Hello I started my adventure into saltwater on January 1st this year. I was given a 29 gallon tank for Christmas from a family member who breeds fish. My lovely younger sister who has heard me talk about wanting a saltwater reef for awhile bought me a Tidal 55 HOB filter and a HOB protein skimmer (With her first big girl job money). I ordered a heater, 2 wavemakers, thermometer, refractometer, test kits a LED light for corals when ready and decided it was time for a trip to the local fish store. I bought 23lbs of carib sea life rock some shaped and some not. I grabbed 20lbs of fiji pink live sand. I decided to grab a bottle of Dr. Tim's one and only and Ammonia for a fishless cycle. On the way out I grabbed 25 gallons of saltwater and 5 gallons of RODI for top offs.
I scaped the tank with the rock then added the live sand and water. Setup the filter heater and 1 wavemaker. Then I added One and Only and Dr. Tim's Ammonia up to 4ppm as suggested and my journey began.
January 1st
Ammonia 4ppm
Nitrite 0pmm
Ph 8.2
January 2nd
Ammomia 3-4ppm
Nitrite 0ppm
January 3rd
Ammonia 2ppm+
Nitrite .5ppm
January 4th
Ammonia 1ppm
Nitrite 2ppm
January 5th (My Birthday)
Ammonia .5ppm
Nitrite 4ppm
January 6th
Ammonia .25ppm
Nitrite 4ppm
January 7th (2gallon water change was worried about nitrite being closer to the high end wanted it to drop a little)
Ammomia .25ppm
Nitrite 4ppm
January 8th (added 20 drops of ammonia to get to 1ppm)
Ammonia 1ppm
Nitrite 4ppm
January 9th (added some Bio-Spira bacteria bc nitrite just seemed stuck)
Ammonia 0ppm
Nitrite 4ppm+
PH 8.0-8.2
January 10th (added half dose of ammonia 40 drops)
Ammonia 2ppm
Nitrite 4ppm+ (no movement over 10days downward)
January 11th
Ammonia 0ppm
Nitrite 4ppm+ (this is frustrating)
Beginning to see what looks like diatoms on the sand a little I turned my lights of from their cycle and went dark
January 12th went out of town needed a day break from staring at water who doesn't?
January 13th (reluctantly test again expecting the same results)
Ammonia 0ppm
Nitrite 0PPM! (Its happened finally!)
Nitrate 40ppm
January 14th took the day off from the tank we both needed a break
January 15th (added 20 drops of ammonia to 1ppm)
Ammonia 1ppm
Nitrite 0ppm
January 16th
Ammonia 0ppm
Nitrite 0ppm
Nitrate 40ppm
Added my skimmer I had been avoiding breaking in (Soooo MANY microbubbles in the tank)
January 17th
Ammonia 0ppm
Nitrite 0ppm
Nitrate 40ppm
January 18th (5gallon water change to lower nitrates a little)
Ammonia 0ppm
Nitrite 0ppm
Nitrate 30ppm (tested several hours later after waterchange)
Plans in the next couple of days to do a larger at least 50% waterchange and hopefully to get my first fish into the tank! Looking at adding 2 clowns maybe a regular ocellaris clown and a black and white? We will see what the store has! They also have some designer and a couple Maroons but I definitely don't think I want maroons have heard they're mean.
I bought some screen material and frames to make a lid for my 29 gallon with extra corner pieces to make a cutout for my filter and skimmer. Hoping that maybe I can put a small wrasse as one of my tank mates in the tank one day.
So this is where I am now in my tank build and cycle. I am planning to do corals when ready. I will being doing softies and easy things. Corals fascinate me. The fish do as well but corals are so interesting.
Oh and what looked like Diatoms starting to grow did go away after about 4 days without any lights. I am sure they will come back again as I have turned the lights back on and programmed them.
Thank you to anyone who reads this. I will update as I add critters and fish. I know that was probably a long intro but with so many people posting about cycling issues and things I figured I would post everything to help someone out there understand it a little bit more. Thanks for reading and happy reefing!
I scaped the tank with the rock then added the live sand and water. Setup the filter heater and 1 wavemaker. Then I added One and Only and Dr. Tim's Ammonia up to 4ppm as suggested and my journey began.
January 1st
Ammonia 4ppm
Nitrite 0pmm
Ph 8.2
January 2nd
Ammomia 3-4ppm
Nitrite 0ppm
January 3rd
Ammonia 2ppm+
Nitrite .5ppm
January 4th
Ammonia 1ppm
Nitrite 2ppm
January 5th (My Birthday)
Ammonia .5ppm
Nitrite 4ppm
January 6th
Ammonia .25ppm
Nitrite 4ppm
January 7th (2gallon water change was worried about nitrite being closer to the high end wanted it to drop a little)
Ammomia .25ppm
Nitrite 4ppm
January 8th (added 20 drops of ammonia to get to 1ppm)
Ammonia 1ppm
Nitrite 4ppm
January 9th (added some Bio-Spira bacteria bc nitrite just seemed stuck)
Ammonia 0ppm
Nitrite 4ppm+
PH 8.0-8.2
January 10th (added half dose of ammonia 40 drops)
Ammonia 2ppm
Nitrite 4ppm+ (no movement over 10days downward)
January 11th
Ammonia 0ppm
Nitrite 4ppm+ (this is frustrating)
Beginning to see what looks like diatoms on the sand a little I turned my lights of from their cycle and went dark
January 12th went out of town needed a day break from staring at water who doesn't?
January 13th (reluctantly test again expecting the same results)
Ammonia 0ppm
Nitrite 0PPM! (Its happened finally!)
Nitrate 40ppm
January 14th took the day off from the tank we both needed a break
January 15th (added 20 drops of ammonia to 1ppm)
Ammonia 1ppm
Nitrite 0ppm
January 16th
Ammonia 0ppm
Nitrite 0ppm
Nitrate 40ppm
Added my skimmer I had been avoiding breaking in (Soooo MANY microbubbles in the tank)
January 17th
Ammonia 0ppm
Nitrite 0ppm
Nitrate 40ppm
January 18th (5gallon water change to lower nitrates a little)
Ammonia 0ppm
Nitrite 0ppm
Nitrate 30ppm (tested several hours later after waterchange)
Plans in the next couple of days to do a larger at least 50% waterchange and hopefully to get my first fish into the tank! Looking at adding 2 clowns maybe a regular ocellaris clown and a black and white? We will see what the store has! They also have some designer and a couple Maroons but I definitely don't think I want maroons have heard they're mean.
I bought some screen material and frames to make a lid for my 29 gallon with extra corner pieces to make a cutout for my filter and skimmer. Hoping that maybe I can put a small wrasse as one of my tank mates in the tank one day.
So this is where I am now in my tank build and cycle. I am planning to do corals when ready. I will being doing softies and easy things. Corals fascinate me. The fish do as well but corals are so interesting.
Oh and what looked like Diatoms starting to grow did go away after about 4 days without any lights. I am sure they will come back again as I have turned the lights back on and programmed them.
Thank you to anyone who reads this. I will update as I add critters and fish. I know that was probably a long intro but with so many people posting about cycling issues and things I figured I would post everything to help someone out there understand it a little bit more. Thanks for reading and happy reefing!