been cycling now for 2 and a half weeks now. i have a 55gal tank with t-5 lighting that are 2 by 54watts each and night lighting. got probably about 60lbs of live rock and 60lbs of live sand. i had 3 damsels but they died once the sand got brown...they lasted a week..lol..but ive have hermet crabs and a peppermint shrimp in there since a week after i started...they are doin well...i have 2 koralia circulater pumps(510 gals an hour each). an overflow filtration system with a sump tank with some live rock and sand....(no skimmer which i will need eventually)...PH is a hair low, ammonia is good, nitrite is good. but the Nitrate is at 10-20 about...should i keep cycling and the Nitrate level will go down? what should i do?

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Sorry your Damsels died, they are some of the hardiest Salt Water fish you can get. Your level of Nitrates would not normally kill Damsels, check your other parameters. Nitrate is the finally destination in the cycling of Nitregen in aquariums. The standard and easiest way to reduce Nitrates is through water changes. Do 20% to 30% at a time to avoid shock and spread the change over a few days. In natural Coral Reefs the Nitrate level is very low and keeps Algae at bay. Water changes do the same thing that Ocean Currents do for a Coral Reef.

I would add macro algae (in a refugium is best) and kill the lights so the brown algae die off.

also look up diy two part to keep calciuim/alk/magnesium up to encourage corraline algae.


Low pH, nitrates are both signs of not sufficient plant life (macro, corraline) to consume the wastes

my .02

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fw leiden since 1979, fo salt since 1979, mixed reef 55g 2002-2009. Strong emphasis on the tank taking care of itself. Balanced with plant life, no water changes, tap water, no filters in FW. Only dosing calcium, alk, mag in marine reef tanks. http://www.aquariumforum.com/f15/my-...ods-26410.html
recent tanks (till 2009) 7 years- 10g FW leiden 7 yrs, 55g mixed reef 7, 2 yrs, 20g FW leiden, 10 g fw leiden , 29g mixed reef, current tank 55g leiden

what is diy? and yeah im gonna get some macro algae for my sump tank tommorow. also, what is coraline algea and what does it do and look like? my ph is at like 8.0 . shouldnt i raise that too? what should i use or do? also..lol...when my nitrate goes to zero and im ready to put fish in, what kind of fish do you suggest for a clean up crew? i have bristle worms i want out, what kind of fish should i get to eat those fu_ _ ers? lol

the purple algae on you rocks is corraline algae.


The addition of the macro algae and getting that algae thriving will lower nitrates and raise pH.

I would also measure pH just before lights out. pH rises as carbon dioxide is consumed. therefore will be lower just after lights on and higher just before lights out.

my .02

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fw leiden since 1979, fo salt since 1979, mixed reef 55g 2002-2009. Strong emphasis on the tank taking care of itself. Balanced with plant life, no water changes, tap water, no filters in FW. Only dosing calcium, alk, mag in marine reef tanks. http://www.aquariumforum.com/f15/my-...ods-26410.html
recent tanks (till 2009) 7 years- 10g FW leiden 7 yrs, 55g mixed reef 7, 2 yrs, 20g FW leiden, 10 g fw leiden , 29g mixed reef, current tank 55g leiden

nice set up, I'm sorry to hear about your fish. Sometimes the fish come sick too. A lot of LFS don't have the best stock. Fish go through a lot while being shipped so sometimes the fish can come ultra stressed from all the moves or watching their travel buddies die, starved or have diseases. If everything else is good then maybe that's why. You should read store reviews to help choose the right shop to buy fish. I generally try not to get livestock from chains like Petco. Try to stick some chaeto in your sump if your LFS sells it. The one near me sells it for 5 bucks a handful, it helps get nitrate levels down and also converts Co2.

Was the live sand instant cycle? You might also try getting some beneficial bacteria like Biozyme. It's really inexpensive and actually helps speed the cycle process. You should wait a week or so before adding anything else though. I noticed the bristle worms in your first pic. they say that's a sign of a healthy aquarium. Maybe the fish were just sick, either way wait a while before dding more and when you do add one at a time.

Damsel fish are pretty aggressive and territorial. Might try a green chromis, they're the nicer damsels lol and won't cause problems if you want to add anything else.

oh DIY = do it yourself.

thanks guys for the info..ill be asking tons of questions...ill keep you guys posted and ill put in new pics as i go. whats is chaeto?

this

Chaetomorpha - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

cool...i know what im looking for...thank you so much

you dont need to worry too much if you can keep your nitrates below 20. when it goes higher, do a water change. Chaetomorpha will help you keep it down, loves to feed on it. be sure to have a light on the chaeto or it'll die. The damsel will pick on and possibly kill your other fish eventually. So get something else really. unless that's all you want in there. skimmers arent required but do help. Get a reef master api kit to keep an eye on calcium and phosphate levels. hermit crabs will be good but also get some snails. You'll need 1 cleaning crew member per gallon of tank. so a good mix of 55 snails, crabs, and shrimp. Be sure to check on the type of shrimp too, some will eat coral, inverts or other shrimp. I'd get a conch or two to help stir up the sand to prevent bad anearobic spots from forming. A scallop helps with getting stuff out of the water also as well as a clam. You'll need a lot of lighting for the clam though.
Your lighting you have will not be sufficiant for corals. So be sure to get more lighting before you decide to do corals if you go that route.
ammonia and nitrites should be zero. keep nitrates below 40 always but it can hover around 10-20 without any harm to things in your tank. Some algae is good! diatoms are bad!

I'm sorry that they died. That was pretty sad and I hate having to hear these types of stories.

I strongly suggest you check out the book "Caring For Your Aquarium". It's a great book and I highly recommend that anybody just starting out with fish and fish tanks read it. You can visit my blog to find out more about it. How To Take Care Of An Aquarium

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Visit my blog below and learn about the mistakes you must avoid when making your first aquarium.

http://www.how-to-take-care-of-an-aquarium.blogspot.com