ngug

Thank you all for the advice. Very good. I intend to only add stuff if I feel the water parameters is good enough or normal. How do I restart the cycling again? On the topic of seaweed, I thought it looked good i.e. more natural with some green stuff. Need to pluck? What is negative impact if I leave it in?

You mean this: Dolphin C-1600 Filter (has Matrix, Biohomme, PUR-II Water Recharge Ammonia/Nitrate Recharge and some 'sponge'). I suppose LR counts as bio filtration?

Umm.. yeah. I was a newbie on Day 4. And the LFS told me to just add saltwater, sand, some rocks, stick in a filter and protein skimmer and add a fish after a week. ...... yea i know better now.

OMG !! toxic? Any way to remove them?

Hi, I recently started a marine tank and due to my ignorance my startup was haphazard at best. So now I am trying to correct it. Tank Info ============================================= Tank Size: 2 feet tank. Tank Age : ~3 weeks old Experience: Same as Tank Age ~3 weeks old Day 1: Added Saltwater and sand and Protein Skimmer. Day 3: Added a few pieces of rocks ~1.5kg and 2 clumps of turtle grass. Added a chiller and filter. Didn't know any better, took some tapwater and top up the tank to the level you see in the photo below. Estimated added 1.5 inch of tap water. Added 1 cap of Chem-Safe (purifies tap water). This capful was poured into the tank after added tap water. Added a damselfish. Day 4: Damselfish had a broken fin and died . Day 11: Added a bunch of rocks ~3.5kg and 2 red tree-like plant (sponge). Day 18: Added another 4 kg of rocks and a sea apple. Day 21: Removed sea apple and gave it to a shop after I read that its bad idea. Day 24: The water level was 'low' after I added the chiller and filter, so decided to purchase another bag of pre-mixed saltwater to top it up. Day 25: Added 1 cap of Iodine to feed the starving sponges. Didn't even know they needed feeding. All in all I estimate around 8-10kg of live rocks. Seabed around 1-1.5 inch of #1 sand topped with a thin layer (.25 inch) of small coral chips. System: Resun Cl-280 Chiller Dolphin C-1600 Filter (has Matrix, Biohomme, PUR-II Water Recharge Ammonia/Nitrate Recharge and some 'sponge') El-Cheapo Protein Skimmer Enqing Lights - no idea the specs Water Parameters (taken once on day 23). Salinity : 1.018 PH : ~ 8.x (dark green using Aquamedi) Ammonia : 0.25 ppm (Aquarium Pharmaceuticals Inc) Nitrite : -- not measured. Nitrate : 10 ppm (Aquarium Pharmaceuticals Inc) KH : 11 dKH (Aquarium Pharmaceuticals Inc) Calcium : -- not measured. Phosphate : -- not measured. Questions: ================================================== 1. Since the salinity is too low, I bought some Red Sea salt and intend the following: take some water out, add 1 tablespoon of salt, mix it, let it settle for an hr or so and pour it back in. Wait a day, take a ready and repeat till salinity gets to 1.022 - 1.023. Is this the right way to go about it? 2. Since I totally missed the ammonia spike (not that I was even looking for it), I have no idea what cycling state my tank is now. I didn't add any dead prawns or anything to start the cyle (no idea at that time). I was hoping the LR additions + the dead fish (removed it within ~6 hrs of death) would kick start the cycle. I am guess the ammonia spike's over, nitrite went up and down, and nitrate went up? and probably coming down? Due to the fact I also added some Live Rocks 3 days ago, this might have restarted the cycling again? 3. Well, here's the plan for the next 2 weeks or so: a. Up Salinity b. Get Nitrite test kit. c. Wait for this weekend and re-measure water parameters. d. Add 1/2 cap of Iodine every other day? e. If all seems resonably good, going to add 1 or 2 cleaning shrimps this weekend (day 28). e. Wait a week and if the cleaning shrimp(s) lives and water parameters still good, will add 1 fish (still to be determine what type of fish). Estimated day 35. f. Wait another week, if still good, add 2 fishes. Estimated day 42. g. Wait another week, if still good, add 1-2 corals? Estimated 49. Step f & g might switch. Please comments if this is ok. 4. Anything else I should be doing: add kalwasser?, water change (now or after adding fishes?), any other parameters that need testing? 5. I think my sponge is dying. I added Iodine based on LFS advice. Is this correct? I posted as Naganoth before. All advice , recommendations and criticisms welcome.