[marki24]

Just like masterswimmer said it is important to know what kind of filtration you are running and specifics on your tank. I dont think just because you added your corals and fish that is what cause your paramaters to go up. Please be specific about you whole setup before we can determine anything your description was too vague.

[Aqua Pro Builder]

Adding LS after everything is 0 have very little meaning if the cycle that you completed does not yield a "strong" bio filtration. Cycling a tank could be think of raising correct bacteria to do the filtration but if lets say you only build a filter of 1 million bacteria after everything is zero vs someone build a filter with 100 million bacteria after everything is zero-it's a big difference in nuetralize the toxins. A strong bio filter can hose more animals and a weak one will likely to have mini cycles when you add even a couple of fish. Therefore, adding animal slowly will ensure you to have a gradual build up of the bio filter.

Do a search in about.com you can find a pretty structured way to starting a tank with explanation. Or you can search in MR to see if there's a good thread(in case your are not experienced, I don't know how you can tell what's good or not either.) But the threads here could be a little not organised since it's more a forum than step by step instructions.

It does look to me you are adding too fast without a strong enough bio filter.

	Manhattan Reefs Manhattan Reefs, the best aquarium community on Planet Earth!

[masterswimmer]

Quote: Originally Posted by thirty5 You said that you waited 3 and 1/2 months, but you didnt say what you cycled the tank with. You cant just run a tank empty (just water) and have it cycle. You need some sort of biological inhabitants or a raw shrimp and let it rot, to cycle the tank. Adding the fish and corals have started your cycling.

I cycled my tank and waited AT LEAST three months without adding any livestock. I used uncured LR. As the dieoff from the LR acted as your raw shrimp method, it's not totally accurate to say you can't just run a tank empty and have it cycle. 'Empty' is in the eyes of the beholder so to speak.

swimmer

[thirty5]

Quote: Originally Posted by masterswimmer I cycled my tank and waited AT LEAST three months without adding any livestock. I used uncured LR. As the dieoff from the LR acted as your raw shrimp method, it's not totally accurate to say you can't just run a tank empty and have it cycle. 'Empty' is in the eyes of the beholder so to speak. swimmer

Well i did say that you need some sort of biological inhabitants to cycle the tank. So the Uncured Rock which is biological does the same thing.

[EmilyT]

haha yeah i didnt really wait for it to cycle. i used natural seawater to start off. my lr came cured, from another tank. then i found out i had to get rodi so i had to wait a little to get that (end of school present from my parents)
the point is, just take it slowly.

	RODI High quality filtration systems used to purify tap water before it is mixed with salt or added to the aquarium for evaporative top off. Most municipal water supplies contain unacceptable levels of Nitrate, Phosphate, Lead, Chlorine, Copper etc. It is critical that these impurities are removed as some are toxic to reef organisms and others fuel algal blooms that can quickly overtake a reef display. Again, there are many brands and many configurations to fit most applications.

[tosiek]

The guy hasn't posted since his first post. We need to know what he's using as filtration, what he's dosing and what his other params are to descide whats wrong. =0)

[NoobieReefer]

sorry for not responding... its been a few days. Anyway, I removed about 8 pieces from my tank and stored those at a friends house same day i put this thread up. Today the tank looked amazingly clear so i decided to do a water test. I do have a skimmer, live rock, and sand in my setup as well as a sump with live rock, sand, and cheato. Parameters came out to:
PH-8.2
Nitrite-0
Nitrate-0
Ammonia-0

How soon can i start adding pieces back?

[NYreefNoob]

what did you use to test the water with ? what kit ?

[basiab]

Quote: Originally Posted by NoobieReefer Parameters came out to: PH-8.2 Nitrite-0 Nitrate-0 Ammonia-0 How soon can i start adding pieces back?

As stated by others the size of your bacteria colony determines how much you can safely add at one time. So even though you went through a cycle there is no way to tell exactly how much of anything you can add safely. Which is the reason to add slowly. And adding Biospira when you add new fish would help since you would be adding more bacteria to handle the bigger load. But if you have a big enough colony of bacteria then adding biospira would be a waste. It wouldn't hurt other than what it costs you.
Another issue is that after your tank is cycled, if you do not have an ammonia load then the bacteria that converts ammonia starts to die off. So now you have less nitrites being produced and you bacteria that converts nitrites start to die. In other words, after a cycle you have to keep providing your bacteria what they need otherwise your colony shrinks and can handle less and less.

[thepudge]

Sounds like an improvement but I am surprised you have 0 nitrates. If your tank had nitrites a week ago I think it would be safe to say you should still have some nitrates in your tank.

Regardless, if you need to add your pieces back, do it slowly and keep testing your parameters.