I officially suck at this.

[oddmegameg]

Purchased a Reefer G2 (42 gal) from RedSea back in October along with a...
ReefMat 500
Skimmer 300
"Dead" rock
Live sand
5-stage RODI system
It took around 4 months to complete cycling with just the live sand for bacteria. We then transferred our 1 diamond back goby, 5 crabs, and 2 corals over from the old tank. (Nothing else was transferred over)
All was going well till about 2 months in when we started to get some diatoms and our local aquarium recommended Chemi Blue which seemed to have stopped it. Our nitrate ever since this point on has always been above 10ppm, and we can't seem to get it down with anything. Changing our filters for water when recommended along with the chemi-blue, using "de-nitrate" (even the liquid kind which stressed my only fish), and adding a nitrate reactor. There's nothing dead, we don't overfeed, water gets changed every week, have good circulation, and we tried different lighting levels.
About a week ago we swapped Chemi-blue with Matrix, causing the diatoms to come back, nitrate to spike, and ammonia to the highest I've ever seen.
Do we not have enough good bacteria? I've heard mixing different kinds of bacteria isn't great.? How the heck do I get the nitrate and ammonia down? Shall I giveth up? This fish deserves a reward

 

[Cell]

Year 1 of reef tank typically goes thru cycles of undesirable algae. Don't sweat it too much. I wouldn't sweat the nitrate either unless you are having issues with coral. Can we see a full tank picture?

 

[PeterEde]

I must have had a dream run

 

[a.t.t.r]

10 ppm nitrate is fine. Stop trying to micro manage your tank it will always backfire.

 

[paragrouper]

10ppm nitrates are not something to worry about. Neither diatoms. They will typically Go away on their own.

 

[oddmegameg]

Year 1 of reef tank typically goes thru cycles of undesirable algae. Don't sweat it too much. I wouldn't sweat the nitrate either unless you are having issues with coral. Can we see a full tank picture?

i have unfortunately had both a zoa and goni die/fall under battle. plus a snail. forgot to mention ammonia is 8.0 ppm...

 

[1112-425XL]

Ya, glad and diatoms are inevitable in a new system. For me it was like this about 5 or 6 mos. in.

 

[dbroncos]

Purchased a Reefer G2 (42 gal) from RedSea back in October along with a...
ReefMat 500
Skimmer 300
"Dead" rock
Live sand
5-stage RODI system
It took around 4 months to complete cycling with just the live sand for bacteria. We then transferred our 1 diamond back goby, 5 crabs, and 2 corals over from the old tank. (Nothing else was transferred over)
All was going well till about 2 months in when we started to get some diatoms and our local aquarium recommended Chemi Blue which seemed to have stopped it. Our nitrate ever since this point on has always been above 10ppm, and we can't seem to get it down with anything. Changing our filters for water when recommended along with the chemi-blue, using "de-nitrate" (even the liquid kind which stressed my only fish), and adding a nitrate reactor. There's nothing dead, we don't overfeed, water gets changed every week, have good circulation, and we tried different lighting levels.
About a week ago we swapped Chemi-blue with Matrix, causing the diatoms to come back, nitrate to spike, and ammonia to the highest I've ever seen.
Do we not have enough good bacteria? I've heard mixing different kinds of bacteria isn't great.? How the heck do I get the nitrate and ammonia down? Shall I giveth up? This fish deserves a reward

A little off topic you have the same tank as I do along with the reefmat and same skimmer. Have not set mine up yet but have a question. Did you remove all the dividers in the sump to fit them both?

 

[PeterEde]

i have unfortunately had both a zoa and goni die/fall under battle. plus a snail. forgot to mention ammonia is 8.0 ppm...

Gonis are notorious for dying especially in new tanks

 

[oddmegameg]

A little off topic you have the same tank as I do along with the reefmat and same skimmer. Have not set mine up yet but have a question. Did you remove all the dividers in the sump to fit them both?

only removed the sock filter compartment. it seemed to be the only way we could fit the reefmat in as well. definitely still a tight fit even without the compartment

 

[oddmegameg]

any recommendations for ammonia being over 8ppm....i can not find anything killed over

 

[jabberwock]

4 months to cycle is crazy. My tank took 9 days. 8 ppm ammonia is crazy. Are you sure you are doing the test correctly?

 

[jabberwock]

Full tank shot might be helpful.

 

[oddmegameg]

4 months to cycle is crazy. My tank took 9 days. 8 ppm ammonia is crazy. Are you sure you are doing the test correctly?

ran it with both hanna and api

 

[jabberwock]

ran it with both hanna and api

So you are still not cycled. I would not put anything else in the tank. Get the fish out (back to the old tank) and order some real ocean live rock ASAP.

 

[BARNAKEWLZ]

Dry Rock takes a long time to cycle. I wouldn't stress it. nothing good in this hobby happens fast

 

[oddmegameg]

So you are still not cycled. I would not put anything else in the tank. Get the fish out (back to the old tank) and order some real ocean live rock ASAP.

if only we had that tank back. just kidding, somehow it was even worse than where we're at now

 

[Rmckoy]

There is something else wrong here .. I wouldn’t say anything to do with cycle .
There is no way a tank that old and running can not be cycled .

@brandon429 we need some reading material please

 

[jabberwock]

There is something else wrong here .. I wouldn’t say anything to do with cycle .
There is no way a tank that old and running can not be cycled .

@brandon429 we need some reading material please

Does it point to a water or salt mix problem?

 

[oddmegameg]

There is something else wrong here .. I wouldn’t say anything to do with cycle .
There is no way a tank that old and running can not be cycled .

@brandon429 we need some reading material please

It definitely took longer than our other tank that had half as quality of parts.