colum a bit. A tank can actually be taken apart and put back together will no ill effects or interrupting the cycle of the bacteria. Care should be taken, @B, by novices but obvious gunk should be removed and siphoned as that's serious poop..
So what Brandon is saying is you could siphon all your water out and refill a with no ill effects to the continuance of your newly establishing cycle.
I would caution that unless you have natural sweater or lab grade salt or really really know your salt, as it adds benificial bacteria and is more gentle shall we say on the newly hatchling feeding and mating bacteria.
BUT I would also put forward that if you left it all running,no light, with no meddling in about three weeks, the stench would go away and the parameters would be near perfect.
I could reference the bucket of what was clean dry sand rock old tank water and powerhead In My basement currently..4 weeks .

IMO
I'd leave it.. Stop touching it.
Be patient and watch the miracle of life..
More bacteria thi higher saturation into the tank .. Faster cycling.
Do a 20p water change next week end and again the following. Put some Chato in the sump. Next weekend. I highly reccomend Fiji mud. The little can. stir it in now. Put some in after nextwater change. I credit that for the 5 to 8 kinds n colors of corraline I have or have had in this build.

Once the parameters are close do a big water change. Wait a week do a smaller water change. Test. Ready.. For live stock.

A little prime is fine a little stability maybe, but really it's been doing this for billions of years. Nature has this down.
 
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saltyfilmfolks

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The clouds btw are your newly born pet bacteria. Stability and prime are just more different ones. Fiji mud too. And they battle for space int the tank once the huge amount of food you just fed them goes away the population will die off ,water clearing, into a balanced community awaiting the poop from your fish and corals.
 

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Can any one tell me why nitrozyme are used. How many time in a month should we use.Aquarium store people told me to put it before we leave fish.
 

brandon429

why did you put a reef in that
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the answer to that is easy, if you have an established tank then that retail additive is not needed at any phase, any time. if you have a brand new tank and are cycling it, and if that's a bac additive, then you simple use it until the cycle is complete and the tank has a clear ability to digest ammonia. That additive is likely not ever needed and is just a sales point.
 

Aruna

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the answer to that is easy, if you have an established tank then that retail additive is not needed at any phase, any time. if you have a brand new tank and are cycling it, and if that's a bac additive, then you simple use it until the cycle is complete and the tank has a clear ability to digest ammonia. That additive is likely not ever needed and is just a sales point.
Thanks for the information.
 
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GOSKN5

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The clouds btw are your newly born pet bacteria. Stability and prime are just more different ones. Fiji mud too. And they battle for space int the tank once the huge amount of food you just fed them goes away the population will die off ,water clearing, into a balanced community awaiting the poop from your fish and corals.
You think it's normal to be cloudy for over a week? I'm talking really cloudy.. like can't see the powerhead on back glass...

driving me nuts haha... I am a little OCD about clear water and and cleanliness haha
 

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The dr rims method freaks me out man. Read up on others experience with it for sure.
The last fresh dry rock sand I did I used old tank water and a powerhead. It stank and was cloudy for two weeks. I wasted most of a test kit on it.
If your running a skimmer try to get a dry skim less particulate than wet more bacterial stripping.
Run some carbon next to the return. And if it makes you feel better do a little water change. After you test the Params.
I am more than a little ocd btw.
Think about the Fiji mud too. You'll be adding a competing bacteria.
How does the tank smell btw.
 
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GOSKN5

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The dr rims method freaks me out man. Read up on others experience with it for sure.
The last fresh dry rock sand I did I used old tank water and a powerhead. It stank and was cloudy for two weeks. I wasted most of a test kit on it.
If your running a skimmer try to get a dry skim less particulate than wet more bacterial stripping.
Run some carbon next to the return. And if it makes you feel better do a little water change. After you test the Params.
I am more than a little ocd btw.
Think about the Fiji mud too. You'll be adding a competing bacteria.
How does the tank smell btw.
No smell... carbon been running in reactor 24/7 since start... I'm gonna add new carbon and change some water..
 
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GOSKN5

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Changed carbon and GFO today.. along with about 45 gallons of water... will test nitrite again tomorrow and look at cloudiness... thinking the cloudiness may be unrelated to the cycle...
 

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Yeah I did Dr. Tims and had no real problem just let it go and dosed it every week till it read 0 ppm amm & nitrites the next day took about a month but never had a cloudiness issue -was running charcoal the whole time........
 

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Tank is so clear you'd think the fish are floating in the air. How about a updated picture of the cloudiness.
 

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Your not getting red on sponges and socks are you?
 
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GOSKN5

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My skimmer is pulling some redish skimmate.. and when I cleaned the carbon reactor it had some redish fuzz?? (Lack of better word) on it.. why?
 

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It's the GFO you need to reall really rinse it.
Tap is fine and RO rinse.
Personally I don't believe in using it in a new cycled tank. It's stripping the nutrients the bacteria need to eat and adding slit of iron.
Corals in an established tank will react badly to adding too much GFO too fast. Well rinsed or not.
 
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GOSKN5

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Na, unfortunately I have been using GFO for a long time.. same method of rinsing etc... I let several gallons run through it and into a bucket... I have done same method for years...

I am running it to hopefully take out phosphates from the new rock... I can turn it off for bacteria sake... but it's not causing the cloudy water...
 

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