thedrunkingpig

I have a new tank, 12 gallon that is cycling. i have 6kg of live rock (chinese stuff, as i live in mainland china fiji rock is unavailable) it is very pourous and has lots of life in it (feather dusters etc) i have a 5cm sand bed (not live) also a nano skimmer thats running. chinese brand and all that available im afraid. im cycling the tank with live rock

my NO2 was high, added the live rock and within 2 days it said there was 0 NO2. not its off the chart. heres my readings:

1mg, 1mg, 0.5mg, 0mg, 0mg, 0.5mg, 1mg, 2mg, 2mg (1 week later) +2mg

each reading is 1 consecutive day.

my temperature is 26C, salinity 1.022 - 1.023, pH 8.3-8.5 (very hard water), light is on for 6 hours a day (not good lighting right now, need to make a trip to hong kong) and the skimmer is running all day.

i have to add about 2 liters of fresh water a week because of evaporation.

is such a NO2 spike normal? ive cycled larger freshwater tanks and never seen such high spikes. also the water in the test vial goes a very cloudy colour. its not clear like it used to be. im noticing some of the small muscles wedged into the rocks have been dying

any advice?

aquarist48

Hello TheDrunkingPig. Welcome to Fish Lore. Congrats on setting up the salt tank. I'm sure some of our Salt members will help you out before long. I hope you can share some photos with us along the way.
Best of luck for a speedy cycle!
Ken

pepetj

Hi Thedrunkingpig, Welcome to Fishlore!

First, don't put down Chinese equipment just because they are made in China. Your country is experiencing quite a fast-track development. I am a fan of Resun aquarium products, made in China. Not expensive but if handled with care they perform as well as most reputable branded equipment.

I would say that your tank is actually cycling, your readings clearly picture a nitrite spike. Don't expect the protein skimmer to produce skimate right away. I have a just cycled Nano reef tank (20gal, 24" tall, with 6" of sand bed). I use a sump/refugium (DIY in a 6gal tank) where I placed a Resun SK-05 skimmer. It requires somewhat frequent maintenance and being patient to adjust so it works well. I still have no fish in it, but the life in there is adapting well (macro-algae, inverts, a coral frag).

Take your time, you are experiencing the Nitrite spike, which can take some time (my SW cycled in 32 days). I would suggest that you keep lights on for at least 12 hours per day. Don't worry about algae/bacterial blooms as they are normal ocurrence that takes care by itself as the tank matures.

I am keeping specific gravity at 1.026, with a pH of 8.1-8.2, Carbonate Hardness at 9 DKH, and calcium at 540 mg/L. I use RO processed drinking water (highest TDS measure so far 20ppm) since using tap water would likely create problems with high phosphates and it is quite cheap locally (no one drinks water from the faucet in this island).

I don't have options for live rock other than collected by myself in the shore. If your available live rock is highly porous, then it certainly is better than mine. For that reason I am using 2.5 lbs of rock (and 2lbs of live aragonite sand) per gallon of water.

If you are going to keep a Fish Only With Live Rock set up (FOWLR), then you don't need to upgrade your lights, although using at least one actinic lamp would make it look better.

Hope you can post some pics of your nano tank.

Make yuorself at home in Fishlore!

Pepetj
Santo Domingo

thedrunkingpig

i know the equipment isnt the best, but in the city i live in (expat working in china now) its the only equipment i can get. if i was in a bigger city like shanghai, beijing or guangzhou better equipment would be available. but there isnt a market for it where i am. the skimmer is actually quite a decent one. ive seen a lot of small and large tanks using the brand i have (dymax i think) it seems to be doing a good job at skimming, although the skimate is quite watery (my first time using one)

im planning a shrimp (coral banded or cleaner) possibly 2 clown fish, and maybe a feather duster or 2. im not sure about them at the moment though.

it will be a FOLWR, unless of course i get addicted to marine tanks, and can get better lights

heres a picture of my tank so far

another question:
ive noticed some brown stuff coming from my heater, any idea? when i touched it it disolved. the heater has a metal tube, not glass tube. is this a bad? will it pollute my water?

thanks for your advice

Attached Images

tank 002.jpg (434.1 KB, 72 views)

pepetj

Your Nano looks beautiful. If it were my tank I would likely go with at least 4 inches of sand. That way the inverts have some substrate depth to go by and the biological filtration is enhanced.

Two Clown Fish should adapt well there, not sure about shrimps & Clownfish compatibility though. As for the heater being metallic instead of glass all I can tell you is that I avoid any metals in my tanks, but I use no heaters since I live in the tropics (except for treatment in the hospital tanks). Where in China are you living?

Two of the reputable LFS owners are from China (one was born here, the other came to Dominican as a 12 year old)

Pepetj
Santo Domingo

MizRamzi

Loveing that rock formation

aquarist48

Good morning. I've moved your thread to the "aquarium nitrogen cycle" section of the forum.
Thanks!
Ken

thedrunkingpig

MizRamzi

thanks for the compliment about the rocks. you actually have to compliment my girlfriend for that. i can plant a fresh water tank no problem, but cannot sculpt rocks or wood to save myself



im living in Zhengzhou, Henan province. pretty much bang in the center.

Oil_Fan

I'd be interested in seeing a pic of the 'brown stuff' from the heater. It's possible that's it's something like cyanobacteria or diatoms. Most likely the later. That's pretty normal on a new tank though you usually see that on the LR or the LS.

pH is fine. Temps are fine. Salinity is fine though I keep mine around 1.025. Evaporation can be from a number of reasons. During the winter here, I find I end up adding far more RO water to top everything off due to the dry air. In my 65 gallon tank plus sump, I will add at times over a gallon a day.

How on earth did you end up working in China? Just curious.

thedrunkingpig

my heater was metallic and i think it was starting to rust. its nothing like the brown stuff on the sand and LR.

how can i raise my PH? i think my reader is broken. i recalibrated and its giving a reading of about 6.

applied on the internet to teach English, offered the job the next day, moved out 2 months later are you interested in coming over?

Oil_Fan

LOL...not really.

I'd recalibrate it once more. pH of 6 is extremely low for a SW tank. I'm not even sure a SW tank could actually end up that low. My tank is normally 8.1 or so. And there is buffers you can use to raise the pH. Also take note that the pH fluctuates throughout the day. Near the end of the light cycle, it will be the highest.

As for the heater, make sure it says that it's safe for SW. Not all are.