Please help!!!!! Beginner.

[clowntang339]

I have a 30g fish only sw tank with a 1.5 in crushed coral bed. It has been cycling for a month and a half. I have a 3-way power filter and a 125 biowheel, also a 600 powerhead. My ammonia is under 0.1 and my nitrate is 10. My main concern is my nitrite, being 2.0. What should I do to finish cycling? Also brown algae has formed on my crushed coral, is this okay?
With this setup, would it be benificial to add a protein skimmer?

[Bass Master]

I would say a protien skimmer is a good thing for a system like yours. Don't worry about the algae, it will go away in time.

[reef-man_d-man]

First of all I have a few ?'s do you have any Live Rock? do you have any fish if so kind and how many. As far as protien skimming goes it's not neccesarily needed if you set your tank up right and get a good balance. You might want to get an inexpensive skimmer like a prizm and keep it around just in case that's what I did on my first setup and I used it about 4 or 5 days a month. Let me know if you have any other questions.

[johnstringer]

Yes, a skimmer will help. The CPR BakPak models seems about right for you setup. The brown algae is common when cycling, and a should come off pretty easily with a turkey baster, try reducing the amount of time your lights are on while cycling. Adding some Live Rock would help too, try to find someone local through the RC selling forum that is selling some rock.

[ChoctawChad]

Hey, welcome to the hobby. A few questions to help offers suggestions. The tank has been cycling for >1 month. Are there any fish in the aquarium? How has it been cycling? Personal opinion: a skimmer will not do much good until there is something in the tank creating waste (i.e. fish or inverts.) Although, it would definitely be a good thing to add, at some point. For the brown algae, try reducing the amount of time your lights are on daily for a while. Some cleaners/inverts might also be of help with that but, of course,. be careful that what you add is compatible with whatever fish you plan to add.

[clowntang339]

Thanks a lot. I do not have any LR. I do not have any fish either.
I am waiting for my nitrites to go down. I am planning on adding a few snails and and two medium large fish.

[koj11]

Go get that liverock and put it in. It's a huge part of your filtration and will definately help you with those nitrites.

[mrpet]

just be patient it will go down may be a few more weeks if you have fish in there feed really light every 3 days or so a very small amount of food..a skimmer is a very impotant item get one..also if you do not have lr in there add some cured if poss will speed up the process....mrpet

[cjgtigger]

We started cycling our tank in February. It took almost 4 months to complete. I am getting my first fish TODAY!!!! I have a 110 gallon Fish Only system. NO LR, NO LS, No Skimmer (although I do want one)

Please learn by my mistakes.
1. Get reef builder and get your PH up to 8.3
2. If you are not using a heater get one and run it around 79°
3. Leave your tank alone - I know the algae is horrible but LEAVE IT ALONE
4. DO NOT DO WATER CHANGES - this only starts the process over again
5. DO NOT LISTEN TO ALL ADVICE - (except mine of course)

I was told by many LFS to do water changes every other day, get live rock, get live sand, get a protein skimmer, get live bacteria, blah, blah, blah.

Do the above things and you will have a cycled tank in 1 to 1 1/2 weeks I promise!! It worked for me.

We spent about $200 more than we needed to!!!!

Let me know how it goes......

Hope I helped.

cjg tigger

:strooper: :mad:

[koj11]

cjgtigger,

You have no rock or sand in your tank? What are you using for filtration?

[smokie]

How does one cycle a saltwater tank without any starter fish, or live rock? I thought you had to have at least one of the two to get things going. Otherwise, where does the ammonia come from?:artist:

[New Reefer]

How does one cycle a saltwater tank without any starter fish, or live rock? Easily :) Any organic matter which decays will do the trick...

The best method (other than using uncured live rock) is to add a dead (frozen) prawn or shrimp (the human food kind...) to the tank. This will decompose and supply more than enough DOC to start the cycle.

Other methods which also work very well is to add a cup of skimmate obtained from an established tank, or to add chemical ammonia (ammonium chloride, I think...) to the water. Of course, in the latter case, you should not have ANY living creatures in the tank when you do.

Personally, I prefer the uncured LR method.

Hennie

[cjgtigger]

We have a wet dry filter. Works great!!!

[johnstringer]

ClownTang,

A wet/dry can work very well for a FO tank, and many people experience different results with different setups. I am not going to knock a W/D setup, because I have seen many great results when using them. I would recommend a skimmer and a nice macro algae bunch. A w/D along might lead to high Nitrates, and micro-algae, which is always frustrating. A skimmer and some Macro algae will help in the long run.