Not quite a Veteran, Not quite a Newb
Hello All,
This is my first post here at Reeflounge and I must say, I cant believe the wealth of knowledge hidden in these pages. I’ve had my new 45 set up going on 3 weeks now. I added around 45lbs of "dead" live rock in the beginning and about a week ago added an additional 10 lbs of fully cured live rock with small polyps and a few very tiny anemones attached. I bought this live rock from a local guy with an established tank of 10 years. The two peices of live rock even had a few hitchhikers in the form of a Serpent Star. I have around 20 lbs of live sand and plan on making a reef eventually. The following is my list of equipment because I know you will ask;
1. Penguin Bio-Wheel 170 (running only carbon, and yes I know it stinks)
2. 2 Aquaclear powerhead 301′s
3. SeaClone 100 protein skimmer (I know it sucks but I bought this whole setup from my buddy for only $150)
4. Regular 20W flourescent lighting that came with the aquarium originally.
This is my first post here at Reeflounge and I must say, I cant believe the wealth of knowledge hidden in these pages. I’ve had my new 45 set up going on 3 weeks now. I added around 45lbs of "dead" live rock in the beginning and about a week ago added an additional 10 lbs of fully cured live rock with small polyps and a few very tiny anemones attached. I bought this live rock from a local guy with an established tank of 10 years. The two peices of live rock even had a few hitchhikers in the form of a Serpent Star. I have around 20 lbs of live sand and plan on making a reef eventually. The following is my list of equipment because I know you will ask;
1. Penguin Bio-Wheel 170 (running only carbon, and yes I know it stinks)
2. 2 Aquaclear powerhead 301′s
3. SeaClone 100 protein skimmer (I know it sucks but I bought this whole setup from my buddy for only $150)
4. Regular 20W flourescent lighting that came with the aquarium originally.
As I said, my tank has been setup for approximately 2.5 weeks and my readings are still off the charts.
Ph = 8.0 Ammonia = 4.0 ppm Nitrite = .25 ppm Nitrate = 15 ppm.
My concern is that when checked the levels about a week after setting up the tank they were all at zero, obviously jumping the gun, I pulled the trigger on a fire goby. My concern is that he is not going to make it through the cycle. Is there something I should be doing to help the cycle along or should I just let nature take its course and wait it out?
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
Excerpt from:
Not quite a Veteran, Not quite a Newb