New 24G JBJ nanocube

[[d]3v|L]

Hi guys, I just started a 24G 2 weeks ago.. Getting back into the hobby after 6 years and almost lost touch of all the fundamentals of reefing..

Im experiencing very high nitrate levels in my tank even though its already 2 weeks in the cycle. The nitrate was about 50ppm last week and it still maintained that amount when i tested it today.. Is it normal or should I continue cycling? Should I do a water change? And also isn't there suppose to have bubbles in my sandbed during the process? there are no 'gas bubbles' forming in my sandbed..

My tank is running on

Eheim compact pump (1000l/h)

Hydor Koralia 1

Arctica 1/20hp chiller (with stock 800l/h pump)

No skimmer yet

[[d]3v|L]

pls excuse the blurry front..didn't clean it before taking the pictures

[Fuzzy]

There aren't supposed to be gas bubbles forming / released from the sandbed, so thats normal.

50ppm nitrate is pretty high though, what did you use to start the cycle, market prawn?

Did you put like the whole thing in? lol.

Maybe there was massive die off from stuff living on your live rocks, I wouldn't be too concerned with it at this point.

What kind of water did you use to fill the tank? NSW or Salt mix?

Don't do anything now, until the cycle completes. (Ammonia 0, Nitrite 0)

But after the tank has cycled you might want to consider doing an 80% - 100% water change before you start introducing livestock.

It will be easier to remove the nitrates now while the tank is empty, than it will be later when you have populated it.

I like your rockscape btw!

P.S. Is that a piano beside your tank?!

Be careful with splash and salt creep :ph34r:

[[d]3v|L]

Hi fuzzy, thx for the compliment. yeap its a piano beside the tank..haha I'll be careful with it. I did not use any market prawn to cycle the tank, I used LR (which are already cured) and salt mix which i got from AM. I don't really understand why the nitrate is so high when the LRs are already cured and there are not much die offs.. Hmm I'll consider doing a major water change a few days before i introduce LS.

Thx

[Fuzzy]

Hi fuzzy, thx for the compliment. yeap its a piano beside the tank..haha I'll be careful with it. I did not use any market prawn to cycle the tank, I used LR (which are already cured) and salt mix which i got from AM. I don't really understand why the nitrate is so high when the LRs are already cured and there are not much die offs.. Hmm I'll consider doing a major water change a few days before i introduce LS.

Thx

Is there any chance your Test kit is faulty or expired? There should really be no way the nitrate is at 50ppm if your LR is already cured and you're using salt mix...

[albinosage]

And also isn't there suppose to have bubbles in my sandbed during the process? there are no 'gas bubbles' forming in my sandbed..

Test for ammonia and nitrite too, if they are undetectable, then your cycling is probably complete. As for bubbles in sandbed, they usually form when anaerobic bacteria convert nitrate into nitrogen gas (hence the air bubble), this usually takes a long time after cycling though, can't be seen in 2 weeks. If your sand bed is too thin, the bacteria probably doesn't have enough area to grow substantially, hence no bubbles.

Is there any chance your Test kit is faulty or expired? There should really be no way the nitrate is at 50ppm if your LR is already cured and you're using salt mix...

Many other reasons for high nitrate, could be worms, other organisms dying off, bad circulation or salt mix using tap water, for instance.

[[d]3v|L]

hmm i thought its normal to use tap water to mix salt water? I dont have any RO or DI equipments..

[[d]3v|L]

btw i found a bristleworm in a new LR i bought.. Its bout 4inches and i've already seperated it in a pail. Should i get rid of it or just leave it in my tank? Some people say that they are beneficial to the tank and some said that they are disruptive as they may eat small fishes etc when they grow bigger..

any suggestions?

[albinosage]

hmm i thought its normal to use tap water to mix salt water? I dont have any RO or DI equipments..

Ah, there's the source of your NO3 problem then

Test your tap water parameters, you'll be surprised. It's high in NO3 and PO4 not to mention chlorine and other stuff PUB adds into the water. Since it is only 24 gallons, you can use bottled distilled water, it is 100% pure.

btw i found a bristleworm in a new LR i bought.. Its bout 4inches and i've already seperated it in a pail. Should i get rid of it or just leave it in my tank?

It's really up to you, if it is a bristle worm or fireworm, it is relatively safe, they hide in the day and come out at night scavenging for scraps of leftover food. If it is a bobbit worm however, it will attack and eat small fishes and inverts, you can identify it by the tentacles and teeth at the mouth, metallic or greasy appearance, it is super fast and hard to catch.

[[d]3v|L]

thx bro bino, i've added the bristle back into the tank cos i researched the net and found out that its harmless n beneficial..

I'll look into using bottled distilled water.. Isn't it expensive to use it everytime for water changes?

BTW my 3 sexy shrimps are using my new green bubble coral to host.. Will it irritate the coral and is it harmful to it?

[albinosage]

thx bro bino, i've added the bristle back into the tank cos i researched the net and found out that its harmless n beneficial..

I'll look into using bottled distilled water.. Isn't it expensive to use it everytime for water changes?

BTW my 3 sexy shrimps are using my new green bubble coral to host.. Will it irritate the coral and is it harmful to it?

You can either install a RO/DI unit or buy distilled water, but for such a small tank size, a 20% water change is just 6 bottles of 1.5 litre water, which would cost less than $3. Another option is natural sea water which would cost between $2 to $4 for a similar volume. There isn't really a shortcut, it all leads back to the same cost haha.

The sexy shrimp will host on anemones and corals, not harmful once the coral gets used to it.

[[d]3v|L]

Some pics of my rescaped tank taken with my hp. Added a piece of LR yesterday to use as a centrepiece.

So far my tank is still lightly stocked after 3weeks.. Nothing much to buy in the LFS and the LS i see are too common. Just want to get the nicest pieces of corals and fishes as my tank is a nano and theres not much space. Is the current rockscape nicer than the previous one? Plz comment

LS-

1 Blue tang

1 Astrea Snail

1 Cleaner shrimp

4 Sexy shrimp

1 Bubble coral

[snaper]

Nice Scaping...

[[d]3v|L]

thx

I found out where all the Nitrates came from.. My tap water contains Nitrate of more than 50 ppm

[albinosage]

thx

I found out where all the Nitrates came from.. My tap water contains Nitrate of more than 50 ppm

Yup, they come in varying concentrations depending on which part of the water distribution network you live in. Someone here (forgot who) told me his tap water nitrate measures less than 5ppm.

[[d]3v|L]

There seem to be many tiny dust like particles which are white in colour floating all around the tank making it look dirty.. what could it be?

[albinosage]

There seem to be many tiny dust like particles which are white in colour floating all around the tank making it look dirty.. what could it be?

Did you just change your water? Fresh salt mix, depending on the brand, could leave white suspended particles undissolved in the water. I made a mistake of pouring in freshly stirred salt water once, and the white stuff sting/burned 2 colony of zoas

[[d]3v|L]

Yea i just changed my water yesterday using Tropic Marin. So how do i go bout doing it? Leave it in a pail with a spare pump mixing it overnight?

[albinosage]

I also changed water with salt mix yesterday, coral life salt, injured my back recently, cannot carry jerry can around haha. I usually mix it overnight with pump and avoid pouring the white stuff that settles at the bottom. My coral life salt is quite old already, very long never use, notorious for having the undissolved particles (calcium I think).

As I was in a hurry yesterday, I mixed the salt, additives and vitamin C in the 1.5L bottles before pouring them into a bucket through a piece of filter wool, then I let the water in the bucket stir for a couple of hours before pouring into the tank. (by the way, interesting observation - the bottle with vitamin C mix is orange in colour, no wonder my tank doesn't look as clear as it should be haha)

[[d]3v|L]

Haha i see.. so I just leave it for the filter to clear up the water? Anyway I used Marine Environment to mix saltwater 2 days ago and the water turned murky till I cant see the bottom of the pail man..dont know why.. thats why i bought a new pack of Tropic Marin.

Hmm interesting way of mixing salt.. i'll try it nxt time

[albinosage]

Haha i see.. so I just leave it for the filter to clear up the water? Anyway I used Marine Environment to mix saltwater 2 days ago and the water turned murky till I cant see the bottom of the pail man..dont know why.. thats why i bought a new pack of Tropic Marin.

Hmm interesting way of mixing salt.. i'll try it nxt time

Yup, for now, let your mechanical filter (filter wool sponge etc) clear the particles. Next time, try to avoid pouring the undissolved powder in.

[[d]3v|L]

My tank still has quite alot of micro bubbles floating around.. How should i reduce it? I got a poly filter at the first compartment behind. Or should I add another poly filter at the last compartment to filter out the splash when the water flows down from the 2nd compartment?

[[d]3v|L]

Some updates of my tank stocked mostly with LPS.. I got a fungia fetish Speckles of coralline are appearing already My tank took abit of hit last week as it went without lights for about 2-3 days. Apparently someone toggled my light to actinic mode while I was in camp. The orange fungia have spots of whites like bleaching appearing at the edges..

Still with one lonely Blue tang This guy is real timid and hides at the corner of the tank most of the time.. only swims out to eat. Getting pissed off with it

[Vlamingi_cont]

Some pics of my rescaped tank taken with my hp. Added a piece of LR yesterday to use as a centrepiece.

So far my tank is still lightly stocked after 3weeks.. Nothing much to buy in the LFS and the LS i see are too common. Just want to get the nicest pieces of corals and fishes as my tank is a nano and theres not much space. Is the current rockscape nicer than the previous one? Plz comment

LS-

1 Blue tang

1 Astrea Snail

1 Cleaner shrimp

4 Sexy shrimp

1 Bubble coral

Bubble frm AM??

[[d]3v|L]

yup, u seen it?